The Department of Agriculture (DA) said current prices of vegetables in the market are affected by the recent string of bad weather.
However, DA spokesperson Arnel de Mesa told reporters in an interview yesterday the price uptick may only last for one to two weeks as alternative sources especially in Mindanao may be tapped for the meantime.
“If there are storms, normally around 10 to 15 percent increase in the price of vegetables may be experienced depending on the areas affected,” de Mesa said.
Deployment of Kadiwa rolling stores in areas affected by the recent typhoons and storms are expected to help ease vegetables prices, the DA said.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, the price range per kilogram (kg) of lowland vegetables as of last Thursday was P80 to P180 for ampalaya; P75 to P200 for string beans; P70 to P150 for pechaytagalog; P30 to P60 for squash; P110 to P130 for eggplant; and P130 to P210 for tomato.
Meanwhile, the price per kg of highland vegetables for the similar period ranges from P100 to P160 for scorpio cabbage; P80 to P160 for rare ball cabbage; P120 for wonder ball cabbage; P120 to P200 for carrot; P110 to P190 for Baguio beans; P75 to P110 for white potatoes; P90 to P170 for pechay Baguio; P45 to P85 for sayote; P220 to P370 for green bell pepper; and P210 to P370 for red bell pepper.
Initial cost of damage to the agriculture sector of severe tropical storm Kristine as of November 2 at noon stood at P5.75 billion, equivalent to 557,851 metric tons (MT) of goods tended by 131,661 farmers and fishers in 109,871 hectares (ha) of affected areas.
Bulk of Kristine’s recorded damage is rice at P4.25 billion, equivalent to 516,438 MT from a total of 100,242 ha, wherein 64,166 ha or 64.01 percent is partially damaged while the remaining 36,076 ha or 35.99 percent is totally damaged.
This was followed by 35,616 MT of high value crops worth P847.48 million that includes vegetables.