THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said there are current efforts to control the price of garlic, which is now being sold between P140 and P150 per kg.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said during a market visit of Mega Q Mart in Quezon City on Monday, that the department will verify if such price range is justified since 95 percent of garlic in the country is imported and bought by traders at an average of P80 per kg.
Tiu Laurel said retailers explained that they get garlic from traders at P110 per kg. He said that if traders get their supply at P80 per kg, a reasonable retail price should only be between P100 and P110 per kg.
The DA said a meeting with local garlic stakeholders will be set to look into the issue and decide whether or not a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for the commodity is needed.
Last week, the department’s wider monitoring of markets in Metro Manila found price ranges of P130 to P200 for imported garlic and P400 to P500 for local ones.
Improving local production
“The problem with our local production of garlic is it needs to be planted in areas that are a bit colder. We also have issues in our planting materials since our traditional varieties are small,” Tiu Laurel explained.
He said there are ongoing programs aimed at improving the local production of garlic, especially in Ilocos.
“This is just an expansion of planted areas, what’s important is to procure right planting materials to produce high yield per hectare and we are yet to find one that is suitable for our country,” Tiu Laurel further said.
The DA said garlic is among commodities discussed by the recent delegation sent by the department to South Korea.
Tiu Laurel said the DA is looking into the South Korean model of growing garlic and if its technologies can be adopted in the Philippines. South Korea produces 12 to 15 tons of garlic per hectare while the local average is only 1 to 2 tons per hectare.
Apart from improved garlic production, the DA chief said there are also commitments from seven Korean manufacturers of agricultural equipment to open their businesses in the Philippines, particularly in Nueva Ecija and Cabanatuan.
Imported rice
Meanwhile, Tiu Laurel said imported rice MSRP adjustments may be suspended for two months amid the ongoing local palay harvest season.
Imported rice MSRP was adjusted to P45 per kg by the DA starting yesterday, March 31.
“My initial idea is to lower it further to P42 per kg but with what’s happening to local palay prices during this harvest season… Traders are afraid to buy at the right prices since they think that DA will further lower the MSRP,” Tiu Laurel said.
“I think it is prudent that we stop at P45 MSRP for the next two months until the end of the harvest season and let’s see after that.”
He also said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with DA and National Economic and Development Authority officials last week to discuss tariff rates on imported rice.
Tiu Laurel said that the general direction is to recommend a slight increase and not an immediate return to their original rates as that may cause a shock to the rice market.
Last year, the government enacted Executive Order 62 which slashed rice tariff rates to 15 percent from the original 35 percent.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local well-milled rice sold for P41 to P52 per kg on Thursday while regular milled rice went for P32 to P48 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice was selling for P43 to P46 per kg while the price of imported regular milled rice ranged from P33 to P45 per kg.
Special variety of imported rice fetched P55 to P60 while premium rice was at P48 to P51.
Special variety of local rice was selling for P50 to P65 per kg while premium rice went for P45 to P60 per kg.
