THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the price of red onion, which recently sold for as much as P300 per kilo in some markets, is expected to stabilize by the year-end holidays.
According to the DA’s price monitor, as of Nov. 19, the prevailing retail price of domestically grown red onion was about P280 per kilo, against around P160 in early November. The price of imported red onion also rose to P238 from P127 in early November.
Despite the recent uptick in prices, the DA said it does not expect a repeat of the 2022 onion price surge that saw retail prices soar to around P700 per kilo.
“Enough ’yung volume na parating until the end of the year to cover ’yung requirements natin, especially pagpasok ng holiday season (There will be enough volume arriving until the end of the year to meet our requirements, especially as the holiday season approaches.),” Assistant Secretary Arnel V. de Mesa told reporters in a briefing.
According to Mr. De Mesa, the DA is expecting more than 56,500 metric tons (MT) of red onion imports to arrive until November, with around 9,000 MT already in the country. For yellow onion, more than 20,000 MT has arrived against the expected 36,400 MT.
The domestic onion harvest begins in December and peaks in January and February, leaving the Philippines reliant on dwindling early-year stocks until the harvest starts filtering into the markets.
The DA said once the imported onions arrive and the domestic harvest begins, prices are expected to stabilize by December and return to around P120 to P150 per kilo, similar to the levels seen in September.
He noted that spikes in onion prices in the previous years were largely due to delayed import approvals.
“Hindi mangyayari ’yung tataas ulit ng P700, dahil noong time na ’yun bukod sa hindi nag-allow ng import on the proper time, naubos na ‘yung stocks August pa lang. Nag-allow lang ng import November or October (Prices won’t rise again to P700 because, back then, aside from not allowing imports at the proper time, the stocks were depleted by August. Imports were only allowed in October or November),” Mr. De Mesa said.
Mr. De Mesa said the DA is ramping up construction of post-harvest facilities, particularly additional cold storage for onions, which will help farmers store produce and stabilize supply.
“May mga cold storage na nagawa under general appropriations, merong under special project. Maraming matatapos na cold storage by first quarter next year (some cold storage was built from budget funds, while others were funded as special projects. Many facilities will be completed by the first quarter),” he said. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel