A senior Department of Agriculture (DA) official on Saturday warned traders that they would be billed with profiteering as onion retail costs keep on being significant in spite of the fall in farmgate rates to 120 pesos per kilogram.
Agriculture Office Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Kristine Evangelista reported in a radio job interview that farmers ended up advertising their harvest at 120 pesos for every kilogram, dependent on inspections at onion plantations in Nueva Ecija on Friday.
“Yesterday, the farmgate price (of onions) was only P120 kg, and we hope charges to drop further as the harvest raises,” Evangelista explained.
Evangelista extra that the bulbs really should retail for among P200 and P250 for each kilogram.
In accordance to DA’s monitoring in the Metro Manila sector, retail prices are even now set at involving 320 pesos and 450 pesos for each kilogram.
“We have regulations towards profiteering. We are discussing now what the price would be to look at it a profiteering. The (DA’s) trial panel is speaking about it,” Evangelista additional.
According to Evangelista, the DA is now coordinating with industry directors to advise them of the farmgate prices for onions.
“We will inform our contacts in the markup that this is the farmgate selling price, and even if we really do not have the SRP (suggested retail rate), that need to be the prevailing cost, and we will request them the place the bulbs come from,” notes Evangelista.
Meanwhile, Evangelista explained the DA is also taking into consideration utilizing yet another SRP as she concedes zero compliance when the P250 for each kilogram SRP is executed in between December 28, 2022 and January 7, 2023.
“The SRP finished on January 7, but no a single complied due to the fact the bottleneck at that time was farm rates. Dependent on our conversations with suppliers at the time, they said, ‘How do we comply with the SRP when we are shopping for onions for P550 ( per kilogram)’,” additional Evangelista.