Prices of 21 agricultural products increased in February –PSA

Prices of 21 agricultural products increased in February, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Tomatoes saw the highest price increase this month as they soared from P50 per kilogram in January to P90 this month, as reported by GMA Integrated News’ Mariz Umali on Unang Balita on Friday.

Other agricultural products that increased prices are calamansi (from P60 to P90), eggplant (from P40 to P60), and ampalaya (from P50 to P60 to P80).

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said the price of some agricultural products increased because of little supply as farmers minimized planting due to their low prices in the past months.

“Ang malaki talaga iyong kamatis dahil kung makita natin noong November, December, talagang bagsak ang presyo nito. Iyong iba nag-lie low magtanim so tumaas na naman ang kamatis,” SINAG president Rosendo So told Unang Balita in an interview.

(The price increase in tomatoes is really huge because its price drops in November and December. Some farmers reduced their production of tomatoes.)

“We are seeing na nagtatanim ulit ang farmers natin. We expect na by 30 to 45 days ay magno-normalize yung presyo ng kamatis,” he added.

(We are seeing that our farmers are planting again. We expect that by 30 to 45 days the price of tomatoes will normalize.)  —Joviland Rita/VAL, GMA Integrated News