Vegetable prices climb in NCR markets after Karding

Prices of several agricultural goods have increased by at least P20 per kilogram, following the impact of Typhoon Karding (international name: Noru), which hit the country last week.

According to the Department of Agriculture (DA), it is now looking into the movement of prices to evaluate the upward movement of prices especially in Metro Manila.

“Mayroon pong mga gumalaw na presyo, P2 sa trading post, P5, ganon, so pagdating dito sa Metro Manila, P10 to P20 ang galaw,” DA Undersecretary and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista said in Dano Tingcungco's report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

“We want to understand ‘yung ating traders bakit ganon kalaki ang patong, pati ‘yung sa retailers,” she added.

(There have been [upward] price movements in the trading post from P2 to P5 so upon entry in Metro Manila, this would result in P10 to P20 movement. We want to understand our traders and retailers how that big of a movement came to be.)

At the Obrero Public Market in Manila, prices have increased by at least P20, and have doubled for some commodities such as pechay or Chinese cabbage which surged to P120 per kilogram from P60 previously.

For rice, the DA said it has not yet seen a significant movement in prices but the impact of the recent typhoon could impact yields which were meant for the coming months.

“Mayroon pa po tayong supply ng ating bigas. Ngayon, ang tinitignan natin, ‘yung tinamaan ngayon, ‘yan po ay para sa anong buwan dapat?” Evangelista said.

“There are studies being done right now na baka next year gumalaw. Doon natin mas mararamdaman ‘yung epekto ng bagyo,” she added.

(We still have rice supplies. What we are looking at is the impact of the typhoon, which months were the harvest for. There are studies being done right now that there may be movement next year, when we will feel the impact of the typhoon more.)

The DA has estimated nearly P3-billion worth of damage and losses to agriculture due to Typhoon Karding, which impacted a number of farms in northern and central Luzon. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News