DA taking steps to address tight supply, high prices of ginger

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is taking steps to address the tight supply of ginger that resulted in higher prices.

Aside from its household use as spice, ginger is also being used for processing, DA Undersecretary Ching Caballero said Wednesday.

"We are still monitoring ano volume na ginagamit for household consumption and number two, for processing because we also have to plan also for the processing requirements. So nagsagawa ngayon ng supply as for household or for processing. So the spike in pricing shows there is tight supply availability as of the moment," the DA official said.

(We are still monitoring what volume [of ginger] is used for household consumption and for processing because we also have to plan also for the processing requirements. So we conducted a study on the supply for household and processing...).

As of the latest price monitoring of DA, ginger prices have gone up to as much as P280 per kilo in some Metro Manila wet markets.

It reached as much as P300 per kilo in some markets in Metro Manila the past two weeks.

To address the tightness, the DA is now looking at other areas near Metro Manila that may have available supply.

"We are monitoring now kung saan mga areas na meron pang supply na availability so we can bring in through the Kadiwa system," Caballero said.

(We are monitoring now which areas still have available supply [of ginger] so we can bring in through the Kadiwa system.)

To avoid the same problem in the future, efforts are geared towards increasing production, according to the DA.

"What we are working on now is to schedule the production in areas that have not been tapped before to do production for commercial use," she said.

However there may be challenges in logistics such as in Region 4B that would require inter-island transport but the DA is working on how to bring these agricultural products to Metro Manila in a more systematic matter. —KG, GMA Integrated News