Vegetable supply down, prices up due to heat

Even vegetables can get too much sunlight.

 

This is what the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) warned particularly with the excessive heat prevailing in the country.

 

Dr. Herminigilda Gabertan, officer-in-charge of BPI Los Baños, said that the hotter it gets, the faster the plants lose water—a process called "evapotranspiration."

 

When this happens, plants easily dry up, wilt, and lose the ability to flower and bear fruit.

 

“One of the effects we see [from the hot weather] is the drop in yield because our crops have shorter maturity unlike before when the weather and timing was right,” Gabertan said.

 

BPI said that provinces up north such as Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Baguio, Isabela, Cagayan and Tuguegarao usually have a decline in produce due to the heat.

 

 

 

With the decrease in harvest, some provinces and markets have reported an increase in prices of vegetable.

 

In Nepa Q-Mart in Quezon City, calamansi has gone up from P48 per kilo to P60 while celery is now P80 per kilo from P60. Onion has increased to P56 per kilo from P48, and tomato is now P48 per kilo from P36.

 

Prices of other vegetables on the other hand remain stable; carrots, eggplants and cabbages for example are still P28 per kilo. 

 

“It’s really hard to budget our expenses when prices of vegetables have also gone up,” said 35 year-old Gemma Garcia. “We usually had excess money before but now, we even experience shortages.”

 

However, in an interview on GMA News TV's News to Go, Agriculture Secretary Prospero Alcala said there was nothing to worry about with the supply and price of vegetables despite the intense heat.

 

“Our vegetables usually come from upland areas where farms generally have water. What we have monitored is that [the supply of] vegetables in markets is still normal,” Alcala said.

 

 

 

Compared to the past two years, BPI said that this summer has been more damaging to vegetables.

 

Thus, in order to get more yield, the agency advised farmers to use proper irrigation and drought tolerant seeds which they can avail from BPI and local government offices. In addition, instead of using inorganic fertilizer farmers should use compost, which better enhances the fertility of crops. — RSJ, GMA News