.jpg) |
| Ilocos garlic (Photo by Rey Andres) |
Staff Reporter
Laoag
City—A provincial official sees the garlic
retail prices spike as a result of “artificial shortage.”
Provincial agriculture
officer Norma Lagmay, who is also an economist, said the sudden movement of
garlic retail prices in supermarkets and major trading centers despite
sufficient supply is “simple arithmetic.” There must be an “artificial
shortage”, she explained.
The “artificial shortage”,
Ms. Lagmay, added can only be done by major players of the garlic industry.
For the first time in the
history of Ilocos Norte, the country’s top garlic producer, consumers are
currently buying Ilocos native garlic at average size for P260 per kilogram or
P300 in Metro Manila.
From the average farm gate
price of P69.25 in 2013, retail price of garlic in Ilocos Norte has reached a record
high of P139.55/kg last year.
As a classic example of the
law of supply and demand, Lagmay said, “the price of a commodity [garlic]
increases when the demand is high.”
The garlic price hike came at
a time when almost all garlic growers have nothing left to sell except for
their personal consumption and for planting purposes.
“We are happy to know that
garlic price is increasing but at the same time we sympathize with
end-consumers buying too much expensive garlic and we have nothing left to
spare,” said Wilfredo Valdez, president of the Vegetable Growers Association in
Region 1 and a member of the National Garlic Action Team.
He said the price hike may
also be attributed to an intensified monitoring of smuggled garlic products
from Taiwan.
Over the years, Ilocos Norte
has maintained its status as the garlic capital of the Philippines producing
about 905 metric tons (MT) sufficiency level in 2012 and more than 800MT in
2013.
Once branded as the “Ilocos
white gold”, the P1-billion industry being a major cash crop in the country had
its ups and downs between 2005 and 2013, when garlic production significantly
decreased from 8,231.23MT to 5,435.76MT based on a report of the Bureau of
Agriculture Statistics (BAS).
The decline was mainly due to
insect pests and diseases afflicting garlic, climate change and low
productivity which discourage several farmers and shifted to other alternative
cash crops.
It was only in the last
quarter of October last year that Ilocos farmers saw a ray of hope when the
Department of Agriculture in partnership with various research agencies and the
provincial government stepped-up in revitalizing the garlic industry through
sustainable seed support system.
As a result, the DA, through
Sec. Proceso Alcala, allotted P10 million for the purchase of quality bulbs,
fertilizer subsidy, establishment of small-scale irrigation facilities and
post-harvest facilities, research on varietal trials of promising varieties by
the Mariano Marcos State University, crop insurance and provision of capital
assistance of the Federated Garlic Association for garlic training and
processing.
The inter-government agency
convergence also links farmers with the Vegetable Importers, Exporters, and
Vendors Association (VIEVA) of the Philippines to assist farmers in marketing
their products.
With an increasing demand for
this industrial crop known for its culinary and medicinal value, Ilocos Norte
is set to increase its existing 2,130 hectares area of production.
Experts said garlic grows
best in the Ilocos soil due to its agro-climatic suitability.
This year, an increase of 136
hectares of garlic plantation was added, benefiting about 453 farmers in top
garlic-producing municipalities of Pasuquin, Vintar, Sarrat, Burgos, San
Nicolas, Paoay, Badoc, Bacarra, Pinili and Bangui, including the cities of
Batac and Laoag.
Earlier, the DA has convened
the National Garlic Action Team to determine the cause of the price spike and
come up with solutions. The action team is composed of representatives of the
DA High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP), Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI), academe, and the private sector.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment