MANILA, Philippines — The retail price of tomatoes further increased by P20 to a high of P200 per kilo despite assurances from the Department of Agriculture (DA) that it will go down in two weeks.
Based on monitoring of the DA in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of tomatoes reached between P130 and P200 per kilo.
It went up by P20 per kilo compared to the previous prevailing prices of P110 to P180 per kilo.
Last week, the retail price of tomatoes ranged between P70 and P140 per kilo.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa attributed the spike in retail price of tomatoes to the impact of Typhoon Aghon, which affected the Southern Tagalog region.
De Mesa reiterated his assurance that the retail price of tomatoes is expected to go down within two weeks.
“If there is still movement, it should not be that big,” De Mesa said in a chance interview during the simultaneous launch of the P29-per-kilo rice in additional Kadiwa outlets in Metro Manila and Bulacan.
“We expect the supply to increase with the arrival of harvest,” he added.
De Mesa said the DA will look into the possibility of retailers engaged in overpricing.
In 2023, farmers were compelled to dump their tomatoes due to oversupply and low wholesale price at P8 per kilo.