PRICES of vegetables and flowers have increased as the weak El Niño started this month.
A clove of garlic that used to cost P5 is now 50 to 80 percent more expensive, according to Juvy Colina, a vegetable vendor in Carbon market.
“Nisaka gyud og mga 80 percent, nimahal gyud. (It rose to 80 percent, it has gotten expensive),” said Colina.
Colina said most of the vegetables that were affected by the rising heat index were leafy greens, such as Malabar spinach (alugbati), cabbage, onion leaves as well as garlic and eggplants.
Most of these vegetables either came from the southern town of Dalaguete or Mindanao, she said.
Aside from vegetables, the supply of some fruits has also been affected due to the weather condition.
Changing seasons
Marina Rojo, a fruit vendor, said the supply of fruits had declined since the beginning of March while prices continued to increase.
Rojo said they had not even recovered from their losses in recent months because of the excessive rain and now they had to deal with the El Niño.
“Menus na ang pag-abot kay katong niaging mga buwan nga grabi ang uwan, ang mga saging nangasakit sobraan sa tubig, gipang badjo ba. Karon kay init nasad, patay gihapon ang mga tanom (We had lesser yield the past months due to heavy rains. Bananas suffered from excessive water. Now the dry spell is here, our crops are again affected),” said Rojo, “Tagbaw nasad mi og pangita asa mi mangumpra (Now, we’ll have to look for new suppliers),” she continued.
Rojo purchased fruits from Barili, Carcar and San Fernando.
Rojo said she had no choice but to accept the situation since, according to her, “in-ana man gyud ang panahon, mag-usab usab (seasons change).”
Both Rojo and Colina believed that the start of the summer vacation was another factor their sales slowed down as some schools had already ended their classes.
50% markup
Also referred to as the dry spell, the El Niño is characterized by the absence or a reduced volume of rainfall in an area.
The weak El Nino phenomenon has also affected the prices of flowers in the market.
Jan Edan Sacamay, a florist, said that although the supply remains the same, prices have increased up to 50 percent since February, which resulted to lower sales.
Sacamay shared that to cope up with the phenomenon, they limited their shipment of flowers to other areas.
Another reason their sales had dropped was because there hadn’t been any big occasions lately, Sacamay added.
Colina, Sacamay and Rojo were among the many vendors who hoped the weather condition would return to normal so their income would not be at stake again.
It was in February this year when the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) declared that a dry spell would be experienced in different parts of the county starting this month.
In a statement on Friday, March 22, Pagasa announced the end of the northeast monsoon, or hanging amihan, which means the dry season has started.
The state weather bureau also warned that the ongoing weak El Niño in the tropical Pacific may result in a “prolonged dry spell and hotter air temperatures in the coming months.”