THE Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas is closely watching the region’s prices and stocks of ginger and garlic.
rStephen Aranda of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) said the price of imported garlic rose from P120 per kilo in April to almost P400 per kilo in June, while the price of the native garlic rose from P180 to P320 per kilo.
The price of ginger rose from P130 (from January to March) to P240 per kilo in June. Ginger is mostly produced in Kanlaon, Negros Oriental, and in the towns of Lambunao, Janiuay, Bingawan, and Badiangan in Iloilo.
DA assistant regional director Manuel Olanday said the agricultural products depend mostly on the law of supply and demand and the implication of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) integration by 2015.
Olanday reiterated the government’s support for the local production of the spice plants.