THE Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday said it is now coordinating with regional offices to prevent tomato wastage amid the off-season harvest.
“We are talking already with the regional field office ng Cordillera (of Cordillera Administrative Region) at Region II to check on these surpluses ng mga kamatis,” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said in an interview following reports of tomato disposal in Nueva Vizcaya.
He said the DA may either bring the possible surplus in Kadiwa sites or markets in Metro Manila through logistics assistance.
Besides CAR and Cagayan Valley, other regions with reported high volume of harvest are Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
Rosendo So, chairperson of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), said coordination and linkages between the DA and farmers’ cooperative associations (FCAs) should be improved.
He cited the possible drop in retail prices of tomatoes due to the volume of off-season harvest following the spiking prices in early July which reached P140 to P220 per kilogram.
“Na-delay nga ng mga one week and two weeks. Pero continuous na ‘yung pag-harvest natin. So nakikita natin may pagbaba pa ng presyo the next few days,” he said in a separate Zoom interview.
De Mesa, however, said the current retail prices are still within the P60 per kilo to P80 per kilo reasonable bracket price for tomatoes.
As of August 12, the prevailing price range of tomatoes in Metro Manila is at P60 per kilo to P130 per kilo, according to the DA Bantay Presyo.
De Mesa also underscored the urgency in securing agri-infrastructure for cold storage and post-harvest facilities to resolve challenges during the harvest seasons. (Philippine News Agency)
