THE Philippines may suffer a 79-day shortage of vegetables this year as the Department of Agriculture (DA) pegged the supply shortfall at about 434,840 metric tons (MT).
Data presented by the DA on Thursday showed it projected local vegetable production this year to reach 1.691 million metric tons (MT) while imports are pegged at 20,000 MT.
The combined amount would bring the country’s total vegetable supply to 1.711 MMT.
On the other hand, the DA estimated that total vegetable demand for 2021 would reach 2 MMT on the assumptions of a 110.198-million population and consumption of 18.24 kilograms per capita.
The DA estimated other uses for vegetables—such as seeds, feeds and waste—at 136,934.09 MT.
The DA data showed that the total net vegetable supply for the year could be at 1.574 MMT, which is sufficient to last for 286 days.
The DA data indicated that the country’s vegetable supply deficit is at 434,840.62 MT or equivalent to a 79-day shortfall.
The DA data also showed that the country’s vegetable sufficiency level is only at 77.4 percent for this year; and would rise to 78.4 percent if imports would be included.
Responding to questions regarding the skyrocketing prices of vegetables today, the DA said Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar has ordered the expansion of its flagship Kadiwa program to facilitate the transportation of vegetables from producing regions to Metro Manila.
The DA added that they are also expanding their urban agriculture program to boost vegetable supply in cities.
Furthermore, the DA said it plans to construct processing facilities, trading houses, and bagsakan centers as medium-term plans to improve the country’s vegetable supply.
The DA disclosed that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Task Group on Food Security has formed the creation of a sub task group on economic intelligence to determine where are the bottlenecks in the vegetable supply chain.
Meanwhile, siling labuyo again regained the spotlight in recent weeks as its retail price shot up to an average of P800 per kilogram from P200 per kilogram in November. Based on the latest DA price monitoring report, the price of siling labuyo in Metro Manila even reached P1,000 per kilogram as of January 14.