Metro Manila, Philippines — Ginger imports this month may temper retail prices that have more than doubled of late, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Agriculture spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said the DA is expecting 350 metric tons (MT) of the produce from China, and a further 100 MT from Vietnam and Indonesia that were recently given permits by the Bureau of Plant Industry.
\”We’re expecting na bababa ‘yung presyo ng luya dahil sa pagpasok ng ito mga imported na luya,\” De Mesa said of the root crop, which has recently been retailing for up to P300 per kilogram.
[Translation: We’re expecting the price of ginger to go down as imports arrive.]
He said ginger should be sold for P80 to less than P100.
\”Last month is P250 mahal talaga siya very expensive, pero yung pinakamura is P140, pero ‘yung prevailing mo is P300 so that’s the problem,\” he said.
[Translation: It sold for P250 last month, very expensive. The cheapest was P140, but the prevailing price was P300. So that’s the problem.]
On Oct. 9, ginger was sold at Metro Manila markets from P220 to P300, based on price monitoring. The price range on Oct. 7 and 8 was P140 to P300.
On Oct. 10 last year, the root crop retailed for P110 to P200.
De Mesa said only around 143 MT of imports arrived in 2023.
\”Ang inisyu natin ng SPSIC (sanitary and phyto-sanitary Import clearance) is good for 13,725 (metric tons) for the whole year. So ang dumarating na is 4,248 (metric tons), these are all from China,\” he said, referring to safety standards.
