The retail price of tomatoes in Metro Manila has gone up by as much as 400 percent since the weekend due to a substantial decrease in local supply following the series of typhoons that devastated parts of the country last year.
Based on the price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA), tomatoes were selling for between P200 and P350 per kilogram as of Jan. 4 in the National Capital Region (NCR), significantly higher compared to P40 to P100 per kg exactly a year ago.
The DA, however, said it expects prices to go down later this month or in February with the start of the dry season production.
At the start of 2024, tomatoes were priced at between P50 and P100 per kg. But the series of typhoons that hit the country, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview on Monday, caused extensive damage to agricultural crops in their vegetative and reproductive stages, particularly in areas producing Solanaceae family crops such as tomatoes, bell pepper, and chili pepper.
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