SRP for sugar to be set by end of October

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is planning to impose a suggested retail price (SRP) for sugar that will be acceptable to the industry and consumers.

“Our objective is not only to make sugar available but also ensure prices are right. We have been speaking with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and we will come up with a price that is amenable to all stakeholders,” Agriculture Undersecretary Kristine Y. Evangelista told reporters on Tuesday.

“Most likely, we will decide this within the week. We will have an exact price that is equitable not just for importers but consumers,” she added.

The average retail price of refined sugar in wet markets has risen to P101.29 per kilogram, according to government price monitoring reports.

“We know that our millers have begun operations so there is local sugar. We need to look at supply, both local and imported, to come up with a price which our consumers can afford,” Ms. Evangelista said.

She added that the SRP will be issued before November. “The sooner we implement it, the more it can help our consumers,” she said.

Meanwhile, the DA is also looking at the supply of vegetables in Metro Manila.

“We are looking at the inflow of vegetables from trading posts going to Metro Manila. We observed a reduced volume being brought to the metro, so we are looking at the transactions in trading posts,” she said.

“We also have to look at production, because some (farmers) were hit by the typhoon,” she added.

The department is currently looking at other sources of vegetables to boost supply in Metro Manila.

“Whatever is overflowing in some regions needs to go to other regions… when we look at the supply situation we shouldn’t concentrate on just one region, but all regions that can be a possible source of vegetables,” she added.

The DA earlier announced that it set the SRP for domestically grown red onion at P170 per kilogram. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson