THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the prices of rice and vegetable ingredients to make “pinakbet,” a local dish, continue to be stable despite the increase in prices of petroleum products.
According to DA Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes, today is harvest season for palay and the buying price of the National Food Authority (NFA) from local farmers remains at P19.
Reyes pointed to the regular milled rice priced at P36-38 per kilo, while the well-milled rice is priced at P39-P42 per kilo, and fancy or premium rice fetches at over P40 per kilo.
Even the so-called seasonal vegetables such as the long beans (“sitaw”), pumpkin (“kalabasa”), lady’s finger (“okra”), bitter gourd (“ampalaya”), eggplant (“talong”) and other “pinakbet” ingredients that has not experienced yet a spike in prices.
The DA earlier said that the price of onions from Nueva Ecija still remain stable, which is now at P30-P35 per kilo, particularly the red onion.