Blame smugglers, traders for high prices – Sinag
ROSALES—Neglect of the local farming sector, coupled with the presence of smugglers, unscrupulous traders, and pro-import lobbyists are to blame for the recent price surge of basic agricultural commodities.
Multi-agri industry alliance Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) made this assertion in an emailed statement.
While the Aquino administration has been implementing vital agricultural reforms in the last four years, it remains insufficient to reverse decades of neglect of the local farming sector, Engr. Rosendo So, Sinag chairman said.
“Theories of food security through importation have been proven wrong time and again. It is reckless at its best and treasonous at worst,” So said.
Sinag said local garlic producers are struggling to recover from the 20-year policy of wanton importation and smuggling in lieu of domestic production.
With less than 15 per cent of the country’s garlic requirements produced locally, So said importers and traders continue to dictate prices.
“The dramatic increase in garlic prices in recent days is no accident,” So said.
He said that while imported food products sell at lower prices, P50 per kilo landed cost for imported/smuggled garlic as compared to P100/kilo farmgate price for local garlic growers, they kill local farms and industries.
“When the local competition has been eliminated or reduced to insignificance, importers, smugglers, and unscrupulous traders, who now have monopoly control can dictate prices,” So said.
He said this is what happened to the local garlic industry.
Similar to the initiatives in the rice and livestock sector, food security through self-sufficiency must be the explicit starting point of government efforts to revive the garlic industry, he said.
He added that food security through domestic production is the only real security.
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