THE price of fish and vegetables in Carbon Public Market, Cebu City doubled due to lean supply arising from the cold and rainy weather.
Fish vendor Fidel Orongan of Carbon Public Market said fish from Zamboanga City, General Santos City, and even from Daanbantayan town dwindled in the past few days.
He said only a few fishermen ventured out to sea due to the cold northeastern monsoon and strong waves.
Bangus or milk fish was selling at P170 per kilo yesterday, up from P100 a kilo two weeks ago.
Sasa, tabangko, and habo-habo used to be priced at P50 per kilo but now, it went up to P120. Catambac which was P150 per kilo doubled to P300.
The spike in prices may have hurt the sales of the vendors. Orongan said he used to earn more than P3,000 a day.
The cold weather also reduced the supply of fresh vegetables.
Vegetable vendor Aneza Cayme said supplies from Mantalongon i Dalaguete town, Cebu’s vegetable bowl, became scarce.
Cayme said they used to get 20 baskets of cabbage from farms in Mantalongon but the cold weather cut their purchase by half. She said the quality of vegetables also declined.
Several leafy vegetables rotted due to cold temperature.
The farms haven’t fully recovered from supertyphoon Yolanda and the situation aggravated the supply shortage.
Squash used to be priced at P20 per kilo but now it’s at P25. Cabbage was at P12 per kilo, now it’s at P35.
Pechay is at P45 per kilo, more than double its previous price at P20 per kilo.
Bert Castillo, Chief of Regional Crop Production Center of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said they will still have to check the status of the farms in Mantalungon.
Castillo said leafy vegetables are most vulnerable to cold weather as shown in the curling of leaves.
He said vegetables also become more vulnerable to fungus infection in colder temperatures.
Regional Director Angel Enriquez of the Department of Agriculture said their office is willing to provide seedlings to affected farmers. Correspondent Carine M. Asutilla