Onion production recovered in the second quarter of 2023, but harvests of other vegetables like cabbage, tomato and sweet potato fell in the same period, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Thursday.
The PSA said in its Major Vegetables and Root Crops Quarterly Bulletin that onion production in the second quarter reached 84,900 metric tons, up 3.4 percent from 82,080 MT a year earlier.
The most produced type of onion was Bermuda with 83,730 MT, contributing 98.6 percent to the onion production in the country.
Data showed that the area harvested for onion increased 7.4 percent in the second quarter to 19,800 hectares from 18,430 hectares in the same period of last year.
The bulletin provides updates on production of major vegetables and root crops including mung bean/mongo, potato, cabbage, eggplant, tomato, ampalaya, onion, sweet potato and cassava, according to deputy national statistician Divina Gracia del Prado.
Potato production from April to June also went up by 2.1 percent in the second quarter to 15,430 MT tons from 15,120 MT in the same quarter of 2022. Area harvested for potato from January to June was estimated at 2,500 hectares or 0.4 percent lower than 2,510 hectares reported in the same period last year.
Aampalaya production grew 3.2 percent to 33,070 MT in the second quarter, while cassava harvests increased 1.6 percent to 709,910 MT.
Cabbage production went down 4.5 percent in the second quarter to 23,330 MT; eggplant, down 3.6 percent to 102,980 MT; mung bean/mongo production, down 1.9 percent to 22,740 MT; tomato, down 1.8 percent to 70,330 MT; and sweet potato, down 7.5 percent to 151,650 MT.
Meanwhile, banana harvests rose 1 percent in the second quarter to 2.269 million MT, with Cavendish variety accounting for 1.17 million MT or 51.5 percent of the total.
Mango production climbed 11.4 percent to 596,340 MT in the second quarter, with Carabao mango contributing 495,060 MT or 83 percent of the total.
Pineapple production increased 3.8 percent to 762,550 MT in the quarter, with Northern Mindanao contributing 391,160 MT for a 51.3-percent share in national output.