STATE-OWNED Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) has been ordered to buy significant volumes of chili pepper (sili) and mung beans (munggo) from local farmers in an effort to stabilize prices and reduce the country’s dependency on imports.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said FTI would be purchasing up to 80 percent of local munggo output, or about 3,000 metric tons (MT) per month, to encourage producers to continue production by providing a constant market and protecting them from unstable market prices.
A similar approach is being planned for sili.
Munggo is a significant source of vegetable protein with roughly twice as much protein as cereals like rice and corn. This makes the vegetable a staple in Filipino diets.
“We import significant volumes of mung beans, mostly from Argentina, even though local production already reaches about 45,000 metric tons,” Tiu Laurel said on Friday. “Our goal is to be self-reliant by 2027.”
The province of Isabela accounts for about one-third of the country’s munggo production, although the crop can also thrive in several other regions.
Meanwhile, sili grows across most of the country but is extremely susceptible to storms and heavy rainfall. Production typically declines during the rainy season, leading to price spikes.
“Chili prices rise because supply tightens due to crop damage caused by increased rain,” Tiu Laurel said.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has identified sili and munggo as priority high-value crops for 2026, with different policy objectives.
For sili, the goal is to mitigate the price fluctuations that regularly affect consumers. For munggo, the goal is to boost domestic output to achieve self-sufficiency in the long-term and save foreign currency that is being spent on imports.
The DA is also setting aside millions of pesos for the construction of greenhouse facilities that can protect high-value crops, such as sili, from extreme weather conditions. The aim is to stabilize supply and prices, especially when demand is at its peak, like during the holidays.
The FTI is also being encouraged to invest in processing facilities that can turn fresh chili into flakes or paste that are widely used by retailers, food processors, and restaurants. The DA said processing would allow excess output to be absorbed and released when supply becomes scarce.
“By buying, processing, and distributing these crops, FTI will be fulfilling its real mandate,” Tiu Laurel said, describing the strategy as a combination of farmer support, price stabilization, and food security.
