MANILA - Instead of complaining about the soaring prices of siling labuyo in the country's capital, which peaked at P1,000 a couple of weeks ago, people should learn how to plant their own, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said.

In a September 7 Facebook post, Piñol said growing sili is easy and "it would be wise to be innovative" as prices of commodities rise due to increasing fuel prices and electricity rates.

"When you buy Red Sili, make sure to get a few seeds, sun-dry these and plant it in flower pots. When you gurgle in the morning when you wake up, just throw the water in the pot," he said.

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"Before you know it, you would just wake up one morning to see your plants adorned with Red fruits. Kailangan lang kaunting sipag para hindi reklamo ng reklamo," he added.

(Let's exert a little more effort instead of just complaining.)

Piñol said in his hometown of Kidapawan, North Cotabato the price of sili is just around P50 a kilo because almost every farmer in the provinces had the chili variant in a backyard.

"I have my own Red Sili farm too which I planted over a year ago and it has been the extra source of income for my household," he said.

The Agriculture chief finished his Facebook post with a hashtag #MagsipagHwagPuroReklamo!"

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Aside from sili, prices of vegetables also soared after the enhanced southwest monsoon destroyed crops in Benguet and other northern provinces, where Metro Manila gets most of its supply.

Vegetable prices in Metro Manila should go down in September with 40 to 60 tons of vegetables set for delivery every week, Piñol said earlier.