Bumper onion harvest leads to lower prices

Onion overproduction last year has led to lower prices, prompting the Agriculture department to find ways to market farmers’ excess produce. In a statement, the agency said local farmers produced a quarter or 30,055 metric tons over the 120,000 yearly consumption requirement due to favorable weather for the edible bulb. The Bureau of Plant Industry said onion had been planted in 15,055 hectares of land, resulting in a yield of 150,055 metric tons. "What turned out to be a good year for onion farmers in terms of volume of onion production is becoming a nightmare," the department said. It noted that as agreed with farmers, onion imports are only allowed once the retail price goes beyond P65 per kilo. From November 15 last year to February 15, when the price of onion hit P80-90 per kilo, the Bureau of Plant Industry issued 525 import clearances, but only 323 were used for a total volume of 14,433 metric tons. These were good only for 45 days of consumption, the department said. All clearances expired last February 15. It did not say how much onion goes for these days. "To address the problem of our farmers, the Bureau of Plant Industry has called the attention of the Agriculture department’s Agribusiness Marketing Service to help our growers market their produce," it said. Local onion stakeholders earlier said they were planning to revitalize existing nurseries to increase yearly output so their members can resume exports initially to Japan, to Singapore in the medium term and to the US in the long term. The National Onion Growers Cooperative Marketing Association said it was monitoring both the domestic and regional dynamics in onion production and was considering bringing their onions to markets abroad where the country had trade ties. The cooperative has 206 members in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, where most of the area is planted with onions. Aside from producing red creole and yellow granex, members of the cooperative have also learned to intercrop. Onion, a seasonal crop, is intercropped with rice and corn. The cooperative’s members have also diversified into pepper, cucumber, shallots and indigenous vegetables. Onion exports to Japan have increased in the last 25 years, reaching as much as 2,000 tons, before it was stopped due to stiff competition from China. — N.P. Aquino, GMANews.TV