Onion farmers seek imports freeze
We don’t want onion prices to surge, similar to what happened in December last year when prices reached P700 to P800 per kilo
Daily TribuneWe don’t want onion prices to surge, similar to what happened in December last year when prices reached P700 to P800 per kilo
Onion farmers on Monday asked the Department of Agriculture to delay importation as they argued local stocks are still enough until December and onion prices had fallen.
Efren Alvarez, an onion farmer in Nueva Ecija, said importing onions is unnecessary as local stocks in cold storage could last until the first week of December.
He added farmers will start planting the next season this month which can be harvested in the last week of the same month.
"We still have a lot of onions in cold storage facilities. We have not sold them for seven months now," he said in a forum with agriculture officials.
"There will still be onion supply in the last week of December if heavy rains do not damage the crops," Alvarez added.
With the high volumes of imported onions, Alvarez said local farmers have been earning less or below the range of P100 to P170 per kilo.
These statements came after the DA allowed in August the importation of 6,152 metric tons of yellow onions, out of which 196 metric tons already arrived in the country. Agriculture officials expect the rest of the imported onions to follow in the next few months.
"We request the government to delay the release of imported onions into the market so we can sell our stocks. The release of permits for imported onions came at the wrong time," Alvarez said.
DA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said the government will extend its discussions with other stakeholders to ensure there is no oversupply of onions and to maintain a healthy balance between the farmer incomes and the amount consumers are able to pay.
"It's possible that too much imported onions are flooding the market which has lowered farmer incomes, and we'll be looking into possible leaks of supply from imported onions," he said.
He added that imported onions can be stored further to give way to local onions.
"Onions can be stored for four months and still remain edible," Estoperez said.
He stressed the government seeks imported onions to ensure there will be no supply shortage, especially in the next quarter this year when Filipinos will be gathering over food for Christmas celebrations.
"We don't want onion prices to surge, similar to what happened in December last year when prices reached P700 to P800 per kilo. And so I also ask you to not try to hide onions for profiteering," Estoperez said.
