Amid the ongoing armyworm infestation, locally called harabas, in some areas in Central Luzon, there will be no provision of cash assistance to affected onion growers unless a state of calamity is declared, said the Department of Agriculture on Friday.

“We do not provide cash assistance [unless] a state of calamity is declared. Our agricultural credit policy council can provide a survival and recovery loan, or what we call a SURE loan,” Agriculture spokesperson Asec. Arnel de Mesa said in a radio interview, noting that the declaration of this condition depends on the local government units.

He then emphasized the newly implemented onion importation ban until May or July due to the anticipated high domestic harvest this year.

DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., imposed the policy earlier on Friday to prevent the onion glut from further lowering its prices.

“That can be withdrawn if the production due to El Niño drops for whatever reason. When it’s El Niño, it’s hot, and it is conducive to having many pests,” he said.

When asked if the price will be stable due to the onion import ban and the expected good domestic harvest:

“When our productivity and production are high, one of the things we expect is that the price will not increase that much.”

As of now, DA said it has no total inventory of the high-value crop, but they noted that 99 tons of onion were imported in the first week of January due to shipment delays last month.

The agency earlier announced that as part of proactive measures against the ‘harabas’ infestation, they will upgrade their assistance to onion growers by providing them additional red and white onion seeds, four cold storages, organic insecticides, and pheromone lures.