The government is preparing to buy onions directly from farmers in Occidental Mindoro as harvest volumes are expected to surge in the coming weeks, a move aimed at preventing a sharp drop in farmgate prices during the peak season.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), through state-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), will purchase part of the harvest and place the stocks in cold storage to absorb excess supply and stabilize prices for growers.

FTI President Joseph Lo recently inspected the WBI Cold Storage facility in San Jose town, which has a capacity of up to 380,000 bags of onions. The facility is scheduled to begin operations on 10 March , allowing the agency to start procurement by the third week of March as the harvest begins to intensify.

Occidental Mindoro is one of the country’s major onion-producing provinces, and farmgate prices typically fall when large volumes reach the market between March and April due to limited storage capacity.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the intervention also seeks to reduce the influence of middlemen in determining farm prices.

“With this intervention, we expect to limit the role of middlemen in determining onion prices and help growers obtain better prices for their produce,” Laurel said as he directed FTI to expand its onion-buying initiative beyond Nueva Ecija.

The procurement program forms part of a broader effort to improve market stability and ensure farmers receive fair returns while maintaining adequate supply in the market.

“The directive of the President and the Secretary is to advance food security in the country and ensure that food remains affordable and accessible to all Filipinos. In support of this, the role of the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) is to strengthen market linkages across the food value chain—from farmers to consumers,” Lo said.

FTI has already started implementing the initiative in other onion-producing areas. In Nueva Ecija, the agency earlier bought 10,000 bags of red onions and, beginning March 6, plans to purchase around 3,000 bags daily.

Local officials also held consultations with farmers and traders to discuss policies for a more transparent onion trading system in the province.

Representatives from the DA’s High Value Crops Development Program, the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division, the Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Department of Trade and Industry presented updates on the state of the province’s onion sector, including the capacity of available cold storage facilities.

Among the proposals discussed was the registration of onion traders to prevent unauthorized buyers from entering the market.