The farmgate price per kilo of red onion in Occidental Mindoro has risen after falling in recent weeks, farmers have complained.
According to Antonio Gerundio, director of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Mimaropa region, the farmgate price has reached P18 to P25 from P6 to P14.
Many have been sold in supermarkets in Metro Manila, Quezon, Palawan and supermarkets.
As of January 2022, about 60, 770 metric tons of onions have been sold.
“Marami na ang naibenta in fact yung current stocks natin ng harvest ng onion nasa 56,882 bags equivalent to 1,000 metric tons na lang,” said Gerundio.
Business-to-business matching is said to be the strategy used to meet the dropping price.
“Tinuturuan natin ‘yong farmers na magbenta, magnegosyo kasi ‘yong value chain ng mga farmer ay hanggang harvesting lang,” explained Celso Olido, chief of the DA-Mimaropa Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division.
“Ngayon,, dahil tinuturuan natin sila mag-negosyo ini-encourage natin sila sumali sa mga cooperative at ‘yong kooperatiba ‘yong hinihikayat natin na mag-negosyo,” he added.
Onion farmers in Occidental Mindoro celebrated the increase in the farm gate price.
According to Amboy Cuaresma, after the situation of their farmers was shown on “TV Patrol,” many buyers came, and there the price started to rise.
Onion prices in Occidental Mindoro have increased
The DA has also allocated a P5 million financial grant each to 8 cooperatives as additional investment in purchasing onions.
Meanwhile, the “harabas” pest has damaged 5, 300 metric tons of onions, valued at P99 million.
The DA has already allocated P33 million to rehabilitate onion plantations affected by “harabas” in the towns of San Jose, Calintaan, and Magsaysay.
Last month, some farmers were forced to throw away the harvested onions or let the crop rot because they could not sell them in Nueva Ecija.
It is said that traders do not buy all their onions, so many of their products just rot.
It is also said that farmers cannot take the products to other places to sell because of the expensive transportation.
The traders are also said to have control over most cold storage to store the extra onions that cannot be sold.
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