Support onion farmers — lawmaker

THE GOVERNMENT should prioritize supporting onion farmers from production to marketing their produce and only consider importation if there is a supply shortage, a congressman said on Tuesday.

“We should only be importing if there really is a need — if there is a supply shortage and we need to curb the rising prices of agricultural products,” Party-List Rep. Wilbert T. Lee’s statement read. “Instead of relying on importation, the government must strengthen our local production by supporting our local producers.”

Addressing Mr. Lee’s statement, Federation of Free Farmers National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said that onion farmers are still in the harvest season, meaning there should be enough onion stocks to last a few months.

“We are still in the harvest period,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message. “Even if some crops were damaged, there should still be ample supply for the next few months.”

On Monday, Party-list Rep. Erwin T. Tulfo said the House of Representatives may recommend importing onions in a bid to lower domestic market prices of onions and prevent traders from hoarding their stocks to artificially inflate prices for greater profit.

Mr. Lee urged Congress to pass measures that could support the farming industry. “Congress should immediately pass measures… providing them access to cheaper farm inputs, fuel subsidy, more post-harvest facilities such as cold storages, and market linkages for faster delivery of their goods.”

Smugglers and hoarders are threats to farmers and consumers alike, he said, as they cause instability to onion market prices. “The price of onion produce spiked before because of smugglers, hoarders, and price manipulators.”

The harvest season for onion produce starts in March and lasts until the end of April, Jayson H. Cainglet, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director, said.

“We should first take inventory of stocks so that we’ll know how much we need to import to address potential supply shortages,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message in Filipino.

The average retail price of the cooking bulb ranges from P80 to P93 pesos per kilo, according to the latest price monitoring bulletin by the Department of Agriculture. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio