A group of onion farmers has asked the Department of Agriculture (DA) to put off any issuance of import permits to protect the local December harvest that is now reaching the market to the tune of 10,000 bags.
In a statement, the Sibuyas ng Pilipinas Ating Alagaan (SIPAG) said it had submitted data showing a stable national inventory of 500,000 bags of 25 kilos each of onion, which is more than enough to supply the 350,000 bags of the country consume s monthly.
Ilocos farmers have a separate production of an estimated 10,000 bags for red shallots in December consisting of 4,000 bags from the north and 6,000 from the south, it said.
“DA Secretary Proceso Alcala has been very supportive of our farmers. We understand that he has to hear others who want an import permit now. But we will be making farmers sacrifice for us if imports are allowed now,” Francisco Collado, SIPAG president, said in the statement.
While government may be concerned about sufficiency of supply during the holiday season, SIPAG said onion prices have been relatively stable at P45 to P50 per kilo at farm gate for small onions and P55 to P60 per kilo for medium to large onions.
“Even if prices go a little higher, our money just goes around the economy, from a farmer’s hand to another. But if we allow imports deliberately, it will be Chinese farmers who will benefit from it. That will not benefit our economy at all,” Collado said.
And even after Ilocos farmers shall have been done with harvest by end-December, Collado said, onion farmers in Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija will start harvesting by January.
“We will not have a shortage because even before the older inventory from Ilocos runs out, harvests in other areas of the country are already approaching,” he said.
Collado said SIPAG takes the position that government should not at all allow anymore onion importation in order to help the industry survive.
“How can we make the industry self-sufficient if we allow unrestricted importation every time? Because of imports, farmers are hesitant to plant. Imports give farmers reason to stop planting because imports push down local onion prices,” he said.
SIPAG is concerned that containers with imported onion are already in port areas and just need import permits so that they may be taken out of the ports.
Onion farmers nationwide have been pleading for government support since they have already lost their garlic industry to imports from China and Taiwan.
They said the government should regulate the industry so as to protect the remaining onion industry even in Ilocos which produces shallot onions that have some special uses for salads and fresh dishes.
The industry is concerned that imported onions have been proliferating in Mindanao so much so that some stocks may be seen in front of regional DA’s office in Davao, Collado added. [PNA]
