The regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA 11) is now exploring areas for red onion production in the Davao Region amid the continued high prices of onion in the country, according to an official.
DA 11 regional executive director Abel James Monteagudo said on Tuesday that DA 11 is now exploring areas in Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, and Davao del Sur for onion production.
He cited the municipalities of Magsaysay and Matanao in Davao del Sur, which started planting red onions.
“In the case of the regional field office 11, we have areas in Davao del Sur that have been producing sibuyas. It’s not the sibuyas na malalaki but they are producing. Just a matter of giving them support and necessary interventions,” Monteagudo said during the Agribiz media forum at SM Lanang Premier.
He also mentioned the instructions of the two former DA secretaries for the regional field offices to look for onion production areas.
“My predecessor directors as instructed by the previous two secretaries, specially Secretary Piñol, in 2017 na dapat maghanap ng mga areas for sibuyas production. All regional field offices were given directives to look for production areas. Some regions really were able to identify and some came out failing due to climate adaptability, etc,” he said.
The Bureau of Plant Industry reportedly said that with the arrival of the onions recently imported by the government and with the increased supply soon, many are hoping its prices will drop.
“The public expects that the price of sibuyas will go down. Ito napapanood ko lang sa TV nagtatanong na ang public bakit hindi pa bumababa maybe one could feel the effect in a few days pa syempre bago lang dumating hindi pa seguro dumating dito at hindi pa nadi-distribute,” he said.
He assured that DA is addressing the needs of the onion farmers by extending hand tractors, irrigation, and fertilizer.
