Dar admits country suffering from onion, garlic shortage

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary William Dar on Thursday told senators that there is a shortage of onions and garlic in the Philippines, adding that the country is trying to boost its domestic production.

Responding to the question of Senator Grace Poe during a Senate hearing if there was indeed a shortage of onions and garlic in the country, the DA chief said, “tama po [nagkukulang po] (That’s correct, there’s a shortage). Domestically we are not able to really produce much.”

Dar said the country only produces eight percent of the total consumption for garlic.

Meanwhile, for onions, Dar said the Philippines produces “about 85 percent maximum based on our consumption.”

Poe then asked the agriculture chief about his plan to remedy the shortage.

“What we will do for onions would be to elevate the level from 85 to now targeting another 10 (to) 15 percent so that there is still a possibility of increasing the hectarage, including the productivity per unit area of onions here in the country,” Dar said.

“(For) garlic, maybe (that’s) a hard-sell. I mean, it’s a long way to go to really go for a higher level of production although we can have the opportunity to say double if not triple the eight percent domestic production in garlic,” he added.