Onion farmers upbeat over good harvest

BONGABON, Nueva Ecija – With the red onion priced at P36 to P40 a kilo, farmers these days are upbeat to lead the celebration of the nine-day Sibuyasan Festival that started here on April 2.

Onion, the town’s major product, was the main feature of the activities, particularly during the farmers’ day and street dancing competition on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Mayor Amelia Gamilla said farmers were in high spirits as they joined the festivity that was aimed at uplifting their morale following five years of heavy losses.

“Now you can see that everybody is happy,” she said. “It is a fitting tribute to our farmers who serve as engine of our development.”

Gamilla said at least 3,500 hectares of farm land here are planted with onions, including the yellow granex variety.

During the festival, students wearing onion-inspired outfits presented numbers before officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the town government. Some farmers joined onion-eating contests at the town plaza while DA employees urged residents to prepare onion-based dishes.

Brigida Pili, DTI provincial director, said onion has been identified as this town’s one town-one product (Otop) and a multiagency effort is being exerted to make the industry viable.

“We are negotiating with the market, including well-known fast food chains [so they would patronize our product],” she said.

Dante de Lima, outgoing director of the DA’s high value crop development division, said the country has produced enough supply of the red creole variety.

But he said farmers were having a hard time to meet production targets for the yellow granex variety, which has a shorter shelf life.

He said the country ran short of yellow granex from November to January.

“We have decided not to issue an import permit for red onion. However, you have to work hard to produce the requirement for yellow onion,” De Lima told farmers.

He handed a P10.4-million check to fund drying facilities, to local officials and organizations of onion farmers here.