CALASIAO, Pangasinan—The province of Pangasinan will start producing garlic in October this year, through a funding assistance from the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) to selected farmers, an agriculture industry leader said.
Rosendo So, Sinag president and chair of the party-list group Abono, said some towns in the province of Pangasinan used to produce garlic, but farmers stopped planting 15 years ago after they were discouraged by the massive importation of garlic that pushed the prices of the local produce down.
He said Sinag would give financial assistance to garlic farmers in the towns of Umingan and Malasiqui, and the cities of San Carlos and Urdaneta who would be identified by their municipal agriculture officers.
Garlic grows in areas that are not reached by flood but have good sources of water, So said.
“We have enough time to equip the interested farmers with the garlic production technology, as we would be coordinating with the Department of Agriculture for training,” he said.
If farmers plant in October, garlic will be ready for harvest in January, he said.
At least P100,000 is needed for a hectare of garlic plantation. A big portion of this amount, So said, goes to seeds and fertilizers.
“A hectare can produce five tons of garlic, which, if sold at P100 a kilogram, could earn for the farmers P500,000 or P400,000 net. Even if sold at P50 a kilogram, that would still be P250,000 or P150,000 net. But if the importers and price manipulators again enter the picture, the local garlic prices would drop again and farmers would lose even their shirts,” he said.
“We hope the government would look into the plight of the farmers and not allow importation during harvest time,” So said.
He said the prices of garlic have dropped to P150 to P200 from more than P300 a kg, after a shipment of about 30 container vans of imported garlic arrived in the country recently.
So said that in Divisoria market in Manila, the price of garlic has dropped to P150 a kg while in public markets in Metro Manila, the price was at P200 a kg.
He said the government allowed the importation to stabilize the price of garlic. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon