Onion farmers rebound after 3-year losses

BONGABON, Nueva Ecija—After three years of losses due to pest infestations and the erratic weather, the country’s “onion basket” has managed to rebound this year with a bountiful harvest.

“Harvest is good [in Bongabon] and the farm gate price is relatively higher,” said Aida Laluan, high-value crops coordinator of the municipal agricultural office.

The total harvest in this onion-growing municipality has been valued at P910 million.

A total of 2,914 hectares of agricultural land was planted to onions this cropping season here. About 2,300 ha of these farms grew the red creole variety and the rest, yellow grannex.

This town accounts for more than half of the total onion harvest in Nueva Ecija. In 2013, the onion yield in 23 towns and cities in the province was 55 percent (or 73,792.95 metric tons) of the national output which was 134,169 MT. About 52 percent of this province’s onion yield in 2013 (or 38,372.334 MT) was grown in Bongabon, said Gregorio Quiñones, Nueva Ecija high-value crops coordinator.

The current farm gate price for red creole onions is P24 per kilogram while the price for yellow grannex is P18.

“The average yield per hectare of the red creole is 421 bags while yield for the yellow grannex is 1,500 bags,” Laluan said. Each bag contains 28 kg, she said.

But farmers who tilled about 140 ha of land, particularly in Barangay Pesa, reported the return of harabas, army worms which devour the leaves of the onion plant. —ANSELMO ROQUE