Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16) – A local agriculturist from Occidental Mindoro urged the government to establish more storage facilities after farmers in the province were forced to sell their onions for ₱8 to ₱15 per kilo during the harvest season in 2022 due to cold storage shortage.
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In a Senate hearing on Monday, municipal agriculturist Romel Calingasan of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro said traders were tapped to directly buy onions from farmers, with the price set by the buyers due to the high volume of imported supply and lack of storage area for local produce.
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They later found out that traders sold their produce for up to ₱700 per kilo in Metro Manila markets from September to December, he noted.
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“‘Yung presyo na pinag-uusapan ngayon na nagra-range sa ₱600 to ₱700 sa merkado ay binili lamang sa mga magsasaka ng San Jose, Occidental Mindoro ng ₱8 to ₱15 during harvest season sa amin noong buwan ng March to April, 2022,” Calingasan said.
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[Translation: The prices we are talking of now that range from ₱600 to ₱700 in the market were bought from farmers of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro at ₱8 to ₱15 during our harvest season in March to April 2022.]
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He said local farmers who were categorized as producers have become consumers by that time because they no longer have onions.
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Farmers present during the hearing said they did not benefit from the high price of onion, adding they cannot do anything if the traders want a lower price. They also noted that if the traders will not purchase their produce, these will just be wasted.
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Calingasan said local producers failed to preserve the onions since storage facilities in the province, and even in Metro Manila, were already “full.”
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He said the province, especially the town of San Jose, needs more storage facilities as its onion production in 2022 alone reached 3,485 hectares.
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The Department of Agriculture said it hopes to build more cold storage facilities this year.
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However, farmers said this is now a life-or-death situation after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the importation of more than 21,000 metric tons of onions.
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“Pinagsamantalahan na patungan ng almost 1,000 percent. Tapos ngayon na mag-aani na po si Juang magsasaka sasabayan niyo ang importasyon,” Calingasan said. “Papatayin niyo po talaga kami.”
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[Translation: They took advantage of the situation by marking up by almost 1,000%. Now that Juang magsasaka will harvest, importation was allowed. You are really killing us.]
