Onion prices remain high, says DA

MANILA, Philippines - Off-season onion prices remain high, ranging from P60 per kilo for the traditional Red Creole variety and up to P100 per kilo for the Yellow Granex variety, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday.

However, the DA said onion prices will ease in the next few weeks as farmers in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija are set to harvest their crop of hybrid onions earlier than most of their counterparts in the province.

The prevailing high onion prices, which are benefitting local onion growers, is the result of the DA’s move restricting the issuance of onion import permits by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

Late last year Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala offered direct assistance to Bongabon farmers, providing them P15-million worth of hybrid onion seeds – P4.5-million worth of Red Creole and Yellow Granex seeds, and P500,000-worth of onion seeds to farmers in nearby towns.

Bongabon is considered as the country’s onion capital, with about 3,000 hectares planted to the crop, more than one-half of Nueva Ecija’s total onion hectarage.