The Department of Agriculture (DA) has vowed to strengthen the country’s onion industry to make the farmers’ livelihood more developed and competitive.
DA Sec. William Dar met with Nueva Ecija and Occidental Mindoro onion farm leaders to formulate plans and strategies to help local farmers and their livelihoods become more competitive.
“We have used properly this opportunity to listen to you and articulate what can be done by the government so that we can continue to make you competitive,” Dar said during the dialogue on Feb. 22.
“Dapat kaya natin makipagtunggali sa mga magsasaka sa ibang parte ng mundo by way of adopting the best technologies and innovations para mapataas natin ang inyong ani at kita (We should be able to compete with farmers worldwide by adopting the best technologies and innovations to boost our harvest and income),” he added.
Farm leaders present during the meeting consulted the department regarding the challenges faced by the industry, such as competition with imported onions and the commodity’s declining price. They also expressed their need for warehouses to store their surplus and markets to sell their goods.
To address the issue on the importation, Dar explained that an additional guideline for fresh onion importation was released last on Dec. 14 last year. He added that the department will also implement more guidelines upon the issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC).
“The issuance of SPSICs for fresh onion will be based on the importation period specified in the Certificate of Necessity to Import (CNI), which shall include the volume to be imported and the specific period for import arrival,” Dar said.
He added that it would also help onion growers, traders, and importers with planting, harvesting, storage, importation, marketing, and distributing fresh onion through the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
“We have to be very clear with our farmers that we are sincere in helping them. We will continue to look at opportunities to reduce the cost of agricultural inputs in many ways,” Dar said.