Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel Jr. has put a temporary halt to onion importation to prevent further depressing its prices because of the supply glut.

In a statement released Friday, Jan. 19, the agriculture department said Laurel agreed "in principle" to suspend the onion importation until May, with the possibility of extending the suspension until July, provided the domestic harvest of the high-value crop is adequate to meet local demand.

“In principle, I agree with no onion importation until July. But that is on condition that if there is a sudden supply shortfall, we will have to import earlier,” said Laurel.

“Hindi po natin alam ang mangyayari dahil may El Niño (We don’t know what would happen because of El Niño),” he went on.

On Thursday, Jan. 18, the agriculture chief met with members from the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) to address the increase in domestic onion supply caused by a fresh harvest and the arrival of additional supplies imported in December.

“Shipment delays resulted in the arrival of 99 tons of onion imported in December between January 1 and 15,” the DA noted.

Meanwhile, the PCAFI told Laurel that they expect a supply surplus since an additional 40 percent of the land area was planted with onions.

According to the agency, the farm gate pricing for onions has dropped to between P50 and P70 per kilogram due to the increased supply, and they may drop even lower in February when additional onions are harvested.

“In some areas in Nueva Ecija, which accounts for 97 percent of onion production in Luzon, prices have dropped to as low as P20 a kilo. Luzon produces 65 percent of local onion supply,” the DA added.

To recall, onion prices increased to a record high of P720 per kilo in December 2022 due to scarce supply.