ILOILO – With the soaring prices of onions, the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) encourages farmers to grow high-value crops, particularly onions and garlic.
PAO chief, Dr. Ildefonso Toledo, said farmers may venture into onions and garlic production, especially in the summer when it is not yet the season for rice planting.
Toledo explained that if farmers in Miag-ao town – the “Onion Capital of the Visayas” – can cultivate such, other towns in the 1st District like Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, San Joaquin, and Guimbal may also do so.
An estimated 600 hectares of land in Miag-ao grow onions.
“Ang tanan siguro naton nga area nga suitable for bulb onions, especially ang mga manug-sandiya, if they could divert to other high-value crops nga amo ‘ni ang sibuyas,” Toledo said in an interview with Panay News.
The provincial government, he added, is willing to provide technical assistance to interested farmers who want to learn how to grow high-value crops.
“Kon gusto nila hands-on puede ma-arrange sa mga farmers nga naga-bulb onions sa Miag-ao. Puede naton sila ma-request nga kon puede didto maka-hands-on training,” Toledo added.
Based on the report he received, onions sell for P250 to P350 per kilo in Iloilo province.
The provincial agriculturist added that most onions sold in the province are sourced from Ilocos and Mindoro, aside from those locally produced in Miag-ao.
He also assured the public that the supply of onions in Iloilo is enough.
“Sa supply actually, makita mo may ara. Pero ang presyohanay lang ang problema nga indi gid affordable sa mga tawo,” Toledo said.
Meanwhile, Leolin Coronel, an onion vendor at the Pavia Public Market in Pavia town, said that the crop is now sold at around P380 per kilo.
He added that there has been an accumulated increase of P100 since the prices began to soar, yet many still buy.
“Sa subong is P380 per kilo. Nagbarato na gani kay depende sa iya sizes. Usually ang isa daw around P4 ang presyo. Kon basehan sa previous sobra gid kamahal galing wala man choice ang tao,” Coronel said in an interview with Panay News.
Another market vendor from Pavia, Rexon John Arellano, said onions are sold at P480 per kilo.
“Subong kay alang-alang ang harvest season kag nag gamay ang bombay tapos ang imported wala man pagsulod, nagmahal ang local nga bombay,” he said.
Arellano said he could only be thankful he still has many customers despite the soaring prices of onions./PN
