PHL ships 20 MT yellow onions to Japan 

A trial shipment of 20 metric tons (MT) of yellow granex onions was supposed to arrive in Japan on Wednesday from the Philippines that could pave the way for exports of the commodity to other countries, the Department of Agriculture noted in a statement.

 

Once embraced by the Japanese market, which would show that the onions conform to Japanese quality standards, the Philippines intends to ship the commodity to other exports destinations, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

 

"This means that Filipino farmers can produce quality farm products like onions for export to countries like Japan," Alcala noted..

 

The yellow granex, harvested from the onion producing Bongabon in Nueva Ecija, were shipped to Japan from the Manila Harbor Center on March 16.

 

The onions were the results of a research—“Enhancing the productivity of yellow onion towards commercialization for the export market”—commissioned by the DA High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) through the Bureau of Agricultural Research.  

 

Farmers in Bongabon were trained to produce export-quality onions using quality seeds and modern production technologies in a cost-efficient manner.

 

The Agriculture Department partnered  with the National Onion Growers Cooperative Marketing Association Inc. (Nogrocoma) in providing technical assistance to Nueva Ecija farmers.

 

The Philippine onion industry went into a slump in the 1990s with the influx of smuggled onions sold cheaply in local markets that eased out the onions produced by local farmers and stopped the shipments to export markets, said Nogrocoma CEO Dulce Gozon.

 

With the initial shipment to Japan that could spell the revival of yellow onion exports, Gozon noted farmers in Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Occidental Mindoro and other provinces may be encouraged to plant yellow onions.

 

In 2012, Philippine onion production reached  124,830 MT valued at P3.9 billion. Yellow granex comprised 15 percent of last year's output, as well as 55 percent red and 30 percent shallots.

 

Farmers need to produce the right quality and size to penetrate foreign markets, said National Onion Action Team chairperson Leah Cruz. 

 

The department will support onion growers to make the industry export-competitive by providing quality planting materials and inputs and equipment, hanger storage facilities, marketing assistance, appropriate and location-specific researches, and demonstration farms to showcase different onion varieties, said HVCDP director Jennifer E. Remoquillo. — VS, GMA News