Bountiful harvest brings down prices of onion in Pangasinan

Onion growers in Pangasinan province are enjoying a bountiful harvest this month, but are seeing prices of the crop fall.

In Bayambang, so many harvested onions are brought to the town center but the produce fetch a lower price, GMA Dagupan's Joanne Ponsoy reported.

According to the municipal agriculture office (MAO), some 650 hectares of land are devoted to growing onions, and that each hectare could yield up to 15,000 kilos, Ponsoy reported on GMA Dagupan's "Primera Balita" Wednesday.

Low prices at the local market have forced some farmers to bring the onions to Balintawak Market in Metro Manila. Still, prices in the metropolis are low.

"Bagsak din [ang presyo]... ano, P20 to P25 ang bigayan doon [Balintawak Market], dati P50," said Rodolfo Anaco, who transported the onions.

Another concern involves imported onions, which municipal agriculture officer Mercedes Peralta said are cheaper though not as full-flavored as the locally-grown variety.

"Yung imported [na sibuyas] kasi sa presyo mas mura pero ang disadvantage... para bang walang kalasa-lasa at matigas siya," Peralta said.

Market inspections by the agriculture office's field teams yielded no imported onions being sold.

Some vendors said the imported onions would only be brought out after the local ones are sold out.

"Pag wala na ang sibuyas na harvest nila saka lang namin ilalabas ang imported," said vendor Cherry de Guzman.

The municipal agriculture office expects prices of onions to remain low in March, harvest time in the region, thus the supply is plentiful.

Farm prices of onions in Pangasinan go as low as P9 to P10 per kilo. In the markets, they can fetch P12 to P15 per kilo. At the start of 2015, onions had been sold at P35 per kilo.

Nueva Ecija

Meanwhile, in Nueva Ecija, prices of onions also went down to P10 to P12 per kilo.

Farmers in Guimba were forced to harvest the onions early to cut losses, blaming the entry of imported onions for their situation.

Fertilizer

For its part, the Bayambang MAO suggested that farmers use organic fertilizer.

It also suggested that they resort to rotational cropping or planting other crops after harvesting the onions, to maintain soil moisture. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News