ILOILO – There is no shortage of red onions in this province, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. after inspecting public markets this week.
“Indi lang tama kadamo, pero there is supply. May ara naghalin sa Pangasinan and Mindoro,” said Defensor.
Iloilo has long been dependent on other provinces to meet its annual requirement of over 5,000 metric tons of onions.
Although there are locally-produced red onions from Miag-ao town, growers can only harvest 600 metric tons.
“Halin sang una dependent gid man kita sa sagwa. Maybe kulang ang production but it’s something nga indi mo masiguro kay ngaa? Ang onions specific sa duta. Kon didto na sia naghalin sa Miag-ao because of the soil, indi kita makasiling nga makapagusto kita tanom kay basi indi mag-maayo ang tubo ‘ya sa iban nga banwa,” explained Defensor.
According to the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), Miag-ao farmers started planting in December 2022. The harvest is in April 2023.
Defensor hopes onions will become cheaper by the time local farmers introduce their harvest to the market.
By his own monitoring, Defensor said, a kilo of red onion currently costs between P300 and P350 – significantly higher than the P40 to P60 per kilo price in 2019.
Here are the top onion producing-towns in Iloilo in 2021, based on PAO data:
* Miag-ao – 921.05 metric tons
* Alimodian – 9 metric tons
* Oton – 6.83 metric tons
* Igbaras – 1.79 metric tons
* Tubungan – .8 metric ton.
PAO head Ildefonso Toledo encouraged farmers in the 1st District to venture into high-value crops like red 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 – the “Onion Capital of the Visayas” – can cultivate such crops, other towns in the 1st District like Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, San Joaquin, and Guimbal may also do so.
“Ang tanan siguro naton nga area nga suitable for bulb onions especially ang mga manog-sandiya if they could divert to other high value crops nga amo ‘ni ang sibuyas kag bombay,” he said.
The provincial government, he added, is willing to provide technical assistance to interested farmers who want to learn how to grow high-value crops./PN
