Philippines ships onions to Japan
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala says that, once Japan has been established as a market, the plan is to seek other export destinations.
The shipment is the result of a research project—“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 the industry could be revived and more growers may be encouraged to cultivate the 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.
Source: gmanetwork.com
