State-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) will begin purchasing onions from farmers in Occidental Mindoro by the third week of March as harvest volumes increase.
The Department of Agriculture said the procurement program is intended to prevent a price decline during the peak harvest period. Harvest volumes are expected to increase from March through April, a period when farm-gate prices often fall due to higher supply and limited storage capacity.
"With this intervention, we expect to limit the role of middlemen in determining onion prices and help growers obtain better prices for their produce," Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
FTI executives have inspected the WBI Cold Storage facility in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, in preparation for the procurement program. The facility can store up to 380,000 bags of onions and is scheduled to begin operations on March 10.
Provincial authorities also held a consultative meeting with onion farmers and traders in the area to discuss policies aimed at improving transparency in onion trading in Occidental Mindoro.
The buying price for the procurement program has not yet been announced. FTI president and CEO Joseph Rudolph Lo previously said the company would purchase onions at prices intended to maintain the profitability of onion production.
According to the Department of Agriculture, the government plans to absorb a portion of the domestic harvest supply and place the product in cold storage facilities.
Farm-gate prices refer to the price received by farmers when selling produce at the farm level and are largely influenced by traders.
The Department of Agriculture said the procurement program forms part of a broader approach aimed at stabilizing farm-gate prices and maintaining onion supply in the market.
Source: Inquirer
