Onion farmers from Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Mindoro have protested at the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture in Quezon City yesterday, complaining about the flood of imported onions in the market.
The farmers urged President Marcos, who is also the Agriculture Secretary, to direct the Bureau of Plant Industry to halt the issuance of import permits as the price of local onions in cold storage facilities dropped to P70 per kilo from the previous P130 per kilo.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez told the protesting farmers they are willing to delay the release of imported onions to allow local farmers to release their stocks. The 78,000 tons of local red onions in cold storage facilities will last for three months or until November, while the 827 tons out of 6,000 tons imported red onions that have already arrived in the country can be stored for four months.
[ P10 = €0.16 ]
Source: philstar.com