SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro—The Department of Agriculture is stepping into the onion market in Occidental Mindoro to prevent a potential price collapse during the peak harvest season, with state-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) preparing to buy the onions directly from farmers and keep them in cold storage facilities.
The intervention comes as harvest volumes are expected to surge starting March until April, a period when farmgate prices typically fall sharply due to oversupply and limited storage capacity.
FTI executives inspected the WBI Cold Storage facility in this coastal town, which can store up to 380,000 bags of onions, as part of preparations for the agency’s procurement program in the province—one of the country’s key onion-producing areas.
FTI President Joseph Lo led the inspection together with Occidental Mindoro Provincial Agriculturist Engr. Alrizza Zubiri and San Jose Municipal Agriculturist Romel Calisangan. The cold storage facility is scheduled to begin operations on March 10, allowing FTI to start purchasing onions from farmers by the third week of March, ahead of the expected peak harvest. By purchasing onions and keeping them in cold storage, the government aims to absorb part of the harvest supply and stabilize farmgate prices.
“With this intervention, we expect to limit the role of middlemen in determining onion prices and help growers obtain better prices for their produce,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr., who directed the FTI to expand the onion-buying initiative that had been initiated in Nueva Ecija.
The procurement effort also forms part of a broader strategy to improve market stability and farmer income while ensuring a steady supply of onions in the market.
“The directive of the President and the Secretary is to advance food security in the country and ensure that food remains affordable and accessible to all Filipinos. In support of this, the role of the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) is to strengthen market linkages across the food value chain—from farmers to consumers,” Lo said.
FTI has already begun implementing the program in other onion-producing areas. The agency earlier procured 10,000 bags of red onions in Nueva Ecija and, starting March 6, is targeting purchases of around 3,000 bags daily. Alongside the procurement plan, provincial authorities also held a consultative meeting with onion farmers and traders to craft policies and guidelines for a more transparent onion trading system in Occidental Mindoro.
Representatives from the DA, including the High Value Crops Development Program, Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division, the Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Department of Trade and Industry presented updates on the province’s onion industry, including the status and capacity of local cold storage facilities.
The meeting also recommended requiring the registration of onion traders to prevent illegitimate buyers from operating in the market. Officials said the combined measures such as direct procurement, expanded cold storage use, and tighter trader oversight are expected to help cushion farmers from sharp price swings during the harvest season while promoting fairer trading practices in the onion industry.
