The farmers in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro had been “dismayed” after studying that the onions they offered at a farm gate value of P8 to P15 per kilogram throughout the harvest season had been being offered at round P700 per kilogram in Metro Manila on the finish of the 12 months.
This was aired by San Jose, Occidental Mindoro municipal agriculturist Romel Calingasan at a Senate listening to Monday.
“‘Yung presyo na pinag-uusapan po natin ngayon na nag-raise po [sa] P650 to P700 sa merkado, ‘yan po ay binili lamang po sa mga magsasaka ng San Jose, Occidental Mindoro ng P8 to 15 during harvest season… ‘nung buwan po ng March to April,” Calingasan informed the senators.
“Kaya talaga pong ganon na lang ang pagkadismaya ng aming mga magsasaka…dahil po sobrang taas po ang naging presyo ng sibuyas. Sobrang pinagsamantalahan po ang presyo ng sibuyas,” he added.
According to Calingasan, the farmers had been categorized as shoppers on the latter a part of 2022 as they had been additionally pressured to purchase onions at the next value as a result of they weren’t in a position to protect their harvest resulting from lack of storage services within the province in addition to in Metro Manila.
Calingasan stated final 12 months, the farmers had been in a position to plant onions in 3,485 hectares of land however solely lower than 5 p.c of their harvest may be accommodated within the storage services.
With this, he stated the farmers had no alternative however to promote 95% of their harvests to merchants.
At the identical listening to, senators discovered that 5 onion farmers in Bayambang, Pangasinan have taken their very own lives resulting from chapter.
Elvin Jerome Laceda, the nationwide president of Young Farmers Challenge Club of the Philippines, Inc., introduced with him Merly, spouse of one of many farmers who dedicated suicide final 12 months.
“Last year po dahil nalugi ang kanilang farm, nag-suicide po ang kanyang asawa. Milyon-milyon ang utang po nila dahil don sa harabas (army worm). Ngayon pa lang po sila sana nakabawi pero dahil may importasyon po, wala pang 100 days ang kanilang onions po, kailangan nang i-harvest 85 to 90 days,” Laceda stated.
“‘Yung istorya ni nanay sana hindi na po maulit sa ibang magsasaka. Lima na magsasaka po ang nagsuicide sa barangay nila,” he added.
Laceda then appealed to the officers current on the Senate listening to to purchase the agricultural merchandise at a value that’s useful to the farmers and the shoppers.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla stated throughout the identical listening to that the costs of onions could drop to P120 to P150 kilograms after the native harvesting season.
In the previous years, Sombilla stated the costs of onions don’t exceed P200 to P250 per kilogram they usually had been additionally stunned that the market value had reached nearly P800 per kilogram.
“We expect na as soon as ‘yung pangako po nila na harvesting will come on the third and fourth week after which continued ‘yan hanggang sa April [to] May, talagang babagsak po siguro. Hopefully, P120-P150 [per kilogram] as prior to now years,” she stated.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
