Onion prices down due to oversupply

Prices of onion have gone down due to excessive supply glutting the market, on the back of the harvest season and the availability of imported onions.

Susan Enriquez reported on Unang Balita on Thursday that farmers have been forced to sell their produce at low prices in order to recoup their capital.

In Nueva Ecija, onions are sold at P15 to 16 per kilo.

Based on the records of the  provincial agriculturist, around 1, 055 hectares in 11 cities and municipalities of Nueva Ecija are planted with onions.

“Wala na po kaming mapagbebentahan, dahil puno na rin. Para maibalik lang ang aming puhunan,” farmer Camilo De Guzman said.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol believes that some traders are manipulating the price of onions to force farmers to sell their produce at low prices.

Piñol said big traders are renting cold storage facilities so that farmers would not have a place to preserve their onions, forcing them to sell their goods early and at low prices before their harvest rots.

"Today were taking actions, sapagkat nakikita namin ito, kutsabahan ito ng mga traders na may kontrol ng cold storage,” Piñol said.

Piñol already wrote to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to investigate the matter, hoping to address the problem.

“We will file charges and I think it will be PCC that will take legal action against these companies,” he said.

In Mega Q-Mart, the price of onions range from P35 to P40 because onions are still rare in their market despite the reported oversupply, unlike in Balintawak Market where the onion price is lower. —Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News