Philippines experiencing garlic, onion shortage — agri chief

The Philippines is experiencing a shortage of onion and garlic, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said Wednesday.

In a Senate hearing on COVID-19, Dar admitted that the country is “not able to really produce much” onion and garlic.

“For garlic, we only produce about 8 percent of the total consumption while onions, we produce about 85 percent maximum based on our consumption,” he said.

Dar said they are targetting a 10 to 15 percent increase in the production of onions to deal with the shortage.

However, he said that increasing production of garlic may be a much harder task.

“Garlic may be a hardsell. It’s a long way to go to really go for a higher level of production although we can have the opportunity to, say, double if not triple the 8 percent domestic production in garlic,” Dar explained.

Earlier this year, farmers slashed the price of onion to P25 per kilo amid speculations of importation. -- BAP, GMA News