Presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos asked the Department of Agriculture to conduct and inventory and make a list of traders—from farmers who sold to them—so that they can be visited in their warehouses.
Taking advantage of the reported scarcity and low production of white onions, traders have been selling their stocks to the restaurant and fastfood industries at times then their previous year’s values.
This, as presidential sister and Senator Imee Marcos called for an inventory of total stocks in the country in the warehouses and bodegas of traders, who bought from farmers in previous crop harvests.
She asked the government to do such comprehensive inventory to determine the extent of shortage caused by last summer’s lean harvest, reported Business Mirror.
“Trace the traders who bought white onions from local farmers and find out if they are hoarding the crop in cold storage,” Marcos said.
“Without a comprehensive inventory, we cannot arrive at a well-calibrated importation policy that answers consumer demand but also relieves our local growers from low farm-gate prices.”
Marcos warned that smugglers of imported white onions are now taking advantage of the situation by selling to the restaurant industry at 10 times the usual price.
“Popular fast-food chains are complaining that what they used to buy at P40 pesos is now being sold to them at P400 by Divisoria-based traders.”
DA starts listing traders’ names
The Department of Agriculture has started listing the names of traders gathered from farmers in major onion-growing provinces like Nueva Ecija and Mindoro, but Marcos pressed for the inclusion of farmers in the Visayas and Mindanao to get a better grasp of the situation.
While awaiting the results of the inventory, Marcos urged the government to already link more local farmers with the restaurant industry, ahead of the next major harvest in April.
“We can shut out smugglers from the supply chain through contract-growing, wherein industrial buyers assure local growers of income from their upcoming harvests and, in turn, are assured supply of a staple ingredient in their food products.”
Marcos is concerned over the possibility that smaller harvests of white onions in November will fall short of higher demand when Christmas comes around.
“Wet weather conditions will aggravate the situation if these cause white onions to sprout or rot in storage,” she said.
“Next year’s national budget should provide more cold storage facilities for our local farmers. For now, an inventory and contract-growing must be done as soon as possible.”
Tags: #whiteonions, #overpricingbytentimes, #SenatorImee, #DA