The Department of Agriculture (DA), through its state-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), has launched a major intervention in Occidental Mindoro, ramping up purchases of onions to stabilize farm prices and avert supply shocks.
Private buyers have already snapped up roughly 6,000 bags at P32–P35 per kilogram, significantly above the farmgate rate of around P22 per kilogram, signaling strong market demand.
FTI confirmed that logistics costs add about P8 per kilogram to transport onions to cold storage in Nueva Ecija, bringing the effective cost to P40–P43 per kilogram. Edoard Medalla, FTI’s sales and distribution manager, noted that this marks Mindoro’s first significant market intervention, with the agency relying on Nueva Ecija experts to ensure quality preservation.
Similar measures in Nueva Ecija have proven effective: FTI-backed buyers acquired 110,000 bags at an average P40 per kilogram, utilizing part of the region’s 190,000-bag cold storage capacity. Despite these efforts, Occidental Mindoro’s total output is projected at 3.2 million bags, meaning FTI cannot absorb all production but aims to support farm prices around P35 per kilogram, depending on quality and storage availability.
The DA emphasized that these purchases are part of a strategic plan to balance farmer income and consumer prices, using targeted procurement and storage to curb extreme price swings without disrupting the market.
Mindoro’s onion cultivation has expanded from 6,000 hectares last year to 8,637 hectares this season, expected to yield an additional 27,000 metric tons. However, storage remains a major bottleneck: the island’s eight cold storage facilities can accommodate only 16% of the harvest, and even a planned mega storage facility next year will hold just a quarter of the total crop. Onions’ limited shelf life—white onions last up to four months, red onions up to six under ideal conditions—adds urgency to the initiative.
As of Monday, retail prices in Metro Manila markets stand at P108.22/kg for local red onions, P95.49/kg for local white onions, and P90–P101/kg for imported onions, depending on type and size, reflecting ongoing supply pressures.
