The Catholic Church’s social action and advocacy arm urged the government to provide farmers with needed assistance amid the soaring prices of onions in the market.
Caritas Philippines issued a statement on Monday, January 16, calling on the Department of Agriculture to help farmers increase onion production at less costs in a bid to lower prices in the market.
“The government should provide financial incentives or subsidies to help our farmers grow more onions and lower the cost of production,” said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Caritas Philippines.
“This will make them more competitive with producers from other countries, who are already receiving large subsidies and other forms of support from their government,” he said.
Aside from the financial support, the bishop also urged the Department of Agriculture to improve onion farming infrastructures in the country.
“Another thing that can be looked into is infrastructural investments that would improve the productivity and efficiency of onion farms,” Bishop Bagaforo said.
“More cold storage facilities should be established to lessen the cost surplus of our farmers and meet the rising demand for agricultural products in the market,” he added.
Caritas Philippines issued the statement as prices of local red onions are now between PhP500 to PhP720 per kilogram, while local white onions are priced at PhP600.
The amount is far from prices in 2021, when the prevailing price of locally produced onions stood at around PhP140 per kilogram.
