THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to extend assistance to onion farmers in Region 3 (Central Luzon) in its bid to insulate them from possible threats to their production.

Region 3 contributes 55 percent to the country's onion production, the highest among the regions.

In a statement, DA Regional Field Office 3 High-value Crops Development Program focal person AB David said the region's production is currently at 320-percent sufficiency level that will adequately supply the needs of residents.

Central Luzon has also seen an increase in the total number of areas planted with crops. About 13,497 hectares of land are being devoted to onion farming as of February this year.

The region also recorded a high increase in terms of volume of production, harvesting a total of 212,184 metric tons of red and yellow onions, and shallots.

"Last year, we remember that the price of onions was very high. For this year, there is an urgency for our farmers to shift into onion farming, that is why the number of onion farmers has increased," David said.

Other farmers in non-onion producing places in the region also switched to onion farming including those in Bacolor, Arayat, Magalang and Mabalacat City in Pampanga and some areas in Bataan and Tarlac.

Challenges

David noted that some onion farms in the region are being infested by onion armyworms, locally known as harabas. In response, the Agriculture department is installing pheromone traps to lure the insects and provide free onion seeds, plastic mulch to decrease their postharvest losses, pallets for their cold storage facilities, sprayers, cultivators and shovels.

The agency is also set to turn over three units of onion cold storage facilities in the municipalities of Laur and Cuyapo in Nueva Ecija and Hermosa in Bataan amounting to about P140 million.

It will also build four units of cold storage facilities for onions with a total cost of about P191 million. Two of these will be in other parts of Nueva Ecija and one each in Pampanga and Tarlac.

David urged onion farmers to seek the help of their municipal or city agriculture office to avail any of these aids.

"Our provinces have their own high-value crops development coordinator where they could connect with them if they want to avail the help from the government," she said, noting that farmers must be registered in the Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture and are members of farmers' cooperative or association.

Farmers must also prepare a letter of intent addressed to the DA regional director and have it endorsed by both the municipal or city and the provincial agriculturists.