Bongabon, Nueva Ecija—To address the concerns of the onion farmers of Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, Undersecretary for High Value Crops and Rural Credit Evelyn G. Laviña attended the Farmers’ Forum held at the Multi-Purpose Hall, Municipal Hall, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, February 09.

The forum was participated by the onion farmers of the municipality.

The town of Bongabon is Nueva Ecija’s leading onion producer in the country thus dubbed as the “onion basket of the Philippines” with an average yield of 13.10 mt/ha and 25.73 mt/ha for red onions and yellow onions, respectively for the year 2016-2017.

With a theme “Responsableng Pagpapaunlad ng Pagsasaka ng Sibuyas”, the main objective of the forum is to discuss and addressed the problems being faced by the onion farmers of the municipality.

The OIC-Municipal Agriculturist Jackielou R. Gallarde presented the current status of the onion industry in their locality.

“The harabas (armyworm) infestations affected our current onion production.” Gallarde explained

Bongabon Municipal Mayor Ricardo I. Padilla encouraged farmers to work together in resolving the infestation of armyworm. He assured them that the local government will support all programs under the agriculture sector.

Meanwhile, OIC Regional Executive Director Engr. Roy M. Abaya disclosed the agenda of the Department under the leadership of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol

“We are glad to be part of this event because want to futher improve the delivery of services, and assistance to out farmers. Now, DA’s goal is towards: rice productivity and competitiveness. In order to reach these we have three strategies: technology, financing, and marketing.” Abaya mentioned

“On technology we continually do research and studies to discover modern and innovative technologies; on financing under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) one of the first benefactors is the Province of Nueva Ecija recipient of P20 million for Bongabon farmers; and lastly, marketing we have the “TienDa Farmers and Fisherfolks Outlet” which features fresh fruits, vegetables, rice, and other agricultural and fishery products from different farms nationwide sold at farm gate prices.” he added

“We will study on how lower the production cost of onion in order to increase your profit.” Abaya ended

In her message, Usec. Laviña quoted what President Rodrigo R. Duterte said, “it is my moral obligation to provide available and affordable food for my people.” and encouraged onion farmers to work together with the DA and LGU as partners.

“The Department, through Director Abaya and DA Region 3 High Value Crops Coordinator Fernando Lorenzo, is willing to help but let’s work as a team because your failure is also our failure.” Laviña stressed

An open forum and farm visit was held after the main program.###

Ozanne Ono Allas
Information Officer II