Philippines adopts Vietnam technology to improve onion cultivation

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is banking on Vietnam’s latest technology in onion farming to improve productivity and lessen its dependence on imported produce.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the new onion farming technology developed by Vietnamese farmers in the Mekong Delta where about 7,000 hectares is devoted to the production of onions, would allow farmers to harvest three times a year.

In the Philippines, local onion farmers harvest only once a year because they use seeds that take about six months before they the onion bulbs are ready for harvest.

To help the Philippines achieve self-sufficiency producing onions, Piñol has allowed VietGrow, one of Vietnam’s biggest vegetable seeds producer and fertilizer manufacturer, to set up demonstration farms in North Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Ilocos Norte and Mindoro.

“Should the demo farms produce positive results, this would mean the end of the days when Filipino onion farmers are at the mercy of imported and smuggled onions,” Piñol said.

Instead of seeds, the new technology uses onion tubers as planting materials that could be harvested after two months, allowing farmers to harvest as much as three to four times per year.

“The process starts with the intensive seeding of bulb onion seeds in a nursery area. When the bulb onions have grown to thumb-size, these are harvested and replanted to the propagation area at a ratio of one ton per hectare,” he said.

“The excess planting materials could be kept for as long as eight months thus giving the farmer the leeway to plant again as soon as he harvests the first crop,” the agri chief added.

Cost per hectare is estimated at P250,000 which will include fertilizers and farm development.

The new technology is seen to yield between 12 to 15 metric tons per hectare which at a farm gate price of P60 per kilo will earn the farmer between P720,000 and P900,000 and a net profit of P470,000 to P650,000 per harvest.

Meanwhile, latest data showed that onion production decreased 38 percent in the first quarter as the standing crop of onion l was damaged by typhoons Lando and Nona, resulting to significant price increase of almost 60 percent.

There was also a reduction of area planted due to unavailability of planting materials l while some onion farms were damaged due to infestation.