Value-adding eyed for chili, onion sector

THE Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) said on Tuesday it is developing a protocol or process that will allow farmers to earn more from chili and onion value-adding using local technology and equipment.

The agency said it is pushing for the production of the two commodities initially in powdered form, which are in demand in the Philippines and worldwide.

The country currently has to import almost all of its powdered chilli and onion requirements, while the top suppliers of powdered chili in the world are China and India.

Ofero Capariño, chief of the PhilMech Bio-Process Engineering Division, said the agency has

tapped a private farm in Batangas, which is into the farming of chilli, to develop a protocol or process to produce powdered chilli.

“The idea here is to produce high-quality chilli powder using local technology and equipment, which will also allow farmers to earn from value-adding,” he said.

According to him, the country being dependent on powdered chilli imports presents an opportunity for farmers of the crop, and those into food processing and agribusiness to supply the local market with the same commodity given the right protocol or process.

“Once PhilMech perfects the protocol, small farmers and agribusiness companies can adopt it to produce powdered chilli and initially supply the local market,” he said.

For onion powder, Capariño said PHilMech wants to give farmers a solution to address the high post-harvest losses they incur during harvest season.

"Based on our field surveys, the post-harvest losses of onion farmers reach as high as 40 to 50 percent because of lack of cold storage facilities and other factors. If we can develop a protocol or process to produce onion powder using locally available equipment, farmers and cooperatives can produce the commodity [powdered onion] instead of losing as much as 40 to 50 percent of their produce to post-harvest losses,” he explained.

Capariño said PhilMech is testing the Far Infrared and Convection Heating System (FIRCH) Cabinet Dryer, Multi-commodity Solar Tunnel Dryer (MCSTD), and Greenhouse Dryer for the drying of chilli and onions.

PhilMech has been developing protocols and processes, wherein technologies produced by the agency and locally-available equipment are tapped for easier adoption by farmers, cooperatives, and agribusiness enterprises.

Among the successful protocols PhilMech has developed is for the production of soybean products like tofu and soymilk using equipment that can be procured locally and started in a small scale, allowing home-based enterprises to adopt the system.