Preventing another onion crisis

Memories of the 2022 Christmas holiday season, when onions became the top meme, still linger. The onion crisis saw retail prices of the bulbs skyrocketing to as high as P720 a kilo, with no white onions to be had. Flight attendants were held for bringing in bags of red onions from abroad. Onion prices contributed to foodfueled high inflation at the time, and raised questions about management of the agriculture sector under President Marcos.

So the administration must know enough to move decisively in preventing a repeat of the onion crisis. Sufficient warnings are being aired. The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. has reported that an infestation of armyworms or harabas is devastating onion plantations across Luzon. El Niño-induced drought, which is expected to last until May, is aggravating the infestation, according to the PCAFI. The armyworms are reportedly proving resistant to ordinary pesticides.

The dry months until April are the peak harvest season for onions. With the farmgate price at P40 to P42 per kilo, retail prices range between P60 and P120 for red onions, and P50 to P120 for white, which is the variety preferred for Filipino beef steak or bistek, burgers and onion rings. This is based on monitoring by the Department of Agriculture.

Because of the armyworm infestation, which has affected an estimated 45 percent of onion plantations, harvests have declined. PCAFI estimates that up to 60,000 metric tons of onions may have to be imported to stabilize supply and prices after the harvest season. Failure to make timely importations of both red and white onions was partly blamed for the 2022 onion crisis. As in other agricultural commodities, the importation must be balanced against the circumstances of domestic onion producers.

The current problem is also a reminder of the need to speed up the provision of cold storage facilities for small-scale farmers, which the administration has promised almost from Day One. The 2022 onion crisis was unprecedented and should have imparted indelible lessons in supply and price management. There is no excuse for the government to allow another onion crisis.