Chickens, too, says farmer’s group after onion import suspension

MANILA, Philippines — Farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) yesterday said that the moratorium on the importation of agriculture products should be the practice of the Department of Agriculture (DA) if there is a slump in the farmgate price of farm products, after Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel ordered a suspension in the outsourcing of onions.

In an interview with The STAR, SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet said that a suspension on the arrival of imported chickens should also be imposed, as poultry raisers are experiencing a depressed farmgate price of the commodity.

“As early as last week, we already recommended a moratorium (on the importation of onions). Obviously, the farmgate price (of onions) is down, so we recommended (the suspension in the importation of onions), and we are commending the DA for the immediate action,” Cainglet said.

“We are also proposing to look into the farmgate (price) of chicken as it is almost the same as the cost of producing chicken,” he said.

According to Cainglet, poultry raisers suffer because of oversized chickens, amid the flooding of imported frozen products in the market.

“Poultry raisers are forced not to release the chickens in the markets, as there are no buyers. They spend more for feeds if the chickens stay in the farm,” he noted.

On Friday, Laurel directed the Bureau of Plant Industry to halt the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance until July as the local harvest season started, as farmers in Nueva Ecija said that the farmgate price of the white bulbs went down to as low as P18 per kilo.

“The key word here is that the policies should always be timely, like the release of subsidy, inputs, fertilizer. So, this moratorium to import is very timely amid the slump in the farmgate price (of onions),” Cainglet said.

He added that the peak harvest season of onions will start in February until March.

“The bulk of the onion farmers will already harvest. So, we commend DA for the swiftness and timeliness of policies. Even if you have policies, but are late, either you are not sincere or too slow or inefficient,” Cainglet said.

He added that onion growers thanked Laurel for the