Ilonggos will soon enjoy more sumptuous meals with the increase in the production of cooking staples—garlic and onion—in the Municipality of Miag-ao and nearby towns.

On November 17, 2017, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol and the local government of Miag-ao led by its Mayor Macario Napulan signed an agreement, which ultimately seeks to increase yield of the aforementioned commodities by capacitationg industry key players and increasing areas of production.

The Memorandum of Agreement also aims to enhance the knowledge and empower the local farmers and agricultural technicians.

Under the agreement, which calls for the implementation of bulb onion and garlic production trainings, the DA will provide technological training activities, more specifically on the cultural management of garlic and onion.

The initiative targets to increase production areas to a total of 1000 hectares (ha) to enable a more sustainable production of both onion and garlic, and provide technical support.

At present, Miag-ao has 130-has for garlic and onion production, and intends to expand areas to 370 ha more, while the neighboring towns are expected to allot a total of 500 ha to complement the production.

The project, with a total funding support of P1.169 million (M) is intended to benefit 180 farmer-beneficiaries thru the conduct of various trainings and on-site demonstrations.

The fund will be used for capacity enhancement of farmers and technicians thru Farmers’ Field School and Trainings of Trainors.

Piñol also awarded P20-M financing support onion and garlic growers of Miag-ao and nearby towns, and P30-M for Antique under the Production Easy Access Loan Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council. ### (oda rodriguez/DA-AFID)