The Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) will allot P300 million (M) credit facility to address the price slump of onion in Occidental Mindoro, Agriculture Secretary Manny F. Piñol said during the farmers’ forum held in the province on April 3, 2019.

Under the scheme, DA will bring the onions to the cold storage facility in Metro Manila for free.

“Once the buying price of onion increases, we will release to the farmers their produce for them to sell on their own,” Piñol said.

The Secretary added that ACPC will start releasing initial funding in the coming weeks to accredited cooperatives of the province.

Another P75,000 per farmer was also committed by Piñol to farmers who wish to improve their garlic and onion production under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) credit program.

He also directed DA-MiMaRoPa Regional Director Antonio Gerundio to include four (4) cold storage facility for Occidental Mindoro in the 2020 budget.

The initiatives, according to Piñol, aim to prepare farmers’ from the demand of Indonesian market, which seeks to source out onions in the country. He said the first shipment will be in Occidental Mindoro.

Piñol also urged the traders to increase the buying price for onions.

Stressing the importance of pre-disaster intervention, the agri chief urged the support from the local government in identifying areas for small water impounding system. ### (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)