Officials of the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) met with onion and garlic experts of the MMSU on February 25 to discuss the establishment of an Onion and Garlic Research and Development Center to elevate the status of the local products and make them globally competitive.

In a meeting held at the MMSU FEM conference hall, Joell Lales, chief of DA-BAR’s Program Development Division, said it is high time to address the industry needs and gaps of both crops amid the unabated influx of poor quality onion and garlic products from nearby countries.

The surge of the produce has adversely affected the local farmers in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, two top producers of onion and garlic in the country, Lales said.

Lales challenged MMSU president Shirley Agrupis and experts involved in the research of these two crops to come up with a concept such as establishing the center to focus on improving garlic and onion varieties. 

Lales hopes that the outlined science and technology interventions of DA-BAR for onion and garlic in Ilocos Norte will address these concerns.

He encouraged the MMSU to take part in addressing the productivity decline of both crops by generating and promoting promising technologies for farmers.

Dr. Agrupis welcomed DA-BAR’s support, through Agriculture Secretary William Dar, saying the proposed center will help farmers who are beset with problems on the decreasing supply of quality garlic and onion.

She said the establishment of an onion and garlic research center will be another milestone to be added to the list of many development projects in the MMSU that the present leadership of DA is supporting.

One of these is the PHP1.3-million storage facility for onion and garlic at the MMSU warehouse, which the DA inaugurated in 2014 to revitalize the industry. 

The warehouse is intended to safeguard high-quality onion and garlic bulbs from pests and diseases so that farmers will have healthy planting materials for the next cropping season.

The MMSU, along with the provincial government of Ilocos Norte, DA, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Bureau of Plant Industry, Philippine Rice Research Institute, and the Agricultural Training Institute, is currently reviving the ailing Ilocos’ garlic industry by establishing a sustainable seed support project.

Records from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show that Ilocos Norte is contributing an annual share of 69 percent in the total garlic production in the country.

Occidental Mindoro ranks second with a contribution of 22.03 percent, while Quezon Province and Ilocos Sur rank third and fourth with annual productions of 2.93 percent and 2.68 percent, respectively.