THE House Committee on Agriculture and Food, chaired by Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga (1st District, Quezon) created a technical working group (TWG) to harmonize the provisions of two measures advancing the welfare of onion farmers and develop the onion industry.
Enverga, in his opening remarks, emphasized the need to quickly address the problems of the onion industry and onion farmers “before it is too late for the country to recover.”
The bills to be harmonized are: House Bill (HB) 1379, creating the Philippine Onion Research Institute; and HB 3110, developing the onion industry, establishing for the purpose the Philippine Onion Research and Development Center, and declaring the Municipality of Bongabon in the Province of Nueva Ecija as the Onion Capital of the Philippines.
The TWG would be chaired by Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing (1st District, Nueva Ecija), author of HB 1379.
Suansing took note of the suggested amendments for incorporation in the harmonized bill which includes changing the name of the proposed agency to the “Philippine Onion Institute” to reflect the expanded services the institute would offer to the onion industry.
Aside from conducting research such as on seeds, soil and pest management, and cropping schedule, the proposed Institute shall also conduct training and development for farmers, provide subsidies for seeds and farm inputs, promote access to loan facilities, and establish an Enhanced Crop Insurance Program.
Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry Assistant Director Herminigilda Gabertan, Ph.D. expressed the agency’s support for the proposals articulated in the bills, saying that these would help bridge the gaps in the onion value chain, from production to marketing.
