Two proposals to establish an Onion Research Institute

[Mike J]

Let's not miss an opportunity to create government jobs, surveys, institutes, commissions, etc.  Politicians have relatives who need jobs.  

Two proposals to establish an Onion Research Institute as part of efforts to address the lack supply of onions in the country were raised in the Lower House, Tina Panganiban-Perez reported on "Saksi."

The bills were filed by Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing (1st disrict) and Nueva Ecija Rep. Rosanna Vergara (3rd district).

According to information on the Onion Self-Sufficiency Ratio disclosed during the hearing conducted by the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, the country's efficiency rate was at 107% in 2011.

However, after 10 years the figure dropped to 68% and among the factors considered for the decline is the army worms infestation in 2016 and 2018.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) reported that in 2019, 54% of the supply of onions in the country come from Nueva Ecija.

[JJReyes]

An RD lab associated with the Department of Agriculture should be able to solve the worm infestation problem.  It's not unique to the Philippines so an even easier solution is to use google to find out what other countries are doing to address this issue.  Perhaps they could introduce other varieties of onions more resistant to pest.  

[Kingpin]

12 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

An RD lab associated with the Department of Agriculture should be able to solve the worm infestation problem. 

Now for the human worms:

Quote

 

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it was looking in two areas for the increase—agricultural smuggling and price manipulation--stressing that a syndicate is hoarding red onions, causing prices of the commodity to rise.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1952337/cebu/local-news/onion-prices-down-to-p300-per-kilo-from-p800-in-cebu