Nueva ecija: The Food and Terminal Inc. (FTI) has begun buying local onions in Nueva Ecija and is preparing similar interventions in Occidental Mindoro in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to support Filipino farmers, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Monday.

According to Philippines News Agency, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stated that these efforts aim to protect onion growers from the potential decline of farmgate prices as the country nears the peak harvest season. Farmgate prices of onions typically drop from March to April due to a glut in onion supply aggravated by limited storage capacity.

'With this intervention, we expect to limit the role of middlemen in determining onion prices and help growers obtain better prices for their produce,' Tiu Laurel said.

FTI President Joseph Lo supported this initiative by emphasizing that it benefits consumers through the provision of direct market linkage. 'The directive of the President and the Secretary is to advance food security in the country and ensure that food remains affordable and accessible to all Filipinos,' he said. 'In support of this, the role of the FTI is to strengthen market linkages across the food value chain - from farmers to consumers.'

Earlier, the FTI purchased 10,000 bags of red onions in Nueva Ecija, with a daily procurement target of 3,000 bags beginning March 6. Additionally, the agency inspected the WBI Cold Storage facility in Occidental Mindoro, which can store about 380,000 bags of onions, for its planned procurement program. The FTI has yet to disclose the target procurement volume, which is set to begin on the third week of March, just shortly ahead of the peak harvest season.