THE government is strictly monitoring five municipalities in Occidental Mindoro to stabilize the price of onions and to support local farmers amid fluctuating market conditions, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday.
The DA-Mimaropa office, through its Task Force Sibuyas, is leading the operations.
Latest data from five out of 11 municipalities showed farmgate prices of different varieties of red onions were within the P30 to P45 per kilogram range during the past week.
Problems confronting the province include high retail against low farmgate prices. While farmers in towns like San Jose are struggling with the P30–P45/kg buying prices, consumers in local and national markets still face high retail costs, which peaked at P250–P280/kg in some areas in late 2025 and early this year. This gap is often blamed on traders and middlemen who control the pricing after the onions leave the farm.
Farmers are also finding onions expensive to produce. The cost to cultivate one hectare in Occidental Mindoro ranges from P200,000 to P300,000. With current farmgate prices below the P50/kg farmers need to break even, many are reportedly falling into deep debt.
Third, a shortage of cold storage facilities forces farmers to sell their harvests immediately at low prices to avoid rotting, which then allows traders to hoard the supply and drive up retail prices later.
Farmers likewise claim that an oversupply of imported onions in late 2025 has filled storage facilities, dragging down the price of their fresh local harvest.
Also, recent crops have been destroyed by pests like the fall armyworm, which reduces yields and increases the cost of pesticides.
Widespread flooding early this year from the northeast monsoon also destroyed significant portions of the crop, creating a local supply shortage that keeps prices high for buyers.
“We understand the concerns and the challenges being faced by our farmers under the current onion price situation,“ said DA-Mimaropa Regional Executive Director Christopher Bañas. “While price movements depend on prevailing market conditions, we would like to assure them that we continue to take action to provide the necessary support.“
DA-Mimaropa said it is providing quality seeds and fertilizers, among others, to reduce capital outlays, technical assistance on onion production, and marketing to support farmers‘ decision-making capacity.
The office is also expanding market linkages, directly connecting farmers with institutional buyers for a guaranteed, stable market access with fair prices. It has ordered the delivery of cold storage facilities to extend the onions‘ shelf life and prevent distress selling at low prices.
It is likewise conducting information drives to make farmers knowledgeable about importation policies and prevailing onion prices to protect them from unfair buying practices.
“At present, our agency does not have a direct mandate to set prices; however, within the scope of our authority and responsibilities, we are doing everything we can to extend assistance and implement interventions that will help ease their situation,“ Bañas added.