By JOJO DE GUZMAN
STA. ROSA, Nueva Ecija. — To help boost the economic
conditions of local onion farmers by improving the quality of locally-produced
varieties of onions and help arrest the unabated entry of imported and smuggled
onions from neighboring countries, Nueva Ecija Rep. Czarina Umali has proposed
the creation of an onion research institute to be known as Philippine Onion
Research Institute (Philorins).
House Bill 1214 tasks Philorins to promote and advance the
scientific and technological expertise of Filipinos with regard to onion
production.
Umali, a member of the House committee on agriculture,
explained that the country presently provides three-fourths of the onion needs
of Asia yet the government continues to import from Thailand, Vietnam and other
neighboring countries onion seeds or sets of bulb needed for production.
Umali mentioned in her pet bill’s explanatory note that it
was observed that the onion business is perhaps one economic activity whose
potentials remain untapped. She said "for many years, the onion industry has
been neglected despite its remarkable contributions to the country’s wealth".
Umali also proposed that Philorins’ central experimental
station be set up in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, a second class municipality which
supplies sixty percent of the nation’s onion needs.
If approved, Philorins will be the second research institute
in Nueva Ecija next to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) located
in Barangay Maligaya, Science City of Munoz, which had been considered a key
player in building a self-sufficient and competitive rice economy.
PhilRice was established on November 5, 1985, by President
Ferdinand Marcos through Executive Order 1061 and was subsequently amended by EO
60 by President Corazon Aquino on November 7, 1986. EO 60 strengthened PhilRice
by increasing its membership to improve representations in the rice industry in
its highest policymaking body, the Board of Trustees (BOT).
Umali also noted the onion industry’s problem which lies in
the lack of any comprehensive plan or development program. She added that the
Department of Agriculture (DA) has yet to show a determined effort to help
improve the industry, especially with regard to introducing technology and
scientific methods to ensure a better yield.
The proposed Philorins will conduct research on onions aimed
of introducing practices or processes that reduces production costs, increases
productivity and achieves greater efficiency; improve existing methods of
raising onions; ensure a permanent, sufficient and balanced production of onions
for local consumption; and stabilize market prices.
The proposed institute will be governed by a five-man Board of Directors to
be appointed by the President. Three of the five would be appointed on the
recommendation of the National Federation of Onion Planters.
