Now, as prices threaten to again swing even lower with the looming arrival of onion imports, Bernie Vegiga is worried that he would suffer big losses come harvest season – setting back the dreams he has for his family once again.
NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines – It was irrigation day on the farm, and the smell of diesel stained the air. Sputtering as it gulped down fuel, a rusty machine along the gravel banks of the Dupinga River pulled water up to Bernie Vegiga’s farm.Umuubos kami ng diesel diyan para patubig. Dire-diretso ang gastos niyan hanggang hindi maani ‘yanUnder the scorching heat in Gabaldon, the young bulbs need all the water they could get.
It begins with land preparation. Bernie needs heavy machines to work his 2.7 hectares of land: a rotavator to break up and pulverize the soil, and a hand tractor for tillage. Renting these machines would already set him back P26,000. To fill up his farm, he’d need about 15 kilos of seeds, which would end up costing about P73,500. It’s a huge sum in its own right, but according to Bernie, this is the manageable part.
But without clear farm-to-market roads or other marketing initiatives, the farmers in the area struggle with finding fair takers for their produce. This makes them especially vulnerable to exploitative middlemen and give them little say in negotiating prices. After all, big-time buyers don’t often make the arduous journey to Bernie’s farm to negotiate.
For instance, onion farmers in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro languished with low prices of P8 per kilo, while, squirreling away onions in cold storages and selling them for P700 a kilo once supplies thinned out.
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