Manila: The Food and Terminal Inc. (FTI) will buy onions to prevent a farmgate price collapse as harvest season nears its peak, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stated that the move serves as a "preemptive strike" against the usual harvest season price slump.

According to Philippines News Agency, Tiu Laurel mentioned in a statement that a team has already been dispatched to Nueva Ecija, the country's onion capital, to "lock in" cold storage capacity. "They've secured space for 50,000 28-kilogram bags, and we can expand that if needed," he said. Aside from Nueva Ecija, Tiu Laurel expressed that FTI is also considering other onion-producing provinces such as Occidental Mindoro, Pangasinan, and Cagayan Valley to support farm gate prices and keep traders honest. This intervention aligns with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to maintain fair farmgate prices and ensure farming remains profitable.

Meanwhile, FTI President Joseph Lo stated that they will purchase local red and white onions at a fair market value. "Our goal is to buy at prices that are fair to farmers, at levels that are enough to make onion farming profitable and sustain their planting intentions," he said. Lo reported that farmgate prices of onions in Nueva Ecija rebounded to PHP45 per kilogram following the assurance of government interventions.

The DA highlighted that by absorbing supply and expanding cold storage, the FTI is effectively acting as a buffer buyer, smoothing out surpluses and mitigating price swings. "Whether 50,000 bags, equivalent to around 1,400 metric tons, will be enough to meaningfully anchor prices remains to be seen. But the signal to the market is unmistakable - the government is prepared to defend farmgate levels, and to intervene early," the DA added.