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THE Department of Agriculture on Tuesday ordered all
plant quarantine officials to double their effort in protecting the
local onion industry from smuggling.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur C.
Yap has insisted that 100 percent inspection has to be implemented
on all plant imports, whether fruits or vegetables.
He said there should be close
monitoring of stock inventories and prevailing prices in the local
market.
Earlier, the agriculture
department, the Bureau of Customs and farmers’ groups have
confiscated 9,500 bags of yellow and red onions from China.
Yap said the confiscated onions
were part of 15,500 smuggled bags intercepted by agriculture and
customs authorities in various ports of entry in the country.
The agency expects an average of
180,000 metric tons of onion harvest per year, with Filipinos
consuming about 10 metric tons of onion per month or 120 metric tons
per year.
Shallots are mostly grown in the
Ilocos region, while red onions abound in the provinces of
Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Occidental Mindoro.
--Chino S. Leyco
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