Advancing the capacity of hundreds of Filipino onion farmers

Onion production presents a good income opportunity for many smallholder farmers in the Philippines, with the onion requirements of Filipinos every year estimated at 206,000 metric tons.  However, the industry also faces several constraints. Onion farmers face challenges in pests and diseases, inadequate post-harvest and market linkages, and changing environmental conditions caused by climate change, among others. 


In the bid to support onion farmers cope with these challenges, East-West Seed, in partnership with the German development financial institution KFW DEG and non-government organization Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, recently launched the “Onion Union: Capacity Building on Integrated Pest Management for Onion Farmers in the Philippines” project. 


They aim to equip farmers with new skills and knowledge that can help enhance the quality and yield of their produce.

Under this multi-sectoral project, four Onion Learning Centers in the key onion-producing provinces of the Philippines —Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Sur, and Mindoro — were established in the first quarter of 2019.  In these learning centers, farmer-students learn about effective cultural management, Integrated Pest Management, irrigation systems, and other technologies in onion production, with the help of agriculturists and scientists from East-West Seed. 

“There is a need to convene more farmers in strategic venues in order to provide them with a complete package of technologies that aligns with their concerns, and, in the end, help them improve their yield and income,”  says Dr. Jedeliza Ferrater, an East-West Seed scientist with a PhD degree from the Wageningen University who also served as one of the resource persons in the learning centers. 

By 2020, the project aims to train 600 farmers and 40 agriculturists in four provinces in the Philippines, and to publish guides on integrated pest management and production for onion farmers.  

Watch videos from the Onion Learning Centers here:

Photos from: ASSIST-Asia