Good money to be made from growing onions

 ONIONS have a good market and can generate a sound income for local farmers, an agriculturist says.

Noel Kuman, programme manager village chain and innovation with the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA), said onions were a potential earner.

“Papua New Guineans spend between K40 million and K50 million to import around 1140 metric tons of bulb onions from overseas,” Kuman said.

“This money can be put back into the pocket of local farmers if we can produce bulb onions at a good scale locally.”

Kuman and members of the FPDA senior management and board were in Elimbari, Chuave, last Thursday to inspect seven “model onion farms” created by local people.

The seven model farms are Kiragu-Maina-Kumom, Kobukaware One, Berema, Kebai, Bougir, Yori-Aura and Mam. 

More than 400 farmers were involved in the project. 

“Bulb onions are better than coffee because they pay  K3 to K4 per kilo and they take up little space but give a greater return,” Kuman said.

“They can be preserved and can be easily transported to the market for selling.” 

Kuman said each model farm in Elimbari in their current stage could produce up to 10 tons of onions per harvest.

He said this could generate between K50,000 and K60,000 for each farm.

Kuman said onion farmers in Hela raised K1.1 million from selling their produce last year. 

He said the major onion buyers in the country included mining catering companies, supermarkets and distributing agencies. 

Kuman said it took FPDA between K7000 and K8000 to start up each of the farms.

He said the funds were used to buy greenhouse net, spades, insecticides, watering cans, nails, wire fences and safety gear.

Local community leader Max Sowa said the onion project in Elimbari was new and the people see it as a means to change their lives.

Sowa said they left their coffee gardens because coffee work was harder but the income small.

“For some 20 years we have not seen government services in this part of Chimbu,” Sowa said. “We feel that the onion project introduced here by the FPDA will change our lives.”

Sowa said the Government planned to open the nearby Chimbu Limestone Project in Elimbari and his people were planning to sell their onions and other produce at the mine.

FPDA has other onion projects in Hela, Chimbu, Morobe and Eastern Highlands.