BAYAMBANG – Calamity struck many onion farms here after a mysterious disease attacked and destroyed standing onion plants.

This was confirmed by Mayor Leocadio de Vera who said the plant disease brought a big 30 percent decline to onion harvest this year, compared to the volume of harvest last year.

Bayambang is the biggest onion producer throughout Pangasinan.

De Vera appealed to the Department of Agriculture for help before things get worse as local agriculture technicians were still unable to contain the disease.

He reported that technicians from the DA are arriving this week to investigate the problem and recommend counter-measures.

Noting that this is not the only problem of onion farmers, de Vera suggested that the DA might just as well look into the marketing problems of onion farmers to ensure profitability of their produce.

Affected onion farmers called on de Vera not only to report the problem but also to ask for financial assistance in connection with their plan to plant onions anew in order to recoup their losses.

The mayor noted that many farmers are now in a tight fix because in last year’s planting season, they had to borrow money from banks and different individuals at high interest, anticipating a good harvest of onion.