One of Vanuatu’s key onion farmers Jimmy Alan of Epi has set his sights on producing large quantities of onions to meet the demand of the domestic market.
Alan began planting onions in 2018.
“I planted my onions in April and now I am harvesting them. I am selling them at VT200 per kilo.
“I am expecting to harvest around 100 kilos of onion.
“My interest in planting onion is to ensure that in the future, Vanuatu will not depend on imported onions but to produce its own,” Alan said.
“It is my hope that in the future, more development will emerge on Epi from income that farmers receive from onion production.
“I started to plant onion in just a small area to observe how onions are grown but in the future, I will expand my onion farm.
“At least I have started somewhere and will continue to increase production.
Alan stated that apart from onion, he also planted kava and other root crops and vegetables,” he added.
“In the long term, kava will also assist me with my financial needs while other short term crops are for consumption and also for income generation.
“Onion is a new crop that is not popular in many gardens, but after the launching of the onion programme on Epi by the Department of Agriculture few years back, currently the interest is very high.
“Now that I know onion can grow well on Epi and comparing them with imported onions in shops, I strongly believe that we (Epi farmers) are the key people to ensure the supply of onions to other islands of Vanuatu.”
Onions can only grow well on some islands of Vanuatu depending on the soil type and climatic conditions. Epi is one of the islands where onions can grow well.
“Many farmers are now investing in onion production which is a positive feedback,” Alan said.
Photo supplied Caption: Farmer Jimmy Alan with onions harvested from his farm