Last month, shoppers complained that they had a hard time finding onions anywhere.
Well there was a critical shortage and it's occurred because Belize doesn't have the capacity to produce onions year round. CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture Hugh O'Brien explained that we have to resort to importing onions after the production year is over.
Hugh O’Brien, Ministry of Agriculture
“Presently Belize is not producing any onions. We produce onions and supply the country for about four months out of the year and that would occur between the period of mid-February to around June and so the onions we have in Belize are all imported onions. The marketing and developing corporation for this year, for the first time, in discussion with the two importers’ association we decided to give the marketing corporation an exclusive right to import onions so that they could be able to support their financial position and also offer the subsidy that we presently offer to the rice farmers in Toledo.”
Alfonso Noble,
Can Belize produce onions year round for the local market to be supplied?
Hugh O’Brien,
“It would be extremely difficult, but not impossible, for countries like Belize, which are tropical in nature, to produce onions because of the fact that onions form their bulb in response to the length of the day. And in our case the onions that are produced in Belize now have been specially bread to be produced in tropical countries. And the only way we will be able to produce onions year round right now is to take what we produce during that four-month time frame and store the onions so they will be available year round. Bearing in mind the cost for electricity right now, we are not yet too sure that is a very viable alternative for long periods.”
O'Brien says that the Ministry is working on helping farmers and the Belize Marketing Board to erect larger, more efficient storage facilities for onions which would cut down on importation needs.