DAVAO CITY, Jan. 9 -- Amid the soaring retail prices of red onions in the markets, a former Agriculture chief has pushed for the establishment of an onion experimental farm in Central Mindanao to help reintroduce onion farming in the country.

In a Facebook post Monday, former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Emmanuel Pinol said the planned experimental onion farm would help boost local production.

"The idea of reintroducing onion farming came about following my journeys to the vast countryside of Central Mindanao, where farmers told me that they planted onion in the past but gave up because of the low buying price," he said.

Pinol said the initiative is the only way to fight the onion cartel and ensure that onions - oftentimes ...