Occidental Mindoro State College (OMSC) has received a P5 million-peso grant to expand production of innovative onion-based food products, college officials announced Friday.

The funding comes from the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office-Mimaropa through its Enhanced Kadiwa Financial Grant Assistance Program, which is intended to support agricultural pursuits.

“This project will help increase the commercial production of developed onion-based food products — such as onion ice cream, onion kropek, onion pandesal and onion muffins — by improving the capacity of existing food processing facilities,” OMSC President Elbert Edaniol told media.

The program, titled “Upscaling the Production of Onion-Based Food Products in Occidental Mindoro,” will serve as an income-generating project for the institution.

Edaniol projected a net income of P339,336.59 pesos with total production costs of P835,571.52 pesos.

“The project is expected to generate P41 pesos for every P100 peso investment, achieving a 41-percent return on investment. For every 100 pesos in sales, the project will earn 13 pesos,” he said.

Beyond financial benefits, the facility will support the college’s research and innovation activities while developing agriculture students’ skills. It will also be used for extension activities and non-degree training on food processing.

The project includes constructing a 160-square-meter extension of the processing area and installing a 130-liter water retort and a 4-liter freeze dryer.

Occidental Mindoro is among the country’s major onion-producing provinces, with the crop representing a huge portion of Mindoro island’s agricultural output.

(file photo: used for illustration purposes only)