Department of Agriculture assures enough food supply in PH

Agriculture Secretary William Dar assured that despite the challenge of COVID-19, the government should have nothing to worry about in the food supply in the country.

In his report to President Rodrigo Duterte at Monday night’s meeting in Malacañang, the secretary said there is no shortage of its supply today.

“May sapat po tayong pagkain sa buong bansa. Dito po sa National Capital Region, tuloy-tuloy po ang suplay ng pagkain mula sa iba’t ibang probinsiya sa Luzon,” suggested Dar, who also said his department monitors the supply and price of staple foods in the market.

In terms of vegetables, the supply is good, but he said the price of pinakbet and chop suey had increased slightly due to Typhoon Fabian and the southwest, which has damaged crops.

The price of pork dropped due to Executive Orders 133 and 134, which lowered the tariff and increased the volume of imported pork.

The price of other meats is also stable.

Frozen kasim and pigue can be bought at P220 per kilo, and frozen liempo is P250 per kilo.

Also read: Agriculture sector expected to grow 2.5% in 2021 – Dar

Department of Agriculture assures enough food supply in PH

The price of fresh pork is also dropping from the high price that reached last year to P400 pesos per kilo.

Another good source of protein is chicken, P150 per kilo, and fish whose prices are stable in the markets, such as tilapia, P120 per kilo, bangus P160, galunggong P220, and mackerel P330.

The secretary also reported on some other programs of the department, such as Kadiwa outlets, which bring farm produce closer to the communities, the assistance of the Department of Agriculture to farmers affected by the typhoons, the response to African swine flu, and other programs.

In the next 11 months, the DA plans to intensify the Plant, Plant, Plant program, establish more Kadiwa outlets, encourage youths to enter the agri sector, and so on.

Last month, the price of some vegetables in Metro Manila markets had increased by up to P40 per kilo due to the continuous rains.