00:00Let's have an update from my partner, the Department of Agriculture, ASEC Arnel Demesa.
00:07Welcome back.
00:09Busy, busy.
00:10Yes.
00:11First of all, ASEC, what are the significant programs and projects that you have achieved this year, 2024, for the agriculture sector of the country?
00:24If you can name maybe a few notable ones.
00:26Yes.
00:27Nina, this year, our government and the entire government can say that it has been one of the most challenging years
00:33because we have gone through a lot of trials from El Niño, the following typhoons, and La Nina.
00:39But despite this, one of the great accomplishments of our government and Secretary Kiko Chu Laurel Jr.
00:46is to lower and stabilize the price of some key agricultural commodities,
00:51such as sugar, which used to be very high, and we lowered it from 80 to 120.
00:58The same goes for onions.
01:01Nina, the price of those became high, it reached more than 700.
01:06It was lowered, and not only did it go down, but the price became stable.
01:11As for meat, our problem with African swine fever continued,
01:16but we did not experience the lack of supply of these agri-commodities.
01:22And a good story here is rice.
01:26Although there was an increase, we saw that the price of rice was slowly decreasing,
01:32and we did not lack in supply in our country.
01:35And here are some programs, such as Rise for All, P29, for the vulnerable sectors.
01:43We launched Nutri-Rise and Sulit-Rise,
01:48and that is how many smugglers caught up with the passing of key laws that can help our sector.
01:57Later, I will ask you again about Sulit-Rise and Nutri-Rise,
02:01but just some issues, sir, so that our countrymen can understand.
02:05You said that recently you went to the markets,
02:09and the price of rice that you saw in others was too high, more than what should be,
02:15from 40 something to 60. Is that right?
02:18That's right, Nina.
02:20On our trip yesterday, Secretary Chula Aurel Jr. and Secretary Roque of DTI,
02:27we saw some rice sellers, and Secretary Kiko noticed
02:33that the price of this type of rice was supposed to be low, but we saw that it was high.
02:39And there were already meetings yesterday,
02:43and there were already meetings to look at and make sure that the price of this type of rice is lower,
02:51which is in the family market now.
02:53So how much should it be?
02:55The estimate is that the landed cost is 45, but it is being sold for more than 60 pesos.
03:02It should be around 5 to 7 pesos.
03:05It should be around 50 to 52 pesos.
03:08But we can see that it is more than 10 pesos.
03:12So that is what our government is looking at.
03:15And another issue, despite the price of rice being low,
03:22and NEDA is saying that there is not much change in the price,
03:26what can you say about this?
03:28You are right, if we look at it, all the necessary key ingredients are there
03:33to really start lowering the price of rice.
03:36We have a lot of supply, we have lowered the price of rice,
03:40we have also lowered the price of farm gate, so the price should be low.
03:44That is why we put our President's blessing to the families
03:49to show to the buyers and to our countrymen that these prices are acceptable.
03:54And according to the committee hearings, we can really see some problems.
03:59And we can see the steps to continue lowering the price of rice.
04:04I hope so.
04:06And on to better news, how the DA helped to expand market access
04:13for local products and to increase export opportunities this year.
04:19Nina, one of the good things that our government did
04:23is we also have an office led by Assistant Secretaries on Logistics
04:28and Exports of our key agricultural commodities.
04:32And this year, we have a lot of products that have been exported.
04:36The main one here is the Haas Avocado that is going to Japan
04:40and other products.
04:42And we are also expanding our existing fruits and commodities that are exported,
04:48like durian, to China and other places.
04:51Now, we are adjusting the logistics to lower the price of agricultural inputs
04:57so that our farmers can save money.
05:02At the end, the main mandate of our government is to increase production
05:07and to increase the income of our farmers and fishermen.
05:11So, we can see this kind of crops by 2025.
05:15Our crops will start to bear fruits.
05:19Of course, these are the ideas and suggestions of our government.
05:25Okay.
05:26What are the main goals of your government for the upcoming 2025?
05:33And what are the expectations of our fellow countrymen?
05:37First of all, our demand is to lower the price of our goods
05:42and to strengthen our production.
05:45First of all, in the spirit of the President,
