DA says there is ample supply of key commodities this holiday season

There will be enough supply of agricultural commodities in the country during the holiday season, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

The DA assured that there will be ample supply of food during the upcoming holiday season, saying that production of key commodities remain stable.

“We can assure na for the coming season, yung ating mga basic agricultural key commodities, we have enough supply para ngayong darating na holiday season (We can assure that for the coming season, our basic agricultural key commodities, we have enough supply in the coming holiday season),”DA Spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said in a televised interview on Monday, Dec. 11.

The DA official said that there is enough supply of chicken and pork, citing stable production of these commodities.

“Sa pork at chicken, we have enough supply. Sa manok ay over production tayo. Sa karneng baboy, bagamat kulang tayo nang konti ay nakapagprograma na agad ng importation through the Bureau of Animal Industry (On pork and chicken, we have enough supply. We have over production of chicken. With pork, while we have slightly insufficient supply, the BAI has already positioned an importation),” de Mesa added.

He also noted a stable harvest of rice, saying the country is poised to reach 20-million metric tons and an additional 295,000 metric tons of rice import from India.

The Agriculture official further said that they are expecting the country to post a better agricultural production rate this year.

“We’re hoping na pagdating nitong 4th quarter, na ilalabas yung datos early next year ay talagang makabawi na yung agriculture sector (We’re hoping that this 4th quarter, when the data is issued next year, the agriculture sector would bounce back),” de Mesa said.