00:00 The Department of Agriculture is urging Filipinos to eat more eggs.
00:04 According to Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel Demesa,
00:07 they are already consulting the DSWD and National Nutrition Council to increase the number of eggs.
00:13 This is a cheap source of protein.
00:15 There are also a lot of eggs in supply now because the production has improved following the cold weather.
00:21 According to some egg sellers in the Commonwealth Market in Quezon City,
00:24 the price of eggs has dropped and this price may last until April.
00:29 Based on the price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture,
00:32 eggs in their market in Metro Manila are priced from P6.80 to P8.50.
00:40 Despite the good production of eggs this season,
00:46 egg producers are affected by the low demand.
00:50 The Department of Agriculture is urging Filipinos to eat more eggs.
00:54 To talk about this, we have news this afternoon.
00:57 This is Philippine Egg Board Association President Francis Oyejara.
01:00 Good morning and welcome to Balitang Hali.
01:03 Good morning, Sir Rafi and Miss Connie and to all the viewers and listeners of Balitang Hali.
01:10 Good morning to you, Sir Francis.
01:12 At this time, can you say that we have an over supply of eggs in the country?
01:17 Now, we can say that the supply of eggs is too much compared to the current demand.
01:24 All right. But what they are saying is that it is not balanced.
01:29 The demand of egg producers is high because they are in deficit.
01:36 What are our expectations when it comes to this?
01:41 If we can remember, in the last three months, last year,
01:47 October, November, December, we had a shortage in the supply of eggs
01:54 because of the increase in demand towards the Christmas season or the holiday season.
02:00 So what happened is that our industry caught up with the lack of production during that time.
02:09 The problem is that after the holiday season, this January towards February,
02:15 the demand for eggs dropped significantly and the production of eggs was left high for the farmers.
02:25 This is the result of the price drop in farm gate prices.
02:31 Okay. But how much percentage did our egg production increase in the country compared to the last quarter of the last year, Sir?
02:38 Compared to the last quarter, the production is the same.
02:44 If we say that production was 100% during December, now, it is still the same during January.
02:52 So what adjusted is that the current demand dropped.
02:56 Now, as part of what we call natural correction,
03:02 what farmers are doing now is reducing their chickens
03:09 to match the correct level of supply versus demand.
03:15 Okay. The Department of Agriculture is urging the public to consume more eggs.
03:22 What is your reaction to that?
03:24 That's right. Early this year, our association with the Department of Agriculture communicated well
03:35 about the promotion of egg consumption, along with several government projects.
03:45 We are very hopeful about this with the current administration of the Department of Agriculture.
03:57 Francis, the demand is low now.
04:00 What is the discarding that our egg producers are doing to recover?
04:03 And the eggs are not being sold to the farms.
04:06 As I mentioned, we have what we call natural correction.
04:12 Now, since the supply is high, many are reducing their chickens.
04:18 We call that "kaling" or selling of old chickens.
04:23 So to reduce our expenses or our operational expenses,
04:30 we are doing this to compensate for the low demand that resulted in the low price.
04:37 Hopefully, in a few months, we will be able to match the correct supply versus the current demand.
04:47 The problem is that the summer season is coming.
04:52 That's right.
04:54 It will give us new problems and challenges in our operations.
05:03 How are you preparing for the coming summer?
05:06 You are still in the process of preparing because we know that this will have a big effect on the chickens.
05:10 Well, we have things to do, such as medication and supplements.
05:17 We are also adjusting the formulation of our feed and scheduling of our feeding to the chickens.
05:25 We are also putting in fans to cool the chickens.
05:33 We have farms that we call "pool cells" or tunnel ventilated systems.
05:38 This is the controlled environment.
05:41 So this will add to the expenses, Francis?
05:44 Yes, it will add to the expenses.
05:47 Our farmers are accepting this along with our operations.
05:56 However, our objective in partnership with the government is to solve the extreme price increase and price decrease.
06:08 We want our egg producers to have a good income while the price of our retailers is not that high.
06:18 So it's really risky. Thank you very much.
06:21 Thank you very much, Sir Rafi and Miss Connie.
06:24 This is Philippine Egg Board Association President, Francis Oihara.
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06:46 [♪♪]
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