MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has asked other agencies to convince people to consume more eggs to address the oversupply in local production that has caused farm-gate prices to go down to as low as P4 each.

“We continue to coordinate with the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and other agencies, the National Nutrition Council, to promote eating eggs because we know that eggs are the cheapest source of protein for Filipinos,” Arnel de Mesa, spokesperson for the DA, said on the government television program “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” on Monday, February 5.

According to Gregorio San Diego, chair of the Philippine Egg Board Association (Peba), medium-sized eggs are now priced at P5 to P6 each, while small ones go for P4 to P5 each, depending on transport costs.

San Diego said the oversupply was partly due to low consumption among Filipinos.

De Mesa confirmed that the country was facing an oversupply, purportedly due to the cool weather in recent weeks, which he said was ideal for the egg-layer industry.

But while the industry was facing an apparent oversupply, the DA is focusing its efforts in the next three years on increasing production in the rice, vegetable, meat, and fish industries to address the country’s food security issues, he said.

“Parallel to these efforts is the construction of irrigation systems, postharvest and storage facilities, farm mechanization, and improving [research and development] on the use of modern farming technologies,” De Mesa added.