Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"Yeah, this year there was 90 acres of carrots planted. That, I think, could yield 1 .4 million pounds of carrots. The country's weekly consumption is 40 ,000 pounds. So do the math, right? There's no way you can consume all the carrots in such a short time before it starts to spoil. And carrots is highly perishable. Carrots shelf life in the refrigerator is three to four days. All right? So given the nature of that vegetable, it's a challenge for the farmers and for the ministry to find ways to dispose of it. You cannot consume it. So we had to decide what to do with it. We cannot allow farmers to throw away after they have work so hard, invested so much time and resources in it to lose it. So we decided to partner with Silk Grass and I Henry Canton and Silk Grass Company for helping us to process the carrot into carrot juice. So today the BMDC is marketing carrot juice. As we speak, we are still buying from the farmers and converting into carrot juice. It is a great initiative. I think it sets the pace for how we are to operate in the future."