President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has met with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to set out plans to make fertilizers affordable for farmers to improve their productivity.

The meeting was held at Malacañan Palace in Manila, based on the photos uploaded on the Office of the President’s (OP) official Facebook page.

Marcos wants the DTI to make sure that cheaper fertilizers would be made available for farmers, the OP said in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.

“President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. met with DTI to iron out plans to increase the productivity of farmers by ensuring that fertilizers can be made affordable for them,” the OP said.

Marcos, in his official Facebook account, confirmed that he met with Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual in an effort to help ease the farmers’ plight and reboot the country’s agriculture industry.

“Hangad natin na maging masigla muli ang sektor ng agrikultura kaya’t nakipagpulong tayo kay Kalihim Alfredo Pascual ng Kagawaran ng Kalakalan at Industriya upang siguraduhin ang mas abot-kayang presyo ng abono o pataba na gamit ng ating mga magsasaka (We want to revive the agricultural sector, that’s why we met with Secretary Alfredo Pascual of the Department of Trade and Industry. We want the fertilizers used by our farmers to be affordable),” he said.

The OP said Marcos continues to prepare “to secure the food supply in the country.”

In July, Marcos expressed his intent to pursue government-to-government (G2G) talks to address the increasing prices of fertilizers.

Marcos, who concurrently heads the Department of Agriculture (DA), said the government could avail of cheaper fertilizers through the G2G deals.

He is communicating with China, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Russia for the country’s procurement of fertilizers.

Marcos earlier directed the agriculture officials to provide data on the source and price of fertilizers, as well as on the DA’s distribution plan during the planting season. (PNA)