My wish list for the new DA secretary

THE appointment of a new Agriculture Secretary in Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who has an extensive background in agribusiness, is a welcome development amid the challenges the global and the country's farming and fishery industry faces.

Even with the challenges, however, I can say that now is the best time to become a food producer or agribusiness owner because the world we live in right now is very much connected digitally, and the rapid development of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) can have a huge positive impact on agriculture. Also, there is a growing awareness of the need to change how we should grow food in a more sustainable manner, and this can be achieved by technology adoption, policy reform, and concerted action.