The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) will be developing the Agri-Information Support Portal, a web-based information support system.
According to a recent press release, DA Secretary William Dar shared that the creation of the portal is one of the top initiatives that the Department will be undertaking for 2020.
About the initiative
The agri information support portal will be providing a myriad of benefits that include the following:
- Provide more efficient sourcing of agriculture information and data
- Enable faster reporting of programs and projects
- Enhance decision support mechanisms
In addition, the creation of the portal is part of the first Administrative Order (AO) that the Secretary issued for 2020, stipulating the establishment of a Department-wide policy framework in line with the “New Thinking for Agriculture”.
This is a purposeful, nationwide initiative that will link all the bureaus, attached agencies, and regions of DA so that everyone knows the universe of actions that these various agencies are doing to help the farming and fishing sectors.
As stated in the AO, the DA-Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS), in consultation with the Office of the Undersecretary for Policy and Planning and the various operating units, bureaus, and attached agencies, will lead and implement the development of the portal.
DA units, including banner programs and special projects under the Department, are directed to provide regular updates in their respective activities to be shared with the Department’s Executive Committee under the Agri-Information Support Portal.
There are a wide range of stakeholders at the Department: farmers, fishers, and the policymakers. The Department has multi-stakeholders that need catering to, including the tech-savvy millennials.
All of them are considered stakeholders of the planned portal.
Moreover, the creation of the web-based info support is in line with the effort to industrialise Philippine agriculture, particularly in creating the framework for the digitisation of farming and agribusiness activities in the country.
The Secretary highlighted how the children of the farmers will serve as infomediaries of the technologies, which they will be able to get from the Agri-Information Support Portal.
Agritech Across the Globe
The popularity of Agritech is rising as countries, particularly those with agricultural sectors, are giving it more focus and importance.
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This will provide the start-up with more than $30,000 to boost their business.
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This technology will help farmers to save on a lot of time, guesswork and money.
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