A SENATE BILL is seeking to consolidate and integrate all agricultural databases to improve market intelligence on where produce is in demand, thereby strengthening the farm-to-consumer value chain, including to global markets.
“The government needs to provide the infrastructure and the mechanism that would enable our farmers to sell their output where there is demand,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, the bill’s author, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our vision is to help our farmers find their markets as this is key in reducing poverty,” he added.
Senate Bill 1374, filed on Oct. 10, proposes the creation of an agriculture information system (AIS) in every city and municipality to help build a better supply-demand picture for agricultural produce.
All cities and municipalities must encourage and facilitate the free registration of all farmers, fisherfolk, as well as produce buyers.
The online database hopes to better match buyers and sellers by, among other things, providing village-level data on farm output.
“We hope that through the establishment of AIS, the livelihood of our farmers will improve and help solve the problem of hunger,” Mr. Gatchalian said.
Funding for the program will be partly borne by the National Government, with local government units also expected to establish the AIS in their respective budgets. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
