Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a bill seeking to establish an Agriculture Information System (AIS) in all provinces, cities, and municipalities across the country.
Gatchalian, author of Senate Bill 1653, said the AIS “would provide real-time insights on crop yields, market demand, and other important farm data to help empower farmers to optimize harvests and help prevent price increases caused by inefficiency.”
Under the bill, information on the demand for agricultural and fishery products will be collected alongside production data from farmers in each barangay.
“The AIS shall merge and synchronize agricultural data from different sources into a cohesive database designed to facilitate linkages from place of origin or the farm to local, and ultimately, global markets,” Gatchalian said.
The bill proposes that the Department of Agriculture (DA) manage the system. In addition to operating the AIS, the DA would be required to allocate funds to integrate it with other information systems, ensure proper implementation with verification processes and data protection, and collaborate with other agencies to establish market linkages locally and internationally.
