The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to launch a digital platform that will consolidate all critical data across the agriculture sector to ensure data-driven decision-making and management of the country’s food supply chain.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the agency’s so-called command center will be piloted beginning in November.

Tiu Laurel said this digital nerve center will mark a strong shift in the DA’s mantra—from focusing solely on increasing agricultural output to placing deeper emphasis on precision and volume.

For its pilot run, the command center will focus on the rice value chain, with data coming from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

In particular, the platform will gather all data related to the rice sector, including production, imports, stock levels, consumption rates, wholesale and retail prices, and global market trends, among others.

Tiu Laurel said providing seamless access to this data on a single platform could help “unsettle economic assumptions.”

He noted that monitoring rice price adjustments could help policymakers and the public gauge where inflation is heading.

The command center is also expected to produce forecasts of supply and demand, which could help forge a buffer against future price shocks.

Tiu Laurel said this could bring “much-needed predictability and improved incomes” for rice farmers, who are among the poorest sectors in the country.

He added that proposed amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which include the restoration of regulatory powers over the rice industry to the DA and National Food Authority (NFA), could provide further relief among farmers.

Following the rice sector, the command center will be adopted for other key sectors such as high-value crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries.

Another key feature of the platform is the central registration of all food facilities, as well as cold and dry warehouses, together with their stock levels.

Tiu Laurel said the command center forms part of the Marcos Jr. administration’s vision of modernizing the agriculture sector to build a food-secure Philippines.