Information technology and agriculture

As we get ready for the Asean Economic Integration that starts next year, it is critical that we make full use of information technology to promote agriculture development.

Since my doctorate was on technology transfer, I have been following closely the way in which electronic media have been used to achieve this objective.

I will review here some of the ICT gains in agriculture and make three recommendations to build on these gains.

Models

Knowing that most poor farmers do not have the money for computers but instead use mobile phones, the PhilRice Text Center (PTC) conveys technology tips to farmers by text. It also uses this mechanism to find out their problems. It asks: “How are your rice plants?

In Northern Luzon, 213 out of 540 farmers reported problems. They were mostly on pest management, nutrient deficiency, and water availability. Using this information, PTC texted back suggestions to address them.

Dulcie Cruz from Sultan Kudarat texted: “Information we get through this service guides us in deciding what to plant this season.” Federico Billares from South Cotabato reported: “I received a reply only after a few seconds.”

There are other agriculture ICT mechanisms.

There are websites that contain valuable information such as www.palay.aralan.com. YouTube tutorials, such as on how to develop a honeybee livelihood enterprise, are available. Electronic centers (E-centers) are established in other parts of the country, such as the Albay E-center that was recently cited for its assistance to barangay communities.

Of special mention is the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (Opapa). It won an AGFUND International prize for pioneering human development. More specifically, Opapa’s entry “highlighted its various ICT interventions that connect lowly rice farmers to reliable sources of information and encouraged collaborative learning among rice scientists, extension workers, farmers, and other concerned organizations.”

Systems approach

It is this ICT systems approach among the different stakeholders that we should focus on.

Farmers have told me that the information given through ICT is not oriented to their language and understanding.

A farmer said that in one YouTube tutorial, essential aspects were not emphasized as they should have been.

Then another farmer said that the language used in one website was for technical people,  rather than for ordinary farmers.

It is imperative that communications experts are harnessed so that the ICT approach is understandable and useful for small farmers and fishers.

Four areas

ICT information today concentrates on production.

But three other parts are necessary: marketing, financing and training.

In marketing, information should be given on local prices, suppliers, and buyers.

This is partly done by the Agri-Fisheries Market Information (AFMI) that can be accessed through the www.da.gov.ph website.

Area coverage is severely limited today, and should be expanded to include all the strategic market centers in each province.

For financing, the Department of Agriculture (DA) lists the DA’s agriculture credit program.

This should likewise be expanded to include agriculture credit programs outside DA. This can be done through additional icons or web links to other credit institutions and even cooperatives.

For training, the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) already gives good training tips through ICT.

The major gap is that the 17,000 municipal extension workers who are now devolved to the local mayors have not been fully oriented to using ICT-facilitated technology transfer provided by the ATI.

Next steps

This week, the ICT heads of the different DA units are meeting in Batanes. Initiated by Information Technology Center for Agriculture and Fisheries Director Garry Fantastico (0917-6685683), they will formulate a plan for better coordination among the different ICT units. Hopefully, the farmers and fisher may soon be able to access one (not several) central agri-fishery information center, which will link them to the other primary information sources.

After this, three additional undertakings should be done.

The first is to get communications experts to facilitate the interaction between the ICT professionals and the targeted farmer and fisher beneficiaries. This way, the communication will be more understandable and effective.

The second is to expand both the geographical area coverage and the information components to emphasize not just production, but also marketing, financing and training.

The third is to improve the ICT implementation mechanism to achieve the end-objective of improving farmer and fisher incomes.

Absolutely necessary is the orientation, involvement, and commitment of the 17,000 municipal extension workers who should also get the support of their mayors.

With this ICT implementation improvement, our agriculture development can now achieve its large potential, especially given the Asean Economic Integration next year.

(The author is chair of Agriwatch, former Secretary for Presidential Flagship Programs and Projects, and former Undersecretary for Agriculture, Trade and Industry. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax (02) 8522112).