Marcos agrees with use of digitalized farmer registry, food balance sheet

With the aim of developing the country's agriculture sector, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. agreed with the use of digitalization in the farmer registry and creation of the digital food balance sheet.

On Thursday, Marcos had a meeting with the agriculture sector of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) where he acknowledged the need to update the processes in the said industry.

"Well, if we can [get] digitalization in place as quickly as possible... everyone needs it. So that's what you need to do is you get the system in place, specific for the agriculture. Hopefully, it will become part eventually of the government system," he said.

According to the PSAC, the digital FBS will include real-time data and  accelerate change in the agriculture sector. It is seen to increase the income of small-holder farmers and result in additional government budget savings.

During the meeting, PSAC provided data that Kenya is also tapping the FBS, but it will still take 12 weeks to set up a digital balance sheet. Further, a similar method is being employed by Indonesia.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the FBS presents a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country's food supply during a specified reference period.

Meanwhile, the PSAC also recommended to Marcos the creation of an FBS Committee which will be composed of people from the public and private sectors.

The PSAC said fixing storage and logistics, coupled with the FBS, would be an effective way to go about reaching the country's target to attain food security in sugar, rice, coconut, as well as livestock.

Marcos also welcomed the council's recommendation on replanting coconut trees by distributing more seedlings, allocating around P1.2 billion and training farmers in intercropping to increase their productivity.

He also recognized the proposal of PSAC to use common salt as fertilizer for coconuts as it will improve the quality and quantity of the expected yield.—AOL, GMA Integrated News