This, as the agency prepares to launch its new Command Center.
Speaking at the Department of Agriculture’a quarterly management meeting, Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel called on officials and employees to accelerate data collection efforts ahead of the launch of the agency’s new Command Center.
The central platform is aimed at driving the department’s digitalization strategy and serve as the backbone for evidence-based policymaking. It is envisioned to become a consolidated data hub, integrating real-time information on crop production, livestock inventory, weather patterns, import and export flows, price movements, satellite field monitoring, and supply chain conditions.
Tiu Laurel told, “I encourage everybody to gather and provide data that will populate the Command Center. But we need real data, not fake information, to ensure we make the right decisions and take correct actions.”
By centralizing all relevant metrics, the platform aims to eliminate guesswork and allow DA planners to anticipate shortages, prevent oversupply, deploy interventions faster, and improve coordination across regional units.
He also said, “If we want to manage Philippine agriculture well, we must base our decisions on accurate and timely information.”
To strengthen the system’s analytical capabilities, Tiu Laurel said the department is also exploring artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can process the massive volume of data and help craft actionable insights.
“We will use AI to ask the questions and then hopefully help us solve problems or situations,” with him sharing plans to call the service GAIA, short for Government Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture and a nod to the Greek goddess of the Earth.
Through the AI component, it is expected to help DA simulate crop scenarios, optimize planting schedules, detect disease risks early, monitor farmgate price distortions, and recommend interventions that align with national goals of food security, agricultural modernization, and higher farmer incomes.