DA’s command center to be up by November

A command center that would manage the country’s food supply chain– ereging all commodities data from different agencies–  would soon be up and operating in November, as promised by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

As envisioned, the command center will consolidate critical data, including production, imports, stock levels, different types of the same products, movements, wholesale and retail prices, consumption rates, production and post harvest infrastructure, utilization, irrigation coverage, spoilage and global market trends. Its trade data will come mainly from Osiris system of the Bureau of Plant Industry.

“The DA already has most of the data but these are scattered across various agencies,”  Laurel was quoted as saying.’s statement.

“We must bring them together and make market sense of them, plus gather additional data that we lack, so we can use our limited resources more efficiently and productively.”

Laurel also stressed the need to shift toward precision and volume.

“When I accepted this Cabinet portfolio, my thinking was ‘produce, produce, produce.’ Nearly two years into the job, I’ve realized that equally as important mantra is ‘manage, manage, manage,’” he said.

The DA noted that the center will initially focus on the rice value chain, given the wild swings in prices of the staple grain could unsettle economic assumptions, particularly those tied to inflation.

Rice arrivals in April and May stood at 970,000 metric tons (MT), higher than the country’s average monthly consumption of around 320,000 MT.

Such a volume led to the sharp fall in palay prices that prompted President Marcos Jr. to suspend rice importation for two months starting September 1, the DA said.

Sharper forecasting of supply and demand that would be provided by the command center […] should help forge a buffer against future price shocks, bringing much-needed predictability and improved incomes for Filipino rice farmers.”

The center’s model will simultaneously be adapted to other key industries such as high-value crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries, along with the central registration of all food facilities and cold and dry warehouses with their stock levels.

The DA said this move is crucial in modernizing agriculture and for a food-secure Philippines.