DA to launch command center for food supply

A new command center to consolidate food supply data will be launched in November, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said yesterday, as the government moves to respond better to price swings and stabilize farmers' incomes.

- By ALDEN MONZON

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the facility, described as the DA's “digital nerve center,” will pool information now scattered across agencies.

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

The first phase will focus on the rice value chain, where volatile prices have unsettled both farmers and policymakers.