THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said over the weekend that it is currently developing two mobile applications to help increase the production and income of Filipino farmers.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol also said he is planning to distribute 10,000 smartphones to farmers’ groups to make it easier for farmers to go online.
“I believe that the two mobile applications could revolutionize Philippine agriculture,” Piñol told the BusinessMirror.
Piñol said one of the apps being developed would be dubbed “FarmHelp,” a 24/7 online-assistance desk that would attend to farmers’ needs and complaints, such as those related to managing plant and animal diseases.
“Imagine, a few months from now, a farmer who cannot diagnose the disease of his chicken could just take a picture of it or its manure to get a diagnosis from a veterinarian who could recommend the appropriate medication,” he said.
The DA chief said a group of young Filipino game developers who developed “PureForce”—an emergency response and rescue app—proposed the FarmHelp
application last week.
FarmHelp is currently being finalized and will include key features, such as a geo-tagging mechanism to easily detect the complainant’s location, Piñol said. The DA is targeting to launch it next month.
The other app, dubbed as “Krops,” is patterned after Grab and Uber. Piñol said Krops will help potential buyers find sources of farm products within their locale.
“You just open the app if you’re looking for poultries selling eggs within your vicinity,” he said.
The DA chief said the Krops application was proposed to him also last week by Joseph Calata, president of listed agriculture conglomerate Calata Corp.
Piñol said the DA is currently finalizing the directory of Krops. “We have to gather all the data and information about farm suppliers.”
He said the government will launch a massive information-dissemination campaign next month to encourage producers to become part of the Krops directory.
Piñol also said Krops is the “answer to the problem bedeviling the Filipino agricultural producer who has always been at the mercy of the middlemen and the traders.”
“The farmers’ lack of access to information regarding the buyers and the price of their products has made Philippine agriculture a one-sided affair where traders dictate the price,” Piñol said.
“With Krops, traders will no longer be able to jack up or depress prices at will, because buyers will now have access to comparative figures. All they have to do is open the app,” he added.
Piñol said having access to the “cybermarket” will allow farmers to become more competitive. “There’s no intervention from the government or traders anymore. Farmers could sell directly to consumers.”
He said Krops will also promote transparency in the DA, especially in procurement. The DA is targeting to launch the app by the end of the year.
The DA chief said the government will acquire the FarmHelp and Krops for a “modest fee.”
To help farmers gain access to the two apps, Piñol said the DA is planning to set aside P30 million to purchase 10,000 smartphones, which will be distributed to farmers’ groups all over the country.