The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is having difficulties crafting programs for the country’s cash crops due to the lack of “reliable and accurate” agricultural data and statistics.
“I believe we cannot do sound planning if the data that we use and the statistics we rely on are not accurate,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in a news briefing on Tuesday.
Piñol said he has ordered the nationwide validation of all agricultural data, adding that the current and available agricultural data and statistics in the country are “inaccurate and outdated.”
“I have ordered the nationwide validation of all agricultural data and statistics which I’ve proven to be inaccurate and outdated,” he added.
However, when asked if he believes that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)—the main government agency handling the country’s database and statistics—remain credible, the DA chief said, “I have no basis to question it.”
Piñol added he wants to create a new database system for Philippine agriculture.
“In fact, we’re currently designing a program wherein we will really go down to the village level and we are going to use drone technology for the data collection,” he said.
The DA chief added that he came up with the plan to put up a new agricultural database system after the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) could not provide him with data on the latest onion production.
“It all started when I asked [BPI] Director [Vivencio] Mamaril, what is the current onion production of the Philippines, which he cannot answer,” Piñol said.
“Then I asked him how much volume of onion do we need to import then? He cannot answer also. So, I saw the flaw in the data system, I saw the problem,” he added.
Piñol did not disclose how much will be allocated for the creation of the new agricultural data and statistics system. But he assured that he will hire young people to work on the project.
Previously, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), which has its own database and statistics on agriculture, was attached to the DA. The BAS was created by virtue of Executive Order (EO) 116 to oversee the collection, compilation and official release of agricultural statistics.
“The BAS shall be mainly responsible for the collection, compilation and official release of agricultural statistics; exercise technical supervision over data-collection centers; coordinate all agricultural statistics and economic research activities of all bureaus, corporations and offices under the Ministry,” EO 116 read.
The BAS was merged with the National Statistics Office, the National Statistical Coordination Board and the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics to form the PSA after then-President Benigno S. Aquino III signed the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, or Republic Act 10625.