The Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Information and Communications Technology Service (DA-ICTS) formally launched the Fisheries and Agriculture Response Management (FARM) Citizens Application on March 13, 2019, at the ICTS Operations Center in Quezon City.
According to DA Secretary Manny F. Piñol, the app is part of the digitalization of Philippine agriculture by utilizing latest technologies available to make things faster and convenient.
“Aside from breaking communication barriers, we also intend to entice the younger generations to go into the business of agriculture through this,” he said.
The app enables farmers, fisherfolks, and other agri stakeholders to send their concerns and reports directly to DA, attached agencies, and its regional offices. It can also give warnings of incoming typhoons or weather disturbances, as well as rain forecast and navigation advisories for fishermen.
The FARM app provides a friendly interface to its users which enables them to communicate 24/7 with DA and its attached agencies through chat, e-mail, short messaging system (SMS) and in case of extreme emergencies like major damages to crops or vital farm infrastructures, users can call using the hotline button in the FARM Citizens app for it to be easily responded.
“This is a smartphone application which the DA will use to give farmers, fisherfolks and stakeholders greater access to the department and real-time response of our agencies. It is also expected to improve the transparency and accountability in the in the Department of Agriculture,” DA-ICTS Director John Pagaduan said.
“It utilizes a three-way multi-platform communication enabling the user, the central operations center, and the concerned agency to interact with one another,” he added
The app also provides a secure venue for reporting and minimizes bogus reports, as it requires registration before a user can start enjoying its benefits. It also has the ability to pinpoint the exact location of the user in real-time through GPS which enables faster and more accurate response to their concerns.
The DA Secretary will also be able to monitor the FARM system as well as the whereabouts of DA’s top officials through a special mobile phone that has location sharing capabilities for tracking and monitoring purposes.
The DA-ICTS technical teams will start a nationwide information campaign to instruct farmer-leaders, fisherfolk associations and other agriculture stakeholders on how to use the phone application.
To download, type “FARM Citizens App” in the Apple Store or Google Play Store. The app can be downloaded for free. ### (Carlos Cezar Baldosa, DA-AFID)
