MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) will soft-launch its Command Center in November, a digital hub that aims to consolidate and analyze food supply chain data for more efficient and data-driven management, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said.

“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,’” Tiu Laurel said, emphasizing the agency’s shift toward precision and volume.

The Command Center will initially focus on the rice value chain, integrating critical information such as production, imports, stock levels, pricing, consumption, infrastructure, irrigation coverage, spoilage, and global market trends. Most of the data will be sourced from the Bureau of Plant Industry’s Osiris system.

“The DA already have most of these data but they are scattered across various agencies. 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,” the secretary said.

In April and May, rice imports reached 970,000 metric tons—exceeding the country’s average monthly consumption of around 320,000 metric tons—which triggered a sharp drop in palay prices. This prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to suspend rice importation for two months starting September 1.

The DA said sharper supply and demand forecasting through the Command Center, along with proposed amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law restoring regulatory powers over the rice industry to the DA and National Food Authority, is expected to help buffer against price shocks and improve predictability and incomes for farmers.

The Command Center will later be expanded to cover high-value crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries. It will also serve as the central registration hub for food facilities, cold storage, and warehouses nationwide, in line with President Marcos’ vision of modernizing Philippine agriculture and ensuring food security.