THE Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is in the process of developing an Agricultural Business Information System (ABIS) to provide stakeholders in the industry with data on crop production and marketing.

The computer-based information system is estimated to cost more than $18 million and should fully operational by June 2004. However, stakeholders will be able to access certain types of information by the end of this month.

“Over 196,000 agriculture stakeholders are expected to benefit from its implementation,” said Douglas Nelson, manager for Information Technology (IT) at RADA.

He argued that ABIS would function as the “digital nervous system for agriculture, so that we will be able to sense and respond to what is happening in the sector.”

Nelson also said that ABIS’ primary objective was to develop the capacity and competitiveness of Jamaica’s agricultural sector, through the use of information and communication technologies.

“It will seek to achieve this by providing a comprehensive, integrated information service that is verifiable,” he stated.

Funding for the development and implementation of the system is being provided with grants from the Ministry of Agriculture, the International Institute from Communication and Development (IICD), and the European Union (EU), through the Eastern Jamaica Agricultural Support Project (EJASP).

Among those expected to benefit from ABIS are producers/farmers, higglers and exporters. Supermarkets, agro-processors, farm stores, commodity organisations, government agencies, irrigation and tractor service providers and regional and international agencies are also expected to benefit significantly from the system.

In addition, ABIS will assist the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) to develop and operate an anti-praedial larceny scheme. which will readily provide registration numbers authenticating transactions between farmers and the buyers.

In explaining the need for the establishment of this ‘one stop shop’ for agricultural information, Nelson noted that a lack of adequate communication between farmers, produce buyers and other key players in the agricultural industry, has resulted in inadequate planning. This, he added, has also led to unstable production and market environment, particularly for producers of domestic food crops.

Producers are said to be experiencing difficulties with the marketing of their produce, praedial larceny and climatic conditions, combined with inadequate production and post-harvest and marketing practices. In addition, they are faced with poor and inconsistent supply of produce and unstable produce prices, while facilitators are offering inputs that do not necessarily match the needs of producers or the objectives of monitors.

Monitors also tend to implement programmes that did not adequately reflect the interests of stakeholders.

To address these deficiencies, ABIS will be providing five different types of information services. These include:

* A register service which will list and briefly describe all agricultural stakeholders.

* Activity tracking service to trace the activities of stakeholders and track crop availability and prices in key foreign markets.

* Technical guide to provide detailed and up-to-date information on production.

* Post-harvest and marketing practices.

* An analytical model to forecast agricultural output and prices based on the levels of water, nutrients, field practices and crop protection applied.

Nelson added that as a result of the demand within the industry, ABIS will be expanded to provide a limited trading facility for crops and agricultural inputs. This will allow individual farmers and operators to post supply and demand quotes on the web and support automatic matching on the basis of crop quality and price.