AgMachIN plans better information delivery to stakeholders

Enhanced information services on agricultural mechanization. This is one of the objectives that the PCARRD technical working group (TWG) on Agricultural Machinery Information Network (AgMachIN) has been working on for the past three years. AgMachIN has been providing web-based information services to the agricultural machinery industry and various stakeholders.
   
The outcome is worth the effort. From January to June 2007 alone, AgMachIN recorded an average of 571 visits monthly. E-mail inquiries have also poured in.

The TWG, in a recent meeting, plans to increase the available online information to include a database of manufacturers in the Philippines, agricultural machinery statistics at the barangay level, postharvest technologies and related publications, policy issues, extension bulletins, machinery leaflets and a link to the Society of Aquaculture Engineers for aquaculture designs.

The Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center - University of the Philippines Los Baños (AMTEC-UPLB) is also eyeing the AgMachIN web site as venue for the online application for machine testing.

The group agreed to follow general guidelines pertaining to copyright and intellectual property when publishing information on the web.

PCARRD Director for Agricultural Resources Management Research, Dr. Digna O. Manzanilla encouraged the TWG to join the PCARRD message board where most inquiries on agricultural machinery are posted.

Representatives from UPLB, the Metals Industry Research and Development Center, the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Resources Research and Development, the National Agriculture and Fishery Council, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Laguna Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association representing the private sector attended the meeting. (Engr. Romeo Santiago, S&T Media Service)