Manila, July 22 -- To further enhance services for farmers and fishers, the Department of Agriculture (DA) opened the country's centralized agriculture data under the Agriculture-based Central Data Ecosystem (AbCDE) Project on Wednesday.

This is still in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to advance food security and boost agricultural support to local food producers.

The USD3.5-million, or PHP165 million, AbCDE Platform 1.0 project, completed in partnership with the Republic of Korea government through its official development assistance (ODA) program, seeks to advance smart governance in the agriculture sector.

In an interview, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the landmark platform enhances the g...