Digital farmer registry: finding local produce by town

It is the law ordering the creation of a free public directory of Puerto Rico’s bonafide farmers, searchable by product type, by municipality and by farmer or farm name. It serves two sides: whoever wants to buy local and does not know where, and the farmer who wants to be found and to keep their information current with the agency. Worth knowing that the law sets long deadlines to build it, so it may not be available yet.

For the public, none: the law orders the registry to be “freely accessible to the general public.” To appear in it as a farmer, the law uses a category that already exists: bonafide farmer, defined as a “natural or juridical person certified by the Department of Agriculture under that status.” This law creates no new certification route and does not change its requirements; it relies on the one the Department already administers, and we did not read those requirements for this guide.

• To appear as a farmer: to be certified by the Department of Agriculture under the bonafide farmer status, which the law defines as a natural or juridical person holding that certification.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

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   Step 1: What the registry will contain

   The law lists five things, and the last is what gives the other four their value. The registry shall include: “1. Farmer or agricultural company name. 2. Products harvested. 3. Farm or point-of-sale location. 4. Contact information (telephone, email, social networks). 5. Bonafide farmer certification.” That is, it is not just a list of names: it carries where each one is and what they harvest.

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   Step 2: Searchable by product, municipality and name

   It is the detail that decides whether it is useful, and the law requires it: the registry “must be organised so that it is easy to search by product type, municipality and farmer or farm name.” By municipality is what lets you buy nearby; by product type is what lets you find who grows what you are looking for.

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   Step 3: Free and from a phone

   The law sets two short conditions on access, and both matter: the registry must “be freely accessible to the general public” and “be compatible with mobile devices and computers.” It adds that the Department of Agriculture “must carry out awareness and promotion campaigns of the registry’s use to encourage buying local products.”

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   Step 4: For the farmer: it is also the door to services

   This is the side least discussed. The law says the registry “must fulfil the purpose of farmers keeping their information updated and of easing access to the agency’s services, as well as applying for agricultural incentives.” Keeping your data current is not only so customers find you: the law ties it to accessing services and applying for incentives.

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   Step 5: Who can appear

   The law uses an existing category and does not modify it: “Bonafide farmer: Natural or juridical person certified by the Department of Agriculture under that status.” If you already hold that certification, you are who the law refers to. The requirements to obtain it live in the Department’s regulations and we did not read them for this guide.

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   Step 6: When it is supposed to exist

   Here it is worth being frank, because these are two chained and long deadlines. The Department of Agriculture “shall adopt the regulations necessary to implement this Act’s provisions, within a period of no more than one hundred eighty (180) days after its approval. Subsequently, it shall have one hundred eighty (180) additional days to create the registry, do the requisite programming, and implement it.” The Act took effect immediately upon approval, but the registry arrives at the end of those two terms.

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   Step 7: It may live inside an existing platform

   A practical detail explaining where to look for it when it launches: the law provides that “the use of digital platforms the agency has is authorised for the registry’s implementation.” It will not necessarily be a new site; it may appear inside something the Department already operates.

The registry is created and maintained by the Department of Agriculture, and the law authorises implementing it inside the digital platforms the agency already has. To appear in it you need the bonafide farmer certification the Department itself issues. We publish no link because the law carries none and the registry arrives at the end of two one-hundred-eighty-day terms. If your matter is the farmer’s rights before the agency, that bill of rights has its own guide here.

• Assuming the registry is already online: the law sets one hundred eighty (180) days to regulate and one hundred eighty (180) more to create and implement it.
• Looking for a new site: the law authorises implementing it inside the digital platforms the agency already has.
• Believing you must pay to consult it: the law orders it freely accessible to the general public.
• Thinking this law certifies you as a farmer: it uses the bonafide farmer certification the Department already issues, and creates no new route.
• Neglecting your information in the registry: the law ties it to easy access to the agency’s services and to applying for agricultural incentives.
• Expecting search by name only: the law requires it to be easy to search by product type and by municipality too.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Agricultura de Puerto Rico

  Agricultura

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov