Government reaffirm e-farming pledge

The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to using electronic services, such as the Rural Portal and APHIS Online, to ease the regulatory burden on farmers.

Agriculture Minister, Ian Pearson made his statement to developing electronic services during a visit to Greenmount Campus, College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise.

The Minister was visiting the College to discuss ongoing developments of the Rural Portal, APHIS on-line and e-government.

He said: "Farming is not a nine to five job and so it is important that the government provides services when and where farmers need them - and the use of online services provides such flexibility.

"DARD is at the forefront of e-government in Northern Ireland. It launched Northern Ireland’s first real time transactional service, APHIS Online, through the Portal more than 18 months ago and with some 2,000 farmers now using this service it has been a real e-government success."

The Minister confirmed that his department would also be exploring developments that will permit approved agents to electronically register births of calves on behalf of NI farmers.

"It is an important step in bridging the ‘digital divide’, allowing farmers to gain the benefits of e-Government without having to have direct access to the internet," he said.

(MB)