INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

Project Investocks: Online Investment System

For Poultry And Swine Raisers With Decision
Support System
Mark Edmund I Legaspi, Miguelle Banjo P. Manalo, Jerome B. Opeña, Eymard B. Pempiña, Maria Vicky S. Solomo, Dave A.
Yadao

Abstract— Online-based technology in relation to the investment system for poultry and swine in the Philippines is not well known. Thus, study aimed
to develop a Web-based Investment System that would help investors look for the best poultry and/or swine farm which could generate better
investment returns. An Investor – Farmer matching system with decision process was developed using a user-friendly online interface for Pork
Producers Federation of the Philippines Incorporated (formerly National Federation of Hog Raisers Inc. or NFHFI). This will contain a dashboard on
the system administrator side that would reflect the overall performance and financial standing of participating livestock farms as well as
comprehensive dashboard for investors which would display the historical and current investment data of every investor account. Main functions of
the system include account management, enhanced decision making, maximizing the profit through Return on Investment analysis based on
farmers’ production data and profile. One-on-one interviews, focused groups and direct observations will be employed to collect primary data
required for the system development. The effectiveness of the system and client satisfaction were discussed and presented after months of
deployment in PPFPI website.
.
Index Terms— Decision Support System; Online Investment System; Report Generation; Livestock Investment; Livestock Farming; Project
Investocks; Decision Tree Algorithm
————————————————————

1 INTRODUCTION Federation of the Philippines Inc. Philstar.com states that

In a recent [1] cited that the country is not self-sufficient Filipinos are the world’s heaviest internet users in 2018
in many agricultural commodities, particularly in livestock. averaging at 10 hours and 2 minutes per person. In
She supported this claim by providing further addition, 70 percent of these internet users spent money on
information about the country’s increasing import trends and eCommerce platforms. This is also evident on the report of
figures of livestock products from 2010-2015. In a nutshell, Rappler.com as more Filipinos, particularly middle-class
her statement suggests that the country is increasingly being and Millennials are investing in the stock market.The
dependent on imported livestock products to suffice the increase in the stock market trading can be
demand of our people while neighboring countries exporting accounted to the increase in the total number of online
these products reap the benefits [2]. In addition, local accounts which boosted the online stock trading by 60.9%.
livestock businesses are not able to compete with the low The Philippine Stock Exchange president said, ―Technology
prices of the imported livestock products due to a has played a big role in the growth of the investor base over
number of factors: low productivity due to use of the years as more and more Filipinos have continued to
outdated methods and technology, lack of support from adopt online trading to invest in the stock market.‖ On the
the government sector in relation to development, as other hand [6] emphasized that advancement of
well as limited budget support or government subsidy in technology specifically the existence of numerous online
the livestock sector [3].The only reason that the livestock investment platforms nowadays gave Filipinos further
industry is thriving throughout the years is due to the exposure to not just online stock market investment but to
aggressive investments of large private corporations to the different schemes of investment. According to [7] one of
hog and chicken industry as per the senator’s statement [4]. which is known to the public as an online crowd funding
It is observed by [5] that there is intervention and budgetary platform. These platforms gave way for middle-class
support from the private commercial sector is needed for Filipinos to experience and reap the rewards of investing to
the country’s livestock sector to continue growing, this said program. As of today, numerous industries are
producing their products, supplement the demands of currently utilizing such platform to advertise or market their
consumer, and compete with the imported livestock project funding or financial assistance to potential online
commodities in the market. However, the support that investor, but unfortunately there are only a few such
these large corporations provide are only allocated to the investment programs for agriculture and livestock industry.
well-known players of livestock industry, sometimes to Another mode of investment which is commonly known by
large corporation’s own livestock subsidiary, leaving behind any Filipino investor is called Time Deposit. Moreover, [8]
other less known but well-established livestock discussed that a type of savings account that earns a fixed
businesses, to financially thrive in every production cycle, interest rate upon reaching maturity. Funds in a time deposit
by their own means, sometimes through word-of-mouth, cannot be withdrawn during the term of the maturity but can
financial investment requests or through bank loans. One be pre-terminated subject to penalty fees. Though this
organization which uses such methods of financial mode of investment provides you a fixed amount of
resource procurement is our client, the Pork Producers investment return, Filipinos often find it lacking in relation to
———————————————— waiting time and the amount of investment return.
The Authors are all from FEU – Institute of Technology / P. Paredes Hence, investors often find other alternative investment
St. Samplaoc Manila, 1008) schemes which would offer better returns despite of waiting
time. By harnessing the opportunity of rising number of
1328
IJSTR©2020
www.ijstr.org
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

investors and advancement of internet technology, result to diminished supply of livestock products or consider
developing an online investment system dedicated for the cutting other production expenses which then would reduce
livestock industry, specifically hog and poultry industry the quality of livestock products. The system will be managed
would cross the borders between livestock businesses and by Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. (PPFPI),
potential online investors [9]. It would also provide a non-government organization for hog farmers’ association
opportunities for investors to reap the rewards of investing that monitors national legislations which may affect the
in livestock businesses that usually generate better interests of the numerous, different aspects and sides of
investment returns since as aforementioned above, people in the industry. It also serves as a way where vital
commodities produced by the livestock business are statistics on market trends, disease incidence, growth
increasingly in demand as the country’s population performances, price and volume movements of swine farm
increases. At the same time, livestock businesses would necessities, and government directions in protecting the
be given the opportunity to reach out to potential agricultural sectors are.
investors for additional financial resources to be used
either for procurement of better equipment to increase 3 THE DEVELOPED SYSTEM
productivity or to simply increase the headcount of their The team also conducted a survey which measures the
livestock farms to anticipate the demand of their degree which the developed system attained its objectives.
products to the public. Upon deployment of the system to The table below shows the respondents’ extent of
the web, the system proponents are hoping it would serve agreement/ disagreement with the statements given.
as an instrument for sustainability of local livestock
commodities in the market, as well as diminish the TABLE 1
dependence from importation of livestock products from 5 –POINT LIKERT SCALE
neighboring countries. [10] Due to inflation rate increase in
the past few years, the client has reported higher incidents Rating Mean Range Interpretation
of fund shortage amongst some of their members, leaving 5 4.50-5.00 Strongly Agree
no choice but to decrease their production rate. The 4 3.50-4.49 Agree
proponents believe the time to procure funds from alternate
3 2.50-3.49 Moderately Agree
sources and harnessing the internet technology to reach out
to online investors would be a good solution. Collating all 2 1.50 -2.49 Disagree
the applicable aspects of some investment 1 1.00-1.49 Strongly Disagree
concepts, the proponents believe that an investment
system which utilizes a time deposit maturity Investocks is an online investment system with decision
timeframe, in line with the different production cycle support system which can only operate in Google Chrome
timeframes of livestock farms, as well as utilizing the and Mozilla Firefox web browsers. Further enhancements
collective power of small to medium investors, and can be done to fully function in a mobile browser after the
possibly seasoned investors to fulfill the fund deployment of the system. Below are the screenshots of the
petitions, the client’s problem of monetary fund web application.
procurement for its livestock farmers can be solved by
implementing the Project Investocks. 4 PROJECT DESIGN
The system was developed in a codeIgniter web application
2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY framework, uses PHP 7.0. The system also has the
Investocks, a combination of the words ―invests‖ and integrated Payment system by PayPal REST for the payment
―livestocks‖, is a web-based investment system which comes feature is integrated in the CodeIgniter platform. The
with a data-driven decision support system feature, which system’s features can be used properly with Google chrome
would aid potential investors in searching, as per their or Mozilla Firefox. Investocks web application has several
preference, for a livestock farm to invest. At the same time, modules and functionalities. Figure 1 shows the home page
the system would serve as an online platform for livestock of the systems.
businesses under the Pork Producers Federation of the
Philippines Incorporated to post their opportunities for
investing in their businesses as well as possibly market their
products to potential buyers [11]. Since establishment, the
Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. has been
committed in realizing their mission and vision as an
organization, which is to be the backbone of the hog industry
as it enhances the opportunities for business growth and
viability towards the assurance of the country’s food security
and livelihood program, as well as to be a formidable catalyst
in promoting the competitiveness, sustained growth, and
Fig 1 Sample Screen output of Investocks
protection of its members. However as mentioned by [3] due
to the recent inflation rate, interest rates are at its highest
The system showcased the branding of the federation itself,
peak in the Philippine Economy therefore limiting the options
incorporated with the login, signup, and about us button will
of livestock businesses and consider unconventional ways to
lead the user several functionalities as follows:
keep their production funding enough on the next production
cycle either to decrease their production rate which would
1329
IJSTR©2020
www.ijstr.org
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

1. An about module was also included in the system TABLE 2

which educate the users about the history of the SYSTEM EVALUATION TABLE
federation. Question Weighted Mean
2. The system has a registration module for those who 1. Investocks has necessary features needed 4.29
want to be a part of the federation and crowd funding to process and monitor monetary investments
and returns.
goal of the system.
2. Monitoring investments and returns using 4.10
3. The login module for both the farmer and investor livestocks’ dashboard can be done and easily
provided that they have already been accepted by the understood.
admin has already confirmed their accounts by the 3. Results from livestock and poultry farm 4.14
email that was sent to them upon registration. search fits investor preference.
4. Access module allows the creation of the admin 4. Registration and log-in process of 4.33
access and tracking process are taken into execution. Investocks is simple.
5. Navigation within the Investocks system is 4.38
5. Reports module will automatically appear in Microsoft simple.
excel whenever the user wanted a separate copy of the 6. Investocks is easy to learn and use. 4.34
reports regarding their investment. In addition, this 7. Investocks is an innovative investment 4.15
section allows the investors to view their investment on system compared to other existing online
different farms. Table will also produce by the system to investment systems.
forecasted return on investment, the amount which they 8. Investocks has potential to help our fellow 4.15
invested, location of farm, date when they invested and small and backyard livestock and poultry
the production rate of the farm. Also, the tracking of farmers.
9. Investocks provides accurate information 4.09
investment on the farmer side allows the farmer to view about monetary investments and returns.
different investment approved on their farms. With the 10. Investocks’ webpage is neatly designed. 4.23
use of this they will be able to see the forecasted 11. Loading issues or errors at the Investocks 4.08
revenue of the investment and since the system system are at minimal or non-existent.
promotes crowd funding they will also see the total 12. Investocks is accessible and presentable 3.85
amount of money they have acquired from the different on any device platform.
investments they gathered. 13. Investocks is accessible on any browser 3.39
programs.
6. The integrated Decision Support System aids
14. Investocks transactions are secured. 4.06
investors to choose what farm is best to invest with. 15. Investocks accounts are completely 3.94
After answering a series of questions, the system protected.
will provide the top farms which matches the criteria 16. Funding petitions at Investocks are 4.08
of with which the investor has set. In this module the legitimate and well-regulated.
investor has already chosen a certain farm to invest Total 4.10
on but to complete the said process they have to
input the exact amount they want to invest to that Based on the gathered data, most of the respondents
certain farm at the moment. reacted positively towards the system especially the
7. And the last module is the payment, which the students. The proponents found out that the students and
system is integrated with PayPal to have a more professionals liked the features of the system in terms of
secured process of payment for the investor. Functionality, Usability, Reliability, Portability and Security
categories. Through the survey, the proponents were able to
5 RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS determine the strong points and weak points of the
developed system. First, Calculated results for survey
The proponents used purposive sampling. It is also known as
statement number 1 which garnered a weighted mean score
a judgment, selective or subjective sampling and a sampling
of 4.29, it shows that out of the total number of response for
technique where in the researchers choose their respondents
this survey statement, 38 respondents which consists of
based on their own judgment. The respondents had to
47.5% of the total number of respondents strongly agree, 32
answer 16 different questions which correspond to the
respondents or 40% of the total respondents agree, as well
FURPS methodology. The ages and the occupation of the
as 7 respondents or 8.8% of the total respondents
respondents varies from a wide range of people which allow
moderately agree. In short, Investocks has met the
the researchers to better analyze the different results
acceptable standards for investment processing and
generated from these different people. The statistical
monitoring. Second, Calculated results for survey statement
treatment used on determining the results is weighted mean
number 2 which garnered a weighted mean score of 4.10, It
average. The formula used for calculating the weighted mean
shows that out of the total number of response for this survey
is:
statement, 30 respondents which consists of 37.5% of the
M = (R5 * 5) + (R4 * 4) + (R3 * 3) + (R2 * 2) + (R1 * 1) / N
total number of respondents strongly agree, 32 respondents
Where:
or 40% of the total respondents agree, as well as 15
respondents or 18.8% of the total respondents moderately
M = Mean
agree. In short, Investocks has an acceptable and
Rx = number of respondents in their chosen rating
comprehensive dashboard, investors can use. Third, survey
N = number of total respondents
statement number 3 shows that 45% of the respondents (36)
strongly agree, 31.3% of the respondents (25), agree, and
18.8% of the respondents (15) moderately agree in the said
statement. In totality,Investocks’ decision support system is
effective in providing the preferred search results to the users
which made the statement gain a weighted mean score of
1330
IJSTR©2020
www.ijstr.org
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

4.14. Fourth, survey statement number 5 shows that 55% of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing All Establishments:
respondents (44) strongly agree, 35% of the respondents Final Results. Retrieved on 30 June 2018 from
(28) agree, and 3 respondents moderately agree to the said https://psa.gov.ph/content/2015-annual-survey-
survey statements. The results depicted majority of the philippine-business-and-industry-aspbi-agriculture-
respondents find the layout of the whole system to be forestry-and-fishing.
comprehensive but in statement number 13 it shows about [5] Swine Information Network (2018). Industry
the investocks is fairly accessible on any browser programs, Status.Retrieved on 30 June 2018 from
It is being said because the system was developed entirely http://www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/home/momentum/swine/i
for the latest browsers in the web today. Lastly, based on the ndex.₱/industry-status.
survey conducted, the system garnered a weighted mean [6] Tan Wei (2013). Online Investment and Loan Application
score average of 4.10 in terms of Functionality, Usability, for ZoanOy, Department Of Technology and
Reliability, Portability and Security categories. This would Communication. 87pp.
mean the system is eligible for deployment with further [7] Top 5 Crowdfunding Platforms in Philippines 2018.
recommendations of system feature updates mostly focusing (2018, June 22). Retrieved October 7, 2018, from
in the Portability and Security aspects of the system. http://fintechnews.sg/20682/philippines/top-5-
crowdfunding-platforms-in-philippines-2018/
5 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORKS [8] What Is A Time Deposit and How Do They Work? (2013,
Subject to the results of the survey conducted with the use of March). Retrieved November 21, 2018 from
FURPS (Functionality, Usability, Reliability, Performance, and https://www.imoney.ph/articles/what-is-time-deposit-how-
Security) as a method of measuring the capabilities of the do-time-deposits-work/
created system. As observed on the results the proponents [9] IoT and Livestock: How Internet of Things is Changing
were able to meet the requirements and the main goal of the Farmers' Lives. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2018, from
system. The system’s specific objectives are as follows: https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/www.letsnurture.com/
blog/iot-livestock-internet-things-changing-farmers-
1. To develop the system’s decision support feature lives.html/amp
which would be based on different factors such as [10] Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (2013) .Selected
return on investment (ROI), investment amount, Statistics on Agriculture – 2013. Bureau of Agricultural
production rate, maturity rate, and location Statistics (BAS), Department of Agriculture, Ben-Lor
2. To develop comprehensive dashboard for the Building, 1184 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City 1100,
investors’ and farmers’ account, which will serve as Philippines. June 2013. ISSN-2012-0362. Downloaded:
an immediate reporting tool for investors’ investment 30June2018fromhttps://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Sel
records and history ected%20Statistics%20on%20Agriculture%202013.pdf
3. To integrate a secured payment system which would [11] Levišauskaite, K. (2010). Investment Analysis and
facilitate the monetary transactions of the investors Portfolio Management. Leonardo da Vinci programme
and farmers project ―Development and Approbation of Applied
4. To create an account management system for Courses Based on the Transfer of Teaching Innovations
facilitation of investor’s profile and transactions, as in Finance and Management for Further Education of
well as showcasing the livestock farmers’ farm Entrepreneurs and Specialists in Latvia, Lithuania and
performance metrics Bulgaria‖, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas,
5. To create an audit trail which would serve as a Lithuania. 166pp.
reporting tool for monetary investments and returns [12] Zandbergen, P(n.d.) Transaction Processing Systems
of investors and farmers (TPS): Batch and Real-time Systems Retrieved
November21,2018fromhttps://study.com/academy/lesso
REFERENCES n/transactionprocessing-systems-tps-manual-and-
[1] Villar, C. A. (2018, March 20). Senate bill no. 1758: an automated-systems.html
[13] Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (2016). Selected
act to restructure and rationalize the livestock industry in
order to strengthen its development, protection and Statistics on Agriculture – 2013. Bureau of Agricultural
regulatory functions, including the promotion of dairy and Statistics (BAS), Department of Agriculture, Ben-Lor
native animals, and to provide for a livestock Building, 1184 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City 1100,
development fund, and for other purposes.Retrieved Philippines. August 2013. ISSN-2012-0362.
October1,2018,fromhttp://senate.gov.ph/lisdata/2765323 Downloaded: 30 June 2018 from
916!.pdf https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/Selected%20Statistic
[2] Maharjan, K. L., &Fradejas, C. C. (2005).A Study of the s%20on%20Agriculture%202016.pdf
Problems Confronting the Backyard Pig Raisers in
Batangas Province of Southern Luzon. Journal of Rural
Problems, 41(1), 236-241. doi:10.7310/arfe1965.41.236
[3] Philippine Statistics Authority (2016). Swine Industry
Performance Report – Jan. to Dec. 2015. Retrieved on
01 June 2018 from https://psa.gov.ph/content/swine-
industry-performance-report-2
[4] Philippine Statistics Authority (2017). 2015 Annual
Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) -

1331
IJSTR©2020
www.ijstr.org