With the looming La Niña season, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has rolled out “smart agri solutions” as a way of tapping technology to combat or manage the threat of excessive water or flooding in the country.
DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) held a media conference on Tuesday, Sept. 25, to discuss the solutions as part of its Technology to People (T2P) campaign.
La Niña is an effect of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climate fluctuation due to the interaction of the ocean and atmosphere along the Central and Eastern Equatorial Pacific (CEEP).
In the Philippines, La Niña is expected to occur from September to November this year, with a calculated 71% chance of persisting until March 2025. It is predicted that the country could experience two to three tropical cyclones each month until December and could experience at least one cyclone until March 2025.
Given these outlooks, DOST-PCAARRD showcased three innovations developed with its partner institutions across the country.
The first was the “Tower Garden” developed at the Central Luzon State University, and led by Dr. Marvin Cinense.
The tower garden consists of vertical 1.5-meter PVC pipes with 48 planting holes in each, filled with cocopeat for moisture retention and anchoring for the plants. The towers are connected to a solar-powered pump for regular irrigation and recirculation of excess water.
This configuration allows for crop cultivation in almost any setting, as the setup does not rely on soil quality and topography. Since the crops are grown on a vertical tower, it maximizes the available space and more than doubles the crop yield compared to a traditional garden of the same area. It could also be set up indoors, making it easier to protect against the effects of La Niña.
Meanwhile, Dr. Renerio Mucas of the Iloilo Science and Technology University developed the “Hybrid Solar-Powered Dehydrator Machine” to assist the food processing industry, even when they don’t have access to much sunlight during the La Niña season.
The dehydrator features an energy-efficient temperature and humidity control and a backup heating system, guaranteeing even drying in any weather condition. The dehydrator was initially conceived for herbal tea dehydration but has now been improved to accommodate ginger, turmeric, banana, and seafood.
On the other hand, as part of the Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines (Project SARAi), the DOST has also developed the Community Level – SARAi Enhanced Agricultural Monitoring System (CL-SEAMS) and the Smarter Pest Identification Technology (SPid Tech).
These programs were developed by several universities in the country and led by Prof. Moises Dorado of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
The CL-SEAMS utilizes free open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing to provide crop statistics, including health, estimated yield, pests and diseases, and ideal areas to guide the farmers.
On the other hand, the SPid Tech is a mobile app that has a database of insect pests and diseases of rice, corn, coffee, cacao, banana, coconut, sugarcane, soybean, and tomato. The user could simply take a photo of the pest or infected portion of the crop, and the app would identify it and suggest the best action to take for a remedy.
These programs would save the time and efforts of the farmers by providing timing and yield estimates, avoiding any extreme events that could potentially destroy crops. The programs could also identify potential problems early in the planting process to avoid further crop wastage.
DOST-PCAARRD said these innovations would provide numerous benefits to the agricultural industry and are being rolled out to the whole country to improve crop and food production and provide food security even during extreme weather conditions.
