SMART AGRICULTURE | Cultivating the next generation of Filipino farmers

Farmers call it a day after planting palay seedlings the traditional way in Mabitac, Laguna. With the reality of climate change, adopting smart agriculture is critical to sustainability.

With the planet warming at an unprecedented rate, agriculture is held by the scruff of volatile climatic conditions, leaving the sector vulnerable to weather’s capriciousness.

Efforts to boost yields and strengthen the agricultural sector are often hampered by the onslaught of tropical cyclones. and, most recently, the threat of a “super” El Niño expected to ravage farmlands, triggering multidimensional threats that ripple across the supply chain.

The latest government report showed that El Niño has already ravaged crops across nearly 250,000 hectares of land worth P6.87 billion and affected 223,214 farmers ahead of the dry spell’s expected peak.

Despite this, stakeholders in the sector emphasize that agriculture stands at a critical juncture, with technological advancements and artificial intelligence (AI) opening new frontiers to help the industry weather climate-related shocks and ensure food security for the next generation.

‘Study uncertainty’

Decibel Eslava, dean of the University of the Philippines–Los Baños (UPLB) School of Environmental Science and Management (Sesam), said uncertainties hound the ever-changing climatic conditions.

“If there’s anything certain about the changing climatic conditions, it’s that there’s a very high level of uncertainty in all of this, and that’s the only thing we know,” she told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Eslava, who also serves as the Program Leader of Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry–Centralized National Hub for Regional Operations (Sarai Centro), said climate-smart agriculture exists to study these uncertainties.

“It is important because there’s a lot we don’t know, and Sarai [Centro] exists to help find out what these are and what we need to do to adapt,” Eslava said.

Initially established as Project Sarai, the national program has recently been institutionalized as Sarai Centro to expand science-based crop advisories and climate-smart farming tools to help the sector slash its weather losses.

UPLB is carrying out the program with funding from the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD).

Sarai Centro deploys a suite of tools designed to serve a wide range of end users, including farmers, local government units (LGUs), and the national government.

Among the digital products offered to farmers is the Smarter Pest Identification Technology (SPIDTECH), a diagnostic software that identifies pests and crop diseases in plantations.

Mobile applications calculate and track harvest time of coffee and banana crops, dubbed Coffee Application Harvest Estimator (CAPHE) and BanaTech.

“The [farmers’] adoption of our mobile apps is fast, since these are easy to use,” Eslava said.

It also offers an agricultural monitoring system designed to provide information and data for local governments that can guide them in policymaking. The system uses freely available satellite imagery to enable Municipal Agricultural Officers (MAOs) and LGU staff to monitor farm conditions remotely.

“We have rolled this out nationwide to all DOST regional offices […] So far, the reception has been good. In fact, in preparation for the expected extreme El Niño, they are already generating risk maps,” she added.

Eslava said DOST has been constantly collaborating with the UPLB in developing technologies and capacity building for farmers.

Sustainability at risk

In the ever-changing environment, Bayer Crop Science Philippines Inc. President and Managing Director Nisha Sharma said adopting smart agriculture is critical to sustainability, especially because challenges facing the sector affect the broader population.

“If we don’t turn around in time and be smart about these agricultural adoption practices, we won’t remain sustainable,” Sharma said.

Besides climate-focused tools, smart agriculture also incorporates smart agricultural machinery by softening the expected blow of erratic weather conditions on the farm sector.

Bayer Philippines introduced a new direct-seeded rice (DSR) system anchored on mechanized hybrid rice sowing and agronomic support.

DSR deviates from the traditional method of transplanting seedlings into puddled fields, thus it is touted as cost-effective and less labor-intensive.

“It’s important to change the game by looking at more futuristic products, technology, solutions, collaborating on mechanization, and thinking out of the box on how we can improve with the limited means that we have. Because our means are really limited in terms of resources,” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has also been exploring artificial intelligence-driven drones.

Earlier, the agency forged an agreement with Japanese technology provider E-SupportLink (ESL), which uses drones, aerial photography, and AI analysis to monitor crop growth, count plants, forecast production, optimize farm inputs, and detect early signs of disease.

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), an attached agency of the DA, said the government is also finalizing the guidelines for the Drone4Rice project so that farmers can use the technology to disperse seeds over their land.

Currently, PhilRice Deputy Executive Director Eduardo Jimmy Quilang said the project is still in the research stage, which could be concluded this year.

“Mechanization can reduce farmers’ production costs and help them speed up work in the fields,” he said.

Tucked on the outskirts of the agency’s FutureRice Farm in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, is a hybrid mobile solar-powered water pump equipped with wheels and a solar array soaking up the sun to irrigate two hectares of farmland on a daily basis.

Arnold Juliano, farm manager of the agritourism site, said the irrigation technology can release water at an average six liters per second as long as there’s sunlight. At nightfall, the unit can be plugged into a power outlet to keep it running.

He touts the solar-powered technology as a tool that can ease the financial burden on farmers who rely on diesel-powered water pumps to irrigate their land, as rising fuel prices further squeeze their already dwindling margins.

With diesel prices soaring to three-digit levels, Juliano said the share of fuel in planters’ production cost doubled to P20,000 per hectare from the previous P10,000 per hectare.

Despite the solar-powered unit’s hefty price of P245,000, he is optimistic farmers can secure returns on investment in six years compared to continuing using diesel-powered engines.

“We want to help farmers reduce their expenses by not using diesel fuel anymore, and instead rely on solar [energy] for water pumping,” Juliano said.

Backbone of economy

Agriculture has long been tagged as the economy’s backbone, but with the aging rural workforce and waning interest of the younger generation in farming, the Philippines is hard-pressed to find ways to feed its growing nation.

Industry stakeholders are banking on smart agriculture, equipped with modern machinery that eases the burden of labor and AI-powered technologies that boost efficiency, to whet the youth’s appetite for farming.

“I’m counting on the youth’s interest and fascination with technology to encourage more younger people to come into [the farm sector],” Eslava said.

For Natasha Santos Eastwood, Vice President and Head of Sustainability and Strategic Engagement for the Crop Science Division of Bayer AG, the agricultural machinery and digital tools associated with smart agriculture will appeal to younger generations.

“The fact that we can bring drones, mechanization, and more digital [tools] to help them farm- these are aspects that will make farming more appealing to the younger generations.”

Meanwhile, PhilRice is also teaching the younger generation to appreciate and engage in farming through its RICEsPARK, an interactive agricultural campsite at FutureRice Farm.

“In the rice park, we’re teaching them hands-on how to use the machines that have been developed […] We’re trying to teach them our culture in rice farming, so they will appreciate the hardship and how important it is to our country.”

The agency noted that it has partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd) to engage more students in their immediate communities, before replicating this to their remaining seven stations.

More than these tools, however, they said ensuring that farming is profitable would entice youth to partake in agriculture.

“As a younger generation farmer, what will he or she look for? A quick return-on-investment, profitability, will be a driver,” Sharma said.

This was seconded by Eslava: “Across generations, the important thing is that whatever you do for a living, it has to provide.”

“We want Sarai to lead to some improvements in the quality of life for our farmers, whether old or young,” she added.

For industry stakeholders, smart agriculture goes hand in hand with the landscape and the community that nourishes it. But the sector must be sustainable and profitable to achieve food security for the next generation and beyond.