DA inaugurates digital agricultural center

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has launched a national center for precision and digital agriculture in line with efforts to  improve agricultural production by using technology.

In a statement, the DA said Agriculture Secretary William Dar  spearheaded the inauguration of the Precision and Digital Agriculture Center (PreDiC) facilities located in Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Muñoz City, Nueva Ecija.

The PreDiC was established with P50 million funding from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) in 2020, following the need for a permanent development facility for precision and digital agriculture technologies.

“Through these technologies, the center aims to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal on Zero Hunger and to make Philippine agriculture more productive and more efficient in its use of time and resources through accurate data gathering,”the DA said.

Among the notable facilities and technologies of the PreDic are  greenhouse, irrigation canals, field monitoring system, microclimate monitoring equipment, fabrication tools and farm machineries including a 40-horsepower tractor.

The center has also implemented projects including the mapping of the spatial variability of soil fertility, the development of a variable rate fertilizer applicator, and the development of a 12-row onion direct seeder.

During the inauguration ceremony,  Dar encouraged PreDiC officials and staff to continue bringing in the latest precision and digital agriculture technologies and to adapt them to the Philippine setting to further improve agricultural production in the country.

He also encouraged the center to put up research priorities to guide their implementing activities and to put up a technical committee to bring together all agencies located in the Science City.

“There are lots of national research institutions of the Department of Agriculture now located and hosted by CLSU. So let’s bring in and harness the synergy between and among agencies in agriculture. There will always be something to do in precision agriculture and digital  agriculture,” Dar said.

For his part, CLSU president Edgar Orden expressed his commitment to assist the DA in its goal towards a food-secure and resilient Philippines.

“CLSU has been put in the forefront again to contribute in the betterment and sustainable future under the Sustainable Development Goals,” Orden said.

“Of course, this is under SDG 2, which is Zero Hunger, as our goal is towards food sufficiency. I am very proud to say that our university stays true to its commitment of generating new technologies to help the lives of the community,” he said.

In 2020, the DA and CLSU signed a memorandum of agreement for the implementation of five major projects worth P304.5 million, including the PreDic.

The MOA also covers the establishment of the P234 million Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases Center.

Other projects included in the partnership are the Organic Vegetable Production Technologies using Vertical Farming System amounting to P5.5 million, establishment of nuclear farms for small ruminants amounting to P10 million, and P5-million worth of seed and seedling production for vegetables and fruits.