The Department of Agriculture (DA) has introduced direct seeding technology using drones to rice farmers in the Cagayan Valley (Region 2), one of the top rice-producing regions in the Philippines.
Robert Busania, DA regional technical director for operations, said the direct-seeding technology using drones is the latest and the fastest for rice cultivation that has already been piloted in the department’s demonstration farms.
“When we tested this technology, it took us only a few minutes to finish seeding a hectare of rice field. It will eliminate time consumption and labor cost because, in the traditional transplanting technology, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive,” Busania said.
He also said drones can also be utilized in applying fertilizers and pest control chemicals.
The DA will identify 20,000 to 30,000 farmers who are members of cooperatives as recipients of assistance for the implementation of the direct-seeding technology in the region.
“In the next planting season, you will see drones flying in rice fields already. I am sure that our farmers will embrace this technology because this is very favorable to them as it will not only lessen their planting time and labor cost but also boost their productions,” he said.
Busania also said that in other countries, especially in China, the utilization of drones for direct seeding is very high.
However, he admitted that DA could not implement the program alone, prompting the department to seek the assistance of private sector service providers to capacitate farmers on the technology.
Busania said the drone seeding technology is part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s agriculture modernization and farm mechanization agenda. It also supports the food security thrust of the present administration.
In support of this, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) office in Region 2 has opened a training course on agricultural drone operation through its accredited farm school, the Agricom Farm Tech Academy.
Provincial Director Vilma Cabrera of the TESDA Isabela office said interested farmers may visit them to avail of the free training program to be equipped on the operation of agricultural drones.
Mateo Agudo, a rice farmer in Peñablanca, Cagayan, said he will avail of the new technology and is willing to undergo training at TESDA.
"This will be very helpful as it will reduce the labor cost and also lessen the procedures of planting rice. I will no longer need to hire many individuals to transplant the seedlings because of this new technology," he said.
