- June 14, 2023
The Institute for Climate Change and Environmental Management secured a collaborative project funded by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) through the Agricultural Resources Management Research Division (ARMRD) launched last May 3, 2023, in a hybrid event.
The project entitled “Monitoring and Management of Major Pests and Diseases of Corn and Onion through Robotics and Drone Technology (PEST D-Tech)”, is headed by Dr. Gella Patria Abella, Head of the Institute for Climate Change and Environmental Management at CLSU.
PEST D-Tech will run from April 2023 to March 2025 and has been approved for a total budget of PhP 10,000,000.00 under the Manila Economic and Cultural Office – Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (MECO-TECO) Cooperation Scheme. The project is in collaboration with Dr. Ping-Lang Yen of the National Taiwan University (NTU) to employ sophisticated equipment such as drones (unmanned aerial vehicle) and robotics (unmanned ground vehicle), equipped with powerful multispectral cameras and sensors.
The meeting was attended by the project leader, project staff, stakeholders from CLSU and DLSU, and project monitoring officials from DOST-PCAARRD, who gathered to discuss the project’s goals, objectives, timelines, and resources required for successful implementation.
The kick-off meeting was also attended by New Hope Precision Agriculture Corporation, PEST D-TECH’s licensed drone service provider, to draft the service level agreement of the two collaborating parties. The attendees from CLSU convened at the Climate Change Center (CCC), ICCEM.
The aim is to collect the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) through remote sensing. The reflected intensities of visible and near-infrared lights will be used to determine crop health, assess crop condition, and photosynthetic activities.
The project will focus on identifying and addressing pests and diseases in onion and corn crops in selected sites in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. The project hopes to produce crop monitoring systems that will help farmers avoid income losses caused by pests and diseases.
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