The agricultural drone blows the liquid as it traverses the farm field during the field demonstration.
BANGA, Aklan – This year commences the debut of Training on Smart Agriculture Technologies (SATs) in Western Visayas with 10 Lezo Multipurpose Cooperative Farmer Members of Lezo, Aklan as beneficiaries that started October 3 until October 13, 2023, at ATI Training Hall, ASU Compound.
Aside from them, ten youth partners assisted them during the training. The said training consisted of two phases: the DFP 101 and 102 as a prerequisite and the DFP 103. Before proceeding with the DFP 103, participants must complete the DFP 101 and 102 training activities.
Just like previous Digital Farmers Program Training, these participants were introduced to various digital tools and technologies that will aid their farming activities, increase their production, and boost their income. Some of the activities they have undergone were accessing numerous agricultural applications, formulating and presenting social media marketing plans and content, and creating social media content via the Canva application.
The youth participant guides his farmer-partner in using the GPS device, which aids them in mapping their farm field.
On the other hand, in the second phase, the participants learned about Smart Agriculture and its benefits, identified the SATs that can be used throughout the rice planting process, practiced the select SATs for Rice, discovered the importance of data in decision-making, made a Smart Agriculture Roadmap, and gained access to potential service providers of SATs in their region. The highlight of this training is the introduction and exposure to the Agricultural Drone Technology. The participants witnessed the innovation through a field demonstration.
Before the agricultural drone sets to fly, the participants take a group photo.
“The training is very informative. It is a great help to us farmers to reduce our capital in farming using drones, and hi-tech farming. As a farmer, it will encourage us to know and use our smartphone on how we can lessen our time and effort in our farming from land preparation up to harvesting. Thank you so much, ATI, for letting us experience the new agriculture,” expressed Eden P. Magarzo, one of the farmer participants.
In the following week, the said cooperative, through its farmer-participants, will receive the drone technology service that includes free seed broadcasting and fertilizer applications through the Digital Farmers Program (DFP) Farm Connect. This activity aims to deliver the advantages of the agriculture drone technology, enumerate the services it can provide, observe firsthand the operation of agriculture drone technology in providing specific service/s, and assess the value of using agriculture drones in rice farming.
Digital Farmers Program is a joint project of Agricultural Training Institute and Smart Communications, Inc.
