CHALLENGES OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE

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CHALLENGES OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE IN THE
PHILIPPINES Brenda S.
Tubana
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OVERVIEW

• Products of precision agriculture
• Philippines Information and basic statistics
• Agriculture in the Philippines
• Problems in Philippine Agriculture
• Challenges and Strategies
• Conclusion

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Products of Precision Agriculture

• To increase production

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Products of Precision Agriculture

• To decrease environmental and human life risk

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The Philippines

• Location Southeastern Asia, archipelago between
  the Phil. Sea and the
• south China Sea

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Information and basic figures

• The Philippines is an archipelago of some 7100
  islands
• Total land area 298,170 sq km, slight larger
  than Arizona
• Climate tropical marine
• Population 80 million
• The population is predominantly rural (57), with
  43 living in urban areas. Employment in the
  agricultural sector accounts for 44 of the
  24-million-person labor force.

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Resources

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Agriculture in the Philippines

• Of the total 30 million ha, 13 million hectares
  are devoted to agricultural crops
• food grain (31), food crops (52) and non-food
  crops (17)

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Agriculture in the Philippines

• It is the cornerstone of the countrys economy
• It employs 40 of the active population of the
  country (11.9 million in 1999).
• Majority of the farmers use simple tools and
  draught animals.

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Problems in Philippine Agriculture

• Lack of technical expertise knowledge and
  technology
• Landlessness
• Most farms are very small
• Low and decreasing investment in system
  maintenance

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Philippines Low-Income Food-Deficit Country

• One-third (29.6) of the children in the
  Philippines are malnourished
• 50 of these children are under three years old
  
• 8.4 are below the age of six years (1.1 million)
  
• 7 are 7-10 year old schoolers (465,000)

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Challenges and Strategies 1. Reduce yield gaps
and increase profit
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Reduce yield gap and increase profit

• It is an approach to feeding rice with nutrients
  as and when needed
• The application and management of nutrients are
  dynamically adjusted to crop needs of the
  location and season.

Site-Specific Nutrient Management
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Techniques to match crop needs
Nutrient Omission for P and K
Leaf color chart for N
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Improving Land preparation
Laser Leveling
Draft Animal
Reduction in time and water required to irrigate
the field
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Challenges and Strategies2. Bridge knowledge gap
and improve technical support

• Integrate indigenous knowledge and scientists
  technical knowledge to enhance mutual learning.
• Technology delivery system should be reoriented.
• Continuous farmer education (FFS farmer field
  school and FPR farmer participatory research)
• Effective communication technology
• Institutional/policy support

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Table 1. Mean rice yields and area in 1999.
Potential rice yield
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Table 2. Mean fertilizer inputs and rice yields
in on-farm research trials, farmer cooperators
field, and non-cooperators fields in Central
Luzon, Philippines in 1996-97.
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Conclusion

• Economic and environmental benefit of precision
  agriculture should be brought into the knowledge
  of the farmers to achieve impact on productivity
  and profitability .

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References

• http//www.public.iastate.edu/ cfford/342Myth5.ht
  m
• http//www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/doss24.ht
  m
• http//countrystudies.us/philippines/62.htm
• http//www.gisdevelopment.net/application/agricult
  ure/overview/mi03127pf.htm
• http//www.photius.com/wfb/wfb1999/philippines/phi
  lippines_economy.html
• http//www.hindu.com/thehindu/seta/2002/02/21/stor
  ies/2002022100280400.htm
• http//www.robot.cs.kobe-u.ac.jp/botond/
  pictures/philip..
• http//www.neptunediving.com/.../
  about/philippines.php.
• http//www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ssnm/default.htm
  
• http//www.tropentag.de/2002/proceedings/node102.h
  tml

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THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS?