As part of the implementation of the Department of Science and Technology’s Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (DOST-CEST) Programme in the nation’s Region 1, the Provincial Science and Technology Centre of Ilocos Sur assisted the Local Government Unit with the deployment and training of its Automated Weather Station system (AWS).
The provision of the AWS is part of the CEST programme’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management/Climate Change Adaptation (DRRM/CCA) initiative. To empower the people, timely meteorological data is being produced for preparedness and resilience during the occurrence of natural disasters, notably during typhoons.
The deployment aims to reinforce, enhance knowledge, and promote appreciation for science and technology projects, programmes, and activities by providing S&T interventions to the public and providing them with the instruments needed for disaster preparedness and mitigation.
The intervention will also help the locals monitor the weather, provide agricultural alerts, make predictions, and come up with plans to make their community more resilient.
On the other hand, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) of Santol, La Union, received AWS from the DOST through the Provincial Science and Technology Centre-La Union (PSTC-LU).
The province is extremely vulnerable to the effects of disasters due to its location in hilly terrain. When it comes to receiving weather forecast information, Santol’s communities primarily rely on radio, TV, and SMS. The recipients have received training in first aid, basic life support, rescue techniques, and DRRM readiness.
The AWS has been identified by DOST-CEST as one of the technology-based interventions to provide data on surface weather observations like temperature, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and visibility that will help the province be aware of the weather conditions. DRRM and Climate Change Adaption is one of the five priority areas of the programme.
The installation includes a console and software for logging the AWS data collection sent to the MDRRMO server.
Meanwhile, the DOST supported the LGU-benchmarking Mutia’s activity in several creative horticulture initiatives in the provinces of Benguet and Bulacan through the Provincial S&T Office of Zamboanga del Norte (PSTO-ZDN).
Visits to several cutting-edge horticultural initiatives, including those producing cut flowers and high-value vegetables, were part of the benchmarking exercise.
The tissue culture lab for cutting flowers of export-quality, like Malaysian mums, and greenhouse farming with manual and automatic drip irrigation systems for high-value vegetables, like lettuce of various varieties, celery, basil, pak choi, and carrots, were some of the innovative horticulture projects visited.
The Benguet State University’s Agri-based Technology Business Incubator or Innovation Centre displayed a few of the institutions’ projects and interventions to help the nearby strawberry farmers in the province of La Trinidad. Some local strawberry growers kindly offered their finest farming methods and strategies for growing high-value crops were also acknowledged by DOST.
Additionally, the nation’s Department of Agriculture will make use of digital innovations and technology throughout the food value chain and logistics, beginning with the effective distribution of inputs to farmers recorded in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). Examples of these innovations and technology include e-Kadiwa and the use of data analytics.
Utilising analytics to support small farmers’ adoption of data-driven farming techniques, the automated system will increase farm output and reduce waste. To advance the digitisation of agricultural and agribusiness activities in the nation and pave the road for “Agriculture 4.0,” crop production will be tracked using digital databases.
