Project SARAi successfully held e·skwela sa CARAGA

Project Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines (SARAi) continues to inculcate knowledge and capacitate agriculturists in the Philippines, this time, through SARAi e·skwela sa CARAGA, a six-session training in partnership with DOST-CARAGA.

The online trainings were successfully held every Fridays of July to mid-August of 2021. These sessions were actively participated by several agriculturists from City Agriculture Office of Bayugan and Municipal Agriculture Office of Las Nieves, and technical staff from DOST-CARAGA and PSTC-Agusan Del Sur and Agusan del Norte. 

Mr. Ricardo N. Varela, Assistant Regional Director for Field Operations Division of the Department of Science and Technology Regional Office No. XIII (DOST-CARAGA), delivered the welcome message during the training sessions last July 02, 2021. 

The first and second sessions discussed pest and disease management of rice and corn, respectively. Mr. Raymark Matalog of Insect Pest and Disease Advisory System (IPDAS) was the resource person (Tagapagbahagi) for common pests.  Meanwhile, Mr. Carl Vincent Gapasin, also from IPDAS, discussed common diseases. Ms. Kim Nyka Perdiguerra, SARAi project staff at College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS) UPLB, talked about the proper nutrient management for rice.

The SARAi Knowledge Portal, SPIDTECH, and Coffee Primary Processing were the focus during the third session. The team of Prof. Concepcion L. Khan, project leader for SARAi Project 3.1, shared the features of SARAi Knowledge portal which can be useful to farmers and agriculturists. Mr. Gapasin demonstrated how the different features of the Smarter Pest Identification Technology (SPIDTECH) app is used. Coffee primary processing and the Coffee Application Harvest Estimator (CAPHE) app was presented by the team of Dr. Calixto M. Protacio, project leader for SARAi Project 1.3.

Session 4 of SARAi e·skwela sa CARAGA was dedicated to the discussions on crop water management. Engrs. Yaminah Mochica M.  Pinca Toni-An Mae C. Salcedo and Ginalyn Robel M. Brazil, research associates for SARAi Project 2.3, presented proper crop water management practices and shared Water Advisory for Irrigation Scheduling System (WAISS) technology for smarter irrigation. Meanwhile, the team of Prof. Nelio Altoveros, project leader for SARAi Project 2.2, introduced installation and maintenance of Automatic Weather Station (AWS) and how it can be used for agricultural applications in the fifth session.

Soil characterization and nutrient management were discussed during the final session of SARAi e·skwela sa CARAGA last August 13, 2021. Ms. Joana Rose M. Vergara, Ms. Adela Maria A. Reynoso, and Ms. Joy Eloiza M. Rosales presented and demonstrated soil characterization, soil sampling, use of Soil Test Kit (STK), and proper soil nutrient management.

Dr. Decibel V. Faustino-Eslava, project leader of SARAi Project 3.2, formally closed the training sessions with her message of gratitude to all participants and organizers. Dr. Eslava hopes that these training sessions will be translated into actual use of SARAI systems, technologies, and data products. With participants equipped with more knowledge on smarter agriculture, SARAi team entrusts them to be the champions of Project SARAi in their localities. To ensure continued sharing of knowledge and capacitating SARAi stakeholders, SARAi 3.2 team will soon be launching the SARAi e.skwela sa Bicol in partnership with DOST V-Provincial S&T Center – Albay and SARAi SUC Partner, Bicol University – College of Agriculture and Forestry. (Klarenz A. Hourani, Maria Regina V. Regalado, Jose Mari C. Lit, & Rosemarie Laila D. Areglado)

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