Project SARAi or the Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines, in partnership with the Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Division – Management Information Office (PMED-MIS) of the Department of Agriculture, Region 4A, conducted a training on “Automatic Weather Station, Installation, Maintenance and Weather Data Acquisition and Interpretation” at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Brgy. Bambang, Los Baños, Laguna. The training aimed to capacitate the participants from the PMED-MIS office of DA Region 4A to manage their own automatic weather stations and provide digital agricultural services to their region. It was designed to include lecture presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. 

The training commenced with the opening message from Dr. Decibel V. Eslava, SARAi-Integration Project Leader, in which she mentioned that the training plans for automatic weather stations have finally come to fruition after months of planning. She also emphasized the significant role of PMED-MIS in digital agriculture and expressed her sincere gratitude for their continuous support to the project. 

SARAi project consultant, Prof. Nelio C. Altoveros gave a comprehensive discussion on automatic weather stations in which he tackled sensors, modules, and real-time data, including short and long-term forecasts. A light but engaging hands-on activity on how to assemble automatic weather stations was also done, facilitated by Mr. Rendendo Mata, a SARAi project consultant. 

The program included lectures and demonstrations on real-time weather data downloading, processing, and analyzing, which were also led by Prof. Altoveros. A part of the session also gave the opportunity for the participants to perform their own sample data processing and analysis. 

SARAi Project Staff and Asst. Prof. Aldrin Hao of the UPLB Institute of Computer Science, College of Arts and Sciences (ICS-CAS) discussed web data visualization and API essentials, which the participants testified to be one of the essential parts of the training. Asst. Prof. Hao also facilitated hands-on activities with the participants to assist them in learning the technical methods to visualize web data.  

The training concluded with the closing message from Ms. Julany G. Castillo, Head of PMED-MIS Office. Ms. Castillo conveyed her heartfelt appreciation towards Project SARAi for its support in their training needs, and commended everyone for a job well done. She believed that this was not the end but merely the beginning of more future collaborations with Project SARAi. (KCTenio, RLDAreglado, MEMAmante, MRVRegalado)