Pinoy Drone Technology at the FutureRice farm by 2015

A drone prototype used to take aerial shots of the FutureRice

 farm at PhilRice Nueva Ecija

FutureRice is looking forward to using drones for research and development purposes in 2015. A partnership with the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato and FutureRice was proposed to launch a training on drone technology at PhilRice Central Experiment Station in Nueva Ecija.

  
Pinoy Drone Technology will be adopted as a data gathering and monitoring tool in the rice experimental field.  It can be used to inspect crop damages from pest infestation, nutrient deficiencies and weather-related disturbances. 

The actual test flight of the drone prototype at an experimental

 rice field in Zambales

Drone, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles are small aircraft robots used for aerial surveillance. The essential parts of the drone includes an RC transmitter, multi-rotor frame, motor and speed controller, flight controller, battery and charger, and camera. Its flight path can be programmed and can lasts about eight minutes. The practical application of drone technology in the rice field was tested last October 7-8, 2014 in Zambales. FutureRice invited drone experts Mr. Virgilio Oliva Jr., Assistant Professor II and his staff, Mr. Arjay Agbunag Instructor I of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) to test flight and demo the drone prototypes.

MOET calculator application is the third plot from below which

 appeared greener in the aerial view in its field site in Zambales.

Using drone, the MOET (Minus-One Element Technique) application plot was also viewed from the rice field and appeared to be greener than other plots which only proves the effectiveness of the said application.  This MOET app was developed and introduced by Mr. Ailon Capistrano, a senior science research specialist of the PhilRice Climate Change Center.

The MOET app has a Fertilizer Requirement Calculator (FRC) feature that provides complete nutrient requirement recommendation with three options based on farmer’s budget for fertilizers. The application can send the fertilizer recommendation through SMS. The text message contains the kind and amount of fertilizer to be used and its application from transplanting until maturity stage of rice. This application is also site-specific and recommendation can also be adjusted based on the actual land or farm area. 

The rice field plots using Farmer’s practice, MOET kit,

 MOET application and Fertility map in Zambales

After the field testing in two sites in San Antonio and Botolan, Zambales, a seminar was held at PhilRice to showcase the drone prototypes and introduce its application in rice to the researchers.   

The actual video footage of the drone flight testing was presented to the seminar attendees to show its real application in field research and how it can optimize researchers’ productivity.

The participants of the Drone technology seminar held at FTIC Bldg.,PhilRice CES to learn of the technology’s application in rice

Mr. Virgilio Oliva Jr.-USM Assistant Professor II, Mr. Ailon Capistrano -

 researcher at PhilRice Climate Change Center, Mr. Roger Barroga -

FutureRice program leader and Mr. Arjay Agbunag-USM Instructor I

 during the seminar on Drone Technology at PhilRice CES (left to right)

Different drone prototypes presented 

during the Drone Technology seminar

                                                                                                                                                                              


The introduction of the drone technology in this seminar opened a door for future project collaborations and proposals within and outside the institute.


Writer: Wendy Hernandez
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