MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced plans on Monday to implement drone technology to enhance the efficiency of planting palay (unhusked rice) during the upcoming wet season.
According to Philippines News Agency, the use of drones could revolutionize the traditional methods of rice planting by improving the dispersal of seeds, fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs through precise farm layout mapping. Morales explained that this technology not only minimizes waste but also drastically cuts down the time required for seeding—from several hours to just five minutes per hectare. He also noted that drone-assisted planting could reduce the overall duration of the cropping cycle.
Morales highlighted the benefits of direct seeding with drones, stating, "If I will do a seedling and transplanting first, it will take 10 days or so. But if it's direct seeding, with your plot readied, using a drone will shorten the number of days." The initiative aims to distribute drone technology to farmers who are part of registered cooperatives and clustered farms.
In a related development, the DA recently recognized innovative contributions from young farmers through the Youth Farmers Challenge (YFC) held on June 6. The event awarded around PHP6.1 million in cash grants, with PHP300,000 going to each of the 12 national awardees of the YFC Start-Up Component and PHP500,000 to each of the five winning enterprises.
Awardees included young farmers aged 18 to 30 from diverse agricultural ventures, such as Kilusang Wais sa Agrikultura at Kaalaman Kasama ang mga Katutubo (KWAKTUTUBO), Andrea's Quail Farm and Hatchery, and several others engaged in projects ranging from native chicken raising to specialty coffee production.