MANILA – A Filipina scientist said crop yields in the Philippines can be vastly improved by using satellites.
Dr. Gay Jane Perez of the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology became the first nominee of the Philippines to win the fourth annual ASEAN-US Science Prize for women, for her research on using satellites for precision agriculture.
This involves methods of forecasting when drought might occur, and identifying the ideal time and areas that would produce better crop yields.
Perez said, despite its potential to raise output, the field of precision agriculture is still relatively unknown to most farmers.
“This a technology that has been there for quite a while, but adoption is very low not just in the Philippines, but in other countries as well,” Perez said in an interview with ANC’s Future Perfect.
She is optimistic, however, that with proper training, farmers and policymakers can be more familiar with it. (ABS-CBN News)
