NEDA Explores Innovative Remote-Sensing Technology for Informed Policy Formulation
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has uncovered a groundbreaking remote-sensing technology developed by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), which could revolutionize data gathering at the community level and aid in proactive policy recommendations.
The technology, known as Project SARAI (Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines), implements near real-time monitoring of production areas through remotely-sensed images.
OIC-Assistant Director Rory Jay S.C. Dacumos of the NEDA Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment Staff (ANRES) highlighted the unique advantage of SARAI during a technology orientation, stating, “One distinct advantage is that it can be deployed at the community level, allowing agriculturists and farmers to easily apply it themselves.”
SARAI aims to collect crop production data through crowdsourcing via its mobile application, Bantay SARAI. This tool enables farmers to report critical information such as crop planting date, expected harvest date, anticipated yield, and damages.
Dacumos further explained, “In addition to SARAI’s unique community-level deployment capability, its most significant feature is the cost-free capture of satellite images through the Google Earth Engine. These images are then plotted in the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) at no additional cost.”
The project provides crop advisories for nine commodities, including rice, corn, banana, coconut, coffee, cacao, sugarcane, soybean, and tomato. These advisories integrate local weather data and drought forecasts with farm management activities, focusing on nutrient and water management, as well as proactive pest and disease monitoring.
Expressing gratitude to the UPLB-SARAI team, led by Dr. Victoria Maria Espaldon, Dacumos stated, “We thank the UPLB-SARAI team for their assistance in providing valuable information to NEDA. This information will be used to craft anticipatory policy recommendations for managing food inflation.”
The satellite-based monitoring systems being assessed by NEDA-ANRES are intended to serve as decision-support tools for the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook, chaired by NEDA. The committee is responsible for providing timely advice to the government on managing inflation
