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Quezon City | November 18, 2024 – The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), together with the Department of Agriculture-National Rice Program (DA-NRP), promoted precision agriculture through the Drones4Rice project, emphasizing its benefits for rice farmers and the need to regulate drone activities, in a press conference held at the PIA Auditorium on November 15, 2024.

Dir. Glenn DC. Estrada, Program Director of the Digitalization and Value Chain Development, Masagana Rice Industry Development Program, Department of Agriculture, explained that the initiative aims to empower rice farmers through subsidized access to drone services. He emphasized that beneficiaries would receive vouchers worth Php 2,000 per hectare for the full drone-assisted farming operations, from pre-flight planning, crop establishment, nutrient management, and pest and disease control.

“The NRP allotted about 300 million pesos to support the commercial application of drones. It primarily caters to organized groups such as rice clusters, Irrigators’ Associations (IAs), Farmers’ Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs), Small Water Irrigation System Associations (SWISAs), and Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs),” Dir. Estrada noted. 

He clarified that while DA-NRP would not purchase drones directly, the program would ensure farmers can access these services through a voucher system.

On the other hand, Dir. Julieta B, Lansangan, Executive Director of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), discussed the role of FPA in the Drones4Rice project, emphasizing the agency’s duty to develop protocols and regulate drone use in agriculture. 

“Bakit kailangan i-regulate? Pwede po kasing gamitin ang drone for terrorism activities, so yung mga gagamit dapat ng drone for agricultural use, kailangan silang maregulate,” Dir. Lansangan explained.

She also added that regulating drone operations in agriculture ensures the safety of users, consumers, and the environment, along with the proper application of agricultural inputs. 

“With the spraying of pesticides using application drone, there is a need for regulation para makita yung effectivity ng produkto. Kaakibat din nito ang pagsiguro sa safety ng user at ng applicator, the community, the crops and consumer, the environment. As we go along, we develop new application technology also,” she said.

Both agencies encouraged public support for the Drones4Rice project, emphasizing its potential to boost agricultural innovation, reduce production costs, and enhance sustainability in the rice farming sector.###

  Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) Online ISSN: 2815-1674
  Published by the FPA Information and Communications Team

Quezon City | November 11, 2024 – To regulate and promote the safe application of drones in farming, the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) will lead the development of protocols, standards, and monitoring guidelines for drone use in agriculture.

Such initiative is a sub-component of the Drones4Rice project of the Department of Agriculture National Rice Program (DA NRP). It aims to standardize protocols for drone applications of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides for rice production in the Philippines.

The FPA explained that despite the availability of drones in the Philippines, and regulations for their use in place, additional work is needed to reduce regulatory constraints, standardize operations, develop digital precision agriculture (PA) tools, and scale up the adoption of these technologies.

As part of the commitments, the agency issued FPA Memorandum Circular No. 25 or the “Enhanced Rules and Regulations on Pesticide Application using Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)” series of 2024 on 1 October 2024. It is anchored on the principle of promoting the advancement and adoption of drone technology while protecting public health and the environment from the risks inherent in the use of pesticides.

Said guidelines shall be complied with by drone controllers, operators, technicians, service providers, pesticide companies, and pesticide end-users, including but not limited to private and public research institutions, state universities and colleges (SUCs), other government agencies, and Local Government Units, engaged in the business of drone spraying of agricultural pesticides and other agricultural chemicals to control pests and diseases.

To disseminate the guidelines developed to farmers and relevant stakeholders, the FPA will conduct an Information Caravan in strategic rice cluster locations established by the NRP nationwide. It will be piloted in Regions XII and III for the calendar year 2024.

Meanwhile, the Drones4Rice Project aims to reduce production costs and the need for manual labor and attract the youth to farming. The project is also expected to accelerate the rice industry’s digital transformation, one of the core strategies of the DA’s Masagana Rice Industry Development Program 2023-2028.

Likewise, the project is in response to the need to better understand the socioeconomic and behavioral aspects influencing the adoption of such disruptive technologies and the additional benefits of PA for improved sustainability and reduced carbon footprint in rice production.

The project is composed of the following agencies and institutions: DA-NRP, DA-Regional Field Office (2, 4A, and 5), FPA, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), DA-Bureau of Agri and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), DA- -Bureau of Agri and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech), Civil Aviation Authority Philippines (CAAP), Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), CGIAR – Excellence in Agronomy (EIA), New Hope Corporation and AgriDOM. ###

  Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) Online ISSN: 2815-1674
  Published by the FPA Information and Communications Team