ANN says “DA Launches First National Center For Precision And Digital Agriculture” (Author Not Named, 06 May 2022, Department of Agriculture, DA.gov.ph):
Agriculture Secretary William D Dar spearheaded the inauguration of the Precision and Digital Agriculture Center (PreDiC) facilities located in Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
In the field of precision and digital agriculture, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is starting from scratch.
During the inauguration ceremony on 06 May, Secretary Dar encouraged PreDiC officials and staff to continue bringing in the latest prediction and digital agriculture technologies and to adapt them to the Philippine setting to further improve agricultural production in the country.
In the lower image above, from DataLoop (dataloop.ai), a digitally operated drone sprays the field of what looks like corn. This is precision technology. This is an example of what I think PreDiC is aiming at. I understand Mr Dar is encouraging PreDiC experts to scout around the world and digitize the knowledge as PreDiC content.
“Digital agriculture” to me includes “stored web knowledge in agriculture aimed at being used.” I remember Mr Dar proposing in the early 2000s the “Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OpAPA)” when he was Director General of ICRISAT. Mr Dar turned ICRISAT from dead last to #1, a dream agency among the 15 international research agencies under the CGIAR; unfortunately OpAPA, which was not directly guided by him, remained a dream.
For OpAPA, I was hired as a communication consultant by PhilRice. To help operationalize the concept, I wrote an entirely digital book, The Geography Of Knowledge (TGoK), 198 pages, that I submitted to Roger Barroga, my immediate supervisor, on 28 Dec 2003. I still have a digital TGoK – I created the whole thing/think out of the mud of my thoughts and knowledge, so I valued it that much. Unfortunately, there was no reaction from PhilRice.
Today I want to revise TGoK and submit to PreDIC to enhance its Digital Agriculture – I call my proposal now Popular Science (PopScience), a Knowledge Bank containing technical knowledge translated into and/or interpreted in popular language. The explanations or elucidations of English terms will be understandable by 3rdyear high school students.
PopScience will capture & via a website will present already-existing technologies & systems and make them available electronically to schooled as well as unschooled farmers.
PopScience is designed as a digital library for all farmers, presenting:
1. All known pieces of knowledge necessary for a specific technology, or system.
2. Options and choices for each knowledge component, such as varieties of rice, location of farm, system of production, harvesting methods, processing of harvest, markets etc.
3. Machines & equipment for specific purposes explained.
4. Credit sources & terms, including banks & cooperatives.
5. Experiences of successful farmers.
PopScience will be useful for formulating training as necessary.
PopScience will later be translated into Tagalog, Ilocano, Bisaya, Muslim etc.)
Not to forget, PopScience will be searchable even by cellphone!@517
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