– The agricultural sector in the Philippines is creating a value of 1 trillion pesos, and the use of smart farms is expected.
– Prospects for active smart farm project cooperation with Korea, continuous smart farm technology transfer
The State of Agriculture in the Philippines
The Philippines is an agricultural country with a large agricultural population who mainly live in rural areas and are self-sufficient through agricultural activities. As of 2020, the agricultural sector is generating a total added value (GVA) of 1 trillion pesos, accounting for 7800% of GDP. Agriculture and fishing account for the largest industrial sector in the Philippines due to its geography and tropical climate conditions, with the highest yields of crops such as rice, sugar cane, bananas and coconuts. In addition, due to prolonged lockdowns and natural disasters due to the COVID-10.2 pandemic, total production was reduced by 19%.
<Total added value of agriculture in the Philippines (left), GDP share of agriculture in the Philippines (right)>
[Source: Statista]
Agriculture in the Philippines is sluggish due to several factors. It can be drafted for residential zoning of arable land, industrial complexes and conversions due to industrialization, and only a third of the 3000 million hectares of land are used for agricultural activities. The geographical location and climate of the Philippines also greatly affects agriculture, and there are many natural disasters such as floods and droughts that adversely affect crops that are sensitive to water and climate, causing many difficulties in crop cultivation. Accordingly, through agricultural technology development and investment, policy improvement such as improvement of agricultural production and support will be promoted.
smart farm in the philippines
The Philippine government is revitalizing smart farms through an agricultural development policy called Agriculture 4.0. Several projects through government-led partnerships have been implemented in recent years, and the research and development of smart farms is supported by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the Emerging Technologies Research and Development Council (DOST-PCIERD), and the Natural Resources Research and Development Council (DOST-PCAARRD). The Philippine Department of Agriculture is actively supporting the project through collaboration with various organizations. Recently, smart farms in the Philippines, agricultural development through regional projects include greenhouse construction, automatic weather station (AWS), soil sensor observation station (SSS) operation, crop monitoring through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), water source management, pest identification through mobile application Agricultural development continues.
Philippine government-led smart farm project
1) Revitalization through industrialization of Philippine agriculture
SARAi (Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines, SARAI). The project aims to develop a national crop forecasting and monitoring system for nine priority crops: rice, corn, banana, coconut, coffee, cacao, sugarcane, tomato and soybean. The project is a multi-step project that involves the on-site development and fabrication of solutions such as sensors. The project is being funded by the Natural Resources Research and Development Council (DOST-PCAARD).
2) Smart plant production in a controlled environment
<Philippines University Agricultural Research>
[Source: Philippine Institute of Science and Technology]
It is a project worth about 1 million pesos and is being conducted by the Emerging Technology Research and Development Council (DOST-PCIERD) and UP University of the Philippines. The project is leading research and development for the design of stand-alone urban farm systems and aims to establish seed conservation through breeding, cryopreservation and embryo management protocols of rare, endangered and economically valuable native plant species.
< Smart Farming Center (PASFC)>
[Source: Philippine University of Science and Technology]
Located in the Southern Philippines University of Science and Technology, the center aims to promote agricultural innovation and technology development using geospatial and ICT-based R&D ecosystems (collectively called Architecture 4.0) as a framework.
Smart Farm PPP Business Status in the Philippines
<Philippines Smart Greenhouse>
[Source: Ministry of Agriculture of the Philippines]
The Philippines promoted a smart greenhouse PPP project with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to establish a smart greenhouse project in Baguio and Tanai, which are suitable for greenhouse cultivation due to relatively low temperatures, and in Iloilo and Bukidnon regions. Through official development assistance (ODA) with Korea, it also received 31 billion won (about US$5000 million) of funding for the smart greenhouse project.
<Bataan Smart Farm Business Site>
[Source: Ministry of Agriculture of the Philippines]
In addition, 55 hectares of agricultural land are secured for the smart farm project for public-private cooperation between the Bataan state government and Israel. Smart farms are being operated in a variety of ways, such as research projects for smart farm technology development and urban farms and city-based facilities development such as green cities.
– Smart farm support solution
The Philippine smart farm business is not just a simple development, but also a solution business for the establishment of a smart farm through cooperation with companies and farms that provide solutions. There are also projects to develop a platform for renting farmland and selling crops, including greenhouse development services for agricultural products, farm monitoring and management services, livestock farm automation, IoT solutions for precision agriculture, and agricultural drones.
– Smart farm business restrictions
Although the Philippine government has been promoting policies for agricultural development in the Philippines, there are major limitations that need to be addressed to actively promote the government's Agricultural 4.0 Program. Filipino farms are hesitant to adopt a smart farm in its entirety due to the strengthening of the framework for the use of smart farm technology, the delay in the development of local infrastructure for the Internet connection network including electricity and water, and insufficient funding.
– Advance into smart farm in the Philippines
The Philippine Smart Farm is a government-led project that mainly focuses on regional development and solution provision, and opportunities through government cooperation are also occurring. As such, in order to develop a smart farm, it is necessary to advance through collaboration with a local partner. In addition, since collaboration with the private sector is also becoming more active in recent years, it should be possible to provide clear solutions or development support fields such as greenhouse environment control systems, irrigation systems, agricultural equipment, and farming methods.
implication
Mr. D, an official from the Philippine Ministry of Agriculture, expects that smart farms will be the future of Philippine agriculture and that agricultural infrastructure will be formed that can create an optimal environment for agricultural, livestock, and aquatic products production. In the case of Filipino agricultural workers, there are times when they express distrust of smart farms, but they expect to improve awareness and develop Philippine agriculture through smart farm technologies such as smart greenhouses. In addition, it is expected to advance into agriculture in the Philippines in various ways, such as technology transfer and investment for agricultural development, such as attracting investment from advanced agricultural countries such as Korea.
The Philippines is pursuing the improvement of the agricultural environment through smart farm agriculture, and is attracting the smart farm industry through active industrial development and foreign investment collaboration. Based on the economic growth of the Philippines, the agricultural sector is expected to continue to grow. In particular, as research and development of seeds and crops including smart farms increase, foreign investment in the agricultural sector is increasing.
Various smart farm collaborations with Korea are being made, and continuous collaboration is needed through continuous contact with the Philippine Ministry of Agriculture and development support. Accordingly, it is expected that Korean companies engaged in smart farm-related industries will actively advance into the Philippine smart farm field through the need to find local partners and price competitiveness.
Source: Philippine Ministry of Agriculture, Philippine Institute of Science and Technology, Philippine University of Science and Technology UP, PNA, Statista and KOTRA Manila Composite