DOST Caraga strengthens LGUs’ digital agriculture systems
By Mariesh F. Celedeña
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Caraga continues to support local government units (LGUs) in embracing smart agriculture technologies and improving their technical capacity in digital monitoring systems.
This support is carried out through the Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines (SARAI) program, particularly the Community Level-SARAI Enhanced Agricultural Monitoring System (CL-SEAMS), a geospatial monitoring tool that allows users to track vegetation health, crop conditions, and environmental trends using satellite-derived data.
According to Engineer Doreina L. Lawangon, project technical assistant of DOST-Caraga, CL-SEAMS focuses on nine priority crops: rice, corn, cacao, sugarcane, coffee, banana, soybeans, coconut, and tomato. “Currently, we have three partner LGUs implementing the project, and we are coordinating with the provincial agriculture office to identify other municipalities cultivating these priority crops.”
Under CL-SEAMS, agricultural extension workers (AEWs) will be trained to perform digital mapping and identify crop stages through satellite data processed using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. This capability allows AEWs to conduct preliminary assessments of farm conditions, especially after natural disasters, and to pinpoint damaged crop areas even before field verification.
The system also provides early warnings on climate-related risks, enhances disaster preparedness, improves crop monitoring, and helps forecast crop yields for better planning, resource allocation, and recovery efforts.
LGUs will be trained on the full utilization of CL-SEAMS to generate detailed insights on areas susceptible to flooding and drought. These insights will help farmers adjust irrigation needs, optimize planting schedules, and select resilient crop varieties, ultimately reducing losses and improving agricultural productivity and sustainability.
Butuan City Agriculturist Pierre Anthony Joven expressed gratitude to DOST Caraga for its continued support, adding that the city aims to fully integrate SARAI systems into its monitoring and advisory services by January 2026, in line with the city’s AgriBOOST program.
Another component of Project SARAI is the installation of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) in partner LGUs. These stations will generate 10-day localized weather forecasts within a 20-kilometer radius, providing farmers with timely and science-based climate information. (MFC, PIA Caraga with a report from SARAI Caraga)