TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has earmarked PHP600 million for the nationwide implementation of Project Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry (SARAI) over the next four years, reinforcing the government’s push for smart and climate-resilient farming.
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said the project, which started in the second half of 2025, forms part of the agency’s major investments under its smart agriculture initiative. The program aims to ensure that science-based innovations are translated into practical tools that improve farm productivity and incomes.
“Technologies are good only if they are applied. We want farmers to increase their profit and convince them that the way to go is smart technologies,” Solidum said in an interview late Friday.
Solidum was in Eastern Visayas to launch several DOST projects in Southern Leyte and inaugurate the regional SARAI hub at the DOST office in Palo, Leyte. Similar hubs have been established in all regions to strengthen coordination with national government agencies, local government units, and farmer cooperatives.
“We need this hub so that local governments and farmers in the region can fully understand the importance of SARAI,” he said.
The SARAI hub will serve as a data and advisory center, providing farmers with site-specific crop recommendations, weather forecasts, and pest and disease alerts. It will also conduct training for farmers, LGUs, and other stakeholders on the use of smart agriculture tools, including drones for data gathering.
In addition, the facility will localize and deploy key SARAI technologies such as SPIDTECH (Smarter Pest Identification Technology), WAISS (Water Balance-Assisted Irrigation Scheduling System), and AWS (Automatic Weather System).
SPIDTECH offers a digital library of insect pests and diseases, providing detailed information on symptoms, life stages, management practices, and other relevant data. WAISS alerts farmers when soil moisture levels approach critical thresholds and advises them on irrigation timing and duration. Meanwhile, AWS delivers real-time weather monitoring and uses historical, site-specific data for crop modeling and forecasting.
Project SARAI is an action-research program funded by the DOST–Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development. It aims to reduce climate-related risks by equipping agricultural stakeholders with timely, location-specific advisories.
Priority crops under the program include rice, corn, banana, coconut, coffee, cacao, sugarcane, soybean, and tomato.
— NPO News Team | PNA-PR
