DA allows pesticide spraying in farms via drones

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is permitting the emergency or experimental use of drones to spray pesticide and help increase farms’ output.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar in a memorandum order published last week said the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) may now issue emergency use permits or experimental use permits for selected pesticides provided that service providers meet the agency’s safety standards.

The directive also came as part of the DA’s aggressive promotion of the use of drones, following several tests conducted by the agency over the years showing the technology could significantly increase food production.

“Agricultural drones play a crucial role in precision farming and provide many advantages and features such as rapid field measurements, monitoring crop and soil condition, seed sowing, fertilizer and pesticide application, irrigation and farm surveillance, among others,” the memorandum said.

Jonar Yago, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry, said in a phone interview that the use of drones could trim the time spent on fertilizer application to 45 minutes from four hours.

Cheaper, faster

Due to competition, drones have also become cheaper and are now being rented for P850 per hectare by private entities.

This was more cost-efficient than hiring two farm laborers for P600 a day, Yago said. He dismissed the possibility of drones displacing workers, saying the latter could focus on other parts of the value chain.

“It can significantly improve the efficiency of production and the coverage of inputs. More time can be spent on other things, and you know that the inputs are being used to the last drop,” said Yago.

The DA tried using drones in 2015 to improve its response time in assessing and validating damage and losses caused by natural calamities, especially typhoons, through aerial mapping.

By 2019, it piloted the use of drone sprayers in selected provinces that could apply fertilizer, pesticide and seeds in farms at high speeds compared to the traditional practice.

DA Spokesperson Noel Reyes in a phone interview said Dar has also instructed regional field offices to purchase at least one agricultural drone to teach and train farmers on how to use it and eventually allow farmers to use the drones for free.

Resistance to change

New technologies still continue to evade most farming systems in rural areas due to the resistance of some farmers to change their rudimentary ways of farming, or due to habit.

Nonetheless, the Philippine Rice Research Institute’s (PhilRice) FutureRice program has been trying to make strides.

In the city of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija, where PhilRice’s main office is located, farmers are already slowly being introduced to affordable innovations.

The FPA and PhilRice, together with other concerned agencies, are set to develop a training manual on the proper use of pesticides via drones to standardize the procedures. Regional officers are also set to start educating farmers about using agricultural drones. INQ