Nursery at Denso’s smart farm in Batangas
Fresh from the inauguration of its hydroponic farm in Ibaan, Batangas last year, Denso Philippines Corp opened its doors to visitors through an open farm event conducted recently, showcasing its innovative and modern agricultural farming technology.
A key player in the automotive companents manufacturing industry, Denso Philippines Corp leveraged on its manufacturing expertise, adopting best practices as it ventured into agriculture to provide innovative solutions to existing agricultural challenges in the Philippines.
The Board of Investments approved in July 2022 Denso’s P60-million Hydroponic Smart Agri Tech Farm as a new producer of high-value crops such as microgreens, kale, arugula, herbs, and melons under the Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry listing of the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP).
Officials of the BOI led by Executive Directors Bobby Fondevilla and Evariste Cagatan, and Directors Rosario Dominguez, Lanie Dormiendo, and Ernesto delos Reyes alongside its sectoral experts and project evaluators participated in Denso’s Open Farm event.
The farm features climate-resilient greenhouse buildings which employs integrated pest/disease management. Vegetables are commercially grown using hydroponic technology, which substitutes soil with coco peats to produce crops. With this process, water remains in the system and is reused. The farm also intend to use zero to minimal farm chemicals, which in turn, can decrease carbon footprint. The firm is now actively exploring how it can engage in carbon credits trading in the future.
Paving the way for an innovative and more modern Philippine agriculture, the company is also already testing a prototype of its IoT (Internet of Things) system, which they plan to fully implement within the year. The said system will be used to control and manage irrigation, nutrient and pH levels, log data trends and send alarms when parameters go off the standard.
Dubbed as Autodose I, the system is said to be a pioneer product that aims to enhance small scale farming in the country. Through this technology, the firm aims to demonstrate low-cost automation system for crop farming which can be adopted by local small-scale producers.
The farm also features efficient systems to minimize post-harvest losses and strict quality controls to ensure only superior quality produce will reach their clients.
Denso sees its high-value crops project as essential in supporting urban farming activities in the Philippines, as well as addressing the low sufficiency of highland vegetables and food security.