SAN AGUSTIN, Pili, Camarines Sur— The Department of Agriculture in Bicol (DA-Bicol) through the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Unit under the Field Operation Division Conducted the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Practical Operations and Image Processing Training on May 21-23, 2019 here.

The three-day training was geared towards skills development on the operation and maintenance of drones needed in running, surveying and processing maps; and identifying doable and possible stratifies in addressing issues and concerns on operations during extreme events.

According to DA-Bicol Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Change Adaptation (DRR-CCA) Focal Person Lorenzo L. Alvina, using UAV or Drone Technology can capture highly accurate images needed in the collection of data in agricultural areas. A single flight can capture highly accurate images needed in the collection of data in agricultural areas. A single flight can cover up to hundreds of hectares to assess crop damages, aerial monitoring, field validation of site and intervention.

DA-Bicol DRRMU-GIS Specialist Borris D. De Los Sanatos discussed the Fixed Wing and Multi-Rotor RC Aircraft, UAV Operations and Key Terms and Image Processing.

DA-Bicol DRRMU-IT Staff Alton Bascuña presented the Flight Planning-Ground Station Pro, Mission Planner and Drone Deploy, Creating Flight Plan, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Rules and Regulations, and Flight Procedures Patterns and Technique.

Drone-enable aerial mapping system is the ideal solution to generate high-resolution, highly-efficient aerial data, including crop scouting, topographic mapping, contouring, vector mapping and textured 3-d modelling.

Moreover, with agricultural drone technology, farmers will be able to analyze their crops and make educated decisions given the accurate information. This gives the farmer the time to focus on the big picture of production instead of spending time surveying their farms manually. Thus, the government agencies and agricultural academe can directly decide on what intervention will be given to the farmers.

The training was attended by more than 35 employees and staff from the different banner programs, special projects, research centers and divisions of DA-Bicol, and representatives from the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), Partido State University (PSU), and Bicol University (BU). (jaysonmgonzales)