Tesda bets on drone technology to boost agriculture, forestry and fishery yield
THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) announced on Wednesday that it would offer a training program for Agricultural Drone Operation to boost the production of the country’s agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors.
“We also would want to provide a world-class and competent human resources for the Agricultural Drone
Operation under the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Sector,” Tesda Director General Secretary Isidro Lapeña said after Tesda, together with stakeholders and agriculture experts remotely piloted aircraft from the Agridom Solutions Corp.’s Competency Standards (CS) for Agricultural Drone Operation, which will be used by training institutions.
Last March 18, Lapeña issued a circular containing the guidelines in the deployment of the CS for Agricultural Drone Operation Level II.
Lapeña noted that the training programaims to respond to industry skills requirements for agricultural drone operation and produce individuals with 21 st-century skills and compliantto the existing industry standards.
The Tesda chief has been strongly supporting the agriculture sector to help the country achieve food security, even listing it as among the top priorities of Tesda.
“We should be developing more training programs that would shift the skills of our local farmers from traditional farming to smart farming. We want to make farming more attractive and enticing among the youth,” he added.
Drones have become an essential part of smart farming, helping farmers to deal with wide range of challenges and gaining numerous benefits.
Specifically, drones can be used for the following: estimating soil condition, planting future crops, fighting infections and pests, agriculture spraying, crop surveillance, livestock monitoring, among others.
We also would want to provide a world-class and competent human resources for the Agricultural Drone Operation under the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Sector.
Tesda Director General Secretary Isidro Lapeña