ISABELA: To address the effects of climate change, a professor at the Isabela State University (ISU) is conducting a study to increase crop productivity by as much as 30 percent using Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
ISU Research Director Dr. Orlando Balderama, also a full professor at the College of Engineering, said climate change threatens to reduce crop production thus there is a need to develop strategies to increase crop production using ICT.
“Applications of the model for climate change assessments indicated that corn yield would be reduced by up to 44 percent in 2020 and 35 percent in 2050 due to change in rainfall amount and the rise in temperature, both of which are indicators of climate change,” Balderama said.
As a challenge to the effects of climate change, Balderama is undertaking the said study to develop a model aimed at increasing crop production by 30 percent through ICT application for corn farming in the Philippines.
He said the model will use combinations of simulation and climate modeling, integration of automated weather station for real-time weather data inputs, and short messaging service (SMS) as decision support to government workers and farmers.
“Specifically, it is aimed to develop a localized corn model using DSSAT-CERES Maize, assess future corn production under climate change scenarios, and develop a decision support system for corn production,” Balderama said.
Results of his ongoing study was presented during a recent conference on the application of ICT solutions for farming that was spearheaded, among others, by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture based in Los Baños, Laguna.
The ISU professor has published more than 100 studies and researches in scientific journals, books and conference proceedings.
