The participants for the SARAI Training, together with the trainors and Engr. Sancho A. Mabborang, Regional Director of DOST R02
The participants for the SARAI Training, together with the trainors and Engr. Sancho A. Mabborang, Regional Director of DOST R02

To strengthen and enhance the awareness and appreciation of Project SARAI (Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry) in Region 02, the Department of Science and Technology Region 02 (DOST R02) conducted a 5-day training on SARAI-Enhanced Agricultural Monitoring System (SEAMS) during the celebration of the Regional Science and Technology Week.
The training was held on August 14-18, 2017 at ISU Cauayan Campus, Cauayan City, Isabela, with participants from the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office No. 02 (DA RF02), National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-MARIIS), and various LGUs and SUCs based in Cagayan Valley Region, which were comprised of field-based agricultural technicians, agricultural officers, agricultural development professionals and university researchers.
Project SARAI, an action-research program funded by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) and implemented by University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), is currently expanding its network to operationalize the SARAI-Enhanced Agricultural Monitoring System (SEAMS). SEAMS is a near real-time monitoring system that uses free and open-source GIS software that will help the region improve its monitoring and reporting protocols such as:
• Actual area planted with rice and corn;
• Monitoring of crop status and crop health throughout the planting season;
• Near real-time damage assessment for typhoons and drought; and
• Yield forecast for the region or selected areas.
Seven (7) trainors, all from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, namely Engr. Vicente G. Ballaran Jr., Engr. Jerome M. Suarez, Engr. Leo Neil T. Viado, Engr. Jayson O. Fumera, Mr. Jose Mari Cuasay, and Ms. Heidee D. Mendoza, shared their expertise during the conduct of training on SEAMS.
The training was concluded by Dr. Maria Victoria O. Espaldon, SARAI-ICMF Program Leader and Engr. Moises A. Dorado, SARAI-ICMF SEAMS Leader, having high hopes that the learnings imparted from the 5-day training will be installed and institutionalized in the region for a more proactive and resilient agriculture sector.