MASBATE CITY (PIA) – The Department of Agriculture is bringing new technology to farmers in Camarines Norte to upgrade their skills and increase productivity.

Agricultural technologist Mack Lennon Quibral said the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) has started leveraging the latest digital technology advances to improve the livelihood of farmers following a partnership agreement with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg).

To kickstart the agricultural transformation in the province, ATI and OPAg recently concluded  a three-day training session for farm extension workers who will train and guide farmers in their respective villages.

“The just-concluded digital literacy training introduced digital tools and mobile technologies,” Quibral said.

“With their abilities and access to the world's knowledge, our farmers can revolutionize the way they conduct agriculture. If they need to diagnose and treat crop problems, they can simply take a photo of the sick crop with Plantix app, and their free diagnosis is ready plus they get probably the best treatment recommendation for their sick crops,” Quibral said.

Extension worker Michelle Obrero from the town of San Lorenzo Ruiz expressed her gratitude to ATI and OPAg for the training

session, saying the training “has taught us better ways to access information and linkages that could help us with our livelihood.”

“Our newly acquired abilities and smartphones can now spare us from tedious and repetitive work. We no longer need to seek advice from agriculturists for things that need immediate fixing,” said extension worker Rico Sureta of the town of San Vicente.

ATI has identified several reliable apps to protect farmers from useless, incorrect and misleading information prevalent on the Internet.

These apps include Plantix, Field Area Measure, Leaf Color Chart (LCC), Minus One Element Technique (MOET), Binhing Palay, Smarter Pest Identification Technology (SPIDTECH), and E-Damuhan, Quibral said.

Camarines Norte's economy largely depends on agriculture, with Formosa pineapples, rice, coconuts, and pili nuts as its main products. (PIA 5)