DRONES are now being used to map tobacco plantations nationwide, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) said.
NTA Administrator and CEO Belinda Sanchez said that tapping drone technology was part of a digitalization program and was also aimed at validating tobacco plantation data.
The drones’ high-resolution aerial imaging and geospatial analysis will accurately measure plantation areas plantations and will help farmers in estimating the volume of production.
Each of the eight NTA branch offices was issued one DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise Drone while an additional unit was provided to the Farm Technology and Services Department (FTSD).
Through the FTSD, the drone supplier did a series of training sessions in December 2023 and March 2024, in which three NTA staffers from each branch office were taught basic operations, data processing, safety and maintenance of the equipment.
NTA Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano said the use of drones was in line with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s push for modernization and digitalization in the agency.
NTA Deputy Administrator for Operations Nestor Casela and Deputy Administrator for Support Services Benedicto Savellano said the technology would help the NTA in ensuring fairness in tobacco plantation validation and enhancing its regulatory ability.
Bernard Vicente, president of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers Association and Cooperatives, lauded the agency’s adoption of the technology, which he said would make area validation faster and more accurate.
FTSD manager Juanito Maloom said all tobacco plantations in Luzon were validated through drone technology for crop year 2023-2024. This comprised a total of 22,073.09 hectares of tobacco plantations of 36,102 farmers. These areas were planted with Virginia, Burley and native tobacco types.
The NTA has also started using drones for validation of tobacco plantations in Mindanao.
NTA senior science research specialist Kenneth Russell Tannaval and project evaluation officer John James Canlas conducted drone operations training on Nov. 25-28 at the NTA Mindanao Outreach Office in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.
Eight NTA Mindanao staff and three personnel from the Laguindingan local government unit attended the training, learning drone operations, maintenance and safety, among others.
They likewise conduct aerial mapping simulations of tobacco plantations in barangay C. P. Garcia and Lapad in Laguindingan.
The training was conducted in anticipation of the provision of another drone unit for Mindanao, which has eight native tobacco-producing provinces.
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