THE Agro-Climatic Advisory Portal (ACAP), designed by the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 1 (DA-RFO1) Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) Program, will guide farmers on how to avoid, recover from, and adapt to climate change effects and unpredictable weather conditions.
A local government unit representative uses the Agro-Climatic Advisory Portal. PHOTO FROM THE REGIONAL AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES INFORMATION SECTION ILOCOS REGION FACEBOOK PAGE
Recently introduced to at least 50 local government unit (LGU) representatives in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, and Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, it will show farmer cooperatives and associations how to avoid costly climate-related mistakes, use new technologies and easily bounce back from disaster. Connected to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the portal uses the ever-changing weather and climate as the basis for recommending outlooks for growing crops.
Underscoring the rampant effects of climate change, Jennifer Milo of DA-RFO1 AMIA emphasized the need to use tools and technologies in farming and build farmer clusters for an organized approach. She said their goal is “to level up AMIA villages … and improve the farmers’ lifestyles.”
ACAP’s features include the 10-day farm weather outlook and advisory that uses the Pagasa’s weather forecasts; tropical cyclone information and bulletin; droughts and rainfall forecasts; calendars that show crop activity from preparation stage to maturity; and seasonal recommendations in the six-month period like climate risks and impact outlooks.
Other services include exporting the above information to portable document format or PDF files to be printed and disseminated to interested farmers; and registration for short messages service or SMS notifications.
The DA-AMIA initiated ACAP with the help of the University of Los Baños Foundation Inc., Alliance Biodiversity and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
CIAT is one of 15 Consultative Groups on International Agricultural Research Centers which develop crops, agricultural practices, interventions and policies to maximize health and nutrition benefits. In collaboration with hundreds of partners to help developing countries make farming more competitive, profitable and resilient, CIAT helps policymakers, scientists and farmers respond to some of the most pressing challenges of our time, including food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change and environmental degradation.
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