DOST to set up first model smart farm

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is embarking on a project to set up the country’s first model “smart farm.”

The DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) has allocated P128 million for the establishment of the Smart Plant Production in Controlled Environments (SPICE) farm at the Advanced Science and Technology Institute’s Nursery of Indigenous and Endemic Plants in Quezon City. 

The SPICE farm will be a showcase for the promotion of urban farming and high-tech plant conservation.

Teaming up to develop the SPICE are the UP Diliman Institute of Biology and Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, and the UP Los Baños Institute of Biology.

The SPICE farm seeks to be a venue for research and development on the design of a stand-alone urban farm system and establish protocols for micropropagation, cryopreservation and nursery management of rare, endangered and economically valuable native plant species.

“The core of this project is not only the development of new technology, but also, on a macro perspective, to ensure that we can protect our country’s rich biodiversity,” DOST Undersecretary for R&D Rowena Cristina Guevara said.

Modern farming methods like vertical farming, micropropagation, cryopreservation and hydroponics will be practiced to grow native plants in an environment wherein the climate, lighting and irrigation system can be monitored, controlled and changed real-time through the use of electronics, sensors and automation.

“My idea of internationalization is exporting our own ideas, that foreign scientists will come to the country to study trees that are endemic here. SPICE is an innovation project,” UP executive vice president Teodoro Herbosa said of the SPICE farm project.

National Scientist and UP professor emeritus Edgardo Gomez shared his experiences in biology and commended the team for initiating the project, saying that “this (SPICE) will be a world-class institute.”

Aside from the technical features of the project, the facility is envisioned to include a “living laboratory” where visitors can see the various technologies employed and store where they can buy fresh vegetables grown on-site.