TABUK CITY, Kalinga (PIA) — Rice farmers here are leveraging drone technology to improve their production.
Through the Drones4Rice Project of the Department of Agriculture (DA), rice farmers in the municipality of Rizal and Tabuk City have benefitted from subsidized drone services for rice seeding, fertilizer application, and pesticide application.
The program has served 160 hectares in Tabuk City so far, according to the Office for the City Agricultural Services (OfCAS) of the Tabuk City government.
The technology makes rice spreading and fertilization more efficient and precise, and reduces the need for manual labor, resulting to lesser expenses for farmers.
“Tumulong mangpababa ti seeding rate, kasi iti direct seeding ti ususaren tayo ditoy Tabuk ken daduma pay nga probinsya ket 80 to 100 kilograms per hectare. Through daytoy nga drone, mapababa tayo ti seeding rate ti 21 to 39 kilograms per hectare,” said Michelle Lumas-i of the OfCAS during an episode of Tabuk City Newsbreak program on August 7, 2025.
(It helps in lowering the seeding rate. We are using here in Tabuk and other provinces the direct seeding which is 80 to 100 kilograms per hectare. Through the drone, seeding rate is decreased to 21 to 39 kilograms per hectare.)
“Nu kitkitan tayo ti labor na daytoy, nu drone ti agisabog, only ti magastos tayo ti panakaisabog na. Nu iraep tayo ket P12,000 [per hectare],” Lumas-i added.
(In terms of labor cost, we only spend P1,350 for the seeding using drone compared to the P12,000 (per hectare) if done manually.)
In Rizal, the Calaocan Farmers Association (CFA) noted a higher yield from farms where drone technology services were used.
“Comparing the 206 cavans normally produced by our farmers through the traditional manual farming method, our farmers have doubled their production to 430 cavans with an average of 60 kilograms after our fresh harvest in March, due to the drone implemented last December 2024,” said CFA acting president Gabriel Balion in a press release by the DA-Cordillera.
Lumas-i said farmers who want to adopt the technology may avail of P8,000 worth of drone services for every hectare through their Intervention Monitoring Card.
“Ti maximum na nu member kayo ti organized group or farmers’ organizations ket hanggang ten hectares. Nu met ag-avail kayo ditoy nga program as individuals, hanggang five hectares lang,” she said.
With the positive results from the initial implementation, more and more Tabuk farmers are expressing interest in availing of the drone technology , said Lumas-i.
“Iyen-encourage mi dagiyay farmers nga interested nga masapul nga urnusin da diay schedule ta ti requirement na daytoy masapul nga aga-abay ti taltalun, cluster dapat and organized group. Ti minimum area next [cropping] season ket 25 hectares per cluster,” she said.
(We are encouraging interested farmers to fix their schedule. One requirement is that the rice fields should be adjacent to each other or clustered and by organized group. The minimum area next cropping season is 25 hectares per cluster.) **IOS-PIA CAR, Kalinga
