The Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), in partnership with the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), conducted a three-day training titled “Strengthening the Research and Development Capabilities of Faculty, Researchers, and Personnel of CBSUA on Smart Agriculture for Agro-Industrial Development – Tranche 1” under the CBSUA-NRCP RDLead Research Capability Program on May 12–14, 2026, at the Student Hub, Student Center Building, Pili Campus.
The activity gathered 41 faculty members and researchers from the University’s four campuses for a comprehensive training aimed at strengthening research and technical competencies in emerging smart agriculture technologies.
The program was spearheaded by Prof. Mae S.A. Lustre, PhD, in collaboration with Prof. Florderliza Relloso, PhD; Prof. Dick Harence S. Dela Vega; Prof. Marlene A. Ramos; Prof. Jobel B. Pacis; Prof. Lea B. Credo, PhD; and the University Research Division Office.
Serving as resource speaker was Dr. Jasper G. Tallada, Supervising Science Research Specialist at the Philippine Rice Research Institute. He facilitated sessions on smart farming systems, crop sensing technologies, Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications, and multi-spectral imaging for agricultural monitoring.
On the first day, discussions focused on smart agriculture concepts and sensing technologies for crop management. Participants were introduced to innovations applicable to local farming conditions, including sensor-based systems for monitoring plant health, soil status, and environmental factors.
The second day featured hands-on training on IoT applications in agriculture. Participants were guided in installing and operating Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and were grouped to apply the concepts using remote sensing kits.
The final day covered multi-spectral imaging for crop surveillance. Dr. Tallada demonstrated the use of a multi-spectral drone for agricultural data gathering, followed by field activities and image processing using QGIS and Pix4D.
The training forms part of CBSUA’s continuing efforts to strengthen institutional research capability and advance its direction into becoming a leading agro-industrial research university. | 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘦 𝘖. 𝘓𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘥𝘰, 𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳
