Data collection android app, database, and web maps for sugarcane will soon be completed through the project, "Optimization and Pilot Testing of the Mechanization, Resource Mapping, Monitoring, and Data Analysis System (M3DAS) for Mechanization Planning, Implementation and Policy Data Generation for Government Departments and LGUs."
University of the Philippines Los Baños - Center for Agri-Fisheries and Biosystems Mechanization (UPLB-BIOMECH) researchers led by Engr. Alexis C. Del Rosario implemented the project, which was funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).
In a recently-completed virtual review of the project, Engr. Del Rosario reported the project’s accomplishments and major outputs such as data collection app, database of agricultural machines for sugarcane in Batangas and in Panay island, Western Visayas, and maps of mechanization resources in the area.
The M3DAS Data Collection App is a mobile app designed to determine the mechanization resources that can be visually represented through various types of maps for planning, monitoring, and ascertaining mechanization situations in specific localities. Enumerators in the study site used this Android-based platform app in conducting the survey.
Respondents are asked about their machine specifications and the necessary information that can be used in mechanization planning, implementation, and data-driven policy generation.
A database stores the gathered survey data and securely connects them to the M3DAS server. This database contains processed data such as geo-tagged machines, available horsepower, machines for custom hiring, and suitability of machines in an area.
M3DAS can provide critical information through thematic maps, statistics, and other Geographic Information System (GIS)-based information that will allow more thorough understanding and appreciation of the mechanization situation in a particular locality. Furthermore, use of M3DAS rapidly updates data to allow planners and implementers to easily understand the mechanization situation being addressed.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) assisted the M3DAS team in the initial data and information gathering about the sugarcane industry, mechanization status and practices, and problems encountered in Batangas and in Panay island. They also suggested key personnel and enumerators who conducted the surveys as coordinators..
The M3DAS team also coordinated the conduct of pilot testing with the Batangas Integrated Sugar Planters Multipurpose Cooperative (BISPMC), while secondary data collection was coordinated with the Local Government Units (LGUs), SRA, and other government agencies.
Engr. Del Rosario said that they will also survey three other sugarcane mill districts prioritized by SRA. On the other hand, Dr. Juanito T. Batalon, Director of the Agricultural Resources Management Research Division of the Council, said that DOST-PCAARRD fully supports M3DAS in future studies since the system can also be applied to other commodities like rice and corn (Sarah Hazel Maranan-Balbieran, DOST-PCAARRD S&T Media Services).