The National Economic and Development Authority, or NEDA, is looking into how satellite technology could be used to verify data from rice fields, help keep prices under control, and make sure there is enough food for everyone.
In a statement, NEDA officer in charge assistant director Rory Jay S.C. Dacumos said the agency is currently evaluating how useful the Philippine Rice Information System, or PRiSM, is for studying inflation.
“Currently, we (use Philippine Statistics Authority) data to inform our inflation policy, but to enhance our inflation analysis, we need to augment our data sources,” Dacumos said.
“This is particularly important in the case of rice, our staple, and amid volatile weather situations,” he added.
Hence, Dacumos said NEDA sent a research team to the Philippine Rice Research Institute in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, to evaluate the potential of the PRISM in providing valuable insights for the government’s proactive measures to manage inflation.
Validated rice field data
In the discussions during the study visit, it was pointed out that PRiSM can provide validated rice field data to their registered stakeholders every 7th day of the succeeding month compared to quarterly PSA data.
“We also learned during the lectures and field demonstration that PRiSM data is reasonably accurate. So, we can see how this could enhance our policy recommendations on inflation,” Dacumos said.
PRiSM collects rice field data through satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar sensing, which is unaffected by cloud cover.
The data collected through SAR has up to 95 percent overall accuracy, vis-a-vis the ground validated data with the help of PRiSM data collectors in the field across the country using a mobile application to record and upload data more efficiently.
Data from drones
When the SAR images are insufficient, PRiSM can process secondary data, such as data collected using drones.
A satellite, Sentinel-1A, provides the SAR images used by PRiSM. The next satellite, Sentinel-1C, is set to be launched within the year and has the potential to further augment PRiSM’s operations.
The compiled data is presented in the form of rice area maps that indicate the locations where rice has been planted, the timing of rice planting, estimated rice yield, areas of rice affected by flooding due to heavy rains and tropical cyclones, and areas where rice cultivation has been impacted by drought.