The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is exploring the use of satellite technology to validate rice field data as well as support proactive inflation management and ensure food security.
NEDA is evaluating the potential of the Philippine Rice Information System (PRiSM) for valuable insights in inflation analysis.
The agency aims to augment its data sources to enhance inflation analysis capabilities.
NEDA recently visited the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to assess the potential of PRiSM.
PRiSM can provide validated rice field data to stakeholders on a monthly basis, compared to quarterly data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Rice area maps generated by PRiSM include information on planting locations, timing, estimated yield, areas affected by flooding, and regions impacted by drought.
NEDA explores satellite tech for better inflation analysis
At a glance
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is exploring the use of satellite technology to validate rice field data, aiding the government in proactive inflation management and ensuring food security.
In a statement, NEDA Officer in Charge Assistant Director Rory Jay S.C. Dacumos said they are currently assessing the effectiveness of the Philippine Rice Information System (PRiSM) in offering valuable insights for analyzing inflation.
At present, the NEDA relies solely on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for formulating inflation policies. However, Dacumos said there is a need to expand the agency's data sources to strengthen its inflation analysis capabilities.
“This [PRiSM] is particularly important in the case of rice, our staple, and amid volatile weather situations,” Dacumos said.
Dacumos and the NEDA research team recently conducted a visit to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, to assess the capabilities of PRiSM.
The discussions during the visit highlighted that PRiSM has the potential to provide validated rice field data to registered stakeholders on a monthly basis, specifically on the seventh day of the following month.
This is a significant improvement compared to the quarterly data provided by the PSA, the NEDA official said.
“We have also learned during the lectures and the field demonstration that the 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 (SAR) sensing, which is unaffected by cloud cover.
The data collected through the 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.
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 gathered data is organized into rice area maps, providing information on the geographical distribution of rice cultivation, the timing of planting, estimated yield, areas affected by flooding caused by heavy rains and tropical cyclones, as well as regions impacted by drought conditions.
“PRiSM is currently only applicable to rice, but according to PhilRice, the technology and methodology of PRiSM could also be adapted for monitoring other crops,” Dacumos said.
PRiSM began full operation in 2018 under PhilRice to assist the Department of Agriculture in making well-informed decisions for policy formulation and planning. Since then, PhilRice has been continuously improving the methodology and technology of PRiSM.