By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. 

Exhibiting a breakthrough in farm digitalization, the e-Farms project of Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) won the best paper award in the National Faculty Research Congress (FRC) organized by the Philippine Consortium for Science, Mathematics and Technology (PCSMT).

Authored by Dr. Bobby Eclarin and his team, the MMSU e-Farms bested the other 11 entries under the technology, engineering and innovations category of the research competition. Dr. Eclarin, MMSU knowledge management chief, received the award during the closing ceremony of the event held on April 21 at the llocos Sur Polytechnic State College in Candon City, Ilocos Sur. 

Launched last year by the Knowledge Management Unit of the MMSU Planning Directorate, the e-FARMS developed information systems and data analytics tools to improve productivity and efficient management of university’s research, extension and production initiatives. The digital platform includes the farm machinery, crops, inventory, poultry, piggery, ruminants, and aquaculture management systems with integrated farm data analytics tools.

“We developed the e-Farms by using emerging technologies on internet devices, big data analytics, and smart farming management system to ensure fast, accurate, and evidence-based decision-making,” said Dr. Eclarin. He added that with the vast number of MMSU farmlands, the e-Farms is expected to be useful in storing and retrieving information generated from its agri-fishery activities.

The development of MMSU e-Farms was part of the university’s Php 2 M-project on the “Establishment of Data Analytics Infrastructure for Improved Health and Agriculture Monitoring and Reporting towards Government Digitization” funded through its 2021 General Appropriations Act. 

Other MMSU papers presented in the FRC were: Spatial Analysis of Prospect Sites for Seaweed Farming through Gis-Based Map in Ilocos Norte by engineer Julius Jonar Butay and team; An Investigation of Mathematical Braids, Knots, and Links in Rattan Cane Weaving Designs by Prof. Don Dexter Garvida; and Dynamics of Tropical Cyclone Activity in Northern Luzon by Prof. Angelo Benedict Ragunjan and team. These papers were under the agricultural and life sciences, pure and applied mathematics, and physical sciences categories, respectively. 

With the theme, “Advancing the Frontiers of Math, Science, and Technology through Interdisciplinary Research,” the FRC 2023 accommodated 13 papers under agricultural and life sciences category, 17 in the science and mathematics education category, 5 in the pure and applied mathematics category, and another 5 under the physical sciences category. (HLY/JVBT/StratCom)