The Department of Agriculture (DA) is turning to drones and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect crop threats before they spread, testing technology that could give Filipino farmers earlier warnings on pests, diseases and other production risks.

Japanese technology provider E-SupportLink has begun pilot tests of its AI-powered aerial imaging system on three banana farms in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro under a memorandum of understanding with the DA Regional Field Office 11.

The system combines drone images, environmental information, historical weather data and machine-learning models to monitor crop conditions, forecast yields and identify potential disease outbreaks.

DA Undersecretary Cheryl Natividad-Caballero said the technology could help farmers move from responding to damage toward preventing it.

“The value of this system is that it is not just about flying drones. It comes with predictive analysis and forecasting. We can identify where problems may start before they become bigger issues,” Caballero said.

She said early detection could also reduce the cost of controlling outbreaks by allowing farmers to act before diseases spread across larger areas.

“When you know where the problem is early, you can act faster, and the cost of controlling it becomes lower,” Caballero added.

The Davao pilot is currently undergoing ground verification, while private banana producers have also expressed interest in using aerial data for production planning and disease monitoring.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the technology could be useful beyond bananas, particularly for sugarcane and coconut, but stressed that affordability will determine whether small farmers can benefit.

“The technology is promising, but we need to make sure it becomes affordable and accessible not only to large companies but, more importantly, to small farmers,” Tiu Laurel said.

“We want to see how this can help us address urgent concerns in sugar and coconut. If we can detect problems earlier, we can make better decisions and protect farmers’ income,” he added.

Under the proposed cooperation, ESL will train drone operators, establish aerial imaging systems and provide AI-based productivity assessments. The DA is also studying training and funding support to expand the technology.

If scaled up, the system could give farmers faster, more precise information for managing diseases, climate risks and farm inputs, strengthening the government’s push toward data-driven and climate-resilient agriculture.