Press Release
July 21, 2011

ANGARA UNDERSCORES IMPORTANCE OF
REMOTE SENSING IN AGRICULTURE

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chair of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), urged the country's geodetic engineers to take the lead in doing research on the utilization of remote sensing technology for agriculture.

Citing a research undertaken by COMSTE, Angara enumerated numerous advantages of utilizing remote sensing data to get precise agricultural information. He said remote sensing technology allows farmers to make better decisions about how to manage their crops properly through satellite images of agricultural crops and other relevant data on agriculture.

"Through remote sensing, our farmers and fisherfolks will be guided on appropriate land use and cropping intensity. It will provide them with detection and early warning mechanisms against pest, diseases and inclement weather. They will also be better equipped to deal with pollution, disasters and health hazards. On the whole, remote sensing will be instrumental in averting food crises and attaining food security," Angara said today at the induction ceremonies of the Geodetic Engineers' Development Foundation, Inc.

He added that, "Remote sensing can also be utilized in establishing information systems that reduce the risks arising from disasters and build up society's resilience to natural catastrophes and climate change. This forms part of what I call technology-based disaster management. I believe that over the long term, mitigation will prove to be more valuable than relief."

Geodetic engineering involves gathering physical data on the surface of the earth through the use of precision instruments, as well as the scientific and methodical processing of data into graphs, plans, maps, charts or documents. It has wide applications in land surverying; point positioning, which includes triangulation with Global Position System (GPS) satellites; remote sensing technologies; and geographic information systems (GIS).

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