The Russian delegates, headed by Stanislav Kazarin, deputy prime minister of the Samara region and head of the Department of Information Technologies and Communication, sought for sharing of knowledge and strategies particularly on rice production through a knowledge-based database.

The database targets to gather data on rice seed variety including characteristics, composition, and impact on production. It will also provide information to get market needs such as special and technical qualities of food market.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar welcomed the delegation from Russia on November 18, 2019 who were accompanied by Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev.

“We welcome cooperation in regard to smart and resilient agriculture towards enhancing our agriculture modernization,” Dar said.

According to Dar, the digital developments offered by the Russian delegates are essential in transforming the agri-fishery sector of the country.

Apart from smart agriculture, the agri chief said the delegates may look for the agri-business potentials of the Philippines’ liquors, coconut and coco products, abaca and other fiber products.

Kazarin said aside from introducing information technology in agriculture, they would also like to provide cheaper technology for production. He said the technologies will improve trading markets by providing facility minimizing time to market agricultural products.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Knowledge Genesis Group of Companies Sergey Kozhevnikok said the technologies emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence in creating a smart agriculture. He said they target to improve drone and satellite monitoring to provide real-time results and decisions.

As such, Sec. Dar asked the Philippine Rice Research Institute to schedule a technical discussion with the Russian delegates. ### (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)