DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) director Joell H. Lales, together with Research Program Development Division head Raymond Patrick L. Cabrera and other DA-BAR officials and staff, visited the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija to look into the mobile solar-powered hose reel irrigation system studied and established under the BAR-funded project “Renewable Energy Powering Agriculture: Integration of Photovoltaic Technology with Farm Production System.”

Dr. Edgar Orden, CLSU president, and Dr. Armando Espino Jr., vice president for Research and Extension and project leader, led the discussion on project accomplishments. Meanwhile, DA-BAR director Lales and the team provided inputs on ensuring that significant R4D outputs such as this would be upscaled, especially to remote, rural areas of the region and beyond, to boost agricultural production and improve farmers’ incomes. 

Demonstrated in the CLSU grounds, the mobile solar-powered hose reel irrigation system is a climate-smart technology that utilizes PhotoVoltaic technology–converting sunlight into electricity–to provide cheaper, cleaner, reliable crop irrigation in remote areas. The project also collaborated with selected onion and rice farmers cooperatives and associations at Brgy. San Agustin, San Jose City and Brgy. Licaong, Science City of Muñoz, respectively, in testing the mobile system.