Tired of the same old tourist haunts and want to try out something different on your next "hang-out"?
With the tourism sector in the Calabarzon region having made significant progress since the Covid-19 pandemic, officials of the Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) in the region are looking into agri-tourism as a way of enticing local and foreign tourists to the region.
Recently, the ATI launched the Agri 360, a web-based virtual map where visitors can locate ATI's Learning Sites for Agriculture (LSA).
Eleazar Abestado, one of the developers of Agri 360, stated that the platform will enhance access to LSAs in the region to better promote agritourism and agricultural technologies.
“This will be a graphical representation of the LSAs in the region. It includes a list of all LSAs in each province, as well as their address and contact details so our netizens can get familiar with our sites. [More importantly] We also included the awards and recognition they received,” Abestado said.
Agri 360 is an extension project offering LSAs and Private Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Service Providers (PAF-ESPs) in the region.
The app serves as a technology demonstration hub, showcasing the best practices and technology adopted by LSAs, attracting visitors, raising public awareness, and boosting farm revenues through tourism and product sales.
The program also features a 360-degree view of farms, their facilities, and the technologies used. It also provides directions via private and public transportation, improving accessibility to vital resources and support for farmers.
The ATI IV-A is compiling data on each LSA in the region, including addresses and photos for inclusion in the virtual map.
However, Agri 360 will go further by offering virtual tours to showcase all the farming technologies in use.
“We are also comparing their information with what is already available online to confirm its accuracy. We conduct site visits using apps like Google Maps to verify this accuracy. Once we establish their accuracy, we use these addresses on our platform. If not, we ask the owners to update their farm’s address,” Abestado explained.
ATI has already incorporated seven Learning Sites for Agriculture in the region, with more sites to be added in the coming months.
“A bulk of our development comes with shooting photos and videos for the virtual tours of the farms. We hope that LSA owners can assist in this aspect, because it will be a big help in website development,” Abestado explained.
“We need the data to be complete before we can integrate them into an app. We know that updating the platform, especially the virtual tours, needs to be quick because LSAs are adopting new technology rapidly,” he added.
(With report from the Philippine Information Agency)
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