Innovation Olympics 2.0 Grand Finals set on October 15

After months of testing and implementation, six finalists compete for the top spot in the Grand Finals of the Innovation Olympics 2.0 (IO 2.0), an agri-hackathon that challenges the next generation​ of agriculture, business, and technology Filipino leaders to develop innovative solutions to​ real-life challenges of smallholder vegetable farmers.

The IO 2.0 Grand Finals, which will be shown via Facebook Live on October 15, 2:00 p.m. (GMT +8), is set to determine the winning team who will receive PhP200,000 as cash prize to improve and continue their technology solution to help farmers in the Philippines.

As part of the competition, each IO 2.0 finalist has received PhP100,000 seed money for the implementation of their projects.

“We are very much excited to see the results after our six teams piloted their projects in their respective communities. We strongly believe in our young innovators and we know that their projects have the potential to transform the lives of farmers and help uplift the Philippines’ agriculture sector. We wish all the teams good luck and we will see them on October 15,” said Martin Hinlo, East-West Seed’s Project Manager for Innovation Olympics.

Innovation Olympics aims to engage the youth in agriculture by encouraging them to take part in shaping the “new normal” in the agriculture sector through their technological solutions. With the theme “Precision Agriculture for Small-Scale Vegetable Farming,” this year’s Innovation Olympics has formidable contenders for the grand prize.

“Our youth will drive the realization of Agriculture 4.0 in the country and we must work together to create more platforms like the IO 2.0 to support them,” said Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), a co-organizer and sponsor of IO 2.0.

Vying for the top prize are teams AIRIN, ARCHIE, BalZip, FarmJuan, Chlomet, and Project ANGAT.

AIRIN is an automated irrigation and nutrient management system that aim to help farmers minimize labor costs by automating irrigation processes and input costs by applying only the right amount of fertilizer at the right time in the right place. This solution was developed by students from the Nueva Vizcaya State University.

ARCHIE was developed by a team of students from Saint Louis University, University of Baguio, and University of the Cordilleras. It is a ground robot for precision and judicious pest control. It aims to automate the detection of pests and diseases to make the application of pesticides more precise, thus reducing input and labor cost of the farmers.

BalZip is a cable suspended drone for farm monitoring and efficient fertilizer and pesticide distribution. This solution by students from the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines aims to help farmers accurately distribute fertilizers and herbicides in their crops.

FarmJuan Management System is a set of various technologies developed to help monitor, analyze, and prescribe appropriate actions for farms to increase the quality and quantity of their yield while optimizing operational and input costs. This solution was developed by a student team from the Asian Institute of Management.

Chlomet was developed by students from the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines. It is a low-cost and automated chlorophyll meter device that can provide the exact data on chlorophyll and nitrogen content of the leaves of a plant, helping farmers create and apply data-driven decisions with minimal costs.

Project ANGAT is a vertical farming system made from bamboo, integrated into a digital platform. It has three components: Malakas, the vertical farming system; Maganda, a capsule with formulated organic waste materials; and Dumangan, an online platform that connects the farmers and consumers. This solution was developed by students from the University of Mindanao.

Innovation Olympics 2.0 is a collaborative project among East-West Seed, SEARCA, Sensient Colors LLC, University of the Philippines Los Baños Startup Innovation and Business Opportunity Linkaging Labs (UPLB SIBOL Labs), and APEX: The UPLB Business Network.

The Innovation Olympics 2.0 Grand Finals will be available for viewing via Virnew and Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/InnovationOlympics on October 15, 2:00 pm. (GMT +8).  To register for the event, go to: bit.ly/innovationolympics.