YOUNG Filipino innovators have until November 17 to register for the Innovation Olympics 2.0, a competition challenging the next generation of agriculture, business and technology leaders to develop innovative solutions to challenges faced by urban and rural smallholder vegetable farmers.

The event is a project of the East-West Seed in partnership with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, Sensient Colors LLC, University of the Philippines Los Baños, UPLB-Technology Transfer and Business Development Office, UPLB Startup Innovation and Business Opportunity Linkaging Labs, and APEX: The UPLB Business Network.

The theme of the competition’s second edition is “Precision Agriculture for Small-Scale Vegetable Farming.”

The Innovation Olympics aims to capitalize on the creative ideas and energy of the youth so they become active contributors of solutions that will increase agricultural productivity and income.

Precision agriculture has been touted as a major technological intervention. It harnesses data and controls systems for more efficient agricultural production systems particularly applied to vegetable-farming communities in the country.

The agri-hackathon offers opportunities for Filipino undergraduate and graduate students to create, implement and measure the impact of their own technological solutions.

Applications may be submitted to https://tinyurl.com/IO2Application.

Thirty teams will be selected to participate and will be awarded an ideation fund of P10,000.

Comprising at least three members each, the participating teams will attend online training and demonstrations to refine their project proposals prior to the actual implementation in farming communities.

Two finalists from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao will be selected to implement their projects with a seed fund of P100,000 each. A panel of experts will evaluate the implementation and impact of their innovative solutions in their adopted farming community.

The six finalists will vie for the grand prize of P200,000 to be awarded on National Demo Day in June 2021.