Global weather intelligence platform Tomorrow.io has partnered with the Philippines’ National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to help farmers adapt to volatile and challenging climate conditions and boost productivity using artificial intelligence.
This joint effort comes at a critical time, with the southwest monsoon (habagat) already starting to affect various parts of the country.
The partnership, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture (DA), aims to modernize agricultural forecasting through Tomorrow.io’s AI-powered models and proprietary low-orbit satellite network. This advanced system allows for hyperlocal weather insights—such as when to delay irrigation or apply pesticides—tailored down to individual farm plots.
“The Philippines, with its geographically complex archipelago and remote farming communities, faces unique weather forecasting challenges that traditional ground-based systems alone cannot address,” said Shimon Elkabetz, Co-Founder and CEO of Tomorrow.io. “Our proprietary space-based satellite constellation was purpose-built to fill those coverage gaps and provide high-resolution, real-time weather intelligence across the country, even in the most hard-to-reach and underserved areas.”
In 2024 alone, weather disturbances caused P57.78 billion in damages to the agriculture sector, affecting over 1.4 million farmers and fishermen and wiping out more than 2.19 million metric tons of production across nearly one million hectares, according to the DA.
Through the partnership, farmers will gain access to real-time, plot-specific forecasts and actionable agronomic advice This will boost resilience and productivity despite increasingly erratic weather.
Tomorrow.io’s platform—already in use in various global development efforts, including with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation programs in Africa—also has potential applications in Philippine sectors like shipping and aviation, where real-time weather data is crucial.
