A student team named FarmHer Innovators from Palawan emerged as the grand prize winners at the recently concluded Shell NXplorers celebration event in the Philippines. Their groundbreaking agricultural innovation concept aims to tackle three crucial issues in the field: surplus, shortage and the supply of produce.
Anna Leonora Rodriguez, a member of the all-women team FarmHer Innovators, explained: “Through our ocular surveys and observations in the community, our project aims to address three identified problems”. The FarmHer Innovators' project comprises two components: the Veggie Crate Tracker, a device that measures the weight and freshness of produce, and the Mark-It App, an application that notifies market vendors about harvest descriptions while tracking surplus and shortage in each cluster.
The event marked the culmination of the 2022-23 edition of NXplorers in the Philippines, where students participated in interactive workshops to explore local challenges, generate innovative ideas and develop sustainable solutions focused on food, water, and energy problems.
Among the 30 participating student teams, the top five with the most innovative projects were recognised during the culmination activity in May 2023 in Makati City. The other winning teams included Team Maomag from Tagbilaran City Science High School in Bohol and Team Portabio from Gusa Regional Science High School in Cagayan.
Team Maomag devised a project called 'Sawod-Lawod,' which employs a solar-and-wind-powered desalination technique to convert seawater into drinking water. Meanwhile, Team Portabio's project aims to provide renewable energy on the go by utilising wasted food as an energy source for portable power banks.
Merit awards were presented to Team Intellihenyo from Philippine Science High School - Cagayan Valley Campus in Nueva Vizcaya and Team Thinkerbells from Puerto Princesa City National Science High School in Palawan.
Team Intellihenyo created the IntelliOutlet, a device that allows remote control of electrical appliances at home using any gadget with internet access. It also measures an appliance's electricity consumption and enables remote power management.
Team Thinkerbells introduced the 'Seament: Seashells as Cement Powder' project, which aims to minimise landfill waste by utilising crushed seashells as substitutes for traditional cement production's raw materials like limestone.
To find out more, watch the video here.
