MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) have entered into a five-year partnership to make rice farming more climate-smart.

The team-up involves operating an eddy covariance flux tower to support rice research and environmental monitoring.

“The five-year partnership includes joint research, training, and capacity-building activities to strengthen the long-term operation and use of the flux tower,” PhilRice said in a statement.

A tower was installed at PhilRice’s office in Nueva Ecija. It collates data on greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide and methane. It also monitors energy and water vapor exchanged between rice fields and the atmosphere.