Agham
International confab to highlight native animals
Posted on August 31st By Edwin C. Villar, S&T Media Service/Pia Paula Mateo, S&T Media Service/Butch S. Pagcaliwagan, S&T Media Service/Allan B. Siano, S&T Media Service/Pia Paula P. Mateo, S&T Media Service
Native animals…, my wealth, my pride. This is the official slogan and theme of the forthcoming international meeting “Utilization of native animals for building rural enterprise in warm climate zone” to be held at the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija on July 19─23.
Sponsored by the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Regions (FFTC-ASPAC), PCARRD, and PCC, the meeting gives due recognition to the socioeconomic importance of native animals aside from being considered part of a country’s national heritage and treasure.
Having been subjected to a long process of natural selection, native animals are known for their tolerance to higher environmental temperatures. With the global concern on climate change, the potentials of domesticated native animals as alternative livelihood to small and rural farmers and as sources of specialty products for niche markets are now being considered. Thus, the meeting hopes to promote technologies and strategies on sustainable production and profitable utilization of native domesticated animals, which include chicken, cattle, buffalo, and pigs.
Technologies and experiences that have been generated from different participating countries, such as Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, will also be shared. Specifically, the meeting seeks to collect and organize native animal production and utilization technologies and strategies that are proven effective. Further, the activity aims to initiate strategic and functional alliances between researchers and development workers in the region on sustainable production and profitable utilization of native animals.
Leading the international conference are the heads of the sponsoring institutions: FFTC-ASPAC Director Jen-Chyuan Lee, PCARRD Executive Director Patricio S. Faylon, and PCC Executive Director Libertado C. Cruz.
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New DOST Secretary visits PCARRD, sets initial steps for the Council
In a bid to become familiar with the various Department of Science and Technology (DOST) agencies, DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo, visited the Council headquarters on July 7, 2010. Together with Usec. Fortunato T. Dela Peña, they met with the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) Executive Director Patricio Faylon, the PCARRD Directorate, and resident auditors from the COA, as well as some senior staff.
Faylon briefed the Secretary on the core competencies of the Council as well as its winning products and services. He then presented the S&T framework of the Council, spelling out the Council’s four banner programs and the three major final outputs (MFOs). He also described the Council specifically, its mandates, personnel complement, organizational structure, and budget.
After the presentation by Faylon, Sec. Montejo asked to be clarified regarding certain S&T programs of the Council. He then outlined initial steps that the Council can take under the new dispensation.
First, he urged PCARRD to develop programs that will support the Department of Agriculture particularly in attaining the country’s self-sufficiency in rice over the next three years. Second, the Secretary stressed the promotion of measures that farmers can use in adapting to climate change. He specifically directed the Council to ensure that farmers have access to and are able to use the data from agrometeorological stations.
Last, he underscored the importance of valuing the benefit of S&T to the country’s economics and to society. Speaking of the “bottom line”, he said further that the Council should always be aware of the impacts of its activities, whether these impacts can be measured and whether the results can be disseminated beyond a pilot level.
During the ensuing discussion, USec Dela Peña bared the Council’s pivotal role in the passing of the Technology Transfer Act. He then asked the Secretary’s permission to convene the committee charged with developing the law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Socio-Economics Research Division will represent the Council in this committee.
In ending the meeting, the Secretary committed to support the Council in its on-going and future initiatives. Also, he promised to visit at another time to form a deeper appreciation of the Council and its programs.
Secretary Montejo was appointed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III as the new DOST Secretary on June 30, 2010.
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Community media honor former president
Members of the community media of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) honored Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently during the association’s 14th mid-year media conference and executive session of publishers and editors held at the Ayala and Dasmariñas Halls of the Makati Sports Club in Makati City.
According to PAPI Prexy Juan P. Dayang, the former chief executive’s special tribute is “in recognition of her consistent support for the community media which she formally institutionalized by issuing Presidential Proclamation No. 1187 in 2007”.
The proclamation declares December every year as the “National Press Congress Month and the Month of the Community Press in the Service of the Nation”. It also designates PAPI as the lead agency for the nationwide annual media event observance.
At the Parangal at Pasasalamat to Arroyo, Dayang acknowledged the former president’s “exemplary performance and accomplishments in related fields of public governance, particularly in infrastructure development and growing economy, among others”.
Aside from Arroyo, the association honored two other outstanding women: Presidential Adviser on Culture and Arts and National Artist Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Coney Helgen, president of the Red Coconut Beach Resort in Boracay.
Dayang said that the association’s recognition for Alvarez “is also meant to highlight PAPI’s role in promoting public awareness, through the community media, on the Filipino cultural heritage and the arts” while that for Helgen “aims to stress on the grassroot media’s contribution to tourism promotion”.
Publishers, editors, writers, and broadcasters from all over the country including the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), a new member of PAPI, participated in the said event themed “Media, new governance, new challenges”. Representing the Council were staff members of its Applied Communication Division.
Incidentally, PCARRD’s membership in PAPI is part of its media advocacy for science and technology on agriculture, forestry, and natural resources sectors in the countryside.
PAPI is one of the oldest and biggest media associations in the country today. Its membership has expanded to include not only newspaper publishers, but also editors, reporters, broadcasters, corporate public affairs executives, and government information officers.
PAPI has a regular membership of about 1,200 publishers with some members having two or more publications with separate areas of coverage and circulation in the countryside. In addition, it has about 1,700 associate members.
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Phil-Aussie fruit and vegetable programs yield initial gains
Cagayan de Oro City – The production fruits and vegetables in the country is set to receive a boost from the Philippine and Australian Horticulture Program on Fruits and Vegetables. At the 2nd Philippine Annual Program Review of this Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)- and PCARRD-funded program, participants presented the progress of their respective projects. Thus, identifying milestones and significant breakthroughs that served as the bases for laying out future directions and developing plans of work.
The programs in review
Under the vegetable program being implemented in Leyte, farmers have been trained on soil test and analysis so they could determine the proper amount of nutrients needed by various vegetables.
To support vegetable production in the area, researchers developed protected structures made from locally available materials like bamboo and coco lumber. Initial results showed that selected vegetables perform better under the protected cropping system. Local government units (LGUs) assisted in selecting the farmer-cooperators.
Still under the vegetables program in Regions X and XI, isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum affecting solanaceous crops were characterized. As part of the supply chain improvement, farmer clusters were organized to facilitate technology dissemination and explore market opportunities.
Under the fruits program on the other hand, three supply chains of solo papaya, including markets from South Cotabato, Davao, and Manila, were mapped. Also, partners identified major pests and diseases of papaya, as well as the natural enemies of these pests.
Initial results are in from the Participatory Action Research trials on farm management strategies for Phytophthora disease in jackfruit and durian in Leyte and Davao areas. This early, an integrated approach to the management of the disease is showing promise. Component strategies that may be integrated include pruning, construction of drainage canals, use of elevated benches for seedlings, mounding, use of potting mixes, application of organic amendments, as well as employment of chemical control.
The focus in Southern Mindanao is on cecid fly, thrips and pulp weevil infesting mango. Incidence of pulp weevil in the field can be minimized with the use of attractants developed in the project and the practice of center canopy pruning.
On the other hand, stem-end rot and anthracnose diseases could be managed through the integrated cultural management strategy employed in organized mango farm clusters in the region. The effect of nutrition on disease incidence in mango is also being studied.
As part of the chemical residue analysis, pesticides with potential food safety issues have been identified. As a result, the protocol for supervised residue trials has been established.
Techno demos and farmer field days, through the Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur LGUs, are being conducted regularly to disseminate the mango technologies developed by the project. Also, the impacts of technologies are being assessed for their policy implications.
Thirty participants from the different collaborating agencies such as the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños; UP in Mindanao; Visayas State University (VSU); the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Plant Industry–Davao National Crops Research Development Center, Regional Field Unit X, and Northern Mindanao Integrated Agriculture Research Center; and Del Monte Philippines, Inc. participated in the review on June 9─11.
The program review was conducted in preparation for the upcoming program annual meeting and mid-term review slated on August 11─13 in Ormoc City.
Taking stock, moving forward: DC reviews past actions,
charts course for 2011-2016
In a move to plot the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD’s) plans, programs, and directions under the S&T (science and technology) Agenda (STA) and CorPlan (corporate plan) for 2011─2016, PCARRD’s Directors’ Council (DC) and selected senior staff congregated at the Summit Ridge Hotel in Tagaytay City to review its investments in S&T on agriculture, forestry and natural resources.
The review, led by Executive Director Patricio S. Faylon, looked at accomplishments of the Council in the last five years based on the STA adopted for the same duration.
Programs and projects funded and coordinated by PCARRD were assessed based on the Council’s four banner programs, namely: 1) knowledge and technology generation, 2) R&D results utilization, 3) R&D governance and capability building; and 4) policy analysis and advocacy.
Accomplishments for livestock, stemmed from projects on goat, dairy carabao, native chicken, and yellow feed grains. Those from crops arose from projects on fruits, peanut, and sweet potato.
For agricultural resources, projects on organic agriculture, sloping land management, and waste management were assessed while projects on bamboo, industrial tree plantations, and biofuels were weighed up under forestry and environment.
In socio-economics, impact assessments and supply chain studies for different focus commodities were presented. As well, future assessments were laid out.
To ensure that the foci identified for the Council are leveled with the country’s priorities, the DC discussed the National Research and Development Priorities Plan (NRDPP). Specifically, it sought to merge the Council’s priorities with the NRDPP and thus reinforce the Council’s new STA and Corplan.
Rounding out the assessment, technology transfer, and capability building were examined. As PCARRD’s major platform for technology transfer, the Techno Gabay Program accomplishments were presented. Future directions were then discussed in the light of the enactment of E.O. 801.
The directorate also mapped out the future directions of other technology transfer/commercialization programs such as the S&T-Based Farms and the TechnoMart Program. Finally, the course of the organization’s support programs like publications, human resource, management information system, and financial management was laid out. 
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