The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) formally kicked off its SIPAG FIESTA to showcase the best of the Council’s agri-aqua research and development (R&D) outputs generated from 2010 to 2016.
SIPAG FIESTA, which is scheduled until March 4, Friday, is being held at the DOST-PCAARRD complex in Los Baños, Laguna.
The event features the Regional R&D Consortia and the Los Baños Science Community (LBSC) exhibits as well as a Techno Forum on livestock, aquatic, forestry and natural resources, and crops sectors.
The event also includes technology demonstrations on artificial insemination on goat, use of portable milking machine in dairy buffalo, swine RFID and remote sensing, and organic vegetable farming.
SIPAG stands for Strategic Industry S&T Program for Agri-Aqua Growth (SIPAG), while FIESTA means Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda (FIESTA).
Keynoting the event, DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo reiterated that Filipinos should think big in order to help solve our problems and not to rely completely on other countries for our technological needs.
“In response, the government--as stewards of the nation’s S&T agenda-endeavors to continuously strengthen our S&T ecosystem to empower our scientists and engineers for them to be able to innovate and translate their ideas into actual products, methods, and techniques of production at par with the rest of the world, ” said Montejo.
The first of the three-day event highlighted the opening of the DOST-PCAARRD Innovation and Technology Center (DPITC).
The center, once finally completed, is expected to house a modern exhibition hub, a digital library, a conference facility, and a business hub.
Currently, the DPITC exhibits the major outputs of its Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP), which include outputs on the Council’s 34 ISPs.
Students, teachers, PCAARRD partner agencies, farmers and fisherfolk, research and development workers, and DOST officials and staff attended the first day of the event.