“If we maintain our gains for the next two years, we will overcome our present difficulties and sustain continued development. It can be done and we can do it. All we need is the confidence to move forward”.
Thus exhorted Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario G. Montejo during PCARRD’s 38th anniversary celebration held on November 10 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.
As he pushed for an innovation-based economy, he effectually set the direction for the DOST and its attached agencies in the next five years. In his keynote speech, Montejo reminded the members of the National Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Network that many of the solutions to our most pressing problems may actually be very simple.
Meanwhile, the secretary said that he would like to see more innovation coming out of the laboratories into the market, noting that the Council’s TechnoMart Program provides a farmer-public sector-market partnership that develops value-added products for commercialization.
He also congratulated the Council, “I believe that the R&D efforts in the agriculture, forestry and natural resources (AFNR) sectors have also created opportunities for improving lives and livelihood”.
On the other hand, Montejo urged to “push” the good news to the people through the PCARRD techno transfer modality, Techno Gabay Program.
In closing, Montejo challenged the Council “to come up with projects that would give more than hope especially for the poor”.
“We must take that one more step beyond mere generation of S&T information and technologies, and provide opportunities for livelihoods that would put food on the table, improve access to basic health services, and education for all”.
Launchings
Also highlighting the celebration, themed as “Agham at teknolohiya sa agrikultura at likas na yaman: Kabalikat sa pagbabago at pag-unlad”, was the Executive Director’s (ED) Report of Dr. Patricio S. Faylon of the year that was for the Council.
The occasion also served as the venue for the soft launch of the Council’s CorPlan (corporate plan) 2011─2016 and the presentation of the 2006─2010 accomplishments of the Science and Technology Agenda (STA).
According to Faylon, the CorPlan is “grounded on the DOST economy-based framework where innovation success will be a product of many stakeholders collaborating and sharing the risk of change”.
Faylon explains that the CorPlan is a blueprint for the implementation of the Council’s plans and programs. “It was designed to make science and technology as the driving force for AFNR”, he said.
“It presents how the Council will position itself toward producing food, generating jobs, creating livelihood opportunities, and rehabilitating natural resources”.
The STA, on the other hand, sets the direction of the AFNR sectors based on the Council’s banner programs on knowledge and technology generation, R&D results utilization, policy research, and R&D governance within the context of the Philippine Agriculture (PA) 2020.
PA 2020 is a long-term plan that integrates agriculture (crop, livestock, fisheries), environment and natural resources (forestry products), and social systems.
Awards
On its 38th year, PCARRD conferred its biennial awards to its regional partners.
First in the roster was the PCARRD Professional Media Awards with Noel T. Provido of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit (DA-RFU) 11 winning in the print category.
For the broadcast category, the University of the Philippines Los Baños’ (UPLB) DZLB Tinig ng Agrikultura sa Barangay Program Team won.
Winning the Tanglaw Award for Most Outstanding Research Institution was the Philippine Rootcrops Research and Training Center in Region 8.
The Pantas Award for Most Outstanding Research Administrator went to Dr. Jose L. Bacusmo, president of the Visayas State University (VSU). For the researcher category, Dr. Roberto C. Guarte, also of VSU, won.
For the most outstanding regional consortium or the Ugnay Awards, the Southern Mindanao Agriculture Resources Research and Development Consortium (SMARRDEC) ended up as second runner up. The Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC) won first runner up. Bagging the grand prize was the Cagayan Valley Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (CVARRD).
NSARRD
In the National Symposium on Agriculture and Resources Research and Development (NSARRD), an annual competition which precedes the Council’s anniversary celebration, UPLB won in two categories.
The university won first place in the research category for the paper on “Coconut biotechnology: Gene discovery of fatty acid/triglyceride biosynthesis, cocosin promoter and tissue culture-transformation in corn as model system. It also won second place in the development category for their entry “Improving production of saba, lakatan and latundan cultivars in different cropping systems”.
Other winners in the research category include the Philippine Coconut Authority-Zamboanga Research Center’s “Accelerated development of coconut synthetic variety using classical breeding methods and microsatellite marker technology”, second place; and “Unstructural biology and pathogenesis of lignicolous fungi causing rotting of citrus branch” of the Nueva Vizcaya State University and Maejo University of Thailand, third place.
In the development category, the top prize went to “Rural Enterprise Development through innovative goat production systems” of DA-RFU 8, Central Luzon University, and Isabela State University. In third place was “Production and dispersal of improved week-old and 40─45 day-old Philippine native (“darag”) chicks of the Western Visayas State University.