BAYBAY CITY-Following its Jackfruit Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda (FIESTA) last year, the Visayas Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Program (ViCAARP) held a similar event, this time on Queen Pineapple.
Held on November 22 and 23, 2018 after the 30th Joint Visayas Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Program (VICAARP)-Regional Research and Development Extension Network (RRDEN) Regional Symposium held on November 21, the Queen Pineapple FIESTA showcased the fruits of the joint program of ViCAARP and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) on QP.
Titled "Enhancing productivity and marketabilty of Queen Pineapple," the program, among other goals, aims to select superior quality plant, produce high quality planting materials, regulate planting density, manage pest, use queen pineapple by-product, and formulate policy on fruit grading and trading.
Once these goals have been realized, the program is expected to increase and stabilize the income of marginalized farmers not only in Eastern Visayas but also in the Bicol Region.
Towards these objectives, the QP FIESTA featured the following activities: exhibits, technology forum cum media conference, cookfest, poster making contest, and dance presentations.
The forum covered different topics such as intercropping, novel products, somatic embryogenesis, tissue culture, queen pineapple strains, and integrated pest management. The forum also included a discussion on market demand, requirements and standards, thus bridging the farms and the industry, being the most important objective of FIESTA.