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SEARCA establishes capability building courses for agricultural entrepreneurs to help boost productivity in mango, abaca, cacao, herbal medicine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEARCA establishes capability building courses for agricultural entrepreneurs to help boost productivity in mango, abaca, cacao, herbal medicine
September 28, 2018

Government research partner SEARCA has established capability building courses for trainers and agricultural entrepreneurs as part of helping boost productivity in mango, abaca, cacao, and herbal-medicinal products.

The training for trainers and farmer-entrepreneurs will beef up skills of Filipino farmers-businessmen in ensuring their farms thrive as profit-making businesses, rather than mere source of sustenance.

The course is called “Financial Viability and Profitability Analysis of New Technologies and Enterprises under the High Value Crops Development Program.”

SEARCA also supported the publication of an investment guide of the Bureau of Agricultural Research-Department of Agriculture (BAR-DA) with the same title. BAR launched the investment guide during its Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Forum last August 30.

“We believe that given the right opportunities, training, and innovations, farmers and fishers can be ‘agripreneurs’,” DA-BAR Executive Director Nicomedes Eleazar said.

Participants in these courses will also be trainors of agricultural entrepreneurs or support them on how to plan financial viability for businesses after training themselves first.

A higher education center formed part of ASEAN bonds, SEARCA’s major thrust is to support training of farm technologists and farm entrepreneurs as aid in agricultural progress toward ASEAN Economic Community.

It is also pushing for harmonization of skills standards of farm technicians in ASEAN through a competency certification in partnership with institutions as TESDA (Technology Education & Skills Development Authority).

It is hoped such programs will raise farm production and export of the Philippines while ensuring the future generation are lured into becoming farmers and agriculture businessmen.

Those that already completed the program include agriculture technocrats of Department of Agriculture (DA) and DA- attached agencies staff, state universities and colleges in 16 selected projects funded by DA-BAR, and farm managers.

The topics include subjects studied in Business Management courses– cost and return analysis, partial budget analysis, break-even analysis, and financial cash flow analysis.

SEARCA has supported personnel training for 16 projects of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).

The following are the 16 DA-BAR funded projects:

• Development of Commercial-Scale Belt-Type Dryer with Combination Far-Infrared and Convection Heating for Rapid Drying of Mango Slices
• Conservation, Evaluation, and Commercialization of Batuan (Garcinia binucao) in Region V (Masbate and Sorsogon)
• Lotus R&D for Region 3: Production Technology Generation for Food and Non-Food Products, Aesthetics, and Medicinal Purposes
• Village-level Processing, Technology Development, and Promotion of Katmon (Dillenia philippinensis) Production and Commercialization of Abaca Yarn, Twine, and its Derived Products in Region VIII Areas
• Development and Promotion of Postharvest Equipment for Carrot Processing in BAPTC Commercialization and Marketing of Sweet Potato, Adlay, Soybean & Roselle Products & By-products in Region 10
• Development and Commercialization of Sweet Potato and Potato Products Production and Processing Technologies Development and Commercialization for Organically-Grown Cucumber and Carrots in Bukidnon
• Promotion of Organic Production Technologies for Rice and Muscovado Sugar for Smallholder Farmers and Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries
• Piloting Arabica Coffee Rooted Cuttings as Plant Materials in the Highlands Macadamia Conservation, Propagation, and Commercialization in Luzon
• Promotion of Generated Cacao Technologies and Development of New Products towards Improved Livelihood
• Promotion and Commercialization of Soya Nuggets and Soya Chunks Insta Ulam Project Development and Commercialization of Tropical Fruit-based Products (Rimas Ice Cream)
• Product Improvement and Marketing Plan for Dalanghita Nectar
Philippine government-hosted SEARCA (Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture is a regional treaty organization that promotes inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development through graduate education and institutional development, R&D, and knowledge management. It has been a long-time partner of DA-BAR in research, capacity building, and knowledge management projects.
Copies of the investment guide may be availed from the DA-BAR. (Melody Mendoza Aguiba-https://www.manilatimes.net/expert-ph-agri…digital…/491397/Growth Publishing for SEARCA).

Bamboo community in Talim Island being linked to financiers, mechanizers to boost plantation income

October 17, 2018

A seemingly lowly bamboo craft business has sustained the livelihood of a Talim Island community but awaits partners in mechanization and financing so as to step up into a more organized enterprise.
The bamboo stick producers of Ginoong Sanay, Talim Island, Laguna de Bay, is being linked with partners in financing and machine supply by the Ecosystems Research & Devt. Bureau (ERDB) in its hope to help them upgrade as a more profitable business.
ERDB has recommended the group’s more formal organization and increased investments in bamboo planting.
ERDB Director Dr. Sofio B. Quintana given assistance in plantation financing, micro enterprises like this in Brgy. Ginoong Sanay can grow significantly into a bigger venture.
Credit assistance in bamboo plantation and the aid of machinery will enable the Ginoong Sanay micro enterprise to supply their own raw material needs and even expand into other more profitable bamboo products.
More valued products such as bamboo beds, bamboo sofa, and bamboo table are already made by other barangays in Talim Island.
“They should establish linkage with LGUs and nongovernment institutions including the private sector for any technical and financial assistance they may need, such as the bamboo stick drying machine. They should plant more bamboos in order to sustain their supply of raw materials,” according to ERDB.
Bamboo has been proven to be a versatile crop that flourished in Talim Island even though the island has not been suitable for planting other crops.
“Talim’s craggy terrain may be hostile to other crops, but bamboo particularly the Kawayan Tinik variety grows abundantly on its slopes,” according to Ma. Vienna O. Austria and Myline O. Aparente, ERDB authors.
The Ginoong Sanay bamboo group is composed of 70 bamboo stick makers and 10 dealers. They make up 95% of the Brgy. Ginoong Sanay population. Some of them produce their own bamboo poles and market their own goods.
The sticks they make are used for barbecue, banana cue, fishballs, and other finger/street foods.
Fish ponds and fish cages also use the bamboo poles that they sell.
The Brgy. Ginoong Sanay bamboo enterprise started with the production of “kaing,” the native-looking, nature-friendly equivalent of plastic crates used as container for hauling fruits and vegetables.
“Because kaing slowly became unpopular due to the influx of plastic containers and its production requires more bamboo poles and a higher capital, kaing producers shifted to bamboo stick making in the 1960s with barbeque,” said Austria and Aparente in Canopy International.
Income from bamboo stick making generated resources for food, school allowance, transportation, and tuition fees of the producers’ families.
“A meager income is not an issue for them as long as it sustains their daily necessities.”
Majority of them, 90%, have no alternative income source but rely solely on bamboo stick making for sustenance. Extra income comes from fishing, fish and food trading, construction work, laundry and “sari sari” store jobs.
A bamboo farmer sells the raw material for P62 per pole.
The bamboo traders among them earn a higher average of P6,640 per month on top additional P3,685 per month for stick making.
In a month, a bamboo stick maker may earn as much as P6,400 to a low of P1,000, bringing average to P2,776 monthly.

As they grew short of raw material bamboo within their barangay, they sourced bamboo poles from nearby barangays. This somehow benefited people in Malakaban, Tabon, Kinaboogan, Talim, Binitagan, and Sapang. Most of their supply now comes from other areas, leaving only 27% sourcing from Brgy. Ginoong Sanay.
The bamboo trade has been a family tradition with each member playing roles in harvesting, hauling, cutting, slicing or splitting of bamboo poles, sharpening into small javelins, drying of the stocks, cleaning or polishing, counting, bundling, and selling.
Right now, the dealers serve as financiers for the stick production. The products are sold to the market on a consignment basis—paid to farmers and producers upon sale completion. They are distributed to market stalls throughout Binan, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, Calamba in Laguna, Bicutan (Taguig), Alabang (Muntinlupa), and Antipolo.
In relation to expanding bamboo supply in Rizal, the province that largely covers Talim Island, ERDB has partnered with Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc (PSFI) on clonal nursery operation and bamboo propagation.
As a support to the National Greening Program, PSFI will help propagate quality planting materials (seedlings) of indigenous trees including bamboo propagules.
ERDB and PSFI have just opened PSFI’s clonal facility and forest nursery for bamboo in Brgy. Malaya, Pililla, Rizal last July 26, 2018.
“The regard for the environment is very high in Pilipinas Shell’s agenda. We see a very good alignment on what Shell wants to happen with what the government wants to happen,”said Cesar G. Romero, Shell Philippines country manager.
The clonal nursery will yield about 30,000 bamboo seedlings for 9 to twelve months.
“That’s a big jump from what we produce in our existing nurseries,” said PSFI Executive Director Edgardo Veron Cruz said.
PSFI’s bamboo propagation facility will grow select Philippine bamboo species.
“This is an initial move and what excites me also is the inclusion of bamboo propagation for two things – one, bamboo can absorb 3-4x carbon dioxide compared to other species. And also, bamboo provides plenty of livelihood opportunities,” said Cruz.
ERDB carried out a training last Sept. 12 to 14 on “Tree Clonal and Bamboo Propagation Technology and Nursery Operations” at the PSFI Training Center in Pililla, Rizal.
The training also delved on technical and managerial skills needed to run the clonal facility.
The PSFI-ERDB training included the following topics:
• Resource Material Selection by Forester Faith Anne Manarin
• Hedge Garden Establishment & Management
• Concept and Practical Application of Rooting Hormone
• Clonal Propagation Technology by Forester Alexander John Borja
• Bamboo Propagation and Nursery Management Practices by Mr. Nelson Levi M. Lantican
• Forest Tree Seed Center Operations Manual by Forester Rosalinda S. Reaviles
• Hi-Q Vam 1 Application Techniques by Ms. Famela J. Bonsol.
The training observed a “hands-on demonstration” mode and also led a target and action planning workshop.
Romero said environmental upliftment is a top priority for the company having engaged in conservation of the Tubbataha Reefs, coastal cleanups, mangrove tree planting, community waste management programs around its distribution terminals nationwide, and, tree planting of endemic species in Mt. Banahaw, Quezon as part of its Carbon Sink Management Program. (Growth Publishing for ERDB). End

Ph to tap huge ocean carbon stock potential, to sequester significant pollutant CO2

https://growthfeatures.com/press-release-ph-to-tap-huge-ocean-carbon-stock-potential-to-sequester-significant-pollutant-co2/
September 15, 2018

The Philippines is tapping its huge carbon stock potential from its ocean’s seagrasses as it has one of world’s longest coastlines that may sequester significant pollutant CO2 from fossil fuel-run vehicles.
The Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) has embarked on a basic research on carbon sequestration potential of seagrass beds.
It was found out that a 50-hectare seagrass meadows in Lian, Batangas can capture 97 megagrams of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent to the annual emission of 20 cars.
The blue carbon study likewise involves identification of seagrass species that have high carbon sequestration capacity to offset emissions.
“Some people think seagrasses are mere colonizers and can quickly appear and disappear. Others think that planting of mangroves on seagrass beds is all right. As such, our objective is to unfold another important ecological value of seagrasses in the ecosystem,” said Jose Isidro Michael T. Padin, ERDB supervising science research specialist.
The Philippines was identified by WorldAtlas.com to have sixth largest coastlines in the world with 36,289 kilometers– being an archipelago.
In relation to this, ERDB, as the research arm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is conducting blue carbon study in other sites—Alabat Island, Quezon; Coron, Palawan; Catanauan, Quezon; and Masinloc, Zambales.
“We’re just waiting for the complete plant tissue carbon content datasets for us to estimate the captured CO2 in other study sites,” Padin said.
ERDB Director Dr. Sofio B. Quintana said ERDB has a thrust to provide DENR the research backup on seagrasses as these have important economic and ecological value. However, such value may sometimes be underestimated due to their indirect nature.
Seagrass experts led by Bryan M. Dewsbury noted these benefits are as direct food source, nursery function (commercial fishes, coral reef fishes and tourism revenue), carbon sequestration, wave energy reduction (erosion control and coastline integrity, coastal real estate value), sediment stability, and improved water quality (from its use of marine nutrients).
Presently, the Philippines does not have any mature technology on seagrass rehabilitation.
Padin said that seagrass transplantation studies have been conducted in the 1990s by academic research institutions in the country, but those undertakings might have gained little success.
“Seagrasses occur in shallow tidal flats, where they are exposed during low tides. Some species can grow down to depths of 12 to 60 meters” he said.
Seagrasses are sometimes found growing together with corals –making up coastal resources that have huge ecological value in preventing coastal erosion, breaking the “power of the waves during storms, tsunamis” (WWF).

Economic value

In Australia, economic value of seagrass beds has been placed at $103.74 million per year owing to the market price of species as that use these as their home based on productivity model.
“The rhizomes of seagrasses hold the sediment in place and thus reduce the flux of nutrients from the benthos into the water column. This lessens the probability of (potentially pollutant) algal blooms that can cause permanent seagrass loss,” said Dewsbury.
These also have economic value from medical raw materials.

Manila Bay

As part of enhancing Philippines’ coastal resources, ERDB is also providing basic knowledge for government on the coral reef status within the Manila Bay Area (MBA).
“People say there are no more corals in MBA, but the recent coastal resource map of NAMRIA tells us that corals can still be found in Naic (Cavite), and Corregidor (Bataan). We just completed validation of corals in Maragondon (Cavite) and Ternate (Cavite),” Padin said.
NAMRIA stands for National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.
The coastal area of Cavite has nearly 290 hectares of coral reefs and ERDB is currently determining the percentage of living corals and population of other organisms in those reefs.
“We’re also trying to determine what to prioritize for protection in areas that can be classified as MPA (Marine Protected Area) so we know where to put the core of the ‘no touch’ zone,” said the ERDB resource person.

Destruction

The sustainability of seagrasses have been threatened by some human activities such as heavy dredging from construction works, grounding of vessels and motorized boats, release of chemical-filled effluents from human activities, and overfishing.
The fact that 40% of the world’s population live in coastal areas pose threats to seagrass meadows, according to Dewsbury and co-authors in “A Review of Seagrass Economic Valuations: Gaps and Progress in Valuation Approaches.”
The seagrass itself has direct use as raw material for “thatching roofs and making sound proof recording studios” owing to its high silica content, although seagrass capture has been prohibited in some countries due to their value.

Nursery

Seagrass beds are nursery for juvenile of commercial fishes. They protect small fishes from large predators.
“They are feeding grounds for marine species that inhabit coral reefs in their adult stages…”
Seagrass beds keep sediments through their rhizome structure, reducing siltation.
“The resulting water clarity (from seagrasses) is very important for the seagrasses themselves who are light dependent, but is also important for sometimes adjacent coral reef ecosystems, that depend on high light incidence to survive,” Noted Dewsbury.
“A seagrass die-off in Florida Bay in 1990 resulted in the partial death of coral in the Florida Keys reef tract.”
Their water purifying function cannot be undervalued.
“Seagrass root structure keep water column transparent allowing corals to benefit from high light incidence, necessary for its survival (Rogers, 1990). Seagrasses also house meiofauna that are a food source for some diurnal reef fish species that leave the reef tract to feed in the seagrass beds at night (Robblee and Zieman, 1984).
Seagrass beds also have recreational fisheries value– snorkeling, SCUBA diving, and boating. (Growth Publishing for ERDB)

Happy Birthday Lalaine!

Last July 30 was the birthday of my sister Lalaine. She is also my partner in my work, my business. It has been a fulfilling thing to work with her as she loves business and all the academic learning that goes with it – she’s an accountant after all (CPA/CMA). I picked this uplifting music for her as my family, my father in particular who grew up with a father who was musician-composer, loves classical music. Please view the video of Hongkong Pure Strings’ Happy Birthday at the widget area.

Writing and Public Relations

Hello! My name is Melody Aguiba. Writing has been my passion throughout life. To be able to help institutions grow in their missions, I opted to become a Public Relations person. Here’s what businessman and politician Donald Trump said of the importance of PR:

“You can have the most wonderful product in the world, but if people don’t know about it, it’s not going to be worth much. You need to generate interest, and you need to create excitement. One way is to hire PR people…If the New York Times writes even a moderately positive one-column story about one of my deals, it doesn’t cost me anything, and its worth a lot more than $40,000.”

Of course PR has no cost if you do it for yourself. But even if you hire one, it’s still most cost effective. And the most important thing is its value is worth a lot more!

I hope you will get passionate too about the stories we write about—the products and causes we will share. We hope knowing about them will be valuable for you, your home, your job, and your world!

For I will make many interesting business and socio-economic development missions more meaningful, relevant to our world, and even exciting!

Biotechnology crop area down heftily 21% due to fake Bt corn seeds

By Melody M. Aguiba

Production of biotechnology crops in the Philippines fell heftily by 21% to 642,000 hectares due to the proliferation of counterfeit Bt corn seeds that had taken up an estimated 10% of the market for registered seeds.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA) reported that while biotechnology area globally sustained growth by 3% to 189.8 million hectares, the local market fell as seven companies are reportedly involved in fake seed production.

Yet, the Philippines is still now one of world’s largest biotechnology producer at thirteenth place.

Monsanto, the pioneer biotechnology developer of Bt corn, the only genetically modified (GM—or biotechnology) crop commercialized in the country, is continuing to seek Department of Agriculture’s (DA) assistance in stopping fake seeds production.

“Under the regulations, only registered seeds may be distributed to the market. Presence of counterfeit seeds is a disincentive to technology developers that have put in their investments,”said Gabriel O. Romero, Monsanto regulatory affairs chief, said in a press briefing.

Aside from the concern on fake seeds, ISAAA Vice Chairman Paul S. Teng said governments, especially developing countries like the Philippines, should improve other regulations in GM crops.

One major concern is the need to speed up approval of biotechnology crops in order to arrest opportunity losses placed at cost of $1.5 trillion by 2050 in low and lower middle income countries.

“Governments are concerned on the safety, access and profitability of biotech crops, as well as local interests on biodiverisity protection and trade competitiveness. Hence, regulations become stringent which stifle access of farmers to the technology and its economic benefits,” noted ISAAA.

“Suppression of the technology in Africa is equal to $2.5 billion from 2008 to 2013. Delays in Golden Rice release in India alone costs $199 million per year. This is in the form of health costs. This is also hurting education because health is most important for learning in early childhood. It impacts cognitive development,” Teng said.

The non-adoption of Bt eggplant in India is costing it $500 million per year.

Biotechnology crops commercialization approval have slowed under certain conditions as some sectors fear an adverse effect on health and the environment as genes are transferred from one species to another under GM.

Breeding experts asserted though that GM has extremely strict regulatory policy especially in the Philippines where GM crops go through scrutiny for adverse health effects like allergenicity and toxicity. These also go through testing on effects to the environment and biodiversity and substantial equivalence (comparison to non-GM crops in nutrient content).

Teng stressed that benefits to ecosystem of GM crops is huge with 183 million hectares saved from destruction due to higher yield from these crops that require a smaller area for a bigger yield.

GM crops have also cut carbon dioxide emission equivalent to 16.7 million cars off the road. There is also a reduction of use of insecticides-pesticides by 18.4% from 1996 to 2016.

Moreover, gains of farmers have grown by $186.1 billion in the form of increased yield and income largely from Bt corn, GM soybean, Bt cotton. These have helped 16 to 17 million small farmers globally and their families totaling 65 million.

Teng also cited opportunity costs of non-adoption of biotech canola in Australia is estimated at $377.9 million.

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