Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña underscored the need for the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), one of the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) sectoral councils, to focus on regional needs to address growth imbalance.
“The most important challenge for the council is addressing regional needs. We have to do something about the growth imbalance or inequality that the President aims to address,” he said during the recent eighth anniversary celebration of DOST-PCAARRD, themed “PCAARRD at 8: Addressing Regional Needs through Sustained Partnership,” at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
Speaking on the importance of partnership to accomplish this goal, de la Peña said agencies should work together to achieve complementarity, synergy and do away with duplication in research activities.
He also explained the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and how the department addresses them. SDG Nos. 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development) and 15 (Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss) will be addressed during PCAARRD’s exhibit in the upcoming National Science and Technology Week from July 17 to 21 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
S&T Awards
PCAARRD’s anniversary was highlighted by the conferring of S&T Awards and Recognition Ceremonies, including the Pantas, Tanglaw and Dr. Elvira O. Tan Awards.
Dr. Carlito P. Laurean, vice president for Research and Extension of Benguet State University (BSU) and director of the Cordillera Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic and Resources Research and Development (CorCAARRD) was bestowed the Pantas Award.
The Pantas Award recognizes outstanding scientists/researchers and research administrators.
The Visayas State University (VSU) was recognized with the Tanglaw Award, which honors laudable research institutions.
Laurean was recognized for his leadership in research and extension at BSU and at CorCAARRD, particularly through the development of agriculture and natural resources in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Laurean continues to strengthen the strategic alliance and enhances the collaboration and cooperation between CorCAARRD and the regional Research, Development and Extension (RDE) Network.
He has also enabled BSU to generate increased external funds for RDE, and produce, verify and commercialize technologies that contributed to the income of the university and the improvement of farmers’ socioeconomic well-being. His effort addresses concerns on food security amid the emerging effects of climate change.
On the other hand, VSU was able to generate a budget of more than P1.2 billion for R&D, resulting in 154 technologies/significant information that have enormously contributed to Eastern Visayas region and the country’s economy.
VSU has implemented innovative researches and projects on environment protection and biodiversity conservation, leading to higher yield of agroforestry crops, such as cacao, pomelo, jackfruit, bamboo and root crops.
The technologies of VSU are creating impacts in terms of improving farmers’ socioeconomic well-being and contributing to food security.
Dr. Elvira O. Tan Awards
This year’s Dr. Elvira O. Tan Awards honor three papers in agriculture, aquatic and natural resources.
The award pays tribute to Filipino scientists and researchers for their exceptional publication of R&D results, which support PCAARRD’s mission to advance the country’s national economic and food security.
For the agriculture category, Dr. Rosemarie d. R. Josue of the Mindanao State University-Maguindanao was awarded the outstanding published paper.
Her paper titled, “Mass rearing and dispersal of biological control agents [BCAs] as interventions in coconut scale insect calamity areas in Basilan, Philippines,” focuses on the development and transfer of mass-rearing and dispersal technology of biological control agents to address the CSI infestation among coconut plantations/farms in calamity areas in Basilan, Philippines.
The said technology has been transferred directly to 1,160 farmers through capability-building activities and farmers’ involvement in actual field applications. It helped farmers to recover from the massive losses due to CSI infestation.
For the aquatic category, Drs. Ronaldo V. Pakingking Jr., Evelyn Grace de Jesus-Ayson, Ofelia Reyes and Norwell Brian Bautista of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center were awarded the outstanding published paper in the aquatic science category.
The paper was titled, “Immunization regimen in Asian sea bass [Lates calcarifer] brood fish: A practical strategy to control vertical transmission of nervous necrosis virus during seed production.”
The study provided results that clearly illustrate that annual immunization regimen with the inactivated NNV vaccine is an efficient method of sustaining NNV-specific-free sea bass broodfish reared in land-based tanks. It is also proven efficient in circumventing the risk of vertical transmission of NNV from asymptotic broodfish to their offspring under stress of repetitive spawning.
For the natural resources and environment category, Drs. Jose Alan A. Castillo, Armando A. Apan, Tek N. Maraseni and Severino G. Salmo III of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources were awarded the outstanding published paper in natural resources.
Their paper, “Estimation and mapping of aboveground biomass of mangrove forests and their replacement land uses in the Philippines using Sentinel Imagery” provided results that showed Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel 2 multispectral imagery can provide satisfactory results in the retrieval and predictive mapping of the above ground biomass of mangroves and the replacement of non-forestland uses.
Rose Anne M. Aya/S&T Media Services
Image credits: Eric E. Perez/PCAARRD, Gian Carlo D. Camacho/PCAARRD