Rice husk stove, egg incubator wow Panaad visitors

By Vishia Mae Dominic J. Tolcidas
RACO Representative
FITS OPA Negros Occidental

A cooking stove powered by rice husks and an egg incubator were among the attractions at the 'Organik Na Negros' booth at the Panaad sa Negros Festival in Bacolod City, the Farmers Information and Technology Service and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist of Negros Occidental said in a press release.

TALK OF THE TOWN
Belonio's rice husk stove (foreground of right photo) is a bestseller in Panaad Festival, wowing enthusiasts from all over the region, perhaps because of its waste-into-fuel technology.

The top-lit, downdraft biomass stove could be used at home to reduce fuel cost amid the country's economic and energy crunch. Rice husks, usually free and available from farms and rice mills could be used as fuel.

Alexis Belonio, an agricultural engineer and professor at the Central Philippine University (CPU) in Iloilo City, engineered the low-cost stove that is considered clean, safe and environment-friendly because it does not emit harmful gases, the press release said.

Belonio's creation was recognized by the Rolex Awards last year, making him the first Filipino Laureate and one of its 10 exemplary innovators worldwide. The source also said that he used his $50,000 prize to build a stove demonstration and research center in Iloilo and has produced more than 30,000 stove units for distribution in Indonesia.

Morvyne Angay of Sagay City, a former farm administrator, said that he bought one unit of the stove so he could use it for cooking and cut down on fuel spending. A marketing coordinator of the Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Foundation, Angay said he wants to make good use of the husks dumped by the rice mill in his barangay and recycle the ash left after burning as organic fertilizer for crops.

According to Regional Applied Communications Office (RACO) Coordinator Cora Navarra, Belonio's stove, which costs P1,800, can use one kilo of rice husk for a single operation good for approximately three batches of cooking. The stove also comes with of a small fan that circulates air through the husks below an iron and steel tube more than one meter long. The tube traps the gases release, mostly hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide, and burns them at top of the tube.

Also featured at the Organik Booth was an egg incubator engineered by Margarito “Gary” Andrade.
Andrade, who hails from Banga, Aklan, first runner-up in the search for the country's outstanding Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) conducted by PCARRD in 2008.

Promoting the locally-produced and award-winning innovations of Belonio and Andrade is the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) based at the University of the Philippines (UP) Visayas in Iloilo City.

HEAT ME UP
The incubator, which measures 30 inches in length, 18 inches in width, and 24 inches in height features accurate temperature with ventilation and relative humidity, easy adjustment of temperature, uniform distribution of heat even during brownout, AC/DC, and is easy to maintain.

WESVARRDEC joins national farmer scientists confab

WESVARRDESK
A team of farmer scientists and researchers from Western Visayas including (seated, from left) Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Rebecca Tubongbanua, Consortium Director Joseph Edward O. Idemne, MS Margarito Andrade, MS Dennis Tababa, and MS Luel Divinagracia represented the Western Visayas Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) during the National MS Consultation Workshop led by PCARRD. The activity was held at the Splash Mountain Resort Hotel in Los Baños, Laguna on March 30 and 31. (Niño Manaog/RACO)

Photo by Butch S. Pagcaliwagan
PCARRD S&T Media Service

WESVARRDEC reviews potential farmer scientists

By Niño Manaog, RACO Staff
With Reports from Nicolas Banquero, RTGP Staff
Photos by RACO and RTGP

For WESVARRDEC, fresh and practical ideas in farming that could benefit the larger public are always a welcome change.

In a week-long marathon evaluation of future Magsasaka Siyentista (MS), the Regional Techno Gabay Program (RTGP) of the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) led by RTGP Coordinator Ana Mae Relingo of the Aklan State University assessed the performance, production and overall potential of five MS nominees across the Panay region.

On March 17, 19 and 20, 2009, Relingo’s team evaluated the nominees for the Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) identified by the Farmers Information and Technological Services (FITS) Centers in Lemery, Batad, Bingawan, Igbaras, all of Iloilo province and Tobias Fornier in Antique. Backed by a number of experts on particular commodities, Relingo’s team nevertheless discovered potentially replicable technologies which are peculiar to each of the MS nominees.

First is the retired chemist Mr. Rolando Lamigo who practices organic farming in his production of corn and is now engaged in sustainable integrated farming in Batad, Iloilo. Though his production sometimes cannot meet the expected volume for his piece of land, Lamigo still keeps producing corn, hoping he would harvest more in the next cropping season. To date, he has been using artificial bacteria and other natural fertilizers to lessen the use of inorganic substances his corn production. “Through WESVARRDEC, particularly FITS Batad, supported by the local government, I hope to gain useful knowledge which I can share to other farmers who are given priority here in our town,” Lamigo said.

Second, there is Lemery’s Aniolino Matutino who adopted the indigenous knowledge of his grandmother to improve the laying performance of his Mallard ducks. One of these practices is feeding the fowls with lugaw (rice porridge) mixed with muscovado sugar. According to Matutino, this practice helps boost the egg production of the fowls. Another technology he developed is the utilization of empty plastic containers as artificial swamp for ducks during the dry and very hot seasons. Matutino drills a hole on empty containers big enough for ducks to fit their heads for drinking. Because ducks can refresh their bodies even during the hot months, they are protected from the sweltering heat. The technology is intended to help cool down ducks’ rising body temperature which usually causes them to be unproductive.

Next in line is Ramon Gonzales of Bingawan, Iloilo who takes pride in his tracts of land planted to Cardaba breed of banana. A proactive farm manager of some 10 hectares of banana plantation, Gonzales says that making the farmfolk understand profit making from agriculture poses a challenge to him as farmers sustain their deep-rooted beliefs in farming which do not necessarily help them make profits. Working with a number of enkargado, or land tenants, Gonzales encourages the farmers to help him produce the banana by employing a percentage scheme based on the plantation’s periodic harvests. His purpose is to make them realize that they should particularly profit from the fruits of their labor. Seeking to expand his banana production to 15 hectares, Gonzales keeps to sustain his free-range native chickens from which he draws manure as fertilizer for his plantation.

Meanwhile, the mango orchard of 40-year old Jose Maria Eclavia of Igbaras, Iloilo featured some century-old mango trees bearing the sweetest mango fruits being processed as dried mango through the newly acquired drying machine. The president of the Igbaras Mango Growers and Producers Association (IMGPA), Eclavia has undergone a string of trainings and exposures in mango production and processing. Currently, Eclavia leads a 25-member association involved in both producing and processing of their own mango yield. The association has been supplying demands of their townsfolk who are OFWs, and also helps provide livelihood jobs to a number of household in their locality.

According to MS Rebecca Tubongbanua of Guimaras, who led the mango evaluation team, some of their drying procedures have to be refined to make the products sweeter and more marketable. As attested by FITS Manager Jose Ebalan, the mango processing in Igbaras is still in its inception.

Finally, in Antique, Antonio Villodres of Tobias Fornier was noted for his interest in the nursery management of buri. A dynamic municipal engineer in their locality, Villodres expressed willingness to be trained further in the mass production of buri. Currently maintaining a buri nursery in his four-hectare upland plantation committed to diversified farming and livestock, Villodres relies on the equal share of carbonized rice hull (CRH) and vermi-compost for fertilizer. Previously he doled out a number of buri seedlings in their town. Villodres seeks to address the unavailability of buri seedlings in their town, aware that he can help provide additional employment to those who will benefit from the production.

Given such technologies and commitment up and coming, WESVARRDEC is more likely to benefit from a new wave of knowledge sharing which will surely aid the region’s development.

NEW HARVEST FROM WESTERN VISAYAS

WESVARRDEC's new lineup of Magsasaka Siyentista this year (MS) includes (clockwise from top) Ramon Gonzales of Bingawan, Iloilo (Banana); Jose Maria Eclavia of Igbaras, Iloilo (Processed Mango); Antonio Villodres of Tobias Fornier, Antique (Buri); Aniolino Matutino of Lemery, Iloilo (Mallard ducks); and Rolando Lamigo of Batad, Iloilo (Corn).