19th RSRDH reaps 20 papers; Iloilo SCUs top researches

By RACG Staff Niño S. Manaog
Photo by RMIS Staff Bill Willard Gange

"Well-organized, efficient and productive"—WESVARRDEC Director Joseph Edward Idemne was quoted as saying, as he described the 19th Regional Symposium on Research and Development Highlights (RSRDH) held Aug. 26, 2009 at the Rehearsal Room of the West Visayas State University (WVSU) in Lapaz, Iloilo City.

Hosted by the WVSU, one of WESVARRDEC’s partner member agencies (PMA), this year’s symposium featured 16 papers in research and 4 in development shortlisted from the in-house review selections submitted until August this year.

Awarded the top prize for research was the “Faunal Survey of Two Low-Elevation Forests in Panay Island, Philippines” by Lucia Lastimoza and John Rey Callado of WVSU. Ranking second and third, respectively were “Identifying Inherent Characteristics of Tall Coconut Cultivars As Indices for Economic and Industrial Uses” by Geronimo Gregorio, Federito Launio, Ludovico Olmo, Freddie Baranda and Dhodie Laubeña of Capiz State University (CapSU); and “Effect of Vermicompost and Vermitea on Plant and Ratoon Yield of Sugarcane under Conventional Tillage” by Rosario Bombio, George Talam, Solena Tahum and Rodrigo Tapay of Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).

For the development category, Central Philippine University (CPU)’s entry, “Design and Evaluation of CPUCARES Pellet Mill for Animal Feed Production” authored by Aries Roda Romallosa and Jaime Cabarles, Jr. topped the list. FITS Kabankalan Manager Nemesio Cañete representing Negros State College of Agriculture (NSCA) placed second for “Biomass Charcoal Briquette from Sugarcane Trash,” while Conrado Marquez and Neil Gigare’s paper titled “S&T-based Model Farm for Bamboo in Maasin, Iloilo” Marquez and Gigare represented the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Ecosystems Research and Development Service (DENR - ERDS).

The team that scrutinized both research and development papers consisted of PCARRD Livestock Research Division Chief Edwin Villar; BPI La Granja National Crop Research and Development Center Chief Milagros Abaquita; NSCA Graduate School Dean Aldwin Teves, CPU Faculty Hope G. Patricio and UP Visayas Graduate Program Office Director Ma. Luisa Mabunay.

From the 22 poster entries which included 2 papers from BPI La Granja National Crop Research and Development Center (no researches), CapSU’s “Seedling Characteristics, Germination and Growth of Selected Dwarf Coconut Cultivars with Husk Removal Treatments” authored by Geronimo Gregorio and Federito Launio topped the list. Placing second was “Determination of the Carrying Capacity of Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park” by DENR ERDS team led by Emelyn Peñaranda. Aklan State University’s paper “Growth and Dye of Malatayum as Affected By Distance of Planting and Harvesting Stages” by Jenita Prado, Edito Agustin, Melba Ragaas, Julius Leano and Liezel Latonero ranked third. Judges for the poster tilt were DA RAFID 6 Agricultural Communications Officer-in Charge Juvy Gaton, Romeo Caturao, aquaculture project manager of Polytechnic State College of Antique (PSCA) and WESVARRDEC Director Idemne.

According to Idemne, PCARRD’s Villar cited the winning papers as an improvement from last year’s output, singling out Lastimosa’s paper as noteworthy and claiming that CPU’s winning paper on animal pellet mill has to be fine-tuned so it can be well suited under development category.

Villar stressed that proper classification of papers is key to the consortium’s success. Also, PCARRD requires that winning papers be already concluded projects so they qualify to its national selection.

Prior to RSRDH this year, participants attended a training course on technical writing for a refereed journal sponsored by WESVARRDEC.