Escalante City farmers urged to raise cantaloupe melons for profit

By Isaac Abello

Staff

“Pagpalambo sa yuta; pagkaon sa katawhan; mao’y una sa tanan (Improve the soil and provide food for the people, above all else).”

This was the theme of the Science and Technology-based Farm (STBF) Field Day led by the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Escalante City on Oct. 4, 2011 in Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

Gathering some 80 participants composed of farmers groups, line agencies and other sectors, the farmers’ day showcased the results of the technologies involved in offseason cantaloupe melon farming.

Dr. Denesa Lamique, Techno Gabay Team leader from the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC), the FITS’ partner member agency, briefed the guests on the STBF project, which is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) and channeled through the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC).

The event was backed by FITS Manager Ferdinand Alico and his staff and the local government of Escalante City.

As per the STBF project, some 15 Escalante City farmers were trained on off-season cantaloupe melon farming from June to September 2011. No less than Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Jose Vicente Alemany of Escalante City FITS Center provided the technical inputs for the farmers.

During the program, MS Alemany shared his best practices through what he calls the 3 Ps, namely—Practice, Productivity and Profit. For Alemany, good farming practices result in good productivity which rakes in high profit. Alemany also shared the advantages of off-season farming.

According to the farmer scientist, because the supply of cantaloupe during rainy season is low, farmers can demand a higher price. This way, cantaloupe farming can also serve an alternative faming product for the farmers of Escalante. Alemany urged the farmers that they closely monitor prices in the market so they could anticipate the competition involved in marketing their produce.

Meet MS Job Aranda, the coconut farmer

By Van Kristine Mendoza

Representative

Regional Applied Communications Group (RACG)

West Visayas State University

MS Job Aranda

Venturing into the coconut industry is hard but it gives enormous rewards to the hard worker.

This has been proven true by Mr. Job T. Aranda, Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) of the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Tubungan, Iloilo.

On August 16, 2011, through the coordination of West Visayas State University with the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) who gave the grant, MS Aranda hosted the Science and Technology-Based Farm (STBF) on Coconut Field Day in his two-hectare coconut plantation at Sitio Durog, Lanag Sur in Tubungan, Iloilo.

Aranda’s coconut field day gathered the farmers from the barangays of Tubungan, Iloilo and representatives of the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC).

Supported by the officials of the Municipality of Tubungan and staff of WVSU University Research and Development Center (URDC), MS Aranda’s Field Day featured a program about the Coconut Science and Technology-Based Farm Project and tour of the coco coir factory.


In his speech, Tubungan Mayor Vicente Gargaritano, Jr. said “People want to see first in order to believe. We are all here so others can replicate and practice the technologies that our MS has been doing.”

The STBF Field Day is designed to promote the benefits of science and technology to the farmers and demonstrate the interventions by the MS in his farm.

Under the STBF grant, MS Aranda introduced a number of interventions to rehabilitate his coconut farm. First, to clear the entire plantation, Aranda sought to get rid of rats in his coconut trees by cutting off the branches where they pass from one tree to another. Second, Aranda employed ring weeding and applied fertilizer. Aranda used salt and urea as fertilizer and asked other farmers to do the same three times a year. Third, he made sure that the rat guard is installed and a perimeter fence is constructed. Fourth, he planted ampalaya, camote, peanuts, and eggplant between the coconut trees to facilitate intercropping. Next, he made sure that irrigation of the intercrop and coconut trees are properly built. And finally, he moved to practice pest control which included getting rid of beetle rhinoceros.


After his retirement from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, MS Aranda ventured into farming in 2003. In 2007, he was chosen MS for coconut of Tubungan FITS Center. He helped establish a cooperative to build and operate a coco fiber factory. Because of his efforts and involvement in the coconut industry, he was awarded by the Iloilo Provincial Government Outstanding Coconut Farmer in 2009.

However, just like the biblical character Job, his namesake, MS Aranda had his share of difficulty. In 2009, Aranda said, “we were deprived of things beyond our control because of the El Niño Phenomenon. I could not apply fertilizer to his crops because the heat was just too much.” Add to the high temperature the increasing number of unproductive trees in his farm.

But he did not easily give in. Consequently, Aranda increased production from 30 nuts to 140 nuts or trees per year. He did not only maximize land use by intercropping with vegetables but also increased raw materials for coco fiber production and provided appropriate technologies to other coconut farmers. He also helped provide livelihood for mothers working in the coco coir factory and thereby helped increase farm income.

At the Iloilo Horti 2010, coco coir products from
FITS Tubungan were featured by WESVARRDEC.

Just like the ideal farmer scientist, MS Aranda takes part in various forums and trainings in coconut production together with other stakeholders in the coconut industry. In these opportunities, his knowledge is also enhanced. Through the years of engaging into coconut production, MS Aranda’s farm has become a venue for farm research and cross visits by other MS, farmers, students, and agricultural technicians.

“Farming is simply my passion,” MS Aranda says.

Aside from the coconut plantation, Aranda also farms five hectares of rice land. And perhaps not content to rest on his laurels, the tireless farmer practitioner even hopes to engage into Darag native chicken industry in the future.

PCARRD meets with Negros FITS centers on STBF

By Denesa C. Lamique, Techno Gabay Team Leader

& Jethro B. Dagunan, Regional Applied Communications Group Representative

To facilitate the release of funds for the Science and Technology-Based Farms (STBF) for the Magsasaka Siyentista of the Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Centers based in Escalante City and Negros Bacolod City, both of Negros Occidental, Dr. Democrito Magpantay, head of the technology packaging unit of the Technology Outreach and Promotion Division of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), led the Inception Meeting with the members of said beneficiaries recently in Bacolod City.

Along with Prof. Joseph Edward Idemne, WESVARRDEC Director; Dr. Anna Mae Relingo, TGP Coordinator and Mr. Nicolas Banquero, Techno Gabay Program staff, and Dianne Cabello of PCARRD, Magpantay met with the members of the OPA Negros Occidental and Escalante City FITS Centers including MS Ramon Peñalosa and MS Jose Vicente Alemany, FITS Manager Edna Garde, their technology services specialist, RACG and RMIS representatives.

Among others, Magpantay’s team briefed the participants on the Science and Technology (S&T) intervention provided by PCARRD. Aside from providing the guidelines on the establishment of S& T Based Farms, pertinent policies, rules and products of the STBF mechanism, Magpantay also advised WESVARRDEC and the FITS centers on how to best manage the funds provided for said projects.

MS Alemany shares farming practices

By Jethro B. Dagunan

Regional Applied Communications Group Representative

Carlos Hilado Memorial State College

It’s harvest time for Jun.

Years of trial and error in growing off-season cantaloupe melon has given Jose Vicente “Jun” Alemany, Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) of the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Escalante City, Negros Occidental the level of knowledge and farming practice he now shares to his fellow farmers.

Alemany’s best practices in vegetable production included in the Science and Technology Based Farm (STBF) of the Escalante FITS Center was recently approved by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery Resources and Research Development (PCARRD). Said project will be monitored by Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC).

Downloaded and coursed through the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC), partner member agency of WESVARRDEC, the STBF Project for MS Alemany will showcase the use of appropriate S&T interventions in off-season production of cantaloupe melon. Aside from promoting the use of S&T based technologies on off-season cantaloupe production to 30 farmers and adopters, the STBF will come with the documentation of the best management practices on the same.

As part of the STBF, MS Alemany started sharing the one-module technology July 12, 2011 in his farm in Alimango, Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

The training is divided in two (2) cycles with 30 farmer beneficiaries. Each cycle will feature one module for eight weeks to benefit 15 farmers in order to ensure quality interactions and learning.

In the first module training, MS Alemany shared his know-how on the good and bad uses or qualities of water. He also made the farmers understand the soil and its pH (alkaline and acidity) level, the importance of both major and minor or trace elements. Alemany also lectured on the proper preparation of plot with plastic mulching, and planting and seedling preparation.

MS Alemany’s technology is promoted by Escalante City FITS Center led by FITS Manager Ferdinand Alico.

PCARRD promotes PSF at regional TG summit

By Isaac T. Abello

Staff

Science in every product, value addition, market and industry-driven, analysis and market matching, networking and clustering. What do these terms have in common?

They are keywords to Pinoy Science and Technology for Farmers and Entrepreneurs (PSF), the new modality of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

During the Regional Techno Gabay Summit and Technomart led by the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) at the Amigo Plaza Mall recently, Dr. Arturo Argañosa, officer-in-charge of PCARRD’s Technology Outreach and Promotion Division (TOPD) announced the new PCARRD program.

According to Argañosa, while commerciable products are the endpoint of research and development, the inadequate supply of quality raw materials, lack of markets and, lack of access to S&T information and technology are basic problems that should be addressed if we are to attain a science-based enterprise.

Under the new modality, the Science and Technology-based Farm (STBF) is from where the supply of raw materials come. Assisted by the partner member agency and led by the Magsasaka Siyentista, the STBF involves the identification and application of Science and Technology interventions for identified focus commodities in order to increase productivity and produce quality products.

Technomart, meanwhile, involves fast-tracking the movement of S&T products from source to the markets, using a variety of rolling up strategies in partnerships with business organizations in the government and private sectors. This involves products and marketing activities that cover product marketability assessments, product promotions, product research and development, value addition and creation, technology transfer and value-chain analysis.

The One-Stop Information Shop (OSIS) will facilitate the information and technology on the S&T involved. Involving strategic communication integrating IEC-ICT partnerships and networks with facilities like the regional/provincial OSIS, showrooms and business hubs, OSIS is the venue for discussions on products, knowledge sessions, market matches & business mentoring, media conferences & product advocacies.