Batad FITS Center hosts 2nd corn congress

By Sally R. Villasis

Representative

Regional Applied Communications Group

Aklan State University

To showcase the technology on open-pollinated corn varieties (OPV), the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College (NIPSC) Batad Campus in Batad, Iloilo led the Second Municipal Corn Congress and Corn Derby on September 5, 2011 at NIPSC Batad Campus in Batad, Iloilo.

The congress convened some 300 participants composed of farmers, teachers, students, stakeholders of the corn industry, representatives of Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC); representatives of seed technology, pesticides and fertilizer companies; government officials in Batad, Iloilo and environs.

Anchored on the theme “Responsable kag Mapadinayunon nga Pagpanguma, Mauswagon nga Banwa,” the congress aimed to encourage farmers and other stakeholders to adopt the OPV technology and natural farming system to increase their corn production and income. With the corn summit this year, the organizers likewise sough to conduct research trials to produce technologies that can be shared with farmers.

In his opening speech, Mr. Ricardo Ayupan, NIPSC Batad’s college administrator, said that crop productivity and food self-sufficiency today can help stop hunger and alleviate poverty.

NIPSC led the corn summit to initiate the sharing of the R&D experience and disseminate its enormous potential not only for Batad but for also for the Western Visayas. Farmers were also urged to maximize and reduce the cost of production and the integration of bio-organic fertilizer.

For his part, Dr. Joel Limson, president of the NIPSC System, stressed that “our country is being struck by two major concerns—how to increase production, and how to protect the environment, both of which seem difficult to achieve.” According to Limson, there is a need to strike a balance between the increasing population and the dwindling resources and production.

Prof. Eva Montero, FITS manager and associate director for research and development, said that they also hosted the first corn congress in 2010. There they found that farmers need to know more information particularly on the importance of nurturing the environment. Therefore, Batad FITS Center coordinated with the National Research Center for Corn to develop the OPV technology. Montero said they were able to produce the seeds during the last cropping. For this current cropping, they conducted weed control trial and major pest survey on corn OPV at a 1.6 hectare corn techno-demo research farm in NIPSC Batad. The efforts were backed by the local government of Batad, NIPSC Batad, and the Agricultural Training Institute-RTC 6 as partner member agency.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ricardo Saltin, corn program coordinator of the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Regional Field Unit 6, said that besides promoting white corn, especially in sloping areas, DA has provided post-harvest facilities to support the corn farmers.

Dr. Anna Mae Relingo, Regional Techno Gabay (RTG) coordinator of WESVARRDEC and officer-in-charge of the Office of the Vice-President for Research and Extension of Aklan State University (ASU), enjoined the participants of the economic value of corn not only for human consumption or feeds but for other purposes. Relingo said that various corn products have been promoted by the consortium during regional and national techno fairs, and they usually stand out.

The corn congress featured technology forums on the practice of site-specific nutrient management and the effects of different fertility practices on OPV Maize.

Then, to promote value-addition for the corn as commodity, the organizers hosted a Corn Dish Cooking Contest for Bachelor of Science in hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM) students of NIPSC. In the said contest, the Prawns in Corn Pandan Curry Sauce by Warren Castañares and Fritz Bornales, second-year students won the top prize; while the Stuffed Squid with Corn Sauce by freshman Jerome Tullo and the Pan Roasted Chicken with Creamy Corn Garlic Gravy by sophomore Shisan Charm Balete and junior Ronald Balete.

ASU hosts Visayas-wide forum on SUCs-private sector partnerships

By Sally R. Villasis

With reports from Rhea V. Martesano

The Aklan State University (ASU) hosted the Forum on SUCs (State Universities and Colleges)-Private Partnership on Education Economic Zones on August 17–19, 2011 at the ASU Review Center in Banga, Aklan.

The first in a series of four, the forum convened presidents, vice-presidents for academic affairs, vice-presidents for research and extension, vice-presidents for production and business of the SUCs and industry representatives from the three regions 6, 7 and 8, all of Visayas.

Led by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), the said forum sought to provide venue for sharing the best practices on SUCs-Private Partnership and exploring potential partnerships with the private sector.

In his keynote address, Mr. Oscar A. Torralba, chair of the agri-business countryside development committee of the Management Association of the Philippines and CHED’s Technical Panel for Business and Management, presented the salient points of the Economic Education Zones (EEZ) as a Platform for Government-Industry-Academe (GIA) Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) among SUCs.

According to Torralba, SUCs today face intense competition for opportunities and priorities in fiscal allocation with threats of budget deficits and increasing demands by the globalized market. Therefore, it is imperative for SUCs to employ “innovative approaches in facing these harsh realities.” It was in this vein that EEZ was conceptualized.

EEZ is designed to transform an SUC from being traditional, budget-based and grant-driven into an enterprising institution which effectively exploits its natural resource endowments. Under the same approach, SUCs are encouraged to engage in the commercial application of their research and knowledge base and the strong participation of the private sector for long-term cooperation.

For her part, Dr. Virginia Resurreccion, director of CHED’s Regional Office 6, stressed on the importance of raising the country’s human capital to help address the global issue on poverty. For Resurreccion, there is a need for a curriculum that offers quality education and training of students who can compete in the global market and whose skills and expertise can match the emerging trends in the industry.

While these can be hindered by lack of economic resources or similar financial constraints, public and private partnerships can provide key mechanisms for flexibility and accommodate growth in SUCs. For one, newly conceptualized SUC curriculums could help create jobs and help spur economic growth.

According to Resurreccion, partnerships that can be forged between SUCs and private sectors can inspire SUCs themselves to focus on research, training and development. All these efforts can provide inexpensive offshoots to the growth of knowledge economy. Furthermore, partnering with the private sector can help address the need for financial support for SUCs’ R&D activities.

The Visayas-wide forum featured paper presentations on curricular enrichment and development, enterprise development, intellectual property management, technology business incubation and technology commercialization, business process outsourcing and infrastructure and physical facilities development.

CHSMC hosts 1st SK Kampo Kalikasan

By Jethro B. Dagunan

Representative

Regional Applied Communications Group (RACG)

Carlos Hilado Memorial State College

“To contribute to the worldwide efforts of mitigating problems and issues on our environment,” the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC) Fortune Towne Campus led the environmental youth camp dubbed as the first Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Kampo Kalikasan June 1, 2011 at the University of Saint La Salle (USLS) Eco-park in Barangay Granada, Bacolod City.

Themed “Dare to be Different,” Kampo Kalikasan was organized by the Students’ Actions Vital to the Environment and Mother Earth Movement or (SAVE ME Movement) of the CHMSC Fortune Towne Campus with the leadership and support of Barangay Estefania SK chaired by Karen P. Villarosa.

A national organization registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SAVE ME Movement was named Ten Accomplished Youth Organization Awardee in 2006 and one of the Top Ten Youth Outstanding Organizations in the Philippines in 2003.

Attended by some 70 youth participants from Barangay Estefania, the Kampo Kalikasan is one the strategies launched as a response to the research findings conducted Dr. Ma Teresita Ballados. Ballados’s study found that the residents of Bacolod City have poor solid Waste Management (SWM) practices. SWM includes waste segregation, collection and transport, disposal and recycling.

Sampling some 269 respondents from Barangay 10, Barangay 19, Sum-ag and Estefania, all of Bacolod City, said study found that waste disposals are rampant in the streets, rivers and open sewerage.

After Dr. Eduardo G. Sayson, executive director of CHMSC Fortune Towne, opened the program, Mr. David G. Castor of the Negros Forest and Ecological Foundation (NFEF, Inc.) provided participants a national situationer, stressing on the present condition of the Philippine biodiversity.

Castor also shared on the importance of environmental education to help increase environmental awareness among constituents and to facilitate social programs and projects to maintain a sustainable and environmentally friendly community.

Prof. Jethro B. Dagunan of CHMSC lectured on climate change and the phenomenal causes of the problem and concrete possible solutions as regards solid waste management under Republic Act No. 9003.

After the youth camp, the CHMSC Fortune Towne, spearheaded by the SAVE ME Movement, will organize the Barangay Estefania Youth who are envisioned to become movers of the possible solutions of the SWM problem implementation and disaster risk mitigation in Bacolod City.

German org awards SWM4LGUs training modules to CPU

By Hope Patricio

Representative

Regional Applied Communications Group

Central Philippine University

The Central Philippine University (CPU) led by President Dr. Teodoro Robles officially received the Training Modules for the Solid Waste Management for Local Government Units (SWM4LGUs) from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)-AHT Group AG headed by its Team Leader Dr. Johannes Paul on June 23, 2011 at the Appropriate Technology Center of the College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences (CARES) in Jaro, Iloilo City.

A highlight of GIZ-CPU cooperation in jointly pioneering a university curriculum in resource management, the handover of said materials was witnessed by Engr. Marivic Ricaña, deputy team leader of GIZ-AHT’s SWM4LGUs Project; Engr. Voltaire Acosta, National Solid Waste Management adviser of GIZ-AHT; Engr. Klaus Hanuschke, GIZ consultant for CPU SWM project; Dr. Reynaldo Dusaran, dean of CARES; Engr. Aries Roda Romallosa, agricultural engineering coordinator of CARES; and Prof. Hope Patricio, research Coordinator of CARES.

The CPU officials received 17 training modules which will be used as lecture materials for the diploma program on resource management major in solid waste management under CARES. Said program would be offered to solid waste management (SWM) practitioners to enhance their expertise and to help produce new professionals in the SWM sector.

A project of GIZ's AHT GROUP AG, a privately owned independent consulting firm that offers management and engineering services in water, agriculture, environment, governance and waste, SWM4LGUs can be found in many areas across the country including Iloilo City, Roxas City and Buenavista in Guimaras in Western Visayas.

CPU President Teodoro Robles (third from left)

receives the materials from Dr. Johannes Paul

of GIZ-AHT (second from left),

as witnessed by the officials of the two institutions.

Young Negros Occidental farmer named Gawad Saka national finalist

By Vishia Mae Tolcidas

Regional Applied Communications Group (RACG) Representative

FITS OPA Negros Occidental

This week, the Gawad Saka National Technical Committee will come to Negros Occidental to validate the projects of a young farmer-leader vying to be the country’s Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year.

Twenty-five year old Vito Binondo of barangay Guiljungan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental will be evaluated by the six-member committee headed by Dir. Alberto Maningding when they come to visit his three-hectare integrated farm at the Negros State College of Agriculture (NSCA), Provincial 4-H Club Coordinator Ma. Elena Gumban said.

Binondo is among the nine national finalists of the 2011 Gawad Saka, an annual search that recognizes the hard work and laudable effort of farmers all over the country.

According to Director Larry Nacionales of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit 6, Binondo’s trainings both here and abroad could help him much in applying his know-how in agriculture to expand his projects into a more productive and renowned project site for the province.

During the Pasidungog sa Mangunguma kag Mangingisda sa Panaad in April this year, Gov. Alfredo Marañon awarded Binondo as outstanding young farmer of Negros Occidental (see photo). He also won first place in the organic fertilizer making contest in the same event.

Early this year, Binondo won second in the same contest in the Regional Achievement and Recognition Day of the Western Visayas 4-H Club Youth Development Program.

Binondo comes from a less-privileged farming family and is the eldest of seven children. He grows palay, corn, vegetables and flowers while he raises goat, swine and poultry. He also has a mini-forest, nursery of forest and fruit trees, forage grassland, fish pond and vermicomposting.

NSCA Cauayan Chair for Instruction Germa Borres said Binondo was a student volunteer farm worker active in numerous agriculture-related activities. After earning a Diploma in Agricultural Technology, Binondo ventured into income-generating projects to help provide for his family. In April 2011, he completed his degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major in Animal Science.

For Binondo, his greatest achievement is being a participant of the Japan Agricultural Exchange Council’s Young Filipino Farmers Training Program in 2007–2008 where he acquired skills in swine breeding and fattening.

Currently, he is the director of the 4-H Club Regional Federation.

FITS Dumalag’s new facilities launched

By Isaac Abello

RAC Staff

It's a bigger and better Dumalag FITS Center.

After some nine months of construction and refurbishing of their facilities, the officials and personnel of the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Dumalag, Capiz led the inauguration and blessing of their new facilities on May 4, 2011 in Poblacion, Dumalag, Capiz.

The new facilities are a two-room dormitory for male and female, a Training Hall that can accommodate 100 persons, and an 8m x 10 m Display Center which houses their bamboo products, vegetable and crops. Now, FITS Dumalag also boasts of the two refurbished offices, namely: the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist and the office of the Municipal Agriculture and Fisheries Council (MAFC).

Backed by Dumalag Mayor Lilia Castro, FITS Manager Ronelyn De Tomas welcomed some 200 guests representing 16 barangays of Dumalag town including farmers, government personnel, 4-H Club members and ordinary townsfolk. FITS Manager Ronelyn De Tomas attributed the achievement to the full support that FITS Center enjoys with a number of agencies and offices.

After De Tomas urged the farmers to patronize and maximize the use of these facilities, she thanked the agencies who helped and provided various types of assistance to FITS Center Dumalag—including PCARRD-DOST, WESVARRDEC, DTI Capiz and the Capiz State University, its partner member agency. De Tomas credited the full support of Vice-Mayor Eriberto Castro, chairman on agriculture Leo Teves and MAFC Chairman Noe Fantilaga and the entire personnel of Department of agriculture detailed in Dumalag.

The efforts and initiative of the center were well lauded by WESVARRDEC Director Joseph Edward Idemne, Provincial Board Member Emile Ardivilla, DTI Capiz Director Ermelinda Pollentes and Techno Gabay Coordinator Anna Mae Relingo, who witnessed the said rites.

According to WESVARRDEC Director Idemne and RTGP Coordinator Relingo, FITS Dumalag ranks top in the FITS centers list, being equipped with a training hall, dormitory and display center. For its big number of activities and involvements in the consortium work in the past two years, the officials recommended the Center for nomination in the Best FITS Center in the Techno Gabay Awards this year.

For his part, Techno Gabay Team Leader Eduardo Navarra of the Capiz State University takes pride in the Center’s full involvement in the engineered bamboo, now considered a promising commodity nationwide. According to Navarra, regional and national PMAs are interested in visiting FITS Dumalag to see and learn firsthand the engineered bamboo technology of its Magsasaka Siyentista Randy Fancubila. Anytime soon, Capiz State University will facilitate said initiatives for the FITS Center.

Other representatives came from the DTI Capiz, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Region VI, Capiz State University and Pioneer Hybrid Seed Company.

BIGGER AND BETTER

The new facilities include (clockwise from left) a display center which houses

their bamboo products, vegetable and crops, dormitory for male and female

and a Training Hall that can accommodate 100 persons.