Stakeholder-responsiveness served as the focus of the 2nd R&D Symposium of the College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS) held at the Institute of Animal Science Lecture Hall 2 on March 4, 5, and 7.

With 93 participants representing various industry partners, government agencies, farmers, and other stakeholders, the symposium aims to craft the research, development, and extension (RDE) agenda of the College for the next 5 years. It hopes to gain feedback and suggestions from the participants which fields and areas of research they need and should therefore be prioritized.

Dr. Barbara Caoili, CAFS associate dean for research and extension, said that the event serves as venue for stakeholder consultation to strengthen partnerships and together, work towards inclusive agricultural development.

“We believe that our from laboratory-to farm-to table research approach will further modernize and enhance productivity in the agricultural and food science sectors in the country,” she said.

As the University’s and the College’s top supporters, the directors of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) and of Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) served as keynote speakers during the opening of the symposium.

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora, PCAARRD’s acting executive director, said that the success of PCAARRD is also the success of the University as the two are deeply associated. He hopes that this partnership will sustain and grow, with programs and activities consistent with each other’s agenda.

“It is very important that we consult our stakeholders in developing our research and development agenda, and making sure that it is relevant, timely, appropriate, and responsive to the needs of our stakeholders, and will promote inclusive development at the agricultural sector,” he said as he recognized the relevance for the symposium’s theme.

“Lahat po tayo ay sa pag-unlad. Dapat walang naiiwan,” he added.

Dr. Nicomedes Eleazar, director of DA-BAR, in his keynote speech, highlighted BAR-funded programs and projects conducted by members of the College that were instrumental in showcasing BAR’s advocacy towards research for development. These projects, he said “are reaping success and economically contributing to farming and fishing communities.”

Present in the symposium’s opening program were CAFS Dean Elipidio Agbisit, Jr., Chancellor Fernando Sanchez, Jr., former CAFS deans, Dr. Ruben Villareal and Dr. Enrico Supangco, CFNR Dean Willie Abasolo, CHE Dean Raden Piadozo, Prof. Emeritus Erlinda Paterno, and Dr. Rey Villareal. Also present were the directors of the nine CAFS units and Dr. Adeliza Dorado, associate dean for instruction.

The symposium carries the theme “Stakeholder-Responsive Research for Inclusive Agricultural Development.”

Commodity’s RDE agenda presented

The first day of the symposium included presentations of RDE framework from the poultry, swine, ruminants, and forage and pasture commodities.

Dr. Veneranda Magpantay represented the poultry commodity with the general RDE agenda of “Advancing Safe and Quality Poultry Products through Enhanced Production, Processing, and Marketing Systems towards Food Security, Global Competitiveness, and Inclusive Economic Growth.”

The swine commodity team, represented by Dr. Rommel Sulabo, highlighted their goal to develop, evaluate, implement, and disseminate the latest technologies to improve the economic competitiveness of Filipino swine producers.

Representing the ruminants commodity team was Dr. Amado Angeles with the RDE agenda proposed directed towards enhancing small-hold animal efficiency, sustainability, and profitability.

Presenting right after Dr. Angeles was Dr. Menandro Loresco, chair of the forage and pasture commodity team. Being a support sector to the livestock industry, the RDE agenda proposed highlights the development of technologies that will increase the availability of quality forages.

For the second day, presentations of RDE framework came from the fruits, industrial and plantation, ornamentals, and plants for health and wellness commodities.

For the fruits commodity, Ms. Lolita Valencia, presented the RDE framework on the development, utilization, and dissemination of improved fruit production technologies leading to the expansion of the fruit industry with the ability to meet domestic and export demands for fresh and processed fruit products.

Dr. Antonio Lalusin, industrial and plantation commodity team chair, presented the RDE agenda to develop of new varieties adapted to low external input production system, revise production systems to reflect new market shares, and develop decision support systems.

For the ornamentals commodity, Dr. Pablito Magbalita, a well-known breeder of flowers, presented the RDE agenda highlighting the goal of developing the ornamental crops through interdisciplinary research geared towards inclusive growth.

A commodity gaining public interest is the plants for health and wellness (PHW) commodity. Dr. Constancio de Guzman, chair of the team, presented the RDE framework, which aims to promote germplasm conservation, improvement, and utilization, and increase the production and market availability of high quality plants and plant products utilized for health and wellness.

For the last day of the symposium, the presenters were from the legumes commodity, cereals commodity, root crops commodity, and vegetables commodity.

The legumes commodity team, represented by Dr. Ma. Lourdes Edaño, promoted an RDE agenda that ultimately aims to promote legumes as nutritious source of food and feed. With programs involving policy and governance, socio-economics and marketing, capacity building and partnerships, postharvest processing and utilization, and production systems, the RDE agenda presented is focused on food and nutrition security, adaptation to climate change, and increased productivity and income.

Dr. Glenn Gregorio presented the RDE framework of the cereals commodity which aims to secure the sustainability of the sector through a partnership-driven, infrastructure- and good policy-based, and innovation- and entrepreneurship-centered framework.

The root crops commodity RDE agenda, which was presented by Mr. Edwin del Rosario has the goal of enhancing the production and utilization of root crops for food and industrial use.

Last to present was Dr. Matilde Maunahan for the vegetables commodity. Their proposed RDE framework focused on the enhancement of the vegetables productivity towards food security and safety.

The common denominators for all RDE frameworks presented was their focus on efficient production system, improving and promoting inclusive economic competitiveness, and the inclusion of extension and technology dissemination activities.

Since the symposium also acted as a stakeholder consultation, participants were always given time to share their inputs, suggestions, and experiences regarding each commodity. Generally, it was agreed that in order to achieve inclusive agricultural development, the need for more policy research and advocacy campaigns should be included. Moreover, promotion and marketing of technologies should also be part of the College’s extension activities. Lastly, the importance of private-public collaboration was highlighted throughout the event, as this is considered to be a driver and accelerator of inclusive development.

In conclusion to the three-day R&D symposium and stakeholder consultation, Dean Agbisit emphasized that the true essence of the symposium is to ask the stakeholders what they need. This is in line with the College’s dream to address the agricultural and food science needs of the country. (AKS Mojar)