Agriculture.ph Blog

The “Malunggay Para sa KK” Project (henceforth referred to as the Project) is a joint undertaking of EARTH Institute Asia, Inc. (EARTH) and Secura International Corporation (Secura), EARTH is a non-stock, non-profit organization that promotes environmental protection and sustainable development and has the radio program Kalikasan, Kaunlaran! (KK!) at DZRH-AM radio. Secura is a Filipino-owned corporation that produces natural ingredients and fruit enzymes and provides sustainable livelihood opportunities in the countryside.

Participants in this Project may also join the “2M Puno Para sa KK” Project, a joint project of EARTH and Manila Jaycees that includes contests on Best Environmental and Sustainable Development (ESD) Plan and Best ESD Project, with each participant using tree planting as a core undertaking for a broader ESD Project addressing local concerns.

Through these two projects, EARTH participates in the “Trees for Life” Project of the GREEN Army that is supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

This Project involves the planting and nurturing of malunggay (or moringa) trees by Project participants and the purchase by Secura, with EARTH as Witness, of the malunggay seeds that will be produced thereafter. A Purchase Agreement (PAg) will be executed initially for the first five years, renewable for another five years each time. The Project also includes the establishment by Secura and its investors of a processing plant for the malunggay seeds, if the total area planted with malunggay trees exceed 1,000 hectares within a 50-kilometer radius from a potential site of about five hectares for the plant

Secura International Corporation:

Company    Secura International Corp.
Address    707 Cityland Shaw Tower
City    Mandaluyong City
Area of Operation    National
Business Industry    Agricultural Products
Business Type    Manufacturer
Contact Person    Danilo Manayaga
Position    President & CEO
Email    secura@pacific.net.ph
Phone    +6326374982
Fax    +6322840620

Forum News On 20 May 2008 at the Manila Golf and Country Club, the MAP ABCDF members and guests were privileged to hear birthday celebrant, Atty. Eduardo F. Hernandez share his assessment on the Extension of the Failed CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) and Food Security. His presentation, minutes of the meeting, and this forum news write up are all accessible through Google search at the foundation web site www.map-abcdf.com.ph 1. 35 countries are rice importers but only 7 countries are rice exporters. Unfortunately, the Philippines is the biggest rice importer now. 2. The city force should pay the right price for rice produced by the rural poor. A good price is the best incentive for the producer to grow rice. 3. The Philippine sugar industry prospered in the past due to the sugar crop loans granted by the banks. The sugar quota was annotated on the back of the concerned land title. 4. The then Philippine sugar industry did not treat its workers as tenants but as employees. 5. The CARP became a land to the landless program resulting in incompetent and inexperienced poor people getting land while the real tillers of the soil did not receive any. 6. The Philippine agrarian reform is the largest and longest in the whole world, democratic or pseudo democratic. 7. The CARP is a classic case of Good Politics, Bad Economics. 8. The Philippines has the lowest agricultural productivity in the whole of South East Asia. 9. Koreans are able to achieve a higher rice productivity even if its country has one of the harshest winters. They plant rice sprouts and not rice seeds. 10. Landlessness will not result in a social revolution but food shortage and hinger may.

Source: www.map-abcdf.com.ph

The recently concluded World Food Summit discussed among others the global food crisis, climate change and biofuels. One very important and positive outcome of said summit based on their declaration is the strong affirmation of all countries for the need for significant investment in agriculture which includes the call for the doubling of investment in international agricultural research. All governments recognize the need to significantly increase food production and to empower and provide support to small farmers to boost their productivity. We need this policy declaration as agriculture has really been neglected for so long hence the global food crisis today. But there are also grey areas as per the food summit declaration. One is on export bans and other trade distorting measures which contributes to and exacerbates the crisis. The summit only recognized this as a problem but no action taken like elimination of export bans. IFPRI studies shows that elimination of export bans would stabilize grain price fluctuations, reduce price levels by as much as 30 percent, and enhance the efficiency of agricultural production. The second grey area is on biofuels. The summit recognized only the challenges and opportunities of biofuels. They should have distinguished more forcefully between smart and non-smart types of biofuels. Corn is not a smart bioethanol crop, much more in developing countries because of its implications to food security. Smart bioethanol crops like sweet sorghum should be further developed, promoted and commercialized because it also ensures food and environmental security. Strong action is also needed by governments to put up new and or enhance existing safety nets for poor people who are the most vulnerable among the population. We should also build up long term resilience of poor people to crisis like global warming, droughts, typhoons, floods and many others. Mitigation on and adaptation with climate change must be given high priority attention and investment as this will have great impact in agriculture and the poor. The summit could have been more successful if they were clear as to who is responsible for its implementation and monitoring. This has been the case before and food production stagnated or declined, and poverty and hunger continued to escalate inspite of having targets like that of the millenium development goals (MDGs). We know that the developed countries has started to make their commitments and pledges including international organizations which is a welcome development and we need more. The developing countries must do the same, put up the needed policy support, and give the highest priority and investment to their agriculture sector. There should be a new way of doing things to address the global food crisis. The billion poor people of the world, being very vulnerable will continue to suffer because of soaring food prices if we don`t do it right. The world today must act as one NOW!

Written by: By William D Dar, Director General, ICRISAT

Source: www.map-abcdf.com.ph

MAP ABCDF and its Special Partner Institutions ? Philippines-Finland Association, CS Foundation and Multinational Foundation Forum News The CARP Extension and Land Conversion Moratorium: The Creba View and Proposed Solutions Jaime A. Cura, PhD was guest speaker of MAP ABCDF and its special partner institutions on 8 July 2008 weekly forum at the Manila Golf and Country Club. His talk entitled The CARP Extension and Land Conversion Moratorium ? The Creba View and Proposed Solutions is in the foundation web site www.map-abcdf.com.ph together with the minutes of the meeting and this forum news write up. Some important points brought up by Dr. Cura and shared by the attendees: 1. There is no National Land Use Law. 2. CARP was fixated on land distribution instead of productivity. 3. Land productivity can be made a central theme and a rallying point for all groups and sectors. 4. When tons per hectare is used as a measure of productivity, it usually refers to mono cropping and is not the best model for our small plots of land which should inter crop and give better values to the farmers. 5. Water is a vital resource. Without it, there will be no Agriculture. 6. The motto to adopt is: Build, Grow or Pay Your Tax. 7. The Philippines is a rich country but with many poor people. So the problem is man made. 8. The National Food Authority should be run free from politics. 9. The sole consideration to extend CARP even by Church groups seems to be social equity.

Source: www.map-abcdf.com.ph

Abaca and Other Phil. Natural Fibers The Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) Administrator, Ms. Cecilia Soriano gave a presentation on 14 Oct 2008 to MAP ABCDF special partners, members and guests. Her complete presentation and the minutes of the meeting can be downloaded through Google search www.map-abcdf.com.ph. Below are some macro and micro information about the FIDA, the industry and abaca: 1. FIDA was created in 1981 to promote the growth and development of the fiber industry’s research, production, processing, marketing and trade regulation. 2. There are 30 useful fiber crops in the Philippines and 14 have commercial applications. Examples are abaca, banana, buntal, coir, kapok, kenaf, kozo, maguey, piña, raffia, ramie, salago, silk and sisal. 3. FIDA’s main office is in Quezon City and has 10 regional offices across the country. FIDA also maintains and manages 4 tissue culture laboratories, 7 seed banks, 3 diagnostic laboratories, 3 sericulture centers, 1 hectare abaca protected nursery and 126 hectares of open field type nurseries strategically located in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. 4. The abaca industry sustains more than 1.5 million Filipinos who directly and indirectly depend on it for a living. Abaca constitutes 85% of the country’s total fiber production with total export earnings of US $ 79 million in CY 2007. Since abaca is a tertiary crop, its farmers are usually the poorest of the poor. 5. Markets prospects and opportunities a. New usage in composite applications for the automotive industry (the technology was developed and patented by Daimler ? Chrysler and introduced in the Mercedes-Benz A-Class coupe which started production in September 2004). b. Use of abaca fiber instead of glass resulted in energy savings of 60% (per Daimler-Chrysler, it would need 70,000 metric tons of abaca fiber every year) c. Growing concern for environmental protection and forest conservation the world over have provided limitless opportunities for natural raw materials like abaca, silk, piña, etc. d. Abaca cordage – being natural with superior qualities over other materials e. Abaca pulp for industrial applications will further strengthen f. It is also used for meat and sausage casings g. Untapped markets for cigarette paper and tea bags in China and Eastern Europe h. Use in currency paper 6. Join FIDA’s abacaravan! Let us take good care of the abaca of our nation. It is Mother Nature?s gift to the Filipino people.

Written by: By: Ms. Cecilia Soriano

Source: www.map-abcdf.com.ph

Want an eco laptop made of Bamboo? Asus has done this before but has improved a new model for 2008

With Green technology kicking in, laptop makers are betting in eco friendly raw materials like bamboo to manufacture laptops. Philippines has a thriving bamboo production and since Taiwan is haven of PC and Laptop manufacturers in the world and is our neighbor maybe we could tap this industry and make Philippine Bamboo Industry a lucrative industry in the future by supplying raw materials.

Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCJFrc9WvUk

Hernani Grande Golez, Ph.D. is a recognized expert and major contributor in the development of the mango indutry in the Philippines. Golez devoted 25 years in research work in improving the variety and in increasing the production of mangoes through proper pest management and post harvest handling.

His hometown, Guimaras, Iloilo became the only province in the country capable of exporting high quality mangoes to the United states and Australia. Golez was instrumental in establishing the National Mango Research and Development Center (NMRDC) in Guimaras. The center not only provides top caliber planting materials using various strains of Carabao mango, it also offers technologies such as pruning, chemical flower induction, and fertilization, among other which has considerably improved mango production and yield in the area. His extension work is credited for the widespread mango plantings in Central and Southern Mindanao.

Source: http://www.map-abcdf.com.ph/

Pig Production

Pig production is growing rapidly in the Philippines but the negative impacts of Pig Farming practices on the local environment are significant. This is particularly acute in the Laguna area east of Manila. Pig Waste is an ideal substrate for anaerobic digestion especially at high ambient temperatures. The “biogas” produced can be used as a substitute natural gas to generate electricity and the liquid effluent can be used as a valuable fertiliser.

Maya Farms Design Digester

A team comprising staff from EBL, Bronzeoak, the Regional Institute for Environmental Technology (RIET) and PhilBIO undertook a number of site visits, interviews and local research into the market for AD systems.

Digesters now filled with solid

The report concluded that the potential was significant eventhough the waste was often dilute and practices quite different to those in the US and Europe. Existing concrete “Maya Farms” digesters developed in the 1970’s and 1980s have all fallen into disrepair (except one) due to solids accumulation and lack of maintenance, but there is significant scope for the implementation of new designs. Flexible liner based designs with suitable modifications from the US and European models would be particularly appropriate. This work received an EC Asia Eco-Best Award.

A flexible liner system has since been installed at Rocky Farms in the Philippines, by PhilBIO.

Source: www.ebl.co.uk

The Pangasinan State University in Asingan town, recipient of the first ever solar-powered pump in the country reported an increase in palay harvest.

Dean Artemio A. Diego disclosed that harvest in May yielded 110 cavans of palay and sold at about P50,000.  In 2002, only 52 of 92 cavans of palay were sold.  The amount will be used for other income generating projects.

“We are thankful that the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology, and Water World, Inc. have introduced to us the use of a water pump using solar energy technology,” Dr. Diego said.  The water pump augments the supply of irrigation water to 1 ½ hectares of PSU land planted to palay.

PSU hopes to encourage other farmers in Asingan to adopt the technology.  The solar-powered water pump converts solar intensity into electricity.  The electrical output can be connected to a pumping system such as centrifugal or submersible pump to draw underground water.

The pumping system is cost competitive for remote areas without electricity in drawing potable water.

Dr. Diego recommends use of bigger solar panels and a storage battery for maximum application of the water pump.  PSU plans to avail of soft loan from DOST to expand the utilization of the solar-powered water pump for the benefit of local farmers.

The pumping system was inaugurated last March.  PCIERD provided P310,000 grant-in-aid to the project.  Initially, the project was implemented through a one unit solar-powered pump donation by the Water World Inc. to the Philippine government, which assigned the project to PSU Asingan campus.

After the demonstration and inaugural switch on by Pres. Fidel Ramos, the water pump was installed at the identified cooperator farm across PSU Asingan campus for testing.

World Water Inc Philippines president John Herrman said that solar energy is abundant, readily available, inexhaustible and environment-friendly.

PCIERD Executive Director Graciano P. Yumul, Jr., said that there is a need to tap solar energy resource of Asingan because it has type A climate condition where solar intensity is highest during the dry season and rainfall is also at its lowest

Lambanog Reinvented.  The potent natural alcoholic beverage now comes in different flavors and sports an elegant look after the Department of Science and Technology’s Industrial Technology Development Institute, and Technology Application and Promotion Institute provided technological interventions to Capistrano Distillery, a family owned enterprise in Tayabas, Quezon engaged in manufacturing high grade lambanog (coconut wine).  The firm raised the quality and marketability of its products after modern distillation technology was introduced.  Products now incorporate the distinct flavor and aroma of lipote, prunes, pineapple, coffee, blueberry, and cinnamon.  DOST Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro (inset) cheers to the commercial success of flavored lambanog, which according to owner Isabelita Capistrano, who shared her testimony with DOST officials and media during the Southern Luzon Technology Transfer Road Show, has secured steady footing in markets nationwide. (Mary Charlotte Fresco and Teddy Amante, S&T Media Service)