The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) and the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture (DA-BAR) agreed to work jointly in a meeting held recently at DOST-PCAARRD.
Officials and representatives of both agencies discussed initiatives in expanding the horizon of research and development (R&D) in agriculture through the Harmonized National Research and Development Agenda (HNRDA).
Harmonization of efforts includes developing an inter-agency database that will give funding agencies cross-cutting information about the completed, ongoing, and proposed projects. This will help avoid duplication of projects and aid in prioritization of R&D investments.
The said process will start with projects on agriculture and aquaculture biotechnology along with coffee, cacao, and native animals. The plan that was agreed upon was to input in the database the projects funded by concerned government agencies during the last five years.
An overview of research areas with ongoing and proposed initiatives will be captured in the database. The areas needing more R&D support are also expected to be identified.
Other institutions such as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will later on be involved in this R&D harmonization effort.
The convergence of roadmap and R&D agenda on garlic was also discussed during the meeting. The DOST-PCAARRD and DA-BAR convergence aims to solidify and strengthen efforts to address industry needs of garlic, particularly on low sufficiency ratio. The two agencies will initially focus on the short-term projects with promising results to address immediate issues and efficiently provide prompt impact. The garlic roadmap will also serve as a model of the convergence initiative of the two agencies for other commodities like coffee, cacao, abaca, rubber, mango, and banana, among others.
The harmonization efforts aim to orchestrate a better and brighter future for the agriculture sector of the country heading to a new era of Philippine Agriculture Research and Development.