An agreement between the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) and Mindanao State University (MSU)-Maguindanao will address the lack of water resources and low adoption of soil conservation practices in the highlands of Maguindanao.
The agreement was made formal through a ceremonial signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the project, “Implementation of S&T-based Climate-smart Soil and Water Management in the Highlands of Maguindanao” on October 25, 2021.
Aside from the mentioned objective of the agreement, the project will introduce S&T-based climate-smart soil and water technological interventions to ensure profitability and reduce risk from adverse weather events, such as drought, rainfall variability; and address problems in water scarcity and poor soil fertility in the crop production system in the area.
The project aims to build and strengthen the resiliency of upland farming systems in Maguindanao to adapt to climate change through developing strategies in mainstreaming soil and water technologies; enhancing awareness and understanding of readily available and proven climate-smart technologies; increasing nutrients and water-use efficiency, and decreasing vulnerability to the negative effects of decreasing water resources and increasing soil degradation.
After the MOA signing, MSU-Maguindanao Chancellor BBai Hejira Nefertiti M. Limbona, Director Noel A. Catibog of the Technology Transfer and Promotion Division, and Dr. Avishek Datta of the Asian Institute Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand delivered their message of commitment of support.
Among those present and who served as witnesses to the signing were Chancellor Limbona; Director Catibog; Dr. Datta; Dr. Ramjie Y. Odin, Vice-Chancellor for Research, Extension, and Development (OVCRED) of MSU-Maguindanao; Dr. Raquel D. Santiago-Arenas, Project Leader; Ms. Analiza C. Diaz, Science Research Specialist and Program Lead, DOST-PCAARRD-AIT Collaboration; and staff members of OVCRED MSU-Maguindanao and TTPD of DOST-PCAARRD.
The project grant is a result of the collaboration of DOST-PCAARRD and Thailand’s Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).