Two hundred thirty PCAARRD partners from various government and research institutions all over the country took part in the three-leg seminar series on socio-economic researches held recently in three locations.
The seminar series was conducted on July 14 at the PCAARRD Headquarters, Los Baños, Laguna; August 12 at the Iloilo Grand Hotel, Iloilo City; and August 15 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel, Davao City.
Coordinated by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) and conducted through the Council’s Socio-Economics Research Division (SERD), the seminar series was designed to improve appreciation of socio-economics and the use of the results of socio-economic project as an effective tool in policy-making.
Featured in the seminar were results of trailblazing projects involving information management and capacity building. Papers presented include: (1) Estimating Returns to Research Investment: Demonstration of the Utility of PCAARRD’s Research and Development Management Information System (RDMIS); (2) Impact Assessment of PCAARRD Non-Degree Training Program; and (3) Enhancing the Demand for AFNR Graduates through S&T.
Princess Alma B. Ani, SERD Senior Science Research Specialist, presented the results of estimation to research investment where she demonstrated the importance of RDMIS as a decision-tool for an effective R&D planning, programming, evaluation and monitoring.
The study analyzed the investment portfolio to provide an overview of annual R&D investments for commodities such as banana, mango, coffee, coconut, goat and swine and estimated their internal rates of returns (IRR).
Results of the study can serve as bases for informed decision-making in the prioritization of investment, avoiding duplication of research efforts, and fostering potential collaboration among institutions with similar R&D focus.
Dr. Jose DV. Camacho, Jr, Dean, UPLB Graduate School, presented the second paper titled: “Impact Assessment of PCAARRD Non-Degree Training Program” in Los Baños while Prof. Rodger M. Valientes, Professor, Department of Economics, College of Economics and Management, UPLB, presented the same paper in Iloilo City and Davao City. The paper showed the importance of capacity building acquired through training in human resource development program and its relevance to productivity.
The third paper, Enhancing the Demand for AFNR Graduates through Science and Technology was a program developed in response to the alarming downward trend in the enrollment in agriculture, forestry and natural resources (AFNR) courses.
Presented in Luzon by Dr. Melvin B. Carlos, Director of PCAARRD’s Technology Transfer and Promotion Division (TTPD) and by Prof. Anna Floresca F. Firmalino (UPLB, Department of Economics) in Iloilo City and Davao City, results revealed the significant correlation between the drop in enrollment in AFNR-related courses and the declining demand for graduates in the said sectors.
The participants viewed as an urgent concern a number of imperatives. These include the need for a demand-driven AFNR curriculum, the need to review organizational level effectiveness, and the need to capacitate higher education institutes (HEIs) and research and development institutes in making estimates of returns to research investments.