La Trinidad, Benguet ─ The research and development (R&D) facilities of the Benguet State University (BSU) will get a much-needed boost with the recent approval of their proposal for Facilities Development Assistance.
Valued at P825,000, the assistance will fund the purchase of the following: salinometer, spectrophotomer, flame photometer, digital balance, laboratory table, and vacuum packing machine.
Incidentally, BSU is the base agency of the Highland Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (HARRDEC), one of the 14 regional R&D consortia of PCARRD.
PCARRD Institutional Development Division (IDD) Director Elaine F. Lanting affirmed that the upgrading is part of PCARRD’s commitment to enhance the research laboratory capabilities of the National Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Network (NARRDN) members. Specifically, the equipment will support the implementation of ongoing and future PCARRD-funded R&D projects.
PCARRD and BSU will enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) which lays out the conditions for implementing the project. Recently, Lanting and fellow IDD staff member, Wilmar Lastimosa, met with HARRDEC and BSU officials to discuss the stipulations of the MOA.
Also at the meeting were Dr. Sonwright B. Maddul and Dr. Carlito P. Laurean, HARRDEC director and deputy director, respectively. Representing BSU were Dr. Asuncion L. Nagpala and Prof. Magdalena Pandosen, dean of the College of Agriculture, and chair of the Department of Soils Science, respectively.
While in BSU, Lanting and Lastimosa inspected some of the university’s R&D facilities. They visited first the soil science laboratories in which most of the equipment to be purchased will be located. Laurean and Pandosen shared that the laboratories were being renovated to improve the provision of services to students and farmers.
The group then proceeded to the site of the BSU animal genetic conservation project, which includes, among other things, the conservation of native species such as the native swine. Located at the BSU Agroforestry Project in Longlong, La Trinidad, the site also hosts the PCARRD-funded project “Value-adding pork-based ethnic food delicacy for commercialization”. Popularly called the “Etag” Project, this sought to standardize the processes for producing the local pork delicacy or etag.
The equipment upgrade will support the etag project and other ongoing R&D projects like the R&D Program on organic arabica coffee, Integrated R&D Program on organic vegetables in CAR, and several Science and Technology-based Farm projects on potato chips, yam, and sweet potato processing.