The potential of sweetpotato will be bannered during an event organized by three consortia of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).
Sweetpotato Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda (FIESTA) will be held on July 9-10, 2019 at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management in Quezon City.
First of its kind, three PCAARRD consortia: Central Luzon Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium (CLAARRDEC), Visayas Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic and Resources Program (ViCARP), and Bicol Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (BCAARRD) will collaborate to further the sweetpotato industry at the national level.
With the theme, Kamote: Kalusugan at Yaman para sa Bayan, the two-day Sweetpotato FIESTA is expected to convene sweetpotato farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in a bid to promote the use of sweetpotato as a nutrient-rich food industry resource and as a food resource more amenable to food and community resiliency, as well as climate-smart supply base.
The FIESTA will feature sweetpotato products commercialized by 20 micro-enterprise groups from Central Luzon, Albay, Leyte, and Samar and live specimen exhibit of high-yielding varieties, quality planting materials, good agricultural practices (GAP), and zero-waste processing system.
The highlight of the FIESTA will be the Farmer-Industry Encounter wherein farmers, industry, trader representatives, researchers/development workers, and stakeholders, will have an opportunity to take a look at the various sweetpotato innovations. This specific activity is believed to stimulate investments and encourage collaborative partnerships that may help develop the sweetpotato industry.
Other activities such as product demonstration, sweetpotato processing and cooking contest, and product selling are also expected to add to the festivity of the event.
FIESTA is an event-based technology promotion and transfer modality initiated by DOST-PCAARRD to enhance the transfer of technology from research to their intended beneficiaries.