Agriculture and Aquaculture Industry

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by the glimpser

Local coconut industry to get P1.75B boost in 2013

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/local-cocon...122608541.html

A very good plan, IMO.

[hugodiekonig]

galing ako sa department of agriculure sa qc circle last monday. Wow ang dami palang mga magagandang organic na produkto all over the country. I saw mango wine, calamansi soap, basi (wine), malunggay products as well as native bags and wallets mula ARMM, Caraga na ang gaganda!

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by Porknight

drying paddy or palay ???

Anyone has any clue where to buy a dryer in Nueva Ecija ?

Pls help

I suggest to just make your own. There is a flatbed dryer design that you can benchmark on. Please click on this link.

[Parchie]

11k agrarian workers affected; pullout due to peace problem

Lawmakers on Sunday denounced the government’s plan to fire some 11,000 agrarian reform employees by October as its rice self-sufficiency program suffered a serious blow from Japan’s decision to yank $159 million in funding for irrigation projects in Mindanao due to peace and order problems.

AA Kasosyo Rep. Nasser Pangandaman and Agham Rep. Angelo Palmones said the “mass firing” of personnel from the Agrarian Reform Department was an offshoot of the government’s failure to provide a safety net for them.

On the other hand, the pullout by the Japan International Cooperation Agency would put the Agriculture Department’s much-vaunted rice self-sufficiency target next year in doubt, the lawmakers said.

The House committee on agrarian reform will investigate the twin setbacks today after Pangandaman and Palmones demanded a probe.

At last week’s hearing of the House committee on appropriations led by Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, Pangandaman expressed alarm after Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio De los Reyes admitted the phaseout of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms by 2014 would render 10,973 Agrarian Reform employees nationwide jobless.

Of that number, Reyes said, only 3,000 or those involved in the delivery of services would be absorbed by the Agriculture Department.

“I am worried the government will not be able to effectively implement [the agrarian reform program] because it did not only reduce the funding for land distribution, it also would start firing the employees who would carry out the task,” Pangandaman told the Manila Standard.

Pangandaman, a former Agrarian Reform secretary, said the law allocated P30 billion annually to distribute 100,000 hectares to farmer-beneficiaries.

“I am surprised because the government reduced the budget allocation to P21.4 billion for 2013,” Pangandaman said.

“When I turned over the reins, there were more than one million hectares that had yet to be distributed. It means that in five years, which was the life span given to [the program], the department needs to distribute 200,000 annually at a reduced budget and with a reduced number of personnel,”

“How would the government expect the DAR to accomplish the task and help pave the way for rice sufficiency? We demand a comprehensive plan as to how the government plans to implement the land distribution program and why was there no contingency or fall-back plans for the 10,973 employees nationwide.

“Most of the 10,973 employees are in their 50s now. They are still at their prime but who would hire them at their age? They have nowhere to go, yet the government would tell us they would be fired and nothing can be done about it. We reject that,”

Delos Reyes said some 640,000 hectares were up for distribution under the agrarian reform program.

He said his department aimed to distribute some 180,000 hectares for this year alone and 260,000 hectares in 2013.

The remaining 200,000 hectares would be distributed in the first half of 2014.

Also last week, the administrator of the National Irrigation Administration, Antonio Nangel, confirmed that the Japanese had withdrawn financial assistance to the second phase of the Malitubog-Maridagao irrigation project due to the poor peace-and-order situation in Mindanao.

The announcement led Palmones to call for an investigation of a P1.7-billion allocation to the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan program under Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, which was supposed to provide livelihood projects and empower the people in the insurgency-stricken communities.

But Palmones said the P1.7 billion was not even earmarked in the Palace-proposed Net Expenditure Program, nor in the national budget bill.

“We were surprised that there was a classic insertion of P1.7 billion only after the President signed the 2012 national budget into law,” Palmones said.

With the huge peace and order funding, Palmones said, “heads must roll” for the JICA pullout.

“The peace and order situation in the previous administration was more serious and JICA was there precisely to help address the problem by providing financial assistance to the farmers,” said Palmones, who comes from Cotabato, where the JICA project was located.

Land Reform Program? Wanna bet this program will have to go for the powers-that-are there, to maintain their grip on HL!

Rice sufficiency goes out of the window? How big is the Mindanao rice granary?

[hugodiekonig]

The farming of the exotic sea urchin



By: Robert Garcia

I WAS introduced to the fascinating world of coral reef, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests during a summer class in Bolinao where never-been-seen animals and plants overwhelmed me. I remember the sea urchin, a slow moving animal encased in a round shell surrounded with spines, grazing in the intertidal reef in great numbers.

That was then. Now, the overharvesting of this resource almost decimated its fragile population.

The sea urchin (Tripneustes gratilla), locally known as kuden-kuden in Bolinao and maritangtang in other parts of the Ilocos region, is an important fishery resource valued for its gonad or eggs and thus commands a big demand and high market price. This resulted in the unrelenting collection and depletion of the wild stocks in the country for several years.

Fortunately, the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, based in Bolinao, resolved the issue by the breeding and culturing the species, paving the way for the re-stocking of the wild population and at the same time providing livelihood for coastal communities.

The farming of sea urchin was widely promoted in the Ilocos Region by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and was highly successful, particularly in La Union. The young animals were collected in the wild and placed in cages located in protected shore waters with high salinity. They are fed with the brown algae Sargassum, which is abundant in the area, until they reach seven centimeters in diameter during which they are harvested. They are sold fresh or in processed form in the local market, restaurants, or to exporters. Considered as a delicacy among locals and an exotic food in Japan and Taiwan, the gonad of the sea urchin commands a very good price. Also, some enterprising locals utilize the empty shells for making decorative souvenir items.

The beneficial impact of the successful culture of sea urchin in the country can be deemed in the generation of livelihood in coastal communities, but more significantly in the re-population of the decreasing wild stocks.

Let's bring back the glory days of the amazing marine world!

source

[hugodiekonig]

Balaoan, La Union Sea Urchin Farm

Locally known as "Maratangtang"

[hugodiekonig]

Sea Urchin Farm in Balaoan





photo source: La Union Information and Tourism Facebook

[Porknight]

Originally Posted by Parchie

I suggest to just make your own. There is a flatbed dryer design that you can benchmark on. Please click on this link.

i called munoz they told me they wont sell to private families but only to government agencies ...

and I noticed that most people here in central luzon they dry their paddy rice at the sun over roads or cemented spaces , which is fine during the summer .. but what about november ?

well im clueless .. ill try in november to dance so the gods will see me and send the sun .. let's see if it works

[hugodiekonig]

Originally Posted by Porknight

i called munoz they told me they wont sell to private families but only to government agencies ...

and I noticed that most people here in central luzon they dry their paddy rice at the sun over roads or cemented spaces , which is fine during the summer .. but what about november ?

well im clueless .. ill try in november to dance so the gods will see me and send the sun .. let's see if it works

Lalo na sa Nueva ecija. Nagiging 1-lane nalang ang provincial/national highways doon dahil pinapagtuyuan ng mga palay grains yung isang lane

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by Porknight

i called munoz they told me they wont sell to private families but only to government agencies ...

and I noticed that most people here in central luzon they dry their paddy rice at the sun over roads or cemented spaces , which is fine during the summer .. but what about november ?

well im clueless .. ill try in november to dance so the gods will see me and send the sun .. let's see if it works

I've seen a local design where the palay is hauled into a square wooden flat bed, the bottom portion lined with fine wire mesh (palay grains will not pass down). The cavity under the flat bed is supplied with not-so-hot air heated up by burning rice hulls taken from the rice mills being fanned by manual air flap blowers! The palay inside the box is stirred by wooden planks to distribute the heat evenly and not cook the palay.
I asked how they control the temperature and was told the air should not be higher than 90 degrees C. You can think of any way you make that temp control happen; maybe place a thermometer on the hot air duct and bypass/vent some of the hot air out if it gets too hot or ask automation techies for some help. I'll see if others have a better way other that sun dryers (concentration of suns heat using mirrors or using natural air convection).

It's crazy why our government officials who are getting their salaries from our taxes do not help private persons who are the taxpayers!

[amigo32]

temp sensors kailangan, feedback sa microcomputer controller or PLC

hahaha, nagmamagaling lang

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by amigo32

temp sensors kailangan, feedback sa microcomputer controller or PLC

hahaha, nagmamagaling lang

The low-tech option: manumatic -->manual opening of duct vents when the monitored thermometer reading goes to the ceiling!

[Parchie]

Or this type of blower that is very much controllable:

(Credits goes to the website owner)

[amigo32]

puede maglagay ng gym dyan, para yung mga gumagamit ng stationary bikes dyan na pagagamitin

may kita sa gym, may dryer pa na libre ang power

[Parchie]

Originally Posted by amigo32

puede maglagay ng gym dyan, para yung mga gumagamit ng stationary bikes dyan na pagagamitin

may kita sa gym, may dryer pa na libre ang power

Pwede rin. Pwedeng mag innovate at gumawa ng gasifier (burning palay thresher waste o rice hull). Nung maliit pa po akong bata, meron po kaning ginawang turbofan sa talyer ng uncle ko gamit ang isang spare na turbocharger! Napakalakas pong umihip ng hangin, mainit pa!

[bulabog jalaur]

Rice Gene Can Boost Yield

A rice gene isolated from Indian plants could boost crop yields at least 20 percent as it increases uptake of the vital but often trapped nutrient phosphorus, scientists at the Los Baños-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said.

The finding will aid food security for farmers on nutrient-poor land, adding to global production, and help increase their incomes, the Philippines-based IRRI said in a statement.

''The gene–called PSTOL-1, which stands for Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance-1–helps rice grow a larger, better root system and thereby access more phosphorus,'' the institute said.

The institute noted that phosphorus was often locked in the soil, unavailable to plants grown in problematic fields, such as those with acidic soils or upland plots that are not irrigated.

Large areas of Asia have phosphorus-deficient soil, and often farmers are forced to use phosphate-based fertilizers, which have numerous negative impacts on the environment.

The gene was developed from the Kasalath rice variety from India, which grows well in soils low in phosphorus, said IRRI senior scientist Sigrid Heuer, who led the team that published the discovery in the scientific journal, Nature.

''In field tests in Indonesia and the Philippines, rice with the PSTOL-1 gene produced about 20 per cent more grain than rice without the gene,'' she said.

''In our pot experiments, when we use soil that is really low in phosphorus, we see yield increases of 60 per cent and more,'' she added.

The IRRI said scientists in Indonesia were breeding rice plants with the gene and that the new varieties could be available to farmers within a few years.

''The plants are not genetically modified, just bred using smart modern breeding techniques,'' it said.

The finding also shows the importance of conserving genetic diversity of traditional crop varieties, the institute said. It conserves more than 114,000 types of rice in its gene bank.

source

related news

[the glimpser]

PhilRice looks into rice straw as energy source

MANILA, Philippines— As the cost of petroleum fuel rises, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is studying the viability of rice straw as a source of alternative energy, officials said on Tuesday.

PhilRice recently signed an agreement with ENERTIME, a company in France, to assess the feasibility of using rice straw for power generation, which could help reduce production costs among farmers.

Under the agreement, ENERTIME, a specialist on energy production using renewable resources, will finance the feasibility study once funds are granted by the French Economic Ministry’s Fund for Studies and Private Sector Support Program.

ENERTIME will also assess the biomass supply, estimate power plant cost, and help find project investors.

PhilRice, on the other hand, will provide rice production data and technical support in collecting and transporting rice straw, contracting rice straw supply organizing site visits, and validating sites feasible for biomass energy production.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/259558/...nergy-source-2

[Nabartek]

Originally Posted by Parchie

Or this type of blower that is very much controllable:

(Credits goes to the website owner)

This is a good business. Produce energy for revenue, and on the other hand, have this as work out and produce revenues. 2-in-1

[bobdehn]

AGRICULTURE is the new advocacy of former Rep. Cynthia A. Villar and she pledged to work for the passage of remedial laws that would help propel the growth of the local agriculture industry.

“We need to put in place a good agriculture development program to the poor folk who comprise 70 percent of the agri sector,” she told a dinner-news conference with the staffers of the media outfits of the Antonio L. Cabangon Group of Companies (BusinessMirror, Philippines Graphic, Pilipino Mirror and DWIZ) at the BusinessMirror editorial offices in Makati City where she and her husband, Sen. Manny Villar, were the featured guests.

Mrs. Villar plans to run in the 2013 Senate elections to replace her husband who is now serving his last term as senator.

Toward the end of the news conference, Senator Villar said it was not true that his wife will run for the Senate to keep his bench warm. (Elective public officials are entitled to only three consecutive three-year terms or a total of nine years; they can run for another elective position after this but can return to their former elective positions after three years.)

The senator said Mrs. Villar established a good record in the House of Representatives, where she led the organization of woman legislators during her incumbency as representative of Las Piñas. Mrs. Villar, said the senator, is a graduate of the University of the Philippines and took further studies at New York University.

Mrs. Villar said that if she got elected to the Senate, she would also pursue enactment of laws that would expand livelihood programs to augment the income of poor families, as she had done during her three terms (nine years) in the House of Representatives.

“We intend to improve on those projects to serve more poor folk and help them earn a living through institutionalized livelihood programs,” Mrs. Villar said. She also said she plans to replicate in various areas of the country the livelihood programs of the Villar Foundation that she and her husband and their family founded to help the poor folk of Las Piñas. One of their projects won a United Nations award.

In response to questions, Senator Villar reported that majority of the senators were wary of granting “too much powers” to the Anti-Money Laundering Council as proposed in an amending law demanded by the Financial Action Task Force.

The FATF is a Paris-based global finance watchdog seeking to expand the coverage of the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) in order to take the Philippines out of the list of borderline compliant countries.

He also said a closed-door meeting called by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile during a break in Wednesday’s session failed to reach a consensus on the last Amla amendment, seen to upgrade the status of the Philippines in the FATF as a fully compliant country, to avoid impeding foreign-currency remittances by overseas workers, as well as bank letters of credits to Philippine businesses.

“There is no consensus yet on the Amla amendment,” Villar said, adding that there were “many issues that have to be clarified first…. questions that have to be cleared.”

Villar noted that Congress already passed into law two previous Amla amendments that removed the Philippines from the FATF watch list of non-compliant countries.

He then admitted that the main stumbling block to its early passage in time for the FATF meeting in October were provisions granting extra powers to the Anti-Money Laundering Council. “’Yung ginawa kasi sa [amending] bill, the AMLC would be more powerful than the President. It covers everything.”

The amending bill, co-sponsored by Senators Sergio Osmena II and Teofisto Guingona III, cited the “urgency to put more teeth to the country’s anti-money laundering law, not only to make the Philippines compliant with international standards, but to protect the country’s financial integrity and economic development.” Villar, however, told the BusinessMirror forum that proposed amendments to expand the list of medicines covered by the cheaper medicines law will likely pass before the current Congress adjourns next year.


http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/hom...rs-senate-baby

[inyaquin]

Hello guys! Though I'm not an active member, I read the Philippine forums on a daily basis. If you could just help me find an article posted a long time ago regarding old coconut trees in the country which are less productive.. I will participate in a debate which centralizes on this idea: This house believes that the Phil govt should initiate now a high priority R&D program on genetically modified coconut. From what i remember, the article I am referring to has discussions about the Philippines having vast plantations of coconut trees but these trees are already matured. Despite this vast plantations, other countries which have smaller lands allotted for coconut have better coco yields in terms of volume and quality for the simple reason that their trees are younger (more productive).

Sorry for the OT post but this I think this is still quite relevant given the large potential of the country in this sector and the coco juice export surge.