Agriculture and Aquaculture Industry

[dessertfox]

Originally Posted by barukdok

bossing, do you have a group here in cebu? i've looked up certain hybrids but they cost P5,000 per buck. is this rate fair?

Meron diyang grupo bossing, pagkakaalam ko yang grupong yan ang isa sa pinaka-magaling patungkol sa Kambing. Ang pangalan nang regional officer nila diyan (FGASPAPI) ay si Mr. Luis Sanches.

see their site:

http://fgaspapi.com/index.php?option...d=13&Itemid=27

Yong presyong Php. 5000 kung breeder ay mura pa yan, it could be a third degree breed na. We started with local breed since we are also on learning and exploration process. I have an experience in Cows, Horses, as well as Goats raising on my teen years but since I am delegating this I thought it is better to start with local then upgrade it later on, which easy by just buying one pure breed Bucks like Boer Goats for meat. Local breed can withstands harsh environment and quite cheaper but experienced raiser will suggest you to upgrade, maybe you could create your own tough breed also like the Dadiangas strains a mixture of breeds, who knows.

But if you are dead serious you could choose other options, try contact that group and ask for advise.

Originally Posted by dessertfox

Meron diyang grupo bossing, pagkakaalam ko yang grupong yan ang isa sa pinaka-magaling patungkol sa Kambing. Ang pangalan nang regional officer nila diyan (FGASPAPI) ay si Mr. Luis Sanches.

see their site:

http://fgaspapi.com/index.php?option...d=13&Itemid=27

Yong presyong Php. 5000 kung breeder ay mura pa yan, it could be a third degree breed na. We started with local breed since we are also on learning and exploration process. I have an experience in Cows, Horses, as well as Goats raising on my teen years but since I am delegating this I thought it is better to start with local then upgrade it later on, which easy by just buying one pure breed Bucks like Boer Goats for meat. Local breed can withstands harsh environment and quite cheaper but experienced raiser will suggest you to upgrade, maybe you could create your own tough breed also like the Dadiangas strains a mixture of breeds, who knows.

But if you are dead serious you could choose other options, try contact that group and ask for advise.

Have you tried feeding the goats with malunggay/moringga to increase milk yield. According to the cow breeder, malunggay can increase the milk yield.

[dessertfox]

Kindly read this article about Vietnam's Pangasius Fish, I don't know if this could affect also those who are starting with this aquaculture in our country. In internet it is a negative widely circulating info.

They say it is poisonous, but it seems it depends on the place it is being grown. But for Mekong river source they said is really dangerous to health.

Read the article below from my research in internet.

http://www.dietmindspirit.org/2008/0...ish-gray-sole/

Originally Posted by icarus-rising

Pangasius: new darling of the aquaculture industry
FLORO TAGUINOD, GMANews.TV
Article posted October 08, 2008 - 06:10 PM
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – What sounds like a product of Pangasinan, tastes like the priced salmon, is more profitable to raise than tilapia, and now a common entry on the menus of classy restaurants?

As the headline suggests, the answer is pangasius, a member of the catfish family that originated in Vietnam and now grown commercially in fishponds.

Farmer Cesario Manuel of barangay Sta. Rita in Bayombong says the pangasius was the most profitable venture he has gone into so far after he harvested 1,076 kilograms of the from his three fishponds with a total area of 406 square meters.

The three fishponds all exhibited good growth with a maximized stocking density of 3 pieces per square meter. The ratio is best for a high overall growth rate of 1 kilogram per body weight with some as high as 1.5 kilograms.

With a taste and texture comparable to the salmon or even the Alaska pollack, pangasius is categorized as a ‘white meat fish’ and is in high demand not just in classy restaurants but in fast food chains as well.

In Nueva Vizcaya, the project is the result of a joint undertaking of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 02 and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

Provincial agriculturist Felipe Panganiban said pangasius farming can be a very profitable project since the fish has a ready vast market in the Philippines and abroad. It is now acknowledged as the ‘new darling of the aquaculture industry."

“The pangasius project is one way to attain higher fish sufficiency level for Nueva Vizcaya, “he said.

At a farm gate price of P90 per kilogram and net gain of P36,500, studies show that pangasius culture is more profitable than tilapia raising. Production cost, however, is higher mainly due to the longer culture period of six months, and the cost of fingerlings.

Dominador Abalos, project leader, said that production cost can be reduced as the fish can be fed with indigenous diet such as vegetable and fruit surplus and trimmings, kuhol and rice bran.

A Nueva Ecija-based supplier of pangasius fingerlings, likewise confirmed that the cost is bound to go down once demand in the Cagayan Valley is sufficient enough to cover transport and logistics costs.

Abalos said that the country currently imports forty 20-footer container vans of pangasius flesh each month. He said that pangasius fillet under the brand name Cream Dory costs 200 pesos per kilogram at local supermarkets.

BFAR Regional Director Dr. Jovita Ayson said, “This project shows feasibility and profitability of pangasius culture in Cagayan Valley. It will be a big boost to the region’s fishery production and farmer’s income."

[barukdok]

Originally Posted by dessertfox

Meron diyang grupo bossing, pagkakaalam ko yang grupong yan ang isa sa pinaka-magaling patungkol sa Kambing. Ang pangalan nang regional officer nila diyan (FGASPAPI) ay si Mr. Luis Sanches.

see their site:

http://fgaspapi.com/index.php?option...d=13&Itemid=27

Yong presyong Php. 5000 kung breeder ay mura pa yan, it could be a third degree breed na. We started with local breed since we are also on learning and exploration process. I have an experience in Cows, Horses, as well as Goats raising on my teen years but since I am delegating this I thought it is better to start with local then upgrade it later on, which easy by just buying one pure breed Bucks like Boer Goats for meat. Local breed can withstands harsh environment and quite cheaper but experienced raiser will suggest you to upgrade, maybe you could create your own tough breed also like the Dadiangas strains a mixture of breeds, who knows.

But if you are dead serious you could choose other options, try contact that group and ask for advise.

thanks a lot for the info. i'll definitely call Mr. Sanchez.

[barukdok]

by the way, i just got a sample of liquid organic fertilizer using lactobacilli. does anyone have any experience using this product? how effective is this?

[dancethingy]

Can we infuse arborio rice and basmatic rice in this thread since it got the boot from the stock market/peso thread? hahahaha

Can arborio rice (risotto) and basmati rice be grown in Philippine soil?

[icarusrising]

Manila may double corn exports to Seoul after record production
10/10/2008 | 09:27 PM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine association of corn growers plans to double its exports to Korea after production hit a record in June, the organization’s President said.

Instead of shipping 10,000 metric tons of corn, members of the Philippine Maize Federation (PhilMaize) are thinking of increasing exports to 20,000 metric tons (MTs) after production hit a record 3.29 million MTs.

Corn production for this year grew by a fifth to a record 3.29 million MTs for the first half as against the 2.75 million MTs reported last year.

The shipment marks the country’s first ever corn export on a commercial basis, PhilMaize President Roger Navarro told reporters in a forum sponsored by the Philippine Agricultural Journalists Association.

Besides encouraging corn farmers to become more productive, it is also seen to increase government plans to establish additional infrastructure for corn exports, Navarro said.

The Philippines—which has attained 98 percent self-sufficiency in corn this year— is preparing to become one of Korea’s major corn suppliers, Navarro added.

Korea imports 300,000 metric tons of corn annually.

By 2010, Manila expects to produce some 8.536 million MT of corn, making it self-sufficient in corn production. - GMANews.TV

[jpdm]

Philippine Star

Agriculture

LLDA leads effort to revive local bamboo industry

Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) is leading an effort to revive the local bamboo industry which promises to provide millions of dollars in export revenues for the country and presents huge potentials for rural and agriculture development.

“Recent studies have shown that bamboo has around 1,500 uses ranging from food production to building materials, aside from being a carbon sequester,” said LLDA general manager Edgardo C. Manda.

At the start of 2008, private sector and farmer interest in making bamboo – considered the “a grass of hope” – a viable industry has been increasing, said Manda.
Consider the following:

• World trade on bamboo and bamboo products was estimated at $12 billion in 2002 and was growing at $2 billion yearly. Bamboo flooring enjoys a very good demand especially in environment-conscious Europe where people are willing to pay more than $100 per square meter of bamboo flooring compared to only about $25 per square meter for a floor made of oak;

• Back in 2002, the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines said it needed some 1.5 million poles of bamboo and that the demand would increase to 1.875 million the following year. There are studies which indicate that a farmer can earn close to P300,000 per year from a one-hectare bamboo plantation.

Perhaps the more important reason why farmers and all landowners should plant bamboo is its contribution to the environment.

According to Manda, bamboo does an excellent job of rejuvenating degraded lands and protecting them against soil erosion, landslides, mudslides and slippage. Its massive root system helps control soil erosion and surface run-off in fragile riverbanks.

Bamboo is also an ideal windbreaker and helps protect farm crops, structures and other properties from destructive wind.

Finally, bamboo helps in carbon sequestration and conservation of biodiversity considering that it produces large amounts of biomass which conserve ground moisture and is converted into organic matter when it decomposes. Studies have shown that one hectare of bamboo plantation can sequester up to 12 tons carbon per year.

Importantly, too, bamboo is a renewable and sustainable resource which matures in a short time. According to Manda, bamboo has a much shorter gestation period than trees. He said a bamboo stand starts to yield after three to four years from planting. What’s more, bamboo can be harvested annually and non-destructively. It has the ability to regenerate or replace itself when damaged or extracted or harvested, Manda pointed out.

Bamboo can be productive for up to 50 years, depending on the species or variety. It can grow three times faster than the fastest growing tree.

“The Philippines somehow missed the opportunity to cash in on the viability of bamboo, unlike China which already has an established bamboo industry,” said Manda. “But it is not too late, because the need for bamboo as a watershed crop, additional food source, and provider of building materials remains constant.”

In line with this, LLDA is spearheading the 1st National Bamboo Development Forum to be held from Oct. 22-24 at the PTTC on Pasay City. Its partners are members of the Bamboo Network, an alliance of private sector individuals and business groups that will actively take part in establishing a viable bamboo industry in the Philippines.

we should...bamboo is a versatile grass used in many ways....

[icarusrising]

Creation of WTO panel to hear RP suit vs Australia pushed

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap is prepared to push for the creation of a dispute settlement panel by the World Trade Organization to prod Australia into finally settling the issue of access to the lucrative Australian market for Philippine fruits.

Australia has been withholding for almost a decade now the release of the all important Import Risk Analysis (IRA) for Philippine fresh fruits, particularly for fresh bananas, pineapples and mangoes.

Early this month, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean, in a brief visit to the Philippines, had said that the release of the IRA might be possible in the second week of this month.

Unfortunately, Yap said, Australia still has not issued the IRA.

The release of the IRA as well as other phytosanitary requirements is being viewed by the Philippines as a non-tariff barrier being used by Australia to block the entry of Philippine fruits to the Australian market.

Australia has a strong domestic banana producers’ lobby against Philippine banana imports.

The Philippines has filed a complaint against Australia before the WTO.

Crean said the issue of Philippine fresh fruit exports to Australia was discussed during the one-day Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM) held Oct. 9 at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay.

Nothing concrete was reached in the meeting. — Marianne Go

[Animo]

The Spanish Government has affirmed its assistance to flood-affected farming communities in the Philippines.

During the World Food Day celebration, the Philippines, represented by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap had signed a memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with country representative Kazuyuki Tsurumi of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for a US$ 471,000 support fund from the Spanish Government.

The amount represents the assistance of the Spanish Government to flood-affected farming communities in Eastern Samar and Leyte provinces.

Yap revealed that the project will run for one year effective October 2008 to September 2009.

He said that will provide farmers in the affected areas agricultural inputs such as rice and corn seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, and fruit trees seedlings; fertilizers, poultry and livestock, fish fingerlings, among others.

In addition, training to farmers and women's groups will also be given to improve their technical knowledge and skills on sustainable crop, animal and aquaculture production including processing; and enhance their capabilities to adopt to other livelihood activities and other coping strategies in times of natural calamities.

Aside from the signing of MOA for fund support, the DA has also launched a nationwide promotion of organic farming as a way to improve agricultural productivity and ensure food sufficiency.

This year's World Food Day is anchored on the theme "World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Food Security."

In order to meet the challenges, "we must feed the people now," Yap pointed out. (PIA)

[swahi]

Originally Posted by icarus-rising

Pangasius: new darling of the aquaculture industry
FLORO TAGUINOD, GMANews.TV
Article posted October 08, 2008 - 06:10 PM
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – What sounds like a product of Pangasinan, tastes like the priced salmon, is more profitable to raise than tilapia, and now a common entry on the menus of classy restaurants?

As the headline suggests, the answer is pangasius, a member of the catfish family that originated in Vietnam and now grown commercially in fishponds.

Farmer Cesario Manuel of barangay Sta. Rita in Bayombong says the pangasius was the most profitable venture he has gone into so far after he harvested 1,076 kilograms of the from his three fishponds with a total area of 406 square meters.

The three fishponds all exhibited good growth with a maximized stocking density of 3 pieces per square meter. The ratio is best for a high overall growth rate of 1 kilogram per body weight with some as high as 1.5 kilograms.

With a taste and texture comparable to the salmon or even the Alaska pollack, pangasius is categorized as a ‘white meat fish’ and is in high demand not just in classy restaurants but in fast food chains as well.

In Nueva Vizcaya, the project is the result of a joint undertaking of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 02 and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

Provincial agriculturist Felipe Panganiban said pangasius farming can be a very profitable project since the fish has a ready vast market in the Philippines and abroad. It is now acknowledged as the ‘new darling of the aquaculture industry."

“The pangasius project is one way to attain higher fish sufficiency level for Nueva Vizcaya, “he said.

At a farm gate price of P90 per kilogram and net gain of P36,500, studies show that pangasius culture is more profitable than tilapia raising. Production cost, however, is higher mainly due to the longer culture period of six months, and the cost of fingerlings.

Dominador Abalos, project leader, said that production cost can be reduced as the fish can be fed with indigenous diet such as vegetable and fruit surplus and trimmings, kuhol and rice bran.

A Nueva Ecija-based supplier of pangasius fingerlings, likewise confirmed that the cost is bound to go down once demand in the Cagayan Valley is sufficient enough to cover transport and logistics costs.

Abalos said that the country currently imports forty 20-footer container vans of pangasius flesh each month. He said that pangasius fillet under the brand name Cream Dory costs 200 pesos per kilogram at local supermarkets.

BFAR Regional Director Dr. Jovita Ayson said, “This project shows feasibility and profitability of pangasius culture in Cagayan Valley. It will be a big boost to the region’s fishery production and farmer’s income."

Pangasius is a vietnamese breed of catfish, and it comes in several subspecies. This fish grows to 1 kg in 6 months time, and grows to several kgs easy in a year or so. It only has a vietnam farmgate price in pesos of around 40-50 pesos, versus the above declared 90 pesos. They have reached an annual production volume of 1 million tons already, and are capable of culturing 50 tons or more per hectare, though the water level has to be at least 2 meters.

It is marketed as cream dory, but also in other brand names, like sutchi fillets. I believe it is called another name but I forgot right now. I have seen it personally during my trip to vietnam, and was bewildered how this fish can grow in very poor water conditions. Murky waters are not a problem. Was surprised how the taste was "neutral", as I expected it to smell and taste muddy just like our tilapia that are found in the waterways or canals, though tilapia that are fed properly taste much better. It was only recently that an importer admitted that a neutralizing preservative is added to disguise the smell.

Since that time, I have stopped buying the fillets. I don't know what this preservative is to disguise the smell, and given the water conditions I saw, I wondered how it has not affected the meat and smell. With the negative website that was provided here, so much more I am not buying this fish, for my own personal health reasons.

If it is grown here, and from what I know, it is grown in Pampanga and Taal Lake, at least we know our waters are still relatively clean. But the problem these growers are facing is that they have a hard time selling the fish as is. It was not intended to be sold retail, whole. Any fish that goes beyond 1 kg has to be in fillet format, which very few facilities do in the Philippines. And at 90 pesos, with only 30% expected meat recovery, that will make fillet prices reach 300 pesos, thus it is not competitive to the imported fillets from vietnam.

[Animo]

By Henrylito D. Tacio
Agribiz Jottings

CACAO has been cultivated in the Philippines since the 17th century when Spanish mariner Pedro Bravo de Lagunas planted the crop in San Jose, Batangas. Since then, cacao growing flourished in the different parts of the country.

In the 1950s, commercial cacao farms were established and cocoa beans production expanded into an industry in the following decade as processing facilities were put up by a group of Filipino investors. The industry started to take-off in mid-1980s as more investments were poured on commercial farms and on grinding facilities.

However, the growth of the industry ceased when the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform took effect in 1988, which resulted in the breakdown and redistribution of the commercial farms into small farm units.

In addition, the outbreak of cocoa pod borer pest was unchecked causing some plantations to be wiped out and abandoned.

"These factors resulted in the degradation of the cocoa estates and a serious decline in the cocoa industry," pointed out Nic Richards, the chief of party of Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (Acdi/Voca), an economic development organization that fosters broad-based economic growth, raises living standards and creates vibrant communities.

The Department of Agriculture reported that the area planted to cacao in 1990 was about 18,388 hectares, with most of the crops growing in Davao, Zamboanga peninsula, Western Visayas, North Mindanao, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Caraga.

By 2006, the area further declined to less than 10,000 hectares. During this period, production fell from 9,900 tons to about 5,400 tons, with two-thirds of the production coming from Davao Region alone.
Recently, cacao growing is making a comeback due to the impact of the program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (Usda) and implemented by Acdi/Voca (whose practice areas are agribusiness systems, enterprise development, financial services and community development).

Unknown to many Filipino farmers, there is a big local demand for cacao beans.ÿ The domestic grinders require at least 30,000 tons of dried fermented cacao beans every year.

In addition, there is a ready market waiting to be tapped in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China. These countries need at least 100,000 metric tons of dried beans annually.

Studies have shown that the potential expansion for cacao growing is huge: about 2,000,000 hectares of coconut lands are "highly suited" to be interplanted with cacao. "The international demand for cocoa beans is growing at about 90,000 tons annually," said Richards.

"Cacao is highly suitable to intercropping and mixed farming systems, and can add more than US$1,500 per hectare of income from 500 mature trees per year," Richards said. "It is a proven crop in the Philippines, ready for resurrection."

Filipino farmers are being encouraged by chocolate manufacturers like Mars Inc. to expand cacao production given its favorable price in the international market. Mars executives added, however, that before the Philippines can take advantage of the good market for cacao, farmers need to improve their productivity, control pest and diseases and produce good, quality beans through fermenting.

Cacao was first cultivated by the Mayas around the 7th century A.D. They carried the seed north from the tropical Amazon forests to what is now Mexico. In the 16th century, the Spanish planted cacao across South America, into Central America, and onto the Caribbean Islands. In the 17th century, the Dutch transported the cacao to other places around the globe like Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, and the Philippines.

Cacao is highly prized because of its beans which are processed into cocoa products such as butter, powder, paste/liquor and chocolate confectionery. In the Philippines, most of the beans produced by small holders are mostly made into tablea, a native chocolate confection.

Cocoa powder and cocoa butter are widely used in food products; cocoa butter is also used as a base for moisturizers, cosmetics, and suppositories. Cocoa seed and cocoa seed coat are used to treat intestinal conditions; diarrhea; liver, bladder and renal disease; diabetes; and others.

Studies have shown that cacao contains 0.5 percent to 2.7 percent theobromine, 0.25 percent caffeine, and other methylxanthine alkaloids. Cocoa contains the antioxidant catechin. Theobromine has weaker stimulant effects than caffeine but is a more potent diuretic, cardiovascular stimulant, and coronary dilator.

[Animo]

By Rachelle M. Nessia

Dumaguete City (23 October) -- The Provincial Agriculturist Office (PAO) has strengthened the trainings on organic farming in Negros Oriental per instruction from Governor Emilio C. Macias II.

Provincial Agriculturist Gregorio Paltinca has instructed the area and district coordinators to train farmers provincewide on vermiculture.

According to Oliver Lemence of PAO, the trainings are organized in line with the thrust of Gov. Macias to boost food production in the province, which is also in consonance with the food security program of the national government.

Lemence said that the governor has stressed that the province will go full blast with its organic farming program thru the NegOr NOW program or "Negros Oriental Nutrients in Worms."

The vermi product will be used as vermicast for use bio-organic fertilizers in organic farming.

Lemence added that trainings will likewise be conducted on National Fermented Solutions, a home-based liquid fertilizer and the use of indigenous micro-organism.

"With this combination, farmers will not depend anymore on expensive fertilizers," he stressed.

The provincial government has already poured a funding of P3 million for the trainings and advocacy campaign on the said program.

Trainings are already underway in five barangays in Zamboanguita this month, and will be done in other local government units in the three districts in the province.

The Spanish Government has affirmed its assistance to flood-affected farming communities in the Philippines.

During the World Food Day celebration, the Philippines, represented by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap had signed a memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with country representative Kazuyuki Tsurumi of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for a US$ 471,000 support fund from the Spanish Government.

The amount represents the assistance of the Spanish Government to flood-affected farming communities in Eastern Samar and Leyte provinces.

Yap revealed that the project will run for one year effective October 2008 to September 2009. (PIA/rmn)

[Animo]

MANILA, Philippines - The Spanish government has donated $410,000 to help rehabilitate agriculture-based livelihood of 2,500 families in flood-stricken areas of Eastern Samar and Leyte, an Agriculture department press release Friday read.

The year-long project will include providing farmers and fisherfolk with inputs such as planting materials, fertilizers, poultry and livestock and aquaculture inputs, technical assistance and capacity building measures.

Heavy rains early this year affected estimated 532,000 people in 982 barangays in the region, killing 23 of them in Eastern Samar, and destroying or damaging over 4,400 houses.

The calamity also caused more than P1 billion in infrastructure damage and another P328 million in agriculture and fisheries losses, data from the National Disaster Coordinating Council show.

The rehabilitation efforts, to be implemented by the Agriculture department and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, in cooperation with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.

The joint field assessment by the department and FAO team last March showed that flood-hit farmers in the region were at high risk of losing food security because of their loss of farm production for both cash income and home consumption, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said in the statement. Officials from the department, FAO and Spanish government signed the agreement last week. - BusinessWorld

[bartstrife99]

Our Govt should not be stop in aggressive support for our farmers they will save our economy for food sufficiency.

[icarusrising]

Biotech experts working to develop virus-resistant abaca
10/29/2008 | 01:43 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office is seeking to rehabilitate the abaca industry in the Bicol region by developing better strains of the plant that are resistant to the deadly mosaic, bract mosaic and the bunchy-top viruses that crippled the country’s biggest abaca producer in 1999.

Director Alicia Ilaga of the DA-BPO said while Bicol accounts for 66 percent or 52,666 hectares of the total abaca area mapped by the department, it also reported a 27 percent incidence of viral diseases, particularly bunchy top.

To answer the demand by its clients, abaca producers in Bicol have to buy the fiber from Eastern Visayas.

At the same time, Ilaga reported that DA biotechnologists were concerned about the pest (Tagarino et al 2004), making the abaca industry in the region dependent on Eastern Visayas to meet export demand.

For the past three centuries, she said, abaca production have negative growths of 0.15 percent, 0.84 percent and 0.12 percent, respectively, meaning the industry must be reinvigorated to respond to increased demand in the global market.

Ilaga said the University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Agriculture, UPLB Crop Science Cluster-Institute of Plant Breeding, FIDA and the DA-BPO are now collaborating to counter the deleterious impact of the deadly pests that attack abaca.

Thus far, the team has been working to develop varieties that are resistant to the bunchy-top, mosaic, and bract mosaic viruses through radiation-induced mutation.

Dr. Teodora O. Dizon of the CSC-IPB in UPLB and her team worked on two commercial varieties of abaca. These are the Tinawagang Pula and Tangongon from Sorsogon.

Dizon’s team tried to determine the lethal dose for the abaca varieties and irradiate shoot cultures to find out the correct dosage to make these varieties resistant to the viruses.

Suckers were collected from the two varieties and were analyzed for the presence of viruses, with infected plants eventually being. Tissue cultures of the Tinawang Pula variety from Albay were also obtained.

Both cultivars were successfully micropropagated through in vitro culture and system regeneration and the rest were subjected to the process of trial and error in determining the right lethal dose to attain the plants’ immunity.

Dr. Antonio Lalusin Jr. of the CSC-IPB in UPLB, also a member of the first abaca project, worked on the development of molecular markers in abaca to eliminate only one abaca virus, the bunchy top.

The bunchy top virus is the most deleterious among the three viruses. It does not only destroy the fiber quality of abaca plants. Once the virus hits, plant growth ceases, therefore, the retrieval of fibers from the infected plants would be impossible.

Lalusin’s team utilized the bunchy-top resistant genes of Pakol, a variety of banana, by cross breeding them with abaca plants and later on breeding them back to the pure-bred abaca plants.

Tests for resistance to bunchy-top were later conducted by infecting the plants with the virus.

The project aims to come up with bunchy-top resistant abaca plants that yield more fiber of good quality. - GMANews.TV

[icarusrising]

UN agency to spend $16M for inbred rice seeds in RP
10/29/2008 | 04:25 PM
Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us
MANILA, Philippines - The International Fund for Agricultural Development of the United Nations is spending $16 million for the purchase of inbred rice seeds for distribution to impoverished farmers by the first planting season next year.

In a conference in Mandaluyong City this week, Sana F. K. Jatta, IFAD country program manager for the Philippines, said the UN is concerned about the rice crisis that hit the country early this year and said IFAD is working with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Reform to stave off its recurrence.

Apart from pumping in $16 million for inbred seeds, Jatta revealed that IFAD has signed a deal with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization to develop upland communal irrigation systems to produce more rice and other crops.

IFAD will spend $500,000 for this, while FAO will put up a similar fund to benefit upland dwellers of the Cordillera, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Jatta said IFAD will be strictly monitoring the seed distribution program to ensure that poor landless farmers and members of indigenous groups would get the seeds, plant them and harvest the grain later on.

IFAD vice president Kanayo Nwanze said the agency has been satisfied with the work of its unit in the Philippines, and would endorse the projects proposed by Jatta in the next IFAD board meeting in December.

Globally, he added, IFAD is parlaying $200 million to finance programs to counter the adverse effects of spiraling food prices, noting that the Philippines is a major arena of the battle.

The IFAD officer said apart from distributing seeds, his agency is also working with both the DA and the DAR to improve irrigation facilities in upland areas, where indigenous peoples live and work, and in farms of beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Agribusiness is also a key component of the development program promoted by IFAD, he said, along with the coastal resources management programs, which will be funded to the extent of $66 million in the next five years.

He said IFAD will be present in 24 poor provinces nationwide, working in projects with funding support from the Asian Development Bank. The regions targeted by IFAD are the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the Visayas and Regions 9, 10, 12 and ARMM in Mindanao.

Marinduque and Romblon will also benefit from IFAD projects. - GMANews.TV

[icarusrising]

ADB OK’s $1-M grant to analyze RP agriculture, irrigation sectors
Economy
Written by Cai U. Ordinario / Reporter
Friday, 07 November 2008 00:26

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) is increasing its support for the local farm sector by approving the provision of a $1-million technical assistance grant to the Philippines in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the country’s agriculture and irrigation sectors.

The Japan Special Fund, through the ADB, will be extending the grant which not only aims to analyze the farm sector, but also draw up an investment-project design for upgrading and extending irrigation services on existing irrigated land.

The national government is also contributing an equivalent of $250,000 in the form of staff, office space and other support services.

“The impact of the proposed project will be increased farm household incomes and reduced rural poverty. The aim is for around 40,000 hectares of irrigated land to benefit from upgraded infrastructure and services by 2016,” said ADB’s Southeast Asia Department senior water-resources management specialist Ian Makin.

Under the project, the ADB said farmers and other beneficiaries will participate in the design, development and management process of the Irrigation System Operation Efficiency Improvement Project.

The ADB-financed project will also support the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) rationalization plan that matches staff with the changing role of the NIA following rehabilitation of facilities, and transfer of the management of irrigation systems to water users and irrigators’ associations.

The Manila-based lender said the project will be able to boost the farm sector, particularly in rice production, since the country is a major global importer of rice, its staple.

Recently, international grain prices, including rice, rose by 40 percent between March 2007 and March 2008. This forced the national government to announce a series of steps to boost production.

The government plans to rehabilitate irrigation infrastructure and postharvest facilities for rice, as many irrigation systems have deteriorated due to years of neglect, damage from natural disasters, limited farmers’ participation and shortage of water.

[icarusrising]

RP boosts tiger prawn production in 2Q
By karen_flores
Created 11/08/2008 - 16:40

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/08/2008 4:40 PM

The Philippines' tiger prawn production made a big leap in the second quarter of 2008 due to better farming practices, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

From only 136.93 metric tons (MT) in the second quarter of 2007, tiger prawn raising marked a huge leap with 3,164 MT in the same period this year.

According to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), high value aquaculture species such as tiger prawns have been showing signs of growth due to increased stocking and farmers' exposure to proper cultural management practices.

"The production increase was attributed to the 2,309 hectares of brackishwater fishponds that shifted to tiger prawn from bangus culture in Bulacan, particularly, in the towns of Hagonoy and Paombong," BFAR Director Malcom Sarmiento Jr. said in a statement.

Aside from prawns, the DA has also been targeting to produce 100,000 MT of shrimp in five years, especially due to the large-scale production of vannamei or Pacific white shrimp. This increased amount will mean more exports as forty percent of the country's shrimp production is brought to countries like Japan, Korea, US, Canada, and Guam.

"Because vannamei shrimps mature faster, require less production inputs and have greater disease-resistance, an unprecedented shrimp production of more than 100,000 MT is projected in five years, double the current production of around 30,000 MT of white shrimps and 24,000 MT of prawns or sugpo annually," the BFAR said.

Shrimp expansion has been evident in the second quarter as compared to last year. Lanao del Norte had a 34.76 percent increase, Zamboanga Sibugay with 6.45 percent, and Pampanga with 5.93 percent.

Catfish, on the other hand, had a significant growth of 44.3 percent, particularly due to expanding areas in Bulacan, Davao City, Laguna, Iloilo, and Camarines Sur.

Other expanding aquaculture species include carp, which is up by 1.56 percent, and mud crab, marking a growth of 6.29 percent. BFAR said that such improvements were due to good quality and prices, high survival rate, and high demand in the market.

"In Laguna, the increase in harvest of more than 100 percent from pens and cages was a result of the high survival rate of bighead carps in Sta. Rosa, Siniloan, Panguil and Biñan," BFAR said.

as of 11/08/2008 6:10 PM

[kiretoce]

RP eyes alternative sources of fishes in Pacific Ocean

The Philippines is planning to put up four fishing ports near the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Pacific Ocean after Jakarta decided not to renew an agreement that grants fishing rights to Filipinos in Indonesia.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said the move is intended to encourage Filipino fishers to tap the Pacific Ocean EEZ.

“With the recent closure of Indonesian waters to our fishing vessels, we have to look for alternative fishing grounds, and the likely candidate would have to be the Pacific Ocean EEZ,” said BFAR director Malcolm Sarmiento.

The BusinessMirror tried to contact BFAR to find out why Jakarta decided not to renew the fishing agreement, but Sarmiento could not be reached by phone.

The fishing agreement for the 200-mile Indonesian EEZ in the Sulawesi Sea, which expired in 2006, had allowed Filipino fishers to harvest some 80,000 to 100,000 metric tons (MT) more tuna yearly.

The Philippines has been trying to renegotiate the agreement, but Sarmiento said earlier that the conditions laid down by Jakarta are proving to be “difficult” for the government.

Sarmiento said the Pacific EEZ could be a viable alternative. He noted that it is underutilized for three reasons: tuna and other tuna-like species are seasonal in the area, the design of Philippine fishing vessels are not suitable for operations in the Pacific, and there are no infrastructure facilities in the Eastern seaboard to serve Philippine operators who would decide to operate in the Pacific.

The fishing ports, BFAR said, will be constructed in Casiguran, Aurora; Infanta, Quezon; Tacloban City in Leyte; and Surigao City in Surigao del Norte.

Sarmiento said these chosen sites for the four fishing ports share two common traits: their geographic location facing the Pacific Ocean and their proximity to existing airports.

The fishing ports will be patterned after the fishing port in Davao City which has piers, refrigeration facilities, ice plants and processing plants. These facilities in Davao City enable fishers to unload their catch, process them and export their products to local and foreign markets because of their nearness to airports.