BSU reviews 94 completed and ongoing projects, 32 proposals in Centennial Agency-In-House Review

CONTINUINGto heed the call to be good stewards of limited research funds, BSU held its Agency In-House Review (AIHR) of researches and extension projects on August 9-10, 2017 at the Northern Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center. This yearly review is the university’s single most important monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure quality implementation of R&D projects. It is a venue to evaluate research findings of completed and ongoing research, and determine potential technologies and information due for wider dissemination, piloting or commercialization.

During the opening program of the said activty, the Vice President for Research and Extension Dr. Carlito P. Laurean in his opening message challenged the researchers to always persist and persevere in preparing proposals as well as in conducting their researches. He highlighted the observation that many of the senior researchers of the University are retiring in the next few years. With the direction of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to develop and strengthen research Universities, BSU needs to strive to fill the gap between the junior and senior researchers. He then encouraged everyone to make this AIHR a venue for all of the researchers and participants to learn from each other as well as from the input of the evaluators. Aside from fulfilling the requirements for Major Final Output, may this review improves the quality of research outputs of the University.

In the two days activity, a total of 42 completed and 52 ongoing projects and studies were reviewed by 14 external panel of evaluators. In addition, the same evaluators evaluated 32 proposals for possible implementation in 2018.

BSU researches are categorized into technical, social focused on agriculture, forestry and natural resource (AFNR) and extension projects, and social non-AFNR that includes education researches. Seven of the 15 completed technical and 11 of the 27 completed social researches presented this year were qualified to be presented in a regional level symposium of RDE highlights.

The adjudged best paper for the technical category was a study on “Atoxigenic Strains of Aspergillus flavus (ASAFs) collected from Northern Philippines as Potential Biological Control Agents against Preharvest Aflatoxin Contamination of Peanut,” by Dr. Janet S. Luis and collaborators from Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, University of Georgia and US Department of Agriculture. This research is under BSU’s Horticulture Research and Training Institute (HORTI). It successfully isolated strains of pathogenic fungi that can potentially be commercialized to control pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination in peanuts.

For the AFNR social research category, the validation research cum extension project on “Disaster Risk Reduction of Climate Change Impacts on Vegetable Terraces in Benguet” funded by the World Food Program (WFP) headed by Dr. Carlito P. Laurean was declared the best paper. This research is under BSU’s Climate Smart Agriculture Center (CSAC). The project demonstrated in two on-farm sites in Benguet the benefits and impacts of technologies such as interlinked rainwater harvesting tank, structural windbreak, tunnel type crop shelter; use of resilient varieties, BSU growers’ compost and proper pest and disease management, for reducing disaster risks in highland vegetable terraces.

Under the Education Research category, the best paper was the study on “Blended Learning Environment: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Instructional Skills of Pre-Service Teachers” by Divina M. Yango, Almon B. Bokilis and Elizabeth A. Lascano of the College of Teachers Education. This BSU-funded project utilized an experimental design to look at the impact of blended learning environment on the ICT instructional skills of pre-service teachers at BSU.

Other winners in this year’s in-house review were:

2nd Best Paper, Technical: Alternative Crop Shelter Designs for the Production of High-Value Crops (Lettuce, Broccoli and Strawberry) in the Highlands (Project leader: Dr. John F. Malamug)

3rd Best Paper, Technical: Greenhouse Evaluation and Selection of Crop Germplasm (Tomato, Snap bean and Potato) for Drought and Waterlogging Tolerance (Project leader: Dr. Belinda A. Tad-awan)

2nd Best Paper, Social AFNR: Quest for Gourmet Mushrooms among Mountain Folks in Benguet and Mt. Province: Their Identification and Management (Project leader: Bernard S. Tad-awan)

3rd Best Paper, Social AFN: Promotion of Production and Processing of Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) in Vitamin A Deficiency Risk Areas of Cordillera Administrative Region (Project: Ines C. Gonzales)

2nd Best Paper, Social Non-AFNR: Effects of Corrective Exercises on the Functional Movement Screen Scores of Football Athletes (Rex John G. Bawang)

3rd Best Paper, Social Non-AFNR: Capability of the Functional Movement Screen in Predicting Injuries among Athletes: A Review (Rex John G. Bawang)

The external panel evaluators consisted of faculty-researchers coming from UP Baguio,