DOST pursues development initiatives in Central Luzon
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO-- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Central Luzon is pursuing various research and development initiatives to spur economic recovery in the region.
DOST Regional Director Julius Caesar Sicat said various initiatives designed to boost the capabilities of Central Luzon provinces have been developed to help provide unique products and services to local and foreign tourists.
In Aurora, the DOST is developing typhoon resilient agriculture in partnership with the Aurora State College of Technology and municipal government of San Luis.
The province is frequented by typhoons which damage crops so our farmers are having difficulty to provide the demands of the people.
Through this, DOST wants to provide high value salad vegetables like lettuce, as well as fruits like strawberries to our tourists.
In Bataan, DOST brought industry 4.0 technologies by developing the capacity for 3D printing and additive manufacturing, which can be used by locators of the Freeport Area of Bataan.
In Bulacan, the agency partnered with the municipal government of Guiguinto in establishing iLab to propagate plants that will actually sell in the market using a unique method.
“For Nueva Ecija, our focus is research on onion and the African Swine Fever. While for Pampanga, we provide modern technology, technical assistance, and support system to the furniture industry so they can better compete in the market in terms of mass production of specialized furniture designs,” Sicat said.
DOST launched in Tarlac the Project Municipal Innovation through Science and Technology (MIST) with the provincial government and other partners, including the Philippine Information Agency in which the focus is helping nutraceutical companies manufacturing supplements and private labs improve their capability for accreditation to international standards.
For Zambales, DOST is focused on the satellitebased "mariculture "technology anchored on the blue economy. Photographs sent by satellites can be used to study the Philippine coastline and see the areas where to propagate good commodities like grouper, sea cucumber, and other marine products.
“Towards the launch of DOST's Vision 2050 where we have already shown the direction of the Philippines’ R&D towards seeing it as an archipelagic maritime nation. For the longest time, our focus is on land, but about 80 percent of the Philippine territory is composed of water. There is now need to focus on our waters because there is the potential or the niche of the Philippines that we have not paid attention to for a long time,” he said. DOST is also making efforts on training Central Luzon Food Safety Team on Halal certification and audit so that entrepreneurs can market their products to Muslim countries.