Government to identify areas suitable to seaweed
The provincial government said it plans to conduct a mapping of Palawan’s coastlines to determine areas that are suitable for seaweed culture. Edgardo C. Zabala Jr., the provincial government’s seaweed focal person, recently said the project is part of the plan to further boost the local seaweed industry. The seaweed suitability mapping project, he said, will first be piloted in Taytay and will eventually be done in other municipalities. He said that they have already geotagged potential areas. The project will collect data in coastal areas such as temperature, salinity, water current, and turbidity and use the information to analyze its suitability for seaweed planting. Zabala added that in coming out with suitable areas as a result of the suitability mapping, they can recommend which places in the province are best for seaweed production that will result in high yield. In addition to three existing seaweed nurseries that have been put up in Taytay, El Nido, and Araceli, he disclosed that another will be established in Balabac. These nurseries will be the sources of the seaweed planting materials which will be distributed by the provincial government to identified seaweed farmers throughout the province. Zabala said that the provincial government’s intention of establishing the nurseries is to produce quality planting materials for distribution to seaweed farmers. “Dito kukuha ng mga plantlets na ibabahagi sa mga seaweed farmers. Ito yung mga bagong halaman. Hindi tulad ng putol-putol lang. Ito ay mas maganda ang growth rate,” he explained. Unlike the usual planting materials, the seaweed grown in their nurseries are of good quality planting materials and its good
At present, the provincial government has 81 medical scholars studying in different universities and colleges in the Philippines. The program has also accommodated 19 new applicants for the coming school year. Records of the provincial government’s IHELP- Education Unit showed there are 60,000 scholars studying in universities, and 17,000 taking up technical and vocational courses. Provincial government’s educational assistance is under the Programang Pangedukasyon Para sa Palaweño ( PPP) as part of the Infrastructure- Health, Education, Livelihood, and Protection of the Environment ( I- HELP) program.