SCIENCE AT WORK IN THE FIELDS
THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (DOST) has one goal: to use science and technology to uplift the lives of Filipinos.
Along this line, the DOST identified eight outcomes or sector-specific targets, one of which, according to DOST Secretary Mario Montejo, is the use of “science-based know-how and tools that enable the agriculture sector to raise productivity to world-class stan- dards,” or Outcome 1.
The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), a sectoral council under the DOST, employs various strategies geared toward the fulfillment of Outcome 1.
PCAARRD names at least eight centerpiece technologies to be presented during the celebration of the National Science and Technology Week on July 24 to 28 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. According to Marita Carlos, officer-in-charge of the PCAARRD applied communications division, these innovations will help address the needs of farmers and fishermen by introducing them to new ways of running their livelihood.
One of these new technologies deals with the production of Fusarium wilt-resistant Cavendish and brunchy top virus-resistant Lakatan bananas.
In recent years, farmers had complained about a decrease in the yield of banana plantations due to the Fusarium wilt and banana brunchy top viruses. DOST experts studied and planted banana somaclones, or cross or inbred variants with the desired traits, in infected areas to determine the most disease-resistant, says Carlos.
The identified virus-resistant somaclones will then be planted in different fields for multi-location testing that could run for two to three years, she adds.
According to data from the DOST, Fusarium wilt in banana plantations in Mindanao was reduced by 95 percent while Lakatan yields increased by 12.84 metric tons.
For the mango industry, PCAARRD proposed integrated crop and post-harvest quality management strategies.
To avoid blemishes in the skin of mangoes, PCAARRD introduced the hot water treatment. Upon harvest, Carlos explains, mangoes were dipped in hot water for a specific period to remove the blemishes caused by sap and fruit flies. This process is already being applied in Regions IV, V and VI, she reveals.
Local coconut varieties were also improved through somatic embryogenesis, where coconut plumules (locally known as tumbong) are processed so they may bear up to 120 seedlings each, as compared to the previous ratio of one seedling per plumule.
Carlos tells STARweek that the agency is looking into advancing the technology adapted from Mexico so that one plumule may eventually produce
1,000 seedlings. She adds that the improved coconut varieties were also found to be resistant to the kadag-kadag disease and able to withstand strong typhoons.
Shrimp production, meanwhile, has faced challenges – from an increase in production costs to disease outbreaks – over the last four years. To revive the industry, Carlos said PCAARRD developed a genome-based lateral flow strip biosensor kit, which detects white spot syndrome virus in shrimps before they even manifest symptoms. The spread of the virus has caused serious economic losses, especially as the country ranks sixth in shrimp production worldwide.
Also developed by PCAARRD is a 50-meter plastic pole with a float body to be used for mussel production. The depuration prototype for small-scale mussel farmers, a modification from New Zealand’s long-line culture technology, replaces the stake method or the use of a bamboo sticks in cultivating mussels.
Carlos notes that the Pinoy long-line culture system can be applied to deeper waters and would avoid sedimentation and pollution caused by rotting bamboo poles.
The DOST agency also introduced ways of cultivating soft-shell crabs, which have a high demand not only in the local market but also in other countries.
Upon molting or casting off their covering, juvenile crabs are retrieved from the seawater and transferred into aerated freshwater to keep their shells from hardening, explains Fe Dolores Estepa of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Department Center (SEAFDEC). A hatchery-reared crab can weigh 60 to 100 grams.
One batch of crab production, which yields about 6,000 crabs at a selling price of P50 each, runs for one to two months or an equivalent of four runs per year, Estepa notes.
PCAARRD is also currently drafting a module on the protocols and guidelines of halal goat slaughter and production in Mindanao.
Ruby Hechanova, professor at the Sultan Kudarat State University, says the halal system incorporates the “farm-to-plate” concept with food quality assurance that detects haram or unlawful contaminants.
That there is no slaughterhouse dedicated to the halal system so far in the country, resulting in the loss of business opportunities for the Philippine halal trade.
Meanwhile, the DOST’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) is developing and studying the effects of irradiated carrageenan (seaweed) and chitosan (shrimp shells) to promote the growth of crops.
Alumanda dela Rosa, PNRI director, explains that carrageenan and chitosan that undergo radiation to make their molecules smaller are found to be effective plant growth promoters that stimulate flowering, promote the uptake of nutrients, induce resistance against pests and diseases and have no harmful effects on soil, water and air.
In an experiment, Dela Rosa shares that mung beans ( munggo) grew to as much as 300 percent and 190 percent in length when applied with irradiated carrageenan and chitosan, respectively.
Peanuts, meanwhile, grew to 345 percent and 250 percent when applied with irradiated carrageenan and chitosan, respectively, she adds.
With all their ongoing projects, the DOST is effectively taking science out of the laboratory and into the fields.