At the recently concluded WESVARRDEC’s 20th Regional Symposium on Research and Development Highlights (RSRDH), research projects on lemongrass (tanglad) tea concoctions by the Central Philippine University (CPU), ampalaya’s antibacterial properties by UNO-R, and the production of the darag native chicken by the West Visayas State University (WVSU) reaped the top prizes.
Hosted by the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos in Bacolod City, the RSRDH had a panel of evaluators led by former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Angel Alcala.
In competition were 23 research projects selected by the consortium from among its 28 partner member agencies across the Western Visayas Region.
CPU’s “Antioxidant activity and citral content of different tea preparations of the above-ground parts of lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citratus Stapf.)” authored by Mizpah C. Villalobos ranked first in the research category. UNO-R’s “Ampalaya (Momordica charantia):
Its antibacterial effects on Staphylococcus Aureus and toxicity to Poecilia Reticulata” undertaken by Robert John Lamis and Ronnie Gicana was awarded second. For this year’s edition of the RSRDH, the rest of the papers did not qualify for the third place.
For the development category, WVSU’s “Production of improved day-old and hardened Philippine native (Darag) chicks” undertaken by Evelyn Tomambo, Bernabe Cocjin, George Fredrick Roxas, Celma G. Casiple, and Ray Arenga clinched the top prize and emerged as the sole winner.
For the poster category, the winners were: “Physical characteristics of the male native darag chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) at different age levels” by Francis Dalipe, Cecilia Reyes, Elsa Abayon and Danilo Abayon of the Aklan State University, first place; “Vulnerability assessment of Bago River Watershed” by Conrado Marquez, Neil Gigare, Alberto Victorino Perez, and Crispin David Castro of DENR Region 6, second; and “Effect of fruit maturity and methods of drying on the germination and seedling growth of physic nut (Jatropha Curcas L.)” by Federito D. Launio, Geronimo L. Gregorio, and Ricardo Lavado of the Capiz State University, third.
Aside from Alcala, the winners in the research category were selected by a panel that included Director Luz Firmalino of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD’s) Management Information Systems Division (MISD); Dr. Synan Baguio, assistant director of the Livestock Division of PCARRD; and Dr. Rolando Labios of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research.
On the other hand, the development category evaluation panel included Engr. Raul Alamban of PCARRD, Engr. ries Roda Romallosa of the CPU College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Science, Prof. Hope Patricio of CPU and Dr. Rosalie Arcala-Hall of UP Visayas.
For the poster competition, entries were evaluated by Engr. Igmedio Tabianan, provincial agriculturist of Negros Occidental; Mr. George Talam of the Sugar Regulatory Administration and Mr. Dennis Penuela of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist Negros Occidental.
According to PCARRD-MISD Director Firmalino, WESVARRDEC’s winning papers displayed improvement and have to be beefed up so as to render a healthy competition at the National Symposium on Agriculture and Resources Research and Development, which be held on November 10 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.
Echoing this concern, WESVARRDEC Director Joseph Edward Idemne concluded, saying—“we are open to always for improvement”. (Niño S Manaog, WESVARRDEC-RAC staff S&T Media Service)
