latest

NEWS & EVENTS

Feb 19, 2024

DA-BAR conducts PCR Review for 2023; prepares plans and budget for 2025

The DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) conducted its 2023 2nd Semester and Annual Performance Commitment and Review (PCR) Assessment Workshop cum 2025 Plan and Budget Workshop for Research for Development (R4D) Grant on 12-16 February 2024 at DAP Conference Center, Tagaytay City, Cavite. Assistant director Joell H. Lales, chairperson of the Performance Management Team (PMT), led the discussion along with other PMT members present during the activity. Division/Unit heads and report officers across all DA-BAR implementing units presented a summary of their 2023 2nd semester and annual performance in terms of physical and financial accomplishments, including challenges encountered and actions taken in line with program and project management.DA-BAR director Junel B. Soriano, in his message, underscored the need to ensure that PAPs are aligned with the directives of the Department Secretary as well as other higher plans such as the Philippine Development Plan, National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan, among others. Further to this, he encouraged bureau staff to revisit the bureau’s R4DE impact pathway as part of the DA-BAR’s direction towards achieving the sectoral goals (from technology development up to impact assessment).Following the PCR Assessment, Division heads from the bureau’s three technical divisions as well as BAR R4D teams presented the proposed 2025 line-up of programs, activities and projects, relative to the preparations of the bureau for its 2025 Plan and Budget Proposal.

newsevent

Mar 06, 2023

WE are all important -Lales during the 2023 NWM kick-off ceremony

“WE are all important. Kailangan lang equally mabigyan ng recognition,” said OIC-director Joell H. Lales during the kick-off ceremony of the 2023 National Women’s Month (NWM) celebration at DA-BAR, Quezon City on 6 March.On 8 March, the Women’s Month exhibit featuring the women-partners of DA-BAR funded programs and projects, as well as the HERbook, an interactive board where staff can share their thoughts on this year’s NWM celebration, was launched.This year’s theme, WE for gender equality and inclusive society, focused on how all genders should work together to attain this goal. This will be the new recurring theme for 2023-2028 set by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) which banked on the gains achieved during the 2016-2022 theme, WE Make CHANGE Work for Women, which emphasized the need for compassionate and harmonized networks toward gender equality and women’s empowerment.As such, during the exhibit launch, DA-BAR assistant director Dr. Anthony B. Obligado affirmed the bureau’s commitment to ensure that its stakeholders, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE), will benefit from the research for development advancements in the agriculture and fisheries sector. “The bureau remains steadfast in its commitment to provide equal opportunities to the agriculture and fisheries R4D sector by supporting programs, projects, and activities that will empower our stakeholders with research-based information, knowledge, and technologies,” said Dr. Obligado.He also asserted the bureau’s continuous efforts to make the office a gender sensitive community.“As a nation, our fight for a gender equal and inclusive society has a long way to go. While we are trying to dismantle the, hopefully disintegrating, sexist and patriarchal hegemony, the bureau is also committed to providing a conducive and safe space for its staff to unlearn, learn, and relearn knowledge and attitudes on gender equality,” he added.He also reminded everyone that, “The celebration of women’s month is not just about the achievements and contributions of women in the society but also about the fight for equal rights and opportunities for every person regardless of their SOGIE.”The DA-BAR Gender and Development Focal Point System prepared other activities which include the online seminar for stakeholders titled, Corn Open-Pollinated Varieties and the Women behind Café Bagga, on 16 March; as well as two seminars for staff titled, Gender Sensitivity in the Workplace, and Gender-responsive Agriculture and Fisheries Research, on 21 March. Staff were also invited to join the #PurpleWednesdays by wearing purple shirts in support of the PCW campaign.

newsevent

Mar 08, 2023

DA-Davao Region, DA-BAR launch coconut-based farming system in Paquibato District

The DA-Davao Region launched a new DA-BAR supported R4D project titled, Establishment of Coconut-based Farming System towards Technology Adoption in Paquibato District, Davao City on 8 March 2023. With the objective of improving the production of old coconut, cacao, and Cardaba banana, the DA-Davao Region shall rehabilitate said commodities through appropriate nutrient and cultural management, and pest and diseases control.This will also allow the farmers to create a viable livelihood with swine and vegetable production, hence increase income and enhance quality of life in a span of 5 to 10 years after project completion.The project also aims to strengthen and capacitate farmer-beneficiaries to ensure the sustainability of cacao and banana rehabilitation through hands-on training and seminars. “Tuloy-tuloy ang project na ito. Magiging maganda ang Cardaba at cacao. Mare-rehab din ang mga coconut farms,” said project leader Grace P. Gutierrez.“We conducted participatory action research to identify the needs of our farmers…Hiningi ito ng mga farmers and from our team– we crafted it into a proposal for funding of DA-BAR,” she added. She also emphasized that the team will focus more on technology intervention, as well as its marketing strategies.Meanwhile, during the program, DA-Davao Region Research Division chief Melani A. Provido inspired the guests and participants. “I hope we will not be discouraged because every day there is hope and optimism,” she said while ensuring farmers that the technology has gone through a series of assessments and research for it to be sustainable.The selected members of the Malabog-Fatima Integrated Farmers’ Association, serving as partner-beneficiaries, received farming supplies such as organic fertilizers, seeds, equipment, and planting materials to start-off technology intervention in coconut farming. Attending the event were DA-Davao Region officials, DA-BAR team spearheaded by Research Coordination Division acting-assistant head Amavel A. Velasco and local government unit representatives, and identified farmer-beneficiaries.“DA-BAR has funded the project to support the needs of our farmer-partners, [we] hope for the success of your future endeavors,” said Velasco during the closing ceremony. She also emphasized that DA-BAR is a research-coordinating agency supporting the R4D initiatives in the agricultural sector in the Philippines.

newsevent

Mar 08, 2023

Establishing edible landscaping demo gardens for community food self-sufficiency

Attaining food self-sufficiency in the communities through urban and peri-urban agriculture is now made beautiful and sexier with the introduction of the Edible Landscaping Technology through a project being implemented by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Edible Landscaping (UPLB-EL) Team.In a simple ceremony on 8 March 2023 at the DA-Bicol Region Office, Pili, Camarines Sur, the UPLB EL Team turned over an EL demo garden to the regional office to inspire and train nearby communities on EL garden management. DA-Bicol Region Field Operations Division chief Dr. Mary Grace DP. Rodriguez, in her welcome remarks, said that the DA-Bicol edible landscaping before is just like a simple natad or bakuran (backyard), but because of the EL project, there’s so much improvement. This is one of the ways to make agriculture sexy as what Governor Rex Lagman encourages his constituents. Funded by the DA-BAR, the project titled “Enhancing Regional Capacities on Urban Agriculture towards Nutrition-sensitive Crop Production through Edible Landscaping” led by Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. will also enable the establishment of demo gardens in DA-Cagayan Valley and MIMAROPA to capacitate DA regional offices and ultimately the local communities on edible landscaping.As partner agency, DA-BAR OIC-director Joell Lales underscored the importance of propagating the EL gardens to as many communities as it possibly can and sustain these kinds of initiatives to benefit more people in the community, further intensifying UPLB EL team’s efforts to promote the adoption of the EL technology throughout the country.“To innovate the traditional landscaping toward a pursuit that generates more social impact and benefit by combining aesthetics with that of complementing food security at the level of communities and focusing on urban and peri urban settings, ay napakaganda. But I think the more important thing that we need to pursue beyond setting up of demo gardens is to really open this kind of opportunities to our communities to learn, kailangan talaga i-propagate natin, i-sustain para mas maraming makinabang sa ating mga kakomunidad.” said OIC-director Lales.In his acceptance speech, DA-Bicol Region regional executive director Rodel Tornilla said that edible landscaping can result in four things: aesthetics, functionality, health and wellness and self-sufficiency.“Please be assured that we will work on this project so that it will become successful and sustainable, that more households, local government units and institutions will benefit from it in the near future and in the long run,” director Tornilla remarked.The DA-BAR team also visited Dolor’s Serenity Integrated Farm, a backyard edible garden owned by couple Jose and Myrna Dolor who adopted the EL technology giving them vegetable harvests more than enough for their daily needs. Dolor is the project leader of Pacul Magsasaka Prime Community in Naga City, a coop beneficiary of EL technology.“Bukod po sa pang araw-araw naming pagkain, naibebenta rin po namin ang sobrang ani namin. Minsan nakakabenta kami ng humigit kumulang sa PhP 500 sa isang araw mula sa ani naming ampalaya, sitaw, talong at kamatis, kasama na po yung tilapia sa fishpond,” Dolor shared.The couple has a tilapia pond below their makeshift plant nursery beside their edible landscape garden. 

newsevent

Mar 01, 2023

DA, DILG launch HAPAG KAY PBBM to address food security in barangays

Philippine President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the Interior and Local Government Secretary Atty. Benjamin C. Abalos led the launching and ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of the Halina't Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay Kadiwa'y Yaman Plants for Bountiful Barangays Movement (HAPAG KAY PBBM) program on 1 March 2023 at the Open-Air Auditorium, Rizal Park, Manila.Anchored on fulfilling the administration’s thrust to address hunger and achieve food security in the country, the HAPAG KAY PBBM merges the Department of Interior and Local Government’s HAPAG sa Barangay project and the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Green Revolution 2.0: Plants for Bountiful Barangays Movement.“As this initiative consolidates the program of these two agencies in urban agriculture, I am confident that we will further increase our capacity to take part in our goal to address poverty and ensure food security and protect the environment even at the barangay level,” President Marcos Jr. underscored.Further, DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban emphasized how the program shall strengthen the capacities of barangays in increasing access to fresh, safe, and affordable produce through household and community gardening.“The department, through this movement, seeks to turn communities into patches of green edible landscapes and improve the nutrition of the Filipinos,” he added.The newly launched program promotes adoption of sustainable urban agricultural technologies such as aeroponics, aquaponics, container gardening, hydroponics, square-foot gardening, and vertical gardening in urban and peri-urban areas. Two of the said technologies are showcased through the exhibited Edible Landscaping Garden supported under a DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research-funded project. Officials and staff of the DA- BAR, led by OIC-director Joell H. Lales, and other DA attached agencies and staff bureaus, local government units, state universities and colleges, and private sector representatives showed support and participation in the launching activities

newsevent

Mar 09, 2023

Gov’t agencies forge ties for agricultural heritage systems

The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) signed a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) recognizing and confirming Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS) at Luxent Hotel in Quezon City on 10 March 2023.NIAHS is a concept adapted from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, which seeks to protect agricultural heritage systems — including its associated landscapes, biodiversity and knowledge systems — using a dynamic conservation approach. Currently, the Philippines has only one declared GIAHS site, the Ifugao rice terraces. The country committed in the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP) to declare at least 10 NIAHS by 2028. The JMC provides the means to recognize these systems and covers the incentives and benefits that will be provided to communities and municipalities to support their initiatives to protect and conserve their NIAHS. The said JMC was crafted through the project titled, Dynamic conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity in traditional agro-ecosystems of the Philippines also known as the Agrobiodiversity Project, which was funded by Global Environment Facility grant and collaboratively implemented by FAO and the DA-BAR. Representing DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, assistant secretary for Regulations Atty. Paz Benavidez II officiated the signing ceremony together with DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau-Caves, Wetlands, and other Ecosystems division chief Anson Tagtag, NCIP chairperson Allen Capuyan, and NCCA executive director Oscar Casaysay. “This important measure grants the government both the authority to make early identification of these [agricultural heritage] systems and the means to act quickly and thoroughly to save them from extinction,” Asec. Benavidez, on behalf of Agriculture Senior Usec. Panganiban, said in the opening remarks.Being the former Lead Policy specialist and consultant of the Agrobiodiversity project, Asec. Benavidez also thanked the partner agencies for their collaboration in the development and finalization of the said JMC.FAO Representative in the Philippines Lionel Dabbadie and DA-BAR OIC-director Joell Lales served as witnesses during the ceremony.“The recognition and confirmation of NIAHS are crucial for our mitigation and adaptation measures to combat climate change. The NIAHS is all about adaptation to reduce climate risk while providing viable options and solutions for residing communities to sustain their livelihood and improving their indigenous knowledge practices,” DA-BAR OIC-director Lales said.FAO Representative Dabbadie, in his message, underscored the need to recognize both the natural and man-made threats that impact agrobiodiversity and the importance of dynamic conservation in ensuring sustained support to the livelihood of agricultural heritage systems’ caretakers toward preventing threats such as food insecurity and poverty.He also thanked the DA, and its staff bureau, BAR, for their collaborative efforts in organizing the significant event. Local communities through their local government units need to document, recognize, and protect their locally important agricultural heritage systems (LIAHS) in local plans before these can be recognized at the national level. To date, documentation of LIAHS started in all the pilot municipalities of the project: Hungduan and Hingyon, Ifugao and in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. The local government of Hingyon has already issued Municipal Ordinance no. 7, series of 2022 recognizing the traditional heirloom rice farming system as a LIAHS. The following criteria are considered in recognizing NIAHS:  system support to local food security and livelihoods; high biodiversity, including agrobiodiversity; involvement of indigenous agro-ecological knowledge systems and practices; wider socio-cultural system that supports the agro-ecological practices; and remarkable landscape. 