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Archives
April 1-15, 2000
Pest management info database now accessible
by Thea Kristina M. Pabuayon
The Asian region produces most of the
world supply of agricultural products. The increasing
world population necessitates the continuous production
of food. Farmers face up to this challenge of food provision.
But often, there are impediments to farming -environmental
factors, inadequate farming technologies and pests.
Immediate action has been initiated to fight this none
man-made enemy. The Bureau of Agricultural Research
(BAR) and SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study
and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) have joined forces
to protect our resources from pests and diseases.
The ASEAN Integrated Pest Management Knowledge
Network (ASEAN IPM), created in 1998, is one such initiative.
An electronic, Internet-like, wide area network, IPM
is composed of ASEAN member-countries and serves as
a bank of the vast collection of IPM knowledge capital
to be reused and shared by national IPM programs in
the region.
The ASEAN IPM has established a Regional
IPM Knowledge Center and country hubs that organize
and consolidate all IPM knowledge capital for human
resource development and policy advocacy programs in
the region. Its mission is to assist government and
non-government organizations in improving the effectiveness
of IPM program implementation by making IPM knowledge
accessible among national IPM programs in ASEAN.
The project management of the ASEAN IPM
is categorized into three major functions: knowledge
management; program development support; and program
clientele services.
Under its Knowledge Management Activities,
the ASEAN IPM established its Regional Center at SEARCA
in the Philippines and Country Knowledge Hubs in five
countries, namely Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia,
Thailand, and Vietnam. The Regional Center acts as the
Database and Network Administrator. It implements the
knowledge management strategy and the regional standards
of the network. While the Country Knowledge Hubs gather
and collect available IPM practices in their respective
countries. The data are then submitted to the Regional
Center. Database and operating systems have been installed
have been installed in each of the countries who all
have Intranet and Internet accesses. In August 1999,
the ASEAN IPM Web Page was launched.
Three regional workshops have been conducted
by the ASEAN Regional Center. These included the Regional
Planning Workshop (June 1998), the Regional Technical
Workshop (July 1999), and an On-site Training Workshop
(March-April 2000).
Under its Program Development Support
Activities, the ASEAN IPM developed the IPM curricula.
Training manuals and handbooks were made. Furthermore,
work shops and symposia have been held, such as the
National Program Management Conference of the Philippine
IPM Program held in Surigao City on 21-23 September
1999, the Technical Training and Planning Workshop,
and Training on IPM of Rice in Malaysia held on 17-28
October 1999. Project specialists of the center participated
these events.
As part of IPM Policy and Program Advocacy,
the ASEAN IPM collaborated with PMForum, SEARCA, the
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR),
and the FAO Programme for Community IPM in Asia in the
conduct of an NGO-GO Dialogue on IPM in Asia. This was
held in the Philippines on 29 November to 5 December
1999.
In accordance with its Program Clientele
Activities, the ASEAN IPM Regional Center's physical
library currently holds more than 4,500 hard copies
and over 4,000 documents in database electronic format
which includes a wide range of literature on plant protection
and pest disease management. Catalogue library procedures
and standards have also been developed based on the
ASEAN IPM database standards. 
April 1-15 2000 Articles: ::
2001 budget proposals for R&D reviewed
::
Corn sector: strategies towards global competitiveness
::
Fishermen empowerment through coops development
::
Pest management info database now accessible
::
Public info campaign on GMOs launched
::
The call to improve fertility of acidic soil
::: More April 2000 articles :::
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