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Archives
April 1-15, 2002
National team leaders plan for their networks
by Maria Rowena S.A. Briones
The team leaders of research, development
and extension (RDE) networks for each commodity and
discipline plan and orchestrate research programs, and
delegate and monitor research efforts and functions.
This is a part of a series that features
the plans, goals, and challenges faced by the National
Team Leaders (NTLs) of the 21 RDE networks so that the
public may know what the NTLs hope to achieve. This
article is culled from my interviews with them.
 Mr.
Ceferino Baniqued
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
We hope we can have funding from international agencies
so that we can augment our network funds. We are preparing
a proposal for the United Nations Development Program
to fund our project on conservation of our indigenous
plant genetic resources.
We have requested the Food and Agriculture
Organization to fund the training of the staff of DA
research centers all over the country on how to conduct
inventory and collection of our plant genetic resources
(PGR). We hope the Philippines can be the lead country
in the conduct of such trainings in Southeast Asia.
Presently, there are 25 research stations
actively collecting PGR in their areas. We hope we can
provide for the needs of these research stations while
they are doing the collection and inventory.
The network is composed of BPI agencies
and DA research centers all over the country. We are
also working with our agricultural state colleges and
universities. It is important that we work on strengthening
the network by holding a meeting at least twice a year
and releasing a monthly newsletter. This can help us
form a healthy working relationship with each other.
The meetings are necessary avenues for discussion and
presentation of the results of our activities, in this
case, the PGR inventory that we are doing.
We hope to finish our nationwide inventory
this year. The inventory will help our plant breeders
in accessing good qualities of plants such as resistance
to pests and disease, drought, and acidity.
We are renovating the Plant Genetic Resources
Laboratory in UP Los Banos to house the PGR collections
that we are able to gather. The Bureau of Plant Industry
is in charge of the documentation of the collections.
We hope that we can improve our capability as the host
agency.
We are facing an enormous challenge of
retrieving our indigenous plant species that have been
pirated from us by foreign countries. We also have to
replenish and rehabilitate our plant species especially
those under the threat of extinction.
We really need money for training the
people who will handle the collection and inventory
of our PGR. We also hope to provide their stations with
computers so they can be linked together through the
use information technology.
But I am glad that even if we do not have
enough funds for the projects we have in mind, the network
members have a healthy working relationship with each
other. I guess this is the most important thing before
the network will be able to achieve anything.
Ms. Cecilia
Gloria Soriano
Fiber Crops
 This
year, we intend to visit all the sites of our high impact
projects and collaborate with other agencies especially
those in Mindanao. Two of our high-impact projects are
slated to be concluded this year. One is on the mechanization
of the extraction and twining of fibers. The other focuses
on the genetics of fiber crops-tissue culture, DNA finger
printing, and disease indexing.
In November, we will hold the "Abaca
Congress". This is the avenue for us to assess
how we have addressed the problems of the industry through
the years. We will identify the most pressing problems
and pool our resources to really address this effectively
and efficiently next year.
The abaca industry is performing well,
in the sense that it is stable. We expect the industry
to remain stable in the next five years. However, the
industry could do better if they can increase their
productivity levels, improve their planting materials
and disease management. The thrusts of the network address
these needs.
We try to accommodate the concerns of
the whole industry. But with the limited funds that
we have, we can only do so much. It is a challenge for
us to bring everyone's efforts together. I hope that
our system for funds allocation will be truly rationalized.
We also need to have clear mechanisms for the networking
that we do.
On our part, we need to improve our linkages
with other networks especially with the agricultural
engineering and biotechnology networks. I hope we can
sustain the efforts that we have started.
I am happy that we help each other and
we have a strong camaraderie. Our respect for each other
is there. Even if our pace is slow, we are able to give
our best. Slowly but surely, we will do everything in
the best of our capabilities to achieve the vision of
the network. (To be continued) 
April 1-15 2002 Articles: ::
"Develop a culture of excellence To be globally competitive"-Ponce
::
1st nat'l confab on capture
fisheries; call for papers
::
National team leaders plan for their networks
::
Region 7 researchers' capability strengthened
:: Project gets nod from external review team
::
Prune and have more fruits
::
A cheap way to fatten lapu-lapu
::
All about Bt corn
::
SEARCA invites media to GMO workshop
::: More April 2002 articles :::
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