BAR TODAY || Official Quarterly Publication of the Bureau of Agricultural Research

CERDAF approves five addt'l national programs
by Thea Kristina M. Pabuayon

April-June 2001
Volume 3 No. 2

The Council for Extension, Research and Development for Agriculture and Fisheries (CERDAF) approved five National Research and Development/ Extension Agenda and Programs (NIRDEAPs) on May 28. These include NIRDEAPs of the networks on Agricultural Engineering, Soil and Water Resources, Crop Protection, Irrigation and Drainage, and Grains Postharvest. The NIRDEAPs embody the integrated thrusts and directions of each network for RDE, specifically containing programs and activities for specific commodities/discipline.

Prior to their approval by the Council, the NIRDEAPs underwent the regular review process by the Farmer/Fisherfolk-Industry Advisory Committee then by the Senior Scientist Advisory Committee.

DA Sec. Montemayor (extreme left) leads the oath taking of National Team Leaders during the CERDAF Meeting last May 28

Agricultural Engineering
The Agricultural Engineering Agenda and Programs are anchored on the National Agricultural Mechanization Plan to develop and promote appropriate agricultural engineering technologies. At present, the Philippines ranks lowest among Asian countries in terms of farm power utilization level resulting to high postharvest losses. With the Mechanization Plan, the network is now targeting to increase the current farm power level to 1.0 hp/ha in the short term, and 4.0 hp/ha in the long term.

Soil and Water Resources
The integrated RDE effort for the soil and water resources will revolve around two specific thrusts: soil conservation and management, and water conservation and management. The former will develop integrated management practices to conserve soil and improve its productive capacity, while the latter will focus on developing water conservation strategies by conducting water resources assessments, irrigation systems management, and water quality/groundwater management through watershed approach.

Crop Protection
To ensure effective pest management for a sustainable agriculture, the crop protection network will focus on these specific program areas: pest surveillance, monitoring and forecasting, management of pest outbreaks, management of quarantine pests, genetics and biotechnology in crop protection, socio-economic and environmental impact of crop protection, policy studies, alternative pesticide application systems, information and communication systems, extension approaches, and technology service delivery systems and linkages with the private sector.

Irrigation and Drainage
Studies on the status of irrigation development in the country revealed that only 29% (1.34 million ha) of the estimated potential irrigable area is irrigated. The challenge therefore is to irrigate the remaining 3.32 million ha of land. With the NIRDEAP in place, this is now possible. Specifically, the network will focus its efforts on 10 programs: aquifer characterization, surface water resources assessment and climatological characterization, identification of potentially irrigable areas, improving the performance of irrigation and drainage systems, field assessment and packaging of appropriate technologies, development of improved irrigation and drainage design criteria, water resources protection, operationalization of irrigation and drainage sub-sector monitoring and evaluation system, enhancement of institutional capability and strengthening institutional mechanisms for sustainable irrigation development, and policy issues in irrigation development.

DA Sec. Leonardo Q. Montemayor asked members of the network to schedule a meeting with UP Los Baños (UPLB) experts to discuss further the problem of high irrigation costs, and review of the current Irrigation Service Fee (ISF) and sustainability.

Grains Postharvest
For the next five years, the Grains Postharvest Agenda and Program shall prioritize the following: improved postharvest technologies and mechanization, food and feed safety and quality, food and feed protection, and emerging technologies on grain products and by-product processes. According to CERDAF members, the biggest disincentive to farmers' access to new technologies are high production cost and high interest rates of bank loans used to procure the inputs. CERDAF members therefore recommended the establishment of the Agriculture Machinery Development Program to aid farmers in accessing funds to buy various agricultural machinery.

Bureau of Agricultural Research Director Eliseo R. Ponce reiterated this and added that, government can also provide farmers with soft credit through a financing program that will allow farmers to personally purchase the equipment and machinery they need.