Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar inaugurated two agricultural projects established inside the compound of the Cagayan Valley Research Center (CVRC) amounting to P5.4 million in total value under the Bayanihan II on May 21, 2022.
Led by the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), the first project, dubbed as “Enhanced Technology Transfer of Seed Storage Technology using Solar Power,” aims to ensure quality of seeds and increase storage longevity. The P3.36 million project made use of renewable energy to reduce the cost of maintenance and save funds that may be used for other purposes by the center.
According to CVRC Manager Rolando Pedro, a notable decrease of 60.56% in power use since the establishment of the project ensued a P29,200/month savings for the center.
The second project is the P2.04-M enhancement of production of quality planting materials through upgrading of existing greenhouse into a mega-greenhouse system.
The facility is currently being used for the production of quality plant materials for propagation, and screening of drought-tolerant selection lines. It also serves as breeding area of open-pollinated varieties of corn and peanut. Once fully operational, it will serve as grow-out area for tissue-cultured banana, fruit trees, and vegetable seedling production.
With the establishment of the greenhouse system, the center will be able to produce planting materials for Sweet Abulug Pomelo that will benefit 20,000 to 45,455 growers yearly. It will also provide vegetable seedlings annually for 800,000 to 1,000,000 households and youth for community and home-based urban gardens.
On the same day, Secretary Dar and the management of the DA – Cagayan Valley Region awarded 2000 packs of Bio-N Organic Fertilizer to the Amianon Farmers Entrepreneur Agriculture Cooperative and the Asosasyon ng mga Ama ng Syudad ng Ilagan. The Casilagan-Ballacong Irrigators’ Association also received 2000 packs of compost fungus activator.
In his message, the agri chief congratulated the management of the DA regional office for trailblazing science-based research and other technological innovations to improve the production of local farmers.
“When you are pushed to the wall, you have to bring out technologies, scale them up and promote it in a big way,” he said.
The Secretary added that technology and innovation will always be the engine of growth. ### (Adora Rodriguez, DA-AFID)
