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[av_heading heading=’ URBAN FARMER ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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Friday, October 20, 2017
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BAMBOO has made a significant contribution in generating foreign exchange and rural employment â being the closest substitute to wood, not only in the country but worldwide.
However, the bamboo industry is confronted with different problems and challenges.
There is great possibility that the haste in replacing wood with bamboo can lead to overharvesting, material wastage, and other unsustainable practices.
To counteract these negative effects, the Forestry and Environment Research Division (FERD) of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD-DOST) recently conducted a five-day training-workshop on sustainable small and medium-scale bamboo enterprises for the green economy.
It aims to improve the participantsâ ability to operate the whole business of producing, harvesting, processing, and marketing bamboo, and its derived products while sustaining both resources and the concerned enterprise.
Serving as overall training coordinator, Dr. Ramon A. Razal of College of Forestry and Natural Resources of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (CFNR-UPLB) conceptualized and facilitated the training-workshop.
Prof. Rosalie C. Mendoza of CFNR-UPLB, on the other hand, assisted Razal in facilitating the training-workshop with over 33 participants from different state universities and colleges and government agencies nationwide.
According to Razal, every function in the bamboo value chain must operate like a business to ensure that investments made are recovered and the actors engaged in them benefit economically.
As part of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the project entitled âDevelopment of Strategies for Propagule and Shoot Production of Three Bamboo Species,â FERD recently conducted a two-day site visit at the Pampanga State Agricultural University (PSAU) in Magalang, Pampanga.
FERD Director Leila C. America led the M&E team composed of Dr. Nimfa K. Torreta, PCAARRD Industry Strategic S&T Program Manager for Bamboo and Biodiversity, and FERD staff Eirene Grace C. Zaragoza.
Spearheaded by PSAU President Honorio M. Soriano, Jr., the project aims to determine the best method of propagating bamboo propagules to achieve an increased survival rate of propagules from 50 percent to 70 percent, and increased bamboo shoot production from 6-7 to 10 shoots per clump per year.
Initial results during the M&E provided the following information:
The month of collecting branch cuttings for propagules greatly influenced the percentage survival regardless of the species. Across species, the highest survival rate of propagules was in April;
In terms of number of nodes in branch cuttings, results showed that the two-node cutting is better;
Marcotted branches had difficulty in producing roots even after five months from marcotting, particularly for bolo and giant bamboo;
With regards to storage practices for primary processing of newly harvested shoots, wrapping sheathed kawayan tinik bamboo shoots with paper towel and cling wrap before refrigeration minimized weight loss and obtained the highest percentage of recovery of edible portion compared with those wrapped only with paper towel or cling wrap.
Currently, the project is on its second year of implementation.
The project team will continue to observe and generate different strategies for improving propagule and shoot production. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
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