COOPERATIVES can play a vital role in stimulating the adoption of technologies and improving the production of coffee and buffalo, while science-based evidence is also important to support policies regarding investing in the bamboo industry.
These came out following the two studies dubbed “The Role of Cooperatives in Technology Adoption for Improved Production and Market Efficiency in Dairy Buffalo and Coffee” and “Creating an Enabling Environment for a Vibrant Philippine Bamboo Industry: Addressing Policy Constraints and Information Needs” which were funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).
Results of the two studies were tackled in the recently concluded seminar series on socio-economic researches in agriculture, aquatic and natural resources (AANR) conducted in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Papers on the role of cooperatives were presented by Professor Liezel Cruz and Professor Ceptryl Mina, both of the Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-enterprise Development, College of Economics and Management (CEM), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
Based on the study, cooperatives play an important role in stimulating adoption of technology and improving production and marketing efficiencies in coffee and dairy buffalo production by linking farmers to markets, providing inputs and assisting in the development of farmers’ skills.
It also provided recommendations on how cooperatives and other rural/community-based organizations can enhance technology adoption.
While professors and researchers coming from the UPLB College of Forestry & Natural Resources (UPLB-CFNR) presented the bamboo policy research.
The paper focused on providing science-based evidence in support of a policy on environment more favorable for investing in bamboo in the Philippines.
It also provided a framework for information technology (IT)-supported infrastructure for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating bamboo-related information to the various stakeholders in the sector.
A Draft Policy Resolution, which aims to address the need for an integrated and comprehensive policy providing the impetus for bamboo sector development, was also tackled.
The three-leg seminar series was organized by DOST-PCAARRD, through the Socio-Economics Research Division (SERD) in partnership with the Socio-Economic Research and Data Analytics Centers (SERDAC), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Visayas State University (VSU), and University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP).
The seminars aimed to provide a venue for dissemination and discussion on the policy and relevant issues besetting the AANR sectors such as those addressed by the two studies.
Over 300 participants coming from the academe, government agencies such as National Economic and Development Authority, DOST, Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Agrarian Reform, Local Government Units, National Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Network, and the private sector took part in the seminar series this year.
Also present during the seminar series were Dr. Edgar Orden, CLSU Vice President (VP) for Business Affairs; Dr. Beatriz Belonias, VSU VP for Instruction; Dr. Gilbert Importante, USeP Research Director; Dr. Maria Excelsis Orden, SERDAC-Luzon Project Leader; Dr. Moises Neil Seriño, SERDAC-Visayas Project Leader; and Professor Jennifer Hinlo, SERDAC-Mindanao Project Leader./PN
