Agriculture Business Week

A multi-purpose processing machine that performs the functions of a crusher, juice extractor and a mill was awarded Most Outstanding—Invention (Tuklas Award) and the WIPM Gold Medal and Certificate Award during the 2009 National Invention Contest awarding ceremonies held last November 20 at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City.

The research team, which is based in the Polangui Campus of Bicol University in Albay, is composed of Engr. Arnulfo Malinis, Engr. Eleanor Balute, Engr. Estrella Calpe and Engr. Herminigildo Lizano. In addition to a plaque, medal and certificate, the team took home P150,000 cash prize.

Malinis explained that the development of such machine helps address the need for appropriate postharvest processing facility for agricultural products in the countryside to enable farmers to add value to their produce and make it possible to sell these products at higher prices.

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The Land Bank of the Philippines(Landbank) recently signed memorandum of agreement with the Departmentof Agrarian Reform, through its Agraran Reform Communities Project 2 DAR-ARCP2) for the implemenation of the Agri-enterprise Credit iand Agrifinance Service (agri-Cash) project.

The project aims to provide finanial services to agri-based enterprises in Agrarian Reform Commmities (ARCs) through selected ountryside financial institutions, ARC cooperatives, Landbank-assisted cooperatives, and other lending conduits.

Through the agri-Cash, Landbank and the DAR intend to release up to P198 million in loans to target ARCP 2 clients from 2009 to 2012. The project likewise aims to mobilize savings and generate share capital totalling P33 million for the three-year period.

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We just got an email from Leo Fernandez from the US bewailing the proliferation of Philippine food products being copied mostly by Thailand, Taiwan and other countries. He said they copy even the designs of food packaging and some have even Filipino words in them.

He writes that most copied are the Sinigang Mix, Adobo Mix, Menudo Mix and others. “I discovered them to be made in those countries as the manufacturing label says so. Naisahan na tayo dito! Pero their prices are more competitive.”

Leo suggests that Filipino exporters should improve their food packaging. “After several decades we still use the old recycled bottles of La Tondena for our patis, suka, soy sauce, bagoong and other various food condiments. Can we not improve and do better? We look pathetically poor compared to the new vibrant packaging everybody else has!”

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A visit to this country leisure complex will make you truly appreciate the magical wonder of garden living.

For several years now, the bed and breakfast cum country leisure complex that is Sonya’s Garden has been attracting a growing list of local and foreign tourists. Aside from its healthy gustatory delights and world-class lodgings, the English-inspired garden is worth the visit especially to all veggies, herb and flower enthusiasts who want to experience the unique joy of seeing the natural beauty of “green living.” Here, weeds, herbs and a profuse display of tropical plants and flowers grow in wild abandon.

There are blue and pink hydrangea, orange dumbia, cattails, giant sunflowers, white Peruvian poinsettia and 40 other varieties blooming amidst gazebos, hammocks and antique benches.

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Although there are more than 400 earthworm species in the country, only a few are efficient for vermicomposting

Earthworms are beneficial soil invertebrates that play an important role in conserving soil and enhancing its fertility. By digesting organic matter, earthworms produce castings that are rich in humus and friendly microbes.

The culture of earthworms or vermiculture is an old industry that began in the United States for the production of worms as fish baits. Its use for the production of organic fertilizer (vermicompost) and for waste management started only in the 1950s.

In the Philippines, vermiculture was introduced in the late 1970s. Although there are more than 400 earthworm species in the country, only a few are efficient for vermicomposting. The “African night crawler” (ANC), an epigeic species (surface-dwelling) is considered the most suitable for the tropics. It was brought into the country by this author in 1982 through a colleague in Germany. After extensive studies, the ANC is now widely cultured in the Philippines for vermicompost and vermimeal (earthworm meal) production.

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One person died and at least 400 more were infected with anthrax after unintentionally eating infected carabao meat in Cagayan province recently, a provincial health officer disclosed to the ABS-CBN News (March 2, 2010).

Dr. Danilo Alonzo, Cagayan provincial health chief, said the fatality was the first case of anthrax they recorded in Lasam town. He said the man died of a heart attack, which they suspect was aggravated by the effects of the anthrax disease.

“The first case was recorded in a hospital in Lasam. He died [of a heart disease], but the doctor saw blisters and the man had skin infections,” Alonzo revealed, adding that these are signs of an anthrax infection.

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If pundits say public policy must strike a balance between the pursuit of economic goals and protection of the environment, it is therefore a must to invest in technologies related to climate change.

Perhaps aside from the word “love” and terms like “developmental agenda,” the words “climate change” is already beginning to be one of the most abused terms in the English language. So much so that it is already starting to sound like a cliche in daily conversations. But the truth is, whether it’s abused or a cliché, we cannot escape the fact that the continuous changes in weather patterns is one thing that we all have to take seriously. We either do something about it or we perish. Complacency is not an option if we want to survive as members of the human race.

Centuries of abuse and neglect in our natural resources have already taken its toll in our dying planet. The recent aftermath of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” which caused billions of pesos worth of damage to our agricultural sector is a concrete manifestation of this, not to mention the thousands of lives lost. We can develop new breeds of plants and animals, build roads and bridges, discover new farming methods and improve our food processing and marketing systems, but without addressing the issues of climate change, everything that we have worked on to improve our quality of life will go to naught. As mortals, we will always be at the mercy of Mother Nature.

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The lack of sustainable raw materials is one of the biggest problems stifling the growth of the country’s forest-based furniture and handicrafts industries. Despite this, however, the sector can still count itself fortunate.

The Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), an agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), is doing its best to help these two industries find new raw materials to substitute for traditional but less available ones.

According to FPRDI Officer-in-Charge Felix B.Tamolang, “One of FPRDI’s core commitments is to widen the raw material base of the forest-based furniture and handicrafts industries thru pro-active research. The Institute understands how much of a headache the raw material problem can be, especially for exporters. While imported lumber is available in the market, it is usually priced beyond the reach of many SMEs.”

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Every parent knows that getting their children to eat rice is a daily struggle, especially in this present-day fast junk food culture. At home, how happy they are when their children rush to the table, full of energy, and eager to eat rice without grumbling. These days are rare in most households, especially when what is served to children is an unfamiliar staple. What? Brown rice?

Author Chat Garrido-Ocampo, in her latest children’s book “Popong Eats Brown Rice”, raises this challenge within a 24-page fully illustrated framework in much the same way that the main character finally discovered the value of eating rice—thanks to the rice prince—in the first book, Popong Eats His Rice.

Now accustomed to eating well-polished white rice and excited about eating his lola’s yummy kakanin, Popong finds himself again in a bind, that of eating something unfamiliar to his palate. What happens when a child do not eat brown rice?

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A multi-tasker Secretary Yap has an immediate grasp of the situation and his ability to decide immediately makes a difference in governance. He is not afraid to make decisions because he understands what is needed in a given situation.

As a volunteer in the Department of Agriculture for the past thirty-three (33) years, I see Secretaries come and go. The rigodon sometimes happens fast, sometimes slow. Each Secretary has his own attribute and capabilities. Two things set Secretary Yap apart. He is very young, the youngest in fact and a true workalcoholic. I used to say in the past that another government department works too kms. per hour but DA works 4o kms. per hour. This is the mismatch. Now the opposite is true. A work ethic heretofore never happened, fast and efficient service seems to be norm. The pace of work changed. And all beneficiaries of DA are of course happy, ecstatic in fact.

A multi-tasker Secretary Yap has an immediate grasp of the situation and his ability to decide immediately makes a difference in governance. He is not afraid to make decisions because he understands what is needed in a given situation.

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Arthur Yap’s “The Art of Agribusiness” is a beehive of engaging stories about people who surmounted the odds.

Through the years that we’ve been working and mingling with people in agribusiness, entrepreneurship has always been viewed as a seemingly far-fetched, unattainable concept. We’ve always heard people say, “yes we want to be entrepreneurs, but we just don’t have the business knack.” Or “we don’t have the capital” and the oft repeated phrase: “it’s too risky.” And while we listen to these doubtful and fearful voices, we can’t help but wonder: maybe entrepreneurship sounds too esoteric and academic, that’s why it hasn’t gained that much following.

The dictionary defines an entrepreneur as “a person who organizes and manages an enterprise, especially a business usually with considerable initiative and risk.” The operative words are clear: organize, manage, initiative and risk. This means being an entrepreneur is not manna from heaven but is something that someone works on diligently—usually from scratch. And while a business degree or an MBA from reputable schools can definitely help in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship, our experiences tell us that it is not a guarantee for success, as we have seen countless men and women who never went to school but relied on large doses of common sense, street-smart attitude, networking and guts to succeed in their entrepreneurial endeavors.

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Divisoria, the market that never sleeps, continues to be the major drop-off point of major agricultural goods coming from all parts of the country

All year round, all roads lead to Divisoria, Metro Manila’s cheapest, rowdiest, largest flea market where practically everything under the vast commercial sun can be haggled, bargained, sold and purchased. For years, social observers, economists and pop culture scholars continue to be in awe at how this vast market district, which encompasses three parts of Manila—Binondo, Tondo and San Nicolas has remained an organized chaos and an enduring Mecca of value shopping. Pundits say if you want to capture the real soul of Filipino culture, Divisoria is the place to be. If Bangkok boasts of a Pratunam and Chatuchak markets, Hong Kong has its own Mongkok and Beijing has a Panjivayan district, the Philippines’ Divisoria encapsulates the Filipinos’ schizoid lives and carefree, survival spirit. The market that never sleeps has been described as rowdy, festive, colorful, resilient.

In Divisoria, market forces work and swing in different ways. Negotiations go from the most decent to the shadiest. Biddings are done in secret whispers. Deals worth hundreds of thousands or even millions can be closed without contracts or receipts—just word of honor. And still, traders, wholesalers, viajeros down to the consumers go home happy and satisfied, unless one gets victimized by a pickpocket or gets robbed and traumatized in the process. But that’s a different story. The thing is, one should go to Divisoria with a street smart attitude, for it’s a tough world out there.

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Federico’s Bignay Wine from Victorias City in Negros Occidental bagged the top prize in the Best Bignay Wine category of the Tropical Wine Competition hosted by the Department of Science and Technology South Luzon Cluster on November 11, 2009 at SM City Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.

Federico’s Bignay Wine bested six other finalists in its category which drew entries from several regions in the country. Dielle’s Bignay Wine from National Capital Region and Goyena’s Bignay Wine from CALABARZON placed second and third, respectively.

Federico’s Bignay Wine is produced by Federico’s Island Wine which produces all-natural and organic wines made from wild berries. This bignay wine has a rich, fruity flavor and aroma. It is clear and dark plum in appearance and has 13 percent alcohol content achieved through natural fermentation.

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Egg Incubator :

Egg Sorter :

Egg Machines by Abellar Equipment :

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