Agriculture Business Week

Following a successful tie-up with a businessman in the commercialization of bamboo charcoal briquettes, the Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC) of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) has now started to promote its bamboo technologies in the local government level to further boost bamboo production and utilization in Region I.

ILARRDEC director Dr. Stanley Malab said during PCARRD’s 37th anniversary last November that the City of Alaminos in Pangasinan is now advocating the production and utilization of bamboo in its local industries, ranging from food establishments to the tourism sector.

The project is called “Science and Technology Intervention for the Promotion and Commercialization of Engineered Bamboo: Academe, LGU Partnership Model.”

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A bamboo rehavilitation and nursery establishment seminar-workshop will be conducted by bamboo expert Romualdo Sta. Ana and the MFI Farm Business Institute (MFI-FBI) from November 26 to 29 in Jala-jala, Rizal.

The seminar comes on the heels of Sta. Ana’s bamboo presentation at the recent Agrilink trade show held at the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

Participants will be taught about the proper care and management of bamboo as a natural resource with a lot of business potential. This will be the third seminar on bamboo rehabilitation organized by MFI-FBI in the Jala-jala Farmers’ Training Center.

MFI-FBI is an operating arm of MFI Foundation, Inc. (formerly Meralco Foundation) that aims to serve as a catalyst for developing agri-entrepreneurship by filling the gap in education in the agribusiness sector.

For more information, e-mail fbi@mfi.org.ph.

Bamboo is known as the world’s tallest grass. But recently, it has received a new name, “the grass of hope.” More and more people around the world are now beginning to see bamboo in a different perspective. Although bamboo has been part of their art and culture, it was only recently that Chinese leaders took the plant seriously and are now building a massive bamboo industry.

The Philippines is following suit. “Bamboo has proven to be vital resources in terms of their contribution to the national economy and ecological stability of the country,” Environment Secretary Lito Atienza was quoted as saying.

A master plan for the development of bamboo as a renewable and sustainable resource showed that there are 39,000 hectares to 52,000 hectares of bamboo stands in forest lands, government plantation, privately-owned plantations, and natural stands all over the country. “I think during the 1930s, we have around 200,000 hectares of bamboo plantations,” revealed Romualdo Sta. Ana, president of the Philippine Bamboo Foundation.

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The World Bamboo Organization (WBO) is dedicated to promoting the use of bamboo and bamboo products for the sake of the environment and the economy. We play a crucial networking role by connecting people for useful collaborations on all things related to bamboo.

We are very excited by the great opportunity to organize the VIII World Bamboo Congress in Thailand in September, 2009. The dates will be set for 16-19 September, which coincides with the 113th Anniversary of the Royal Forest Department on the 18th of September.
This truly unique conference is the culmination of our efforts to physically unite bamboo enthusiasts and professionals from all over the world and especially throughout Thailand and south-east Asia. Since its inception in Puerto Rico in 1984, each World Bamboo Congress has convened a vast array of individuals, institutions, businesses, and decision makers, and has created new partnerships that have made a real difference for the environment and human communities around the world. The WBC in Thailand promises to be the most ambitious international bamboo event ever. It will be uniquely informative, educational, culturally and intellectually challenging. The event will highlight the state-of-the-art in bamboo science, technology and industry. It will be a forum to stimulate the dialog between researchers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, ecologists, and policy makers. It will help bridge the gap between supply and demand, need and fulfillment, producer and consumer, problem and solution.

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COMPARISON TO OTHER BIOENERGY SOURCE
Comparing the characteristics of BPW based -from the study of Dr. Malab’s team and the standard heating values of charcoal (CRH and wood waste) and briquette (common hardwood and gmelina), the following results were obtained:

BPW has higher heat value (4,997 kcal/kg) than CRH (3,000 kcal/kg) and wood charcoal (2,222 kcal/kg), and was found comparable to common hardwood briquette (5,162 kcal/kg) and gmelina briquette (4,636 kcal/kg).

In terms of ash content, BPW has 8%13%, CRH and wood charcoal both have 8%-10%, common hardwood briquette has 8.18%, and gmelina briquette has 7.32%. However, common hardwood and gmelina briquettes have higher density at 0.52 g/cc and 0.54 g/ cc, respectively than BPW which has 0.46 g/cc.

It was noted that BPW does not easily crumble. It also produces white to clear fumes and does not cause blackening of cookware’s bottom, according to Dr. Malab. He added that a kilo of BPW burns in 2.5 hours, which means that it can cook up to three regular meals.

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The dependable old kawayan (bamboo) charcoal briquette is now made better and is making waves in Ilocos, thanks to the continuous development efforts of Dr Stanley Malab and his colleagues from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Dr. Malab, the main researcher on the development of kawayan charcoal briquettes, is the director of Ilocos Agriculture Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC) and also the vice president for research, extension and agribusiness affairs of MMSU.

In a forum organized by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development recently, Dr. Malab introduced the BPW (Biomass Processing Wastes) briquette, which is a combination of bamboo wastes, carbonized rice hull (CRH), and chichacorn effluent.

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Is it possible for a previously unmanaged bamboo plantation and natural stands to improve productivity and sustainably produce quality poles and shoots.

The answer is yes, says Dr. Stanley C. Malab, a scientist and the vice president for research, extension and agribusiness affairs of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac City, Ilocos Norte.

Dr. Malab is upbeat with the results of their five-year research titled “Improving Productivity of Unmanaged Kawayan Tinik (Bambusa blumeana Schultes F.) Plantation for Poles and Shoots” which identified the optimal clump management practices necessary to improve productivity of previously unmanaged bamboo plantations as well as natural stands.

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Throughout the world, many studies on bamboo were conducted. However, many people still do not appreciate bamboo for its vegetable shoot. But for a country like the Philippines where vegetable is a major ingredient of dishes and many people are health-conscious, Filipino farmers should look into bamboo’s versatile qualities and potential as a cash crop.

Bamboo is not only a material for housing and for furniture and handicrafts, banana props, fishing, and chopsticks production. It is also a vegetable, which could generate good income for both domestic and foreign markets. Bamboo shoots contains 18 amino acids and less carbohydrates, crude fat and crude fiber which make it an ideal vegetable for people who want to lose weight.

In 1988, Caopy International, a newsletter of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB), reported in its November-December issue that bamboo’s main nutritive values seem to be associated with hematopoiesis, or the regeneration of high-energy containing compounds and improvement of protein metabolism.

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Bamboo wastes particularly the dead poles and branches from the clumps as well as the processing wastes such us trimmings and shavings, can be a very good material for making low-cost be a very good-quality charcoal briquettes used for cooking purposes.

This was learned from Dr. Stanley C. Malab, a professor and scientist at the Mariano Marcos State University and the director of Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC), both located in Batac City, Ilocos Norte.

Dr. Malab headed a research team that perfected the process of making charcoal briquettes out of bamboo wastes. What makes it more interesting is that the researchers have used effluent from the processing of “chichacorn” (boiled glutinous white corn kernels and deepfried) as binder.
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The Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in Iligan City is promoting the sustainable utilization of bamboo as a source of livelihood for the community.

MSU-IIT showcased the various ways to transform the versatile bamboo into a money-making crop at the recent ASEAN Science and Technology Week and National Science and Technology Week held at the World Trade Center-Manila in Pasay City.

According to Ma. Esperanza P. Cruz, head of the MSU-IIT’s Technology Application and Promotion Unit (TAPU), they have been conducting research and development activities on the prototyping, design development and processing of high-quality decorative bamboo products for high-end market. These are carried out through the Bamboo Technology Resource Center (BTRC) which was established in 1999 under the auspices of TAPU.

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