TWO MMSU papers on bamboo technology were adjudged first place winners in the development and research paper categories during the 19th Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC) Regional Symposium on R&D highlights held Aug. 6-7 at the Regional Educational Learning Center, City of San Fernando, La Union. 

The paper entitled “Kawayan charcoal briquette technology” got the evaluators’ nod and placed first place in the development paper category as engineer Jose A. Zafaralla, one of the researchers, presented a product developed from waste materials of bamboo processing and cornick production.   The kawayan charcoal briquette is a solid biofuel made up of unwanted bamboo poles and branches as well as trimmings and shavings from processing combined with the effluent from chichacorn processing used as binder. This technology is an output of the study “Production of kawayan (Bambusa blumeana) charcoal briquettes using chichacorn processing effluent as binder” conducted by Dr. Stanley Malab, Zafaralla, Prof. Angelina Tagay, and Prof. Beatriz Malab. 

On the other hand, the paper on “Improving productivity of unmanaged kawayan tinik plantation for poles and shoots” presented by Prof. Beatriz Malab got the highest rank in the research paper category.  The paper focuses on the so called ‘PoPeYe’ (Poles Per Year) technology which is a bamboo clump management strategy following a definite number of shoots and poles retained in a clump to ensure sustainable production of quality shoots and poles.  The technology involves the 4-4-4-4 technique which means that for every age of poles in a clump starting from one to four years old, four poles per age are left for pole production. The four-year old poles are already matured enough to be harvested. This technology was developed from the project “Improving quality and productivity of Bambusa blumeana shultes for poles and shoots” funded by the Australian Government Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and which was handled by Dr. Stanley Malab, forester Charlie Batin, Prof. Beatriz Malab, Dr. Shirley Agrupis, and Mr. Jowie Ramoran.

Aside from these awards, five others from separate categories were further garnered by MMSU.  For the research category, the papers “Collection and evaluation of mango and other fruit crops” by Prof. Gliceria Pascua, Dr. Melvilyn Leaño, and Ms. Zenaida Pugat, and the “Effect of fertilizer and tillage levels on the growth performance of major rice-based crops in rainfed lowland ecosystem of Ilocos Norte” by engineers. Dionisio Bucao and Rodel Utrera, and Ms. Ma. Concepcion Birginias both landed on the third spot.

In the poster competition (technology for dissemination category), “Dagiti barayti ti kamatis ken sitaw a para Ilocos” by Ms. Marylis Nalundasan, Ms. Aleta Dumaoal, and Mr. Rolando Ruguian placed first, while “Dagiti napasayaat a klase ti balatong a para mula ditoy Ilocos” by Mr. Fernando Sugui, Ms. Corazon Sugui, Ms. Jocelyn Bernabe, and Ms. Rucille Rasalan settled for third place. In the information for dissemination category, the poster “Alisto ken nalaka a panagpaadu iti patubo a lakatan” by Dr. Miriam Pascua, Prof. Maura Luisa Gabriel, Ms. Araceli Badar,  and Ms. Marissa Atis got the third place. 
In the undergraduate thesis category, the study on “Child labor in rice-based farming communities in Ilocos Norte” by Ms. Joyce Rallojay capured the third place.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sixto Pascua, former MMSU R&D director, received a certificate of appreciation for serving as the university representative to the Regional Technical Working Group.  He received the certificate together with past ILARRDEC officials from other member agencies.

The regional symposium is a yearly activity of ILARRDEC aimed at showcasing technologies and information generated by its member agencies.  It was attended by researchers, farmers, representatives from local government units, extension workers, and industry partners from Region I.  This year’s theme was “ILARRDEC: Empowering the countryside through RDE”.  The opening ceremony was graced by Dr. Saturnino M. Ocampo Jr., former MMSU president and ILARRDEC Regional Research and Development Coordinating Committee chair, now commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education.