MMSU continues to etch its name in the field of research as it captured the most coveted “gold award” and seven citations in the 28th National Research Symposium (NRS) held Oct. 26-27 at the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) in Quezon City.

Authored by Shirley Agrupis, Nathaniel Ericson Mateo, Joselito Rosario, Marilou Lucas, Ami Ruth Cocson, and Fiorello Abenes, the research paper entitled “Inclusive and sustainable nipa- and village-based bioethanol industry development” bagged the gold award for the “AFMA Best R&D Paper”, beating six other finalists in the Technology Generation/Information Generation (TG/IG) category that included another paper from MMSU. Agrupis, who presented the research paper during the final evaluation, received the award and a cash prize of P100,000 aside from the P1-M research grant.

In the same event and category, the research paper of Ma. Danica Ramil and Rhian Jaymar Ramil entitled “Assessment of the value and safety of dragon fruit (Hylocereuspolyrhizus) peel for potential use as herbal supplement” was also presented as one of the finalists.

In addition to the research papers are six qualified researches that received the AFMA R&D Paper Award. The principal authors received the citation and cash awards of P10,000 that were given during the NRS opening program. The papers are: 1) Genomic DNA yield in garlic (Allium sativum L) tissues using different extraction methods by Peter James Icalla, Prima Fe Franco, and Don Carlo Batara; 2) Transforming the lowly ‘kamangeg’ (Dioscorea luzonensis) into an economically-important crop by Noralyn Legaspi, Lea Agbigay, Vina May Cabugon, and Christine Quiapo; 3) Conservation and management of traditional upland rice in Ilocos Norte by Menisa Antonio, Araceli Badar, and Illuminada Dumaoal; 4) Effect of planting dates on the productivity and yield performance of the different varieties of garlic by Leticia Lutap, Alecsis Villarin, and Marylis Nalundasan; 5) Performance of pole sitao lines in the Ilocos by Marylis Nalundasan and Aleta Dumaoal; and 6) Performance of radish accessions, Raphanus caudatus, in different planting dates and rates of organic fertilizers by Marissa Atis and Aleta Dumaoal.

The NRS, with this year’s theme “Sustainable agriculture and fisheries productivity through research and development towards food sufficiency and competitive enterprises”, is an annual competition conducted by DA-BAR that showcases the best papers on agriculture and fisheries research and development in the country. Prior to the event, researchers submitted paper abstracts in response to DA-BAR’s call for entries. In the screening process, papers that garnered an average point scores of 80 percent and above are conferred with the AFMA R&D Paper award. Those with 85 percent and above are presented orally for final judging for the top awards.