By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr.

Toward the development and commercialization of herbal products in Ilocos Norte, Mariano Marcos State University has started upscaling the moringa processing facility into an Herbal Processing Facility (HPF) in Sitio Lubbot in Barangay San Mateo, City of Batac.

MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis spearheaded the groundbreaking ceremony in the site last March 23, together with BauerTek (BT) Corporation President Richard Nixon Gomez and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and MMSU Board of Regents Chairperson J. Prospero E. De Vera III. 

The upscaling of the facility is being funded by the Department of Agriculture, providing an initial fund of Php 5 million. This project is also supported by the City Government of Batac and the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte.

Earlier that day, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar led the signing of memoranda of agreement with PSCA and BT President Gomez. Dr. Dar virtually joined a ceremony held at the University Teatro Ilocandia. 

Said Academe-government-industry partnership among MMSU, DA, and BT Corp. aims to enhance the production, processing, and commercialization of indigenous food and herbal plants, and to consequently provide an additional livelihood for farmers in Ilocos Norte. 

PSCA and BT President Gomez thanked the DA for the support and for opening the partnership, thus unfolding the public-private enterprise into a groundbreaking reality. 

According to Dr. Dionisio Bucao, the university’s moringa project leader, the HPF will be used to process moringa leaves and other herbal plants into powder form, which will then be purchased by BT Corp. for the production of supplements, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Raw materials will come from the Lubbot plantation and farmer cooperatives and associations (FCAs) in Ilocos Norte. 

It can be remembered that the university committed the 10-hectare plantation in Sitio Lubbot where the processing facility is being improved. 

The corporation will provide the university with the protocol and technical ancillaries including the floor plan of the facility and operation flow to ensure the production of quality moringa leaf powder and other processed herbals.

Bucao assured the processing facility and the production management system of moringa will be compliant with the regulatory standards.

“We will work together to attain our goal, which is to help improve the lives of Ilokano farmers and let them be part of our research-based enterprise that champions human wellness,” expressed PSCA. 

CHED Chair De Vera said he is glad that MMSU has ventured into public-private partnerships, and he expressed hope other state universities and colleges in the country would take the same step in the future to make their research products commercially viable in the market. 

This partnership is being facilitated by the university’s Public-Private Partnership Office, which aims to forge linkages with government and industries for the university to establish its economic and social infrastructure.  The office is headed by a director, Engr. Lawrence John Tagata. (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)