Senator Cynthia Villar (center in red), Gov. David Suarez (3rd from left), Alona partylist Rep. Anna Villaraza- Suarez (2nd from left), D...
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| Senator Cynthia Villar (center in red), Gov. David Suarez (3rd from left), Alona partylist Rep. Anna Villaraza- Suarez (2nd from left), Dr. Edwin Villar (2nd from right), deputy executive director for research and development, PCAARRD; Dr. Milo Placino (right), SLSU president, and partly hidden, Dr. Hernando Robles (left), Cavite State University president lead the ceremonial cutting of ribbons at the opening of the STAARRDEC-FIESTA 2018 held at the Quezon Capitol Compound in Lucena city. (JOHN BELLO) |
by John A. Bello
LUCENA CITY – To fast-track the government programs on science and technology to benefit the local communities, various government agencies in Calarbarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Batangas and Quezon) region have linked arms to form into a consortium for research and development and the provincial government of Quezon has agreed to host a 3-day event dubbed STAARRDEC- FIESTA 2018 which highlights the province’s coconut and native pig.
STAARDEC stands for Southern Tagalog Agriculture, Aquatic and Resources, Research, Development and Extension Consortium while FIESTA stands for Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda.
Senator Cynthia Villar, Quezon Gov. David ‘Jayjay’ Suarez, ALONA partylist Rep. Anna Villaraza-Suarez, Southern Luzon State University Pres. Dr. Milo Placino and Cavite State Univ. Pres. Dr. Hernando Robles, among others, graced the ceremonial cutting of ribbons for the opening on Tuesday till Thursday (Feb.20-22) of the exhibits of the various commodities and products of Calabarzon region which also kicked off various technology and investment forums, marketing, technology demonstration and poster making and photo contests held at the Quezon Capitol Compound in this city.
“This is not an ordinary fiesta of merry-making, but this event is an opportunity for us to invest in research and development to fast-track agricultural development to help our farming community,” Villar, Senate committee chair on agriculture and food, said after she was introduced by Gov. Suarez who expressed his gratitude for the presence and support of the lady senator on agricultural programs and development in Quezon.
Villar who stressed she is a firm believer in research and development in science and technology as a legislator, said that technology and farm mechanization would lower the production cost of the country’s prime commodity, rice, from P12 to P6 a kilo.
She told the participants and delegates from various sectors of the region that the chief rival of our country in rice production is Vietnam which produces rice at only P6 per kilo with its labor cost at P1.20 compared to P12 in the Phil. with labor cost at P4.60 due to lack of farm mechanization.
She felt sad that the farmers who feed the country cannot feed their own family as she said that the average coconut farmer only has an income of P50 a day as his coconut tree produces only 40 nuts a year instead of trying to find ways to increase coconut production to 150 nuts to increase his income from P1,500 to P4,500 a month.
“Let’s continue to find ways to support our agricultural development sector and let’s learn development models to apply to our lives and livelihoods,” Villar said.
For his part, Suarez disclosed the establishment of the 1st Coconut Research and Development Center in Calabarzon which will be located in Catanauan town of the province’ 3rd district.
The Quezon governor thanked DPWH Sec. Mark Villar, the senator’s son, who, he said, has granted P110 million for agro-enterprise developments in Quezon.
“You can earn and learn a lot from coconut at dapat ang unang makinabang sa research and development ng ating niyog ay ang Quezon,” Suarez said adding that various research and developments are being done on coconut in other countries, especially in Germany, such as the production and processing of Virgin Coconut Oil which is being discovered to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
He said the establishment of the Coconut Research and Development Center in Quezon would unravel the true value of the coconut thru continuous research and development of its various potential and benefits for the coconut development sector in the province.
Quezon province, which has 379,000 hectares planted to coconut trees, has produced 1.8 million metric tons in 2016 making the province the number one in coconut production in the country, according to provincial agriculturist, Roberto Gajo who attended the launching of the Macapuno Island project in Alabat on Feb. 16. The project adopts the technologies on macapuno processing and drew the participation of various government agencies for its promotion and investments.
Villar, Gov. Suarez and Rep. Villaraza-Suarez, along with Placino, Robles, Edwin Villar, deputy executive director for research and development at Phil. Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) visited the various stalls showcasing products of Cavite, Batangas, Rizal and Marinduque.
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