R&D sector confident of meeting new challenges

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union -- The Philippine agriculture research and development (R&D) sector is confident of facing the challenges of the new millennium, it was stressed here by a research administrator.

"We have laid the groundwork of excellence, cooperation and relevance in R&D within the national agriculture and resources research and development network (NARRDN)," averred Executive Director Patricio S. Faylon of the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Dr. Faylon continued: "What counts next is our common commitment to achieve a shared goal of a modernized agriculture toward sustainable development and improved quality of life for all."

His forum was an academic forum making the 19th anniversary celebration of the DMMMSU (Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University) University Foundation recently. DMMMSU, currently headed by Dr. Dionisio Ducusin, president, is a six-campus university in La Union whose seat of administration is the main campus at Sapilang, Bacnotan.

Discussing R&D Directions in the New Millennium, Dr. Faylon said PCARRD's thrusts are in line with the Estrada administration's national vision of sustainable development enhanced by the principles of economic growth with social equity.

For 27 years now, he said, PCARRD has been in the forefront of managing the national R&D system under the umbrella of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), its mother agency. It is complemented by highly motivated human resources and a network of more than 100 R&D institutions all over the country.

"In the realm of R&D," he said, "we have remained crest high in our efforts to ensure that R&D in agriculture, forestry and natural resources become principal instrument in modernizing Philippine agriculture."

Dr. Faylon, the seventh to lead PCARRD since it was established in 1972, said the council's vision for the country and people should achieve the following:

* Highly productive and internationally competitive agriculture and forestry sectors propelled by green and viable farm enterprises with strong production and marketing linkages.

* Revitalized, dynamic, productive and globally competitive industry sector which uses locally produced and imported raw materials and inputs in an efficient and sustainable manner and generates employment opportunities that absorb urban and rural labor displaced by the rise in agricultural productivity.

* Strong service sector efficiently responding to the needs of modern agriculture and industry.

Dr. Faylon said that for the next five years, PCARRD will implement four basic strategies in pursuit of its vision.

These are: focusing basic research on high-end technology and management systems for sustainable growth; enhancing technology management and promotion/commercialization; improving R&D capability and governance; and formulating and advocating policies for agriculture, forestry and natural resources R&D and S&T development.

Through the PCARRD-coordinated national agriculture and resources research and development network (NARRDN), the council will continue to develop, promote and initiate modalities that will facilitate the flow of information from the S&T sector to the end-users through intermediaries such as the local government units (LGUs), rural-based organizations (RBOs), other service providers, and the private sector.

The 14 PCARRD-coordinated government R&D regional consortia will continuously play a vital role in PCARRD's technology management and commercialization initiatives.

Looking ahead, Dr. Faylon said PCARRD will commit its resources to a number of strategic concerns, among them biotechnology, information technology, natural resources management, integrated research and development programs, technology transfer and commercialization, and capacity building and human resource development.

Meanwhile, a science award has been instituted in honor of the late Dr. Francisco Nemenzo Sr., father and namesake of the current president of the University of the Philippines (UP) System.

The Nemenzo Awards for Best Research Paper Presentations were instituted by the Philippine Association of Marine Science (PAMS) at its fifth biennial conference held recently at the UP Marine Science Institute (MSI) in Diliman, Quezon City.

With "Philippine Marine Science -- Facing the Challenges of the New Millennium" was its theme, the scientific conference was attended by some 300 marine scientists, researchers, and specifications from 76 academic and private institutions, government and nongovernment organizations, and the private industry.

The late Dr. Nemenzo, who was posthumously honored at the PAMS conference, was an internationally acclaimed coral taxonomist and former dean of the UP Diliman College of Arts and Sciences.

He is best remembered in the science community for his scholarly researches on the taxonomy of scleractinian or hard corals of which the Philippines has more than 400 species. Most of these species are described in the 18-volume systematic studies on Philippine Shallow-water Scleratinians, which are now used for studies of coral reefs throughout the world.