28.4 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

5:11 PM

28.4 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

5:11 PM

Modernized Agriculture: Bringing S&T in Bukidnon

MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon (PIA)—According to a published report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Bukidnon shared the largest farms in region 10. 

It has 120 thousand farms that utilized 322.8 thousand hectares of land for agriculture—the largest among the region’s five provinces.

With this, Bukidnon is called the Land of Bounty. Largely planted with vegetables and pineapples, new industries are rising, such as Coffee, Cacao, Bamboo, and Dairy. Some of these are already starting anew in the international community.

Cacao and dairy small-scale farmers are among the recent recipients of DOST interventions through its Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) program.

In partnership with the Local Government Unit of Malaybalay City, DOST-Bukidnon turned-over a complete set of cacao processing equipment to the Malaybalay City Cacao Growers Association (MCCGA).

The set includes a roasting machine, grinder, stainless steel table, sealers, digital weighing scale, and more. The agency will also equip the beneficiary with hands-on training on ‘Tablea’ and Chocolate Making; Good Manufacturing Practices; and Food Safety. They are also pre-listed to join other free sets of training for product development.

The Dalwangan Malaybalay United Dairy Agrarian Reform Cooperative (DAMAUDARC) also recently received a set of equipment from processing to packaging of their dairy products such as fresh milk, milk bars, and cheese. The budget allocation to provide the complete set of dairy equipment is approximately P1.5 million.

Malaybalay City Mayor Florencio T. Flores, Jr. expressed his utmost support in the City’s first and only dairy processing.

The DOST envisions that the project will encourage more farmers to go into farming and entrepreneurship to adapt and soon participate in the Global Fairtrade.

These projects are part of the continuous embarking of Science and Technology (S&T) in all areas of Bukidnon through the CEST program.

CEST is the agency’s effort specifically dedicated to alleviating poverty by providing appropriate S&T interventions in the following entry points: Economic Development; Health and Nutrition; Disaster Risk Reduction & Management and Climate Change Adaptation; Human Resource Development; and Environmental Protection.

The Department of Science and Technology-Bukidnon aims to create harmony and convergence between Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) and Agriculture to bring more bounty, increase productivity and efficiency, and create more employment and investment opportunities in the province. 

By offering numerous technological interventions, DOST continuously supports the agriculture sector.

For more information on CEST and other DOST programs, one may visit DOST-Bukidnon on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at Vicente Neri St., Capitol Compound Brgy 9, Malaybalay City, or email at dostbukidnon@region10.dost.gov.ph. (DOST-Bukidnon/PIA Bukidnon)