Enhancing philippine horticultural postharvest research, development and technology transfer through networking, demonstration and thesis support grants

摘要

The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,100 islands. Being an archipelago has many disadvantages in the conduct of research, development and technology transfer projects. Problems associated with this include: overlapping and duplication of research and development (R&D) agenda; uncoordinated implementation of R&D; and unsystematic, fragmented technology transfer projects. The Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE; formerly NAPHIRE) under the Philippines' Department of Agriculture devised strategies to cope with these above-said problems. A generally unified postharvest R&D agenda has been mapped out through the creation of the Philippine Postharvest R&D network, composed of 22 agencies. Similarly, the transfer of research based-designs, technologies and information is facilitated through the Technology Demonstration Project. This project aims to systematically disseminate research results in postharvest horticulture and processing to the stakeholders through training, information campaigns and demonstration activities at the Technology Demonstration Centers (TDCs). The Centers have become a venue for hands-on learning opportunities in the latest postharvest technologies among smallholder entrepreneurs before undertaking ventures related to postharvest business. Seven TDCs have been established in different island groups to cover commodities such as potato, mango, squash, carrot and some nuts which are considered high value crops. The TDCs have bridged the gap between business and research. Another mechanism to speed up the R&D process is the provision of thesis support grants to students who are involved in postharvest research as a requirement for graduation in agricultural colleges and universities. Thesis support grants have already assisted 52 students enrolled in Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy from 1992-1998. Horticultural crops covered by the research projects include carrot, lemon, banana, papaya, mango, potato, cabbage, onion, and rose. These research results are a take-off point for further generation and development of postharvest technologies. With these strategies, it is expected that scarce R&D resources are judiciously and efficiently used as a result of coordinated, unified and systematic R&D and technology transfer programs.