MMSU student gives lecture in SoKor university

By Reynaldo E. Andres

Contributor 

           

Batac CITY—A fourth year BS Agriculture student of the Mariano Marcos State University – College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (MMSU-CAFSD) delivered a lecture in line with the current innovative agriculture system in the Philippines at the Gwanak Campus of the Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea, June 22 to July 5, 2014.

Mitch Glydelle S. Cacatian, one of the top performing CAFSD students, discussed the current varietal improvement in rice, contour planting in corn, cloning and embryo transfer in buffalos, solar water pump, and the current trends in Philippine organic agriculture. Her audience was composed of 29 other students from India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, USA and Philippines, including some professors at the SNU.

The lecture was the highlight of her study tour, which was sponsored by the Asian Association of Agricultural Colleges and Universities (AAACU) based in SNU. AAACU is a federation of 46 agricultural colleges and universities of the 16 Asian countries with the main mission of improving world agricultural science by promoting cooperation, amity, and exchange between the member-institutions.

The study tour at the SNU was a two-week intellectually stimulating program for 15 students from member-institutions who had productive interactions with their 15 counterpart Korean students. It is designed to enable the students to understand the Asian agriculture and culture through field trips to research institutions in agriculture, lectures and discussions, and cultural experiences in Korea.

Ms. Cacatian was one the seven Filipino students; other are from Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology, Southern Luzon State University, Laguna State Polytechnic University, University of the Philippines at Los Baños, Romblon State University, and University of Southern Mindanao.

In her lecture, Ms. Cacatian presented the trends in the varietal improvement activities for rice in the country. She recommended three high yielding rice varieties that were recently developed by Filipino rice breeders and these have already been released by the National Seed Industry Council. These are Tubigan 23, Tubigan 25, and Japonica 3.

Tubigan 23 is direct-seeded and tolerates flood. Its grains are long and slender, which is becoming the primary preference of consumers. Its yield potential is 8 metric tons (MT) per hectare and matures at 104 days after transplanting (DAT).

Tubigan 25 can also be transplanted or direct-seeded and has a potential yield of 10.4 MT per hectare. It matures at 115 DAT when transplanted and at 106 DAT when direct-seeded.

On the other hand, Japonica 3 is a variety exclusively for transplanting with a yield potential of 7.2 MT per hectare. It matures at 113 DAT and produces tender and smooth grains.

Given her knowledge in genetically modified organisms that were incorporated in some varieties of corn through genetic engineering, Ms. Cacatian recommended to agriculture students of the member-institutions to consider the Bt corn varieties developed in the Philippines and the drought-tolerant rice that have become a “superhit” among farmers in the semi-arid areas in the country such as those in the Ilocos region.

BT corn resists the attacks of Asiatic corn borer, a dreaded insect pest that can cause as much as 80% yield loss.

Ms. Cacatian  also recommended contour planting of corn in semi-slopes areas, a practice of planting across a slope following contour lines, thus, creating a water break which reduces the formation of gullies and rills caused by cascading water, which is a major cause soil erosion.

In her lecture on embryo transfer among buffalos, Ms. Cacatian referred to a step in which embryos are placed into the uterus of a female with the intent to establish a pregnancy, while her topic on solar-powered pump involved the thermal energy collected from sunlight which is used to run water pumps.

Lastly, she shared the current organic agriculture project of the country which promotes environmentally, socially and economically sound production of food that excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers and pesticides.