With the initiative of the Research Division of DA-RFO 1, a P56 M- worth Crops Research and Development Center will be inaugurated at PREC, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan this Friday, May 28, with Secretary William D. Dar who will lead the blessing and inauguration of the facility.
The Crops R&D Center is a collaborative project of DA-RFO 1 together with the Bureau of Agricultural Research that will serve as a venue in crafting programs, projects, and activities focusing on technological interventions that are responsive, climate-resilient, and ecologically friendly for the production of priority commodities in the region.
The opening of the facility is also dedicated to developing technologies that will enhance productivity and profitability through increased yields and reduced production cost and post-production operations.
Through this center, it is anticipated that the researchers will be more confident in producing quality R&D outputs, and the technologies generated and commercialized will increase farm productivity and profitability of farmers that would transform them to become agripreneurs. Furthermore, linkage with other research institutions, academes, and people’s organizations in sharing technologies will be strengthened and planting materials of priority commodities will be of good quality and disease-free.
The new R&D center is comprised of a sensory evaluation laboratory, seed processing center, tissue culture laboratory, and multi-purpose function hall with primary functions for seed production and propagation of quality and disease-free planting materials through tissue culture of commodities produced by Ilocos farmers.
The establishment of this project will meet the challenges faced by the researchers in the region as they will have a facility that is highly conducive for research and development works.
