Quirino farmers’ income boosted by S&T projects

Bountiful times are now upon many people in Quirino province.

What have enabled the farming households, fisherfolk, uplanders, indigenous peoples, women, youth, and elderly to realize the best of several worlds in their lives are the 18 science and technology (S&T)-based livelihood projects undertaken over the 1994-2003 period.

Implemented by the Palacian Economic Development Association, Inc. (PEDAI), the projects were bankrolled with P44.67 million sourced from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Rep. Junie Cua of Quirino’s lone district, DOST, and DOST-Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI).

The ventures covered food crops, aquaculture, livestock, agroforestry, and banana. It also set up a satellite seed center which provided a stable supply of quality seeds of superior varieties of food crops, particularly corn and peanut, to farmers in Quirino and nearby provinces.

The seed center was conceptualized by the U.P. Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding and UPLB Foundation, Inc. through Rep. Cua’s initiative.

It has been instrumental in the significant increase in farmers’ income through the introduction of hybrid corn for the production of quality seeds sold to DA, seed growers, farmers’ cooperatives and agriculture stores.

The seed center has so far generated P240 million worth of corn grain. Some P5.7 million worth of pork has also been realized out of the hog production activities. — Rudy A. Fernandez