DOST-I provides Candon farmers with carrageenan plant growth promoter to increase crop yield
CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur - To boost rice production and increasing farmers’ income, the Department of Science and Technology-Provincial Science and Technology Center- Ilocos Sur (DOST PSTC-IS) awarded 225 liters of Carrageenan Plant Growth Promoter (CPGP) amounting to PhP76,500 to Bugnay Farmers’ Association (BFA) on 11 August 2021.
Ninety-two (92) out of the 120 members of BFA in Barangay Bugnay, Candon City, Ilocos Sur currently engaged in rice production this wet season is sure to benefit from this intervention. The farmers first received the same volume of CPGP in August 2020 where they experienced favorable results of up to 10% increase in production or number of cavans harvested based on the data gathered.
“Agyaman kami iti agtultuloy nga suportayo kenyami babaen iti daytoy nga partuat ket umado ti maapit mi,” said Jonathan Quiyan, BFA President.
CPGP was developed by the DOST-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) and the National Crop Protection Center of the University of the Philippines Los Baños
with funds coming from the DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD). This innovation has been proven to increase rice yields by an average of 20 percent versus average farmer practices and also makes the crops more resistant to blight and infestation such as the Tungro virus.
The CPGP provision for BFA is a project funded under the Community-based Program of DOST-PSTC-Ilocos Sur that intends to assist farmers’ associations and is focused on the improvement of their operations through the application of science and technology (S&T) related interventions and various capacity building activities. (By Junalyn Cabacungan Dasugo, DOST-PSTC-IS)
