CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Research teams from the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 10 (DA-RFO 10) won first and third place, respectively in the recently concluded 33rd Regional Symposium on Research and Development Highlights (RSRDH).

Conducted by the Northern Mindanao Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (NOMCARRD), held virtually on the first week of December aims to establish the future direction in research and development in agriculture, fisheries, natural resources, and environment.

Bagging the top spot for the Best Paper Award for Development Category is the “Enhancing Quality and Promotion of Products and By-Products from Sweet Potato, Adlay, Soybean, and Roselle in Region 10,” by Maridith A. Flores, Juanita B. Salvani, Antonieta S. Tumapon, Lorena V. Duna, Carmelito R. Lapoot, and Dafni C. Carreon.

Extensive researches were conducted to fine-tune the developed technologies, especially on the development of product quality, promotion, and marketing.

Meanwhile, the research paper “Development of a Clustering Framework for the Marginalized Sectors of Indigenous People and Former Rebel Communities: A Bayanihan Inclusive Growth Approach towards Adlay Enterprise Development” got the 3rd Best Paper Award also for the Development Category.

The researchers Lorena V. Duna, Mae Odimyrl A. Morales, Marivic L. Paday, Carmelito R. Lapoot, and Nilo S. Panugaling emphasized on the study the tripartite collaboration of the DA, the 403rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, and the LGUs in implementing peace and food security clustering framework in marginal Adlay areas in Lantapan, Talakag, and Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.

“The winning papers were inspired by DA’s goal of uplifting the livelihood of farmers by utilizing the by-products of various commodities in ensuring added income,” shared Lapoot, one of the co-authors of both papers and the chief of DA-10’s Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex Lapoot is hoping that the results of the said studies will be fully utilized to improve the income of the farmers.

“I hope that other organizations will adopt and promote this technology for greater impact,” he added.

DA-10 Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado recognized the achievements of the agency’s researchers emphasizing the impact of research and development in creating opportunities for improving the lives and livelihood of the farmers.

The annual RSRDH also aims to evaluate various research conducted by the different member-agencies and to provide a venue where science and technology based-farm project results are presented.# (CRSeraspe)