Sat | April 27, 2024, 5:19 pm
No. of Site Visitors: 13631930

November 17, 2023   University Wide   Campus Wide


Home/ News & Articles/ LSPU, DA-BAR ink partnership on cacao research project
LSPU, DA-BAR ink partnership on cacao research project

The Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU) and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) officially entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the implementation of the LSPU-proposed research and development (R&D) project entitled “Increasing Availability of Quality Cacao Planting Materials through Grafted Cacao Seedling Production in Laguna,” Nov. 14.


Dr. Mario R. Briones, University President, signed the MOA with Junel B. Soriano, Director of DA-BAR, and Domingo F. Panganiban, Senior Undersecretary of DA, at the Department of Agriculture, Diliman, Quezon City. 


The project on cacao planting materials was granted a funding amount of P5,000,000.00 under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) R&D Grant.


Targeting to help cacao farmers, the project aims to establish cacao nurseries and scion groves, enhance technical skills and business development capacities, increase income of Farmer Cooperatives and Associations (FCA) by 10%, and expand cacao plantation in Laguna by 10%. 


Accompanying President Briones from LSPU were Ma. Cecilia C. Gatbonton, project leader; Dr. Robert C. Agatep, Vice President for Research Development and Extension (VPRDE) and co-project leader; and Dr. Marc Sylvester Garcia, Dean of the College of Agriculture (CA). Also present in the ceremonial signing was Atty. Jane C. Bacayo, Undersecretary-Designate for Administration and Vice-Chairperson for the ACEF Program Management Committee. 


The project will run from 2023 to 2025 and will cover the areas of Nagcarlan, Magdalena, Sta. Maria, and Siniloan in Laguna.