KASC Builds-up its Research Database This Year

by Marciano A. Paroy Jr.

With the current upsurge in the success of research undertakings as proven in their performance in various fora last year, KASC is poised to build-up its wealth of knowledge and technologies generated through research.

Management Information System Specialist Perfelia Buen – concurrent to her role as the Secretary to the Board of Trustees – predicts that 2008 will indeed be very fruitful for KASC.

“The school is looking into the viability of many researchable areas – like sericulture,” Mrs. Buen said.

“Benguet is, at present, the leader in the region when it comes to sericulture or the production of silk,” KASC Research Director Jovita Saguibo added. “If everything goes well, KASC might establish the first silk development center in the province.”

For the past year, KASC did well as to the number of completed researches, as well as the conduct of extension activities. As summed up in Mrs. Buen’s report to the Highland Agricultural Resources Research and Development Consortium (HARRDEC), the following are enumerated:

On Engineering: (1) Kalinga-Apayao State College Affiliated Non-Conventional Energy Center KASC-ANEC Program; (2) KASC-ANEC Computer Based Information System; (3) Participatory Rural Appraisal Assessment of the Candidate Sites of the Upland Dwellers – A JICA-Assisted Project in Kalinga; (4) Geographic Information System(GIS) Program of KASC – with three components: a) Development of Kalinga Chico River Watershed Topographic Maps and Slope and Watershed Maps using DEM data from NASA; b) Development of a model in digital survey, mapping and subdividing land areas; c) GIS-Based Farmers Information system for CBFM projects; and lastly, the (5) Biogas Research.

On Food Processing: (1) The Utililization of Taro Flour in the Preparation of By-Products; (2) Product Development Using Yam Flour and Its Utilization; (3) Acceptability of Taro Flour in the Preparation of Byproducts; (4) Comparative Study of Three Kinds of Legumes in the Preparation of Tokwa.

On Agroforestry, Environment and Natural Resources: (1) The Nutritive Value of Basidiomycetes (Kurat, Kudit and Laplapayag) in the Province of Kalinga; (2)Patch Farming Practice in Barangay Magao-gao; (3)The effects of with trellis and without trellis on the growth and yield of UBI cultivars; (4) Integrated Farming-Technology Commercialization Using KASC Agricultural Waste; (5)Mud Cake: A Study on Silt as an Alternative Source of Organic Fertilizer; (6)Weeds Management: Preventive Control Approach in Corn Production; (7) Mulches Effect on the Yield of Yam; (8) Betel Nut- An Alternative Oil.

On Crops: (1) Growth and Yield Performance of Pleurotus ostreatus as affected by different Saccharides (2) Adoption of Hybrid Rice; (3) Yield Performance of Lowland Rice Cultivars as Affected by the Ages of Seedlings on Transplanting; (4) Advantages of Plastic Bag as Handling Material to Reduce Rice Seedling Stress During Transplantating – An Initial Comparative Study with Traditional Bundling Method

On Social Research: (1) Rural Communication Channels as Tools for the Promotion of Hybrid Rice Farming in Tabuk, Kalinga.