USM Agricultural Innovations Presented in the AAACU Conference in Thailand

The University of Southern Mindanao is one of 14 Philippine member institutions of the Asian Association of Agricultural Colleges and Universities (AAACU). The AAACU’s General Assembly was held on July 4 to 8, 2022 in Maejo University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. During conference, the Vice President for Research, Development and Extension (RDE) Dr. Ma. Teodora N. Cabasan presented USM’s RDE engagements in projects for food security, systems, innovations, and sustainability. These projects are anchored on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) such as no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; industry, and infrastructure; sustainable communities, responsible consumption and production. Agricultural innovations in USM are tailored interventions and solutions in addressing food and nutrition security, improving livelihoods, and sustainably managing small and medium agricultural enterprises.

During the presentation, Dr. Cabasan highlighted how USM utilizes advances in science and technology to generate products or technologies that provide interventions to problems in agricultural production involving various commodities.

Project exemplars include

• molecular marker technology and effective breeding strategies to identify recommended cacao varieties and improve yield, bean quality, and pest and disease resistance
• geographic information system to develop digital technologies such as generated maps for smart solutions in high value crop production
• innovations in post-harvest processing of cacao beans, including capacity-building of cacao farmers, tablea makers and displaced workers
• community-based interventions to increase the utilization of locally available food sources

The paper presented by Dr. Cabasan was authored by Dr. Francisco Gil N. Garcia, Dr. Cabasan, Dr. Mary Joy S. Cañolas, and Dr. Edward A. Barlaan.