MAGALANG -- For advocating an organic and sustainable food production system, the faculty of an agricultural state university here was conferred a national citation.
President Rodrigo Duterte conferred this year’s Pagasa Award of the Civil Service Commission to the Alternative Low Input Agricultural System (Alias) Center of Pampanga State Agricultural University (PSAU) in this town. The awarding ceremony was held at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall in Malacañang Palace, San Miguel, Manila, on September 20.
Dr. Norman De Jesus, director of Alias Center, said that through farm and field demonstration and piloting, they are teaching farmers to produce their own farm products, process their produce for value adding, and guide them for marketing and selling of their products.
The Alias Center, which was created in 2010, will benefit more than 300 farmers annually. It was established to encourage farmers to use less chemicals, protect public health, and to show that low-chemical farming can have the same production level as conventional farming.
“The symbiotic and systematized environment that the group introduced in the production of bio-fertilizer, lotus-tilapia integration, honey bee production, Adlai grains farming, and organic mulberry tree planting led to increased income for farmers, diversion of farm products, opening of new market opportunities and introduction of proper technology,” said the research synopsis.
“All package of technology are being tailored fit to the intended beneficiary. We ensure the easy technology transfer so farmers can easily adopt them,” De Jesus said.
For their contributions to the development of agriculture, the PSAU Alias Center’s initiatives to promote organic production systems received recognition from the National Government.
Other team members of Alias Center are Angelina De Jesus, Warlina Guzman, Regina Loria, Emmanuel Pangilinan, Elena Pineda, Rafael Rafael, Filomena Reyes, Ernesto Supan and Estrella Zabala.
The center is certified by Nicert, an independent organic certifying entity.