Researchers from the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin) School of Management (SOM) gave recommendations for improved mango and cacao agricultural production and an inventory of biomass resources in Mt. Apo in the online forum "Knowledge Management Initiatives," held as an anniversary offering on March 18, 2024.
For a leading export product, mango fruit, Assistant Professor Vlademir Shuck recommended three selected technologies for its improved production. He proposed adopting the Days After Flower Induction, or DAFI, a technology that requires counting the number of days for the mango crop to achieve the proper harvest maturity. Based on their study, he recommended 100-115 DAFI as the ideal harvest period for the best fruit maturity. On the time-tested practice of fruit bagging, he recommended using Taiwan Paper Bags (TPB) over traditional newspaper bags. Though higher in cost, TPB can be reused. “TPB is better, especially when the expected market price is high, and the mangoes are of good quality,” he said. Finally, he proposed the application of hot water treatment (HWT) to the harvested crop for improved quality. “I suggest that local governments construct shared HWT facilities in order to provide smaller producers with access to this technology,” he said.
For the high-value crop cocoa, or “cacao,” Instructor Francis Levi Durano presented their findings for improved farm technical efficiency or how well farm inputs are converted into outputs or agricultural produce. He disclosed that increased farm inputs and the number of trees per hectare are the leading factors in improving farm technical efficiency. Also, older farms show higher technical efficiency, mostly due to more developed farm facilities. In addition, farmers with families contribute to increased technical efficiency due to the presence of family members. “Most older farms are more developed farms, and the farmer’s families contribute to farm efficiency,” he said. However, their findings showed that farms located at higher elevations suffer from inefficiency. Likewise, with farms managed by older farmers. “Farms located in higher elevations experience inefficiency due to colder climates, more rain, and difficult terrain,” he said.
Finally, Associate Professor Ligaya Rubas-Leal presented her "Ecological modeling of forest carbon stocks in Mt. Apo Natural Park using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR)." Mt. Apo, a forested zone and UNESCO World Heritage Site, faces threats of forest degradation, deforestation, and land conversion to farming. Using IFSAR, a radar-based technology that gathers images from higher elevations or from the air, Prof. Leal calculated the estimated biomass resources and carbon storage across the Mt. Apo management zones. Biomass is the organic matter from plants and animals that can be a source of renewable energy. “This study on carbon storage also contributes to the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change and its guidelines for the monitoring, reporting, and verification of a forest ecosystem's carbon storage,” she said.
These UPMin researches contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals on Economic Growth, Sustainable Production and Consumption, and Life on Land. PR