A poverty-alleviation programme implemented to support agricultural production through micro-finance complemented by technology development for the island province of Catanduanes. The European Union funded this program in the form of grant amounting to Euros 10 million or a total of PhP537.3 million including GOP counterpart. It was implemented by the Department of Agriculture through the CatAg Programme Office in 1994 and was completed in April 2003.

The technology development component includes technology transfer and technology demonstrations and marketing activities supportive to the micro-projects of the beneficiaries.. The highlights of accomplishments of this component are: (a) Organized the Provincial Technical Assistance Network; (b) Conducted Technical Assistance Assessment; (c) Participated in the Orgullo kan Bicol Trade Fair at SM Mega Mall; (d) Conducted techno demos on Sustainable Vegetable Production; Aquasilviculture; and Upgrading of Native Chicken (Sasso Breed); (e) Provided regular marketing and technical assistance to SLS members; (f) Conducted expansion and replication of Scion Source and Fruit Trees Nursery; and (g) Implemented Tilapia Hatchery and Production. A study showed that technology development impacted a 90 percent increase in yield for rice and abaca. Upon completion of the programme in April 2003, this component was turned over for administration by the Local Government Units. 

The micro-finance component organized beneficiaries into guarantee groups composed of five members. About five to seven guarantee groups comprise a Saving and Loan System (SLS). SLSs had weekly meetings to discuss individual micro-projects, the status, repayments and problems. The SLS members saved money and availed of loans from the programme using simplified project study forms, without collateral on a group lending scheme. The amount of loan for an SLS member is dependent on the financial cash flow of the family income. Repayment of loan is on a weekly basis and is made during SLS meetings.  Default on loan repayment by a member is shouldered by the other members. The SLS's was federated as Agricultural and Rural Development for Catanduanes, Inc. (ARDCI), a non-government organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 11, 1998. In 1999, the ARDCI took over the management of the micro-finance activities from CatAg Programme Office. The ARDCI worked for the creation of Vision Bank, Inc. as the first micro-finance oriented rural bank in the Philippines. The Vision Bank, Inc. was approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last April 2002 and was opened last October 8, 2002. The Vision Bank Inc. is owned and managed by the SLS members (project beneficiaries of CatAg) Three branches of Vision Bank Inc. in Catanduanes were submitted to the BSP for approval.           

The ARDCI has 14,515 SLS members and has 99.5 percent loan repayment rate. It accumulated PhP 25.3 million savings by SLS members and has outstanding portfolio of PhP 71.9 million. It has a rating of 6.1 (very satisfactory) in the scoreboard of the Micro-finance Council of the Philippines. The ARDCI expanded its area coverage from Catanduanes to the provinces in mainland Bicol starting with the province of Albay. 

An impact study conducted in 1999 showed that SLS members increased their income by 56 percent in real terms compared to 12 percent increase for non-beneficiaries.

The project aims to generate food-based livelihood among poor families in selected rural and urban barangay-pairs in CARAGA, CAR and Region V, while at the same time providing nutritious complementary foods for the barangays' underweight four to two-year old children and equally nutritious foods for other children/adult to reduce local malnutrition.  An input to sustainable development objective of the S&T intervention, the livelihood generation will be accompanied by health and nutrition education-cum-values orientation classes  and an action research to document the intervention process, its inputs and outcomes in the communities. 

This will use the DOST-DOH-WHO  delivery system of the national food assistance program as model which was pilot-tested in Masbate (Region V) in 1996 – 1998.

With said model, it is envisioned to replace the foreign-donated food program, e.g. US-PL 180 which was recently phased out in the Philippines, in favor of more needy countries, e.g. those in armed conflicts.

The project will revolve around the operations of a Food Processing Plant to be provided with a complement of equipment for extrusion technology designed for Complementary and Snack Foods which has a basic formulation – cereal – legume combination flowing the UN-Protein Advisory Group Guidelines – built into the FNRI-developed technologies, e.g. Rice-Mongo, Corn-Soy Blend.  As variants, other raw materials indigenous or abundant in the areas, e.g squash, fish, etc. will be incorporated into the blend(s) to an addition level that is acceptable to or preferred by the local markets in the community as well in the neighboring municipalities.

A pilot backyard farm was established and now serves as the source of hybrid chicken in the Province of Masbate.  It is an open range farming that adopts the organic method.  This project has promoted the crossbreeding of French Sasso with the existing native chicken.  Quantity of the meat due to increased sizes as well as its quality was improved.

• Parent Stocks (Sasso Chicken)

• Brood Cock            (4 heads –   Php 6,400.00)

• Layers                   (20 heads – Php 22,000.00)

• Incubator (1,500 eggs/batch capacity – Php 16,500.00)

• Training

• Consultancy Services

The project is a collaborative effort among various PCA-units and Cavite State University. It primarily aims to produce true to type Makapuno planting materials usings embryo culture technology and disperse at cost to Pilipino farmers. This project is part of a program which endeavors the development Makapuno industry in the Philippines. The project was initially funded by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) at PCA-Albay Research Center and was expanded thru the financial support of Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCARRD). More lately, funding support from High Value Commodity Crops (HVCC) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) came in to support activities for increased ECM production.

There is a very high demand for Makapuno both from the local primary and secondary food processors. Based on a national survey, 4 million more nuts are required to fill the gap between the current and required supplies. The existing stand of Makapuno-bearing palms in the country would not be enough to supply the needed volume. The use of true-to-type Makapuno planting materials would insure supply of Makapuno nuts from 75-100% of the total yield and is expected to increase farmers income from coconut farming by 7-9 folds. These planting materials could only be obtained using Makapuno embryo culture technique. It is in this perspective that commercial production of embryo cultured Makapuno (ECM) seedlings is being advocated by the Philippine Coconut Authority – Albay Research Center. 

The Makapuno embryo culture technique which was developed by the team of the late Dr. Emelita de Guzman of UPLB and improved by the PCA-Albay Research Center team headed by Mrs. Erlinda P. Rillo involved the culture of Makapuno embryos in specially formulated medium in vitro, and establishment to soil. 

The production of ECM seedlings at PCA-ARC was initially funded by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) from 1992 to 1995 to make available true-to-type Makapuno seedlings to Bicolano farmers. With funds from DOST-PCARRD, the commercial production of ECM seedlings was expanded to cater to the demands of coconut farmers in other regions of the country from June 1996 to September 2002. The project is currently funded by the income generated from the sale of ECM seedlings. In order to increase production of ECM, HVCC of the DA is currently supporting the project. At present, commercial production of ECM seedlings is an on-going activities at various PCA units – Albay Research Center, Davao Research Center, Zamboanga Research Center, PCA Regional Office in Palo, Leyte, PCA Provincial Office in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, and Cavite State University in Indang, Cavite.

The program has enabled the field establishment of more or less 5,500 ECM stand throughout the country. At productive stage, all these palms will translate to a monthly income of approximately PhP800,000 and will insure continuous supply for processing and R&D towards industrial, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and other application of Makapuno.

The project is a collaborative effort of the University of Georgia (UGA), GA, USA, the Food Development Center of the National Food Authority, Taguig, Metro Manila, and the Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the College of Home Economics, UP in Diliman Quezon City, Philippines with the Peanut-Collaborative Research Support Program (P-CRSP) of the UGA as the management entity under the provision of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal of the research was to stimulate economic growth through expansion of markets for high quality for high products from peanuts in developing countries and the USA.

Child and adult blindness due to lack of Vitamin A in the Filipino diet can be alleviated through fortification of foods with Vitamin A. Peanut butter is a good vehicle for Vitamin A fortification because it is high in fat and is consumed by the low-income segment of the population. Vitamin A fortification has been recognized as a means of addressing this micronutrient deficiency. But fortification alone is not sufficient. The vitamin must be shelf stable. The selection of proper packaging materials could ensure that the added vitamins remain there until it is purchased by the consumers. On the other hand, the stability and homogeneity of the Vitamin A in the peanut butter are also necessary so that for every serving of peanut butter, a proportionate amount of Vitamin A is added to the diet to meet the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).  

Experiments were done by the Food Development Center (FDC) to fortify the peanut butter of an industry collaborator. The technology developed consisted of a two-step fortification process. It involved the initial preparation of a peanut butter premix containing high levels of vitamin A followed by the addition of the premix to plain peanut butter at a weight ratio adequate to achieve the required level of fortification in the final product. The final product prepared in this study resulted in a fortified peanut butter with a level of vitamin A that is 65% of the RDA. The average vitamin A recovery achieved was 84.08% and 85.06%. The actual vitamin A content was 8.50 and 8.60 micrograms retinal per gram peanut butter (ug RE/g PB). 

Per the guidelines of the Department of Health on Micronutrient Fortification, the level of vitamin A in fortified foods should supply at least one third (35%) to 150% of the RDA (Administrative Order No. 4-A, Series of 1995, Department of Health).

The project is a collaborative effort of the University of Georgia (UGA), GA, USA,  the Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the College of Home Economics, UP in Diliman, Quezon City, and the Food Development Center of the National Food Authority, Taguig, Metro Manila, with the Peanut-Collaborative Research Support Program (P-CRSP) of the UGA as the management entity under the provision of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal of the research was to stimulate economic growth through expansion of markets for high quality products from peanuts in developing countries and the USA

One of the problems of the peanut industry is aflatoxin contamination of raw peanuts. Peanut products are usually subjected to testing and inspection at the ports of countries where they are shipped to because of probable high levels of aflatoxin. In U.S. and U.K., the enforced maximum levels of aflatoxin in foods are 20 ppb (Flach, 1987) and 4 ppb (MAFF, 1996), respectively. Consumer demand and the world export for commodities susceptible to aflatoxin contamination, however, are pushing towards zero tolerance. There is no other method that peanut product manufacturers in the Philippines can use to reduce aflatoxin levels in peanuts except for manual sorting of raw peanuts to separate kernels that are not fit for processing. 

This study was undertaken to develop a technology for manual sorting of peanut kernels to eliminate aflatoxin contamination. A sorting process was developed at the Food Development Center using a prototype roaster to test the applicability of the blanching procedure. Dry blanching of 5 kg shelled peanuts was carried out at 140oC for 25 minutes. The blanched peanuts were removed from the roaster, cooled and sorted manually for discolored and damaged kernels.

Results from the laboratory and pilot-scale tests and verification trials showed that the manual sorting of raw peanuts was efficient in separating contaminated kernels whether contamination in raw materials was high or low. Sorting should be performed regardless of a negative test for aflatoxin, to ensure that aflatoxin contaminated kernels are removed. These results provide support in the transfer of the sorting technology to peanut product manufacturers and companies that use peanuts as an ingredient especially were environmental conditions are favorable for mold growth. If the sorting technology is implemented by the food industry, it will protect consumers from the potential public health threats of aflatoxin.

The project aims to develop quality assurance systems for minimally processed pineapple. This was conducted at the Food Development Center, National Food Authority. This was part of the ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Program – III Quality Assurance Systems for ASEAN Fruits (fresh and minimally processed) and funded by ASEAN and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

Minimally processed pineapples are fresh pineapples that are washed and sanitized, peeled, sliced, packed and stored at refrigerated conditions. Minimal processing of pineapple offers the consumer ready-to-eat convenience and assurance of sensory quality and safety. 

The quality characteristics of pineapple (Smooth Cayenne Variety) for minimal processing were established by determining the level of maturity and indices of ripeness of the pineapple fruit such as physical (shell color, length ratio, taper ratio) and chemical indices (pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity). The stage of ripeness which gave a minimally processed product of the best sensory quality was identified to be the quarter ripe pineapple (shell color no. 2). The selected ripening indices of the matured fruit (as indicated by the smooth and flattened appearance of the eyes) and processed fruit quality were also correlated. 

Studies on development of packaging material and system for minimally processed pineapple showed that polypropylene with 0.03 mm thickness was the most suitable among the materials tested. The selection was based on the acceptability of oxygen levels (>2%) inside the package during the expected shelf-life of the minimally processed product. Sensory analysis of minimally processed pineapple indicated that the product achieved a shelf-life of 17 days at 4^oC. After this time fermented flavors developed in the pineapple.

Pineapple drip measured to be about 47 mL after 17 days storage at 4⁰C was reduced to 1-2 mL using water absorbent pads.

Measures to control possible presence of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms during storage were established by development of optimal washing and sanitation procedure for whole pineapples. This was done by determination of cumulative reduction in numbers of a target pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes at each processing step. This work established that there is a 5 log reduction of L. monocytogenes in minimal processing. A 5 log reduction is based on the proposed rule for fruit juices in 21 CFR Part 120. US Food and Drug Administration considers a 5 log reduction during the manufacture of unpasteurised juice should be the performance criterion for a safe product. Reduction in Aerobic Plate Count to acceptable levels for ready to eat food was also achieved.

Challenge studies were conducted using L. monocytogenes as the target microorganism. Results of these studies indicate that L. monocytogenes survived at 25^oC but did not multiply due to the low pH. The pathogen has a poor ability to survive and multiply at 4 and 8^oC during the expected shelf-life of the product. < 1 log reduction in count was detected for 17 days at 4^oC and 14 days at 8^oC.

The USDA Pathogen Modeling Program (Version 5.1) confirms that MP pineapple will deteriorate before L. monocytogenes grows to unacceptable levels. Predictive Microbiology showed the importance of controlling the initial pathogen load and storage temperature is assuring the safety of the minimally processed product.

The developed MP pineapple was produced in pilot scale. Production yield was established at 40-45%. The MP pineapples produced were market tested to five 5-star hotels in Metro Manila. The samples were evaluated by Hotel Chefs who found the minimally processed product to be highly acceptable in terms of its sensory characteristics. The advantages of minimal processing were also noted such as the convenience in preparation it offers and the visibility of the quality of the minimally processed product as seen from the outside of the package.

Shelf-life of the product at 4^oC for 17 days was confirmed. Results of shelf-life studies showed that standard plate counts and yeast and mold counts were acceptable and psychrotropic pathogens such as E. coli and Listeria moncytogenes were not detected in MP pineapple after 17 days at 4^oC.

The Processing Guidelines and HACCP Plan for Minimal Processing of Pineapple were prepared. A workshop entitled Minimal Processing of Pineapple was conducted.