LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The administration of the State-run Benguet State University (BSU) said the outputs of its various researches conducted through the years have beneficial to the various communities regionwide.
One of the projects that the university researchers are working on right now is on the typhoon protection. A 250, 000-worth greenhouse was provided by a partner organization for this endeavor.
According to Eulogio Cardona Jr., Director of the BSU’s Research Services, the research is important especially with the present dilemma of climate change considering that they will be able to develop typhoon-resistant plants and facilities that would guarantee the protection of plants during the onslaught of typhoons.
He also emphasized that typhoons hitting our country are becoming stronger and stronger, thus, the need to develop strategies on how to protect plants from being ravaged by the onslaught of typhoons aggravated by the serious negative effects of climate change.
Another project is the planned conversion of the water of Balili River to be utilized as irrigation for the farmers near the said river to avoid allegations that farmers are simply using the water from the heavily polluted Balili river without undergoing the necessary process to remove the harmful chemicals among others from the water.
However, the water from the said river system could not be fully utilized for the said purpose considering that it is supplying the water requirements of the hydroelectric power plants of the Hydroelectric Development Corporation (HEDCOR) downstream.
Therefore, using its water would simply interfere with the production of the said plant which might be detrimental to its operations once huge volume of water will be syphoned for the irrigation needs of farmers.
In addition to this, conversion of solid waste from the remains of harvested vegetables to fertilizer is also explored by university researchers. One of the pioneers of this research said that they actually have a generated technology for the conversion of solid waste to fertilizer and is already undergoing a trial test on the coffee production. Aside from this organic fertilizer, organic pesticides are also being developed by university researchers in order to make sure the availability of replacement of chemical-based pesticides among others.
Finally, the administrators also mentioned how they are working on the old laboratories of the university to be used as storage for the harvest of the farmers. He explained how this will be helpful for farmers when the prices of the products in the market are too low.
During this time, the products could be stored for the mean time at the storage laboratories for a couple of days while waiting for the prices to increase. Also, this would help during the times when the demand of the market becomes greater than its capacity to produce. Then, the products stored could be taken out of the laboratories.
Aside from this community-beneficial projects, the administrators also mentioned projects for their school like their laboratory upgrade to accommodate the chemistry lab, tissue lab, analytical lab and the soil lab. Their libraries are also updated every for better reference.
They claimed that these upgrades, in the long run, will also benefit the community. By BLESS SUBILLA
