IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

Research article
erdIntegrating Plant Genetic Resources Conservation andManagement into the State  University’s  Mandates:  An Initiative for Sustainable Development
MARINA A. LABONITE*Bohol Island State University, Philippines
Email: mtalabonite@yahoo.com.ph
Received 15 December 2012

Accepted 27 March 2013(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Plant genetic resources (PGR) are plant materials of actual or potential value forthe present and future generations. (Borromeo, 2007). Its conservation, management andsustainable utilization are important in environmental protection, crop improvement andfood security. In the Philippines, the National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory, ensuresthat a number of accessions of crops species are secure and accessible. (Hautea, 1998);
Philippine Coconut Authority, Davao National Crop Research and Development Center,
Bureau of Plant Industry (Bautista, 1994); and International Rice Genebank Collection(IRRI, 2012) also maintain germplasm collections. Foregoing institutions are nonacademic. Hence, Bohol Island State University (BISU) in Bohol, Philippines with SouthEast Asia Regional Initiative for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) worked on PGR
conservation through Farmers Field School (FSS) and Agriculture Curriculum Enrichment(ACE) Projects purposely to mainstream the principles of sustainable agriculture anddevelopment through conservation, improvement and utilization of PGR in thecommunities. Participatory basic needs assessment; FFS curriculum formulation; ACE
following protocol and networking with Local Government Units, Department ofAgriculture line agencies, non-government  and  peoples’  organization  were  employed.  As  a  result, 16 FFS were conducted while ACE project successfully integrated Plant Genetic
Resources Conservation and Management (PGRCM) into the two Agriculture curricular
programs of BISU. Seventy-five students passed the PGRCM course who also graduatedfrom FFS with 290 farmers, five faculty-trainers and nine agricultural technician-trainers
with skills in participatory varietal trials, selection and plant breeding that raised ricediversity in villages by 25-33 percent, produced three stable rice accessions, 25 selections
and 18 breeding lines at F3 today apart from a number of bonus accomplishments. Thesedevelopments are realities justifying that PGRCM can be successfully integrated into thestate   university’s   mandates:   instruction,   research,   extension   and   production   and   be  capitalized as valuable initiative for sustainable development in the communities which theacademe serves.
Keywords plant genetic resources, plant genetic resources conservation and management,
farmers field school (FFS), state university, mandate, sustainable development

INTRODUCTION
The Philippines is one of the mega diverse countries in the world both at ecosystem, species andgenetic level. Nevertheless, it is also one of the hot spots. For this reason, agencies responsible on
the Philippine fragile super-diverse ecosystem that houses animal and plant genetic resources are
calling to pool in efforts on its conservation and management. Like other government entities,
higher education institutions like BISU unifies with other agencies on this noble task of managing
life indispensable reserves.
For relevance to local and global trends on sustainable development, BISU has collaborative
endeavors with SEARICE, an institution advocating Sustainable Agriculture (SA) and Community
Biodiversity Conservation and Development (CBDC). From this partnership emerged the initiativeⒸ ISERD

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1of integrating plant genetic resources conservation and management into the state university’s  functions empowering is faculty and students on this very important task commonly carried out by
non-academic institutions.
The objective of this initiative was to mainstream the sustainable agriculture principles andapproaches into the curricular, research and extension programs of the academe, hence, this reality
project on the integration of PGR conservation, improvement and utilization at the BISU-Bilar,Bohol, Central Philippines since 1998 to the present.
OBJECTIVE
The main purpose of the project is to mainstream the principles of sustainable agriculture anddevelopment particularly on the conservation, development and utilization of plant genetic
resources  into  the  university’s  mandates.
The initiative has the following specific aims:
1. To integrate the course PGRCM into the Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) andBachelor in Agricultural Technology (BAT) curricular programs of BISU;
2. To produce Agriculture graduates with knowledge and skills in PGRCM;
3. To organize and implement a research program on PGRCM at BISU;
4. To empower farming communities in Bohol on rice PGRCM; and5. To document the issues and lessons learned during the project implementation.
METHODOLOGY
The project was planned and implemented in partnership with SEARICE. To attain its objectives,
the project team utilized a combination of strategies.
PGRCM integration into the instruction mandate through ACE was made by reviewing andrevising the BAT and BSA Curricular Programs in coordination with the Curriculum Committee ofBISU following the Guidelines on Curriculum Enrichment of the university and the CircularMemorandum Order (CMO) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Implementation inBISU-Bilar where the programs are offered followed after its approval and preparation of itssyllabus. Class enrolment and activities were monitored and recorded.
PGRCM integration into the research mandate was organized through the genetic diversity
conservation (GDCon) project implementation. Center-based and on-farm research projects on
PGRCM were conceptualized and conducted like the Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) andParticipatory Plant Breeding (PPB) along with FFS. Experimental research techniques, datacollection and analysis were employed for completed studies while monitoring was made for ongoing activities.
For the extension function, FFS on Community-based Organic Rice Diversity andDevelopment (CORD) was conducted by the team in selected rice farming communities of Bohol.
On-farm experiments were utilized for the hands-on activities of the FFS. The BISU-SEARICE
dual collaboration was also expanded for a better and wider implementation.
Issues and lessons from the integration were also documented. Most of the data collection anddocumentation were prepared by a team member teaching and implementing the PGRCM researchand extension activities. This has been done for six year years now.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
BISU envisioned to be a premier Science and Technology university for the formation of a worldclass and virtuous human resource for sustainable development in Bohol and the country. Attaining
this requires the university to operate its mandates along with this vision. This endeavor hadconceptualized initiatives which partly generated results that manifest its realization.
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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

ACE Initiative
Based on the curricular review conducted in 2003, BISU offered BAT major in Crop Production
Technology and Animal Production Technology and BSA with specialization in Crop Science,Animal Science and Crop Protection. The BAT curriculum was introduced by the Agricultural
Technology Education Program of the government since 1990 while the BSA was based on certain
DECS and CHED Memorandum Orders. Both programs contained important courses but short ofthose related to sustainable agriculture and development which are the cry of the times since thelate 80s. Hence, Sustainable Agriculture and PGRCM were recommended for integration to makethe programs relevant to the needs.
Following the university protocol on curricular changes, the integration was approved by theBoard of Trustees in 2004 placing PGRCM as an elective subject in the fourth year Crop Scienceand Crop Production Technology specialization. The course was offered and Table 1 shows its
successful takers. By this, BISU manifested support on the international concerns likeenvironmental health, biodiversity conservation for food security and sustainable development
through its flagship program in Agriculture.
Table 1 Population of Agriculture student-enrollees and passers of the PGRCM course andits percentage from the roster of graduates, AY 2007-2012
AcademicYears

Total Agriculture(BAT & BSA) Students

Total (BAT & BSA)PGRCM Students*% Agriculturists withPGRCM Knowledge &Skills

Enrolled
Graduated
Enrolled
Passed2007-2008
83
83
212125.30
2008-2009
5453222241.50
2009-2010
37378821.62
2010-2011
3129161655.17
2011-2012**
6362
111.61
2012-2013**
5353***
111018.87 ***
TOTAL
321
317***
7978
24.61 **** BSA - Crop Science major, BAT-Crop Production Technology major students***projected**year when BAT was revised into a generalist program
Source: Office of the Registrar

PGRCM research projects
Apart from the rice PVS and PPB, the FFS participants were exposed to the projects establishedand sustained by BISU-Bilar to level up their PGRCM knowledge and skills in industrial and othereconomic crops. Table 2 shares data on these projects.
The FFS manifests the super-imposing services in research, instruction and extension. Before
the FFS, a benchmark study on the diversity of rice in area was done, then a monitoring activity
through the local technicians. Table 3 reveals the seed increase at the FFS sites for a period of sixyears implying a considerable increase in rice diversity in the areas.
The  FFS  participants  were  able  to  produce  “rice  selections”  and  breeding  lines  from  their  PVS  and PPB activities. The teaching-learning exercises of FFS partakers have already developed rice
breeding lines at F3 as initial products of participatory research as presented in Table 4.
FFS- on community-based organic rice diversity and development (CORD)
BISU organized with the Bohol-Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) a season-long FFS-CORD forvillages that need it. This was tapped as the laboratory field for PGRCM students. The 14-session
FFS provided a shared experiential learning opportunity among students, partners like farmers,
LGU technicians, faculty-trainees on PGRCM, SEARICE staff and BISU traineers on actual PVS,PPB, vrietal rejuvenation, characterization and other field demonstration on ecological pest
management and soil fertility management using organic fertilizers. Table 5 presents the venues
and number of FFS participants.
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Table 2 Functional PGRCM research projects at BISU-Bilar, Zamora, Bilar, Bohol,Philippines useful for instruction, extension and income generation
No. ofSpecies

No. ofAccessions

Year
EstablishedUtilization

Clonal Nursery

22352012

Source of planting materials for theNational Greening Project of thePhilippines; instruction, research

Sweet Sorghum

162010Abaca Nursery
Molave Provenancecum Progeny Trial

132009152008Fruit Genebank

1127

2005

Anthurium

2332003

Rice Seedbank

2240

2001

Timber Genebank

6065

1998

Coconut Genebank
1TOTAL105
Source: Project In-Charge

5229

1983

PGRCM Projects

Tourism, instruction, researchShow-window for enterprise development
Instruction, research, source of planting
materials for farmers
Instruction, research, source of planting
materials for farmers
Source of gene/seeds; source of planting
materials for the clonal nursery; income
Instruction, research, show-window forenterprise development
Back-up supply of organic rice seeds forfarmers & breeders;
Agro-eco-tourism, instruction, researchShow-window for farmers
for income-generating project (IGP);
Source of organic rice seeds for farmers &breeders
Source of genes/seeds; source of planting
materials for the clonal nursery
Instruction; research; source of gene;incomeTable 3 Rice seed increase in the FFS-CORD and PGRCM laboratory/demo sites inBohol, Philippines, Academic Years 2007-2013
Years/ Season

Locationsin Bohol, Philippines

2007-2008
Campagao, Bilar
2008-2009
San Miguel, Dagohoy
2009-2010
Untaga, Alicia
2010-2011
BISU-Bilar, Zamora
2011-2012
Poblacion, San Isidro
2012-2013
BISU-Bilar & Loboc
Source: RDE Library, 2012

No. of Varieties/ Accessions
Used
OnUsedBefore FFS
Trial
After FFS
1620
11825
10925
101516021
1030
121145
9%
Seed Increase
145.45
80.00
90.00
71.43
83.33
122.22

Table 4 Number of rice breeding lines produced by FFS participants and facilitators during
the PPB activities in Bohol, Philippines, Academic Years 2007-2013
AcademicYears
2007-2008
2008-20092009-20102010-20112011-20122012-2013

FFS Sitesin Bohol, Philippines
Campagao, Bilar
San Miguel, Dagohoy
Untaga, Alicia
BISU-Bilar, Zamora
Poblacion, San Isidro
BISU-Bilar & Loboc
TOTAL
Source: RDE Library, 2012

Number Involved
Students
Farmers
Trainers
211032225
38103
1601
128
3
1117
4
7990
17
*breeding lines at F 3Ⓒ ISERD

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No.of BreedingLines/Selections
642136*18*49

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Table 5 Venues and partners/graduates of the off -campus PGRCM activities with the FFSCORD in Bohol, Philippines, Academic Years 2007-2013
AcademicYear/Crop
Ping Season

Locationsin Bohol,Philippines

Number of Partners/Graduates
Students

Farmers

TechniciansFacultyTrainees

LGU
PAO
Campagao, Bilar
21
10002San Miguel, Dagohoy
2225
122Untaga, Alicia
810
122BISU, Zamora*
160000Poblacion, San Isidro
128331BISU-Bilar & Loboc
1117330TOTAL
7990
8107Source: RDE Library, 2012*- The batch decided to have the in-campus activities only due to conflicting schedules with the farmers
2007-2008
2008-20092009-20102010-20112011-20122012-2013

GO &NGOTrainers
33
3
1
3
4
17Issues and lessons learned
Despite the significance of PGRCM to food security, it is only recognized as an Elective subject
where only limited number of Crop major students will enroll, thus the need for it become a basic
subject so all Agriculture students will take. The non-production of stable materials by the students
due to too many activities they have for a limited time was noted. Besides, space and seed bankfacilities are inadequate for the very delicate work of growing and handling selections and breedinglines, hence, the need for a wider handling area.
A highly appreciated observation was the great synergy that developed among the young
inquisitive students vis-as-vis the adult, experienced practical farmers as well as the technicalexperts which provided scientific basis on the practices and beliefs that demand for it.
FFS participants also automatically become partners in the disseminating the planting
materials, thus, diversifying their farms in dispersing information on sustainable organic farming
techniques including indigenous repellents for pest management.
CONCLUSION
1. The PGRCM was successfully integrated into the BAT and BSA curricular programs of BISU
as an Elective subject of the students with major in Crop Production Technology and Crop
Science respectively;
2. For a period of six years, BISU has produced 78 out of the 317 equivalent to 24.61% of theAgriculture graduates major in Crop Production/Crop Science with knowledge and skills inPGRCM;
3. BISU was able to organize and implement one research program with eight component
projects that advocate PGRCM;
4. Through the FFS initiative, the university was able to empower six farming communities inBohol with 90 farmer-graduates on rice PGRCM apart from training eight LGU technicians, 10
PAO staff and seven faculty; and5. The most important issue noted during the project implementation was the recognition of thesubject PGRCM as an Elective where only few will enroll and the lesson learned during theproject implementation was the synergy of the FFS participants advocating PGRCM.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author highly recognized the active participation of the PGRCM students, the rice farmers ofBilar, Alicia, Dagohoy, San Isidro and Loboc, Bohol, for their time and cooperation; the LGU
technicians of the same municipalities, PAO staff, the interested BISU faculty, SEARICE staff,Ⓒ ISERD194

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facilitators and the collaborating institutions of the project for their technical and financial support;
the BISU administration for the all-out support in the project implementation.
REFERENCES
Bautista, O.K. 1994. Introduction to tropical horticulture. Second edition. SEAMEO SEARCA andUniversity of the Philippines Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines.
Borromeo, T. 2007. NPGRL. Lecture guide on plant genetic conservation and management. IPB, UPCA, Los
Banos, Laguna, Philippines.
Hautea, R.A. 1998. NPGRL. Protocols on genebank operations. Institute of Plant Breeding, College ofAgriculture, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines.
IRRI. 2012. Rice world. Internationl Rice Research Institute. University of the Philippines. Los Banos,Languana, Philippines.

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