We also met Dr. Miriam Pascua who was named dean of the College of Agriculture and Forestry last August. The college has some 1,343 students coming from as far as Mindanao. Just like, for instance, the practice of green manuring with the use of indigo. This is an old practice by farmers but which was validated thru research by the experts. Dr. Agustin says that indigo as green manure has a great potential in increasing rice yields in rainfed lowland rice-based cropping systems which are common in the Ilocos.
Indigo increases rice yields and at the same time reduces the cost of fertilizing.
Another lady we met was Dr. Marylis Nalundasan who was busy pollinating her off-season hybrid tomatoes so she could produce enough seeds for sale to farmers by next May or June. They have so far selected three hybrids which are much higher-yielding than the native variety, are very juicy and also possess the desirable sour taste. We have also met Dr. Gliceria Pascua who is multiplying the MMSU Gold, a special cultivar of the Carabao mango which has big fruits with thin seed, and fine-textured flesh. Another lady researcher we met at MMSU was Dr. Betty Malab, the principal developer of the lowland potato now known as Raniag. She is somewhat disappointed about the developments because a private propagator from the Mt. Province has appropriated the improved potato without even acknowledging the developers.