The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) and Mindanao State University (MSU)-Maguindanao have teamed up to implement a project that will address the lack of water resources and strengthen the resiliency of upland farming systems in the highlands of Maguindanao.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed between the DOST-PCAARRD and MSU-Maguindanao on Oct. 25 for the project entitled, “Implementation of S&T-based Climate-smart Soil and Water Management in the Highlands of Maguindanao” which also seeks to address low adoption of soil conservation practices in the area.
The DOST-PCAARRD said the project is expected to introduce S&T-based climate-smart soil and water technological interventions to ensure profitability and reduce risk from adverse weather events, such as drought, rainfall variability; and address problems in water scarcity and poor soil fertility in the crop production system in Maguindanao.
The project is led by Dr. Raquel D. Santiago-Arenas.
“The project aims to build and strengthen the resiliency of upland farming systems in Maguindanao to adapt to climate change through developing strategies in mainstreaming soil and water technologies; enhancing awareness and understanding of readily available and proven climate-smart technologies; increasing nutrients and water-use efficiency, and decreasing vulnerability to the negative effects of decreasing water resources and increasing soil degradation.”
After the signing of the soil and water management pact, MSU-Maguindanao Chancellor Baj Hajira Nefertiti S.M. Limbona, Director Noel A. Catibog of the Technology Transfer and Promotion Division, and Dr. Avishek Datta of Thailand’s Asian Institute Technology (AIT) expressed their commitment to support the implementation of the project.
The project grant was made possible through the partnership between the DOST-PCAARRD and AIT.