DOST-PCAARRD banners campaign to increase awareness on science of food production

By Rose Anne M. Aya

How many of us take for granted the food served to us in restaurants or the food we buy from the market? Do we fully know the hard work and effort put into the production of our food and ingredients?

These are the questions that will be addressed by a campaign spearheaded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), a sectoral Council of the Department of Science and technology (DOST). DOST-PCAARRD coordinates, evaluates, and monitors the national research and development efforts in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources (AANR) sector.

“Flavors of Science” campaign will honor the hard work and synergy of farmers, fisherfolk, scientists, researchers, and research managers who are constantly working in the background to attain food security.

The campaign was launched on February 11, 2022 through a virtual press conference livestreamed via DOST-PCAARRD’s Facebook page.

Flavors of Science campaign will feature the accomplishments of the Council in developing sweetpotato production; the product of purification of native chicken, native duck, and native pig in different regions of the country, and efforts in conserving and growing tawilis, among others. Throughout the campaign, DOST-PCAARRD will be releasing materials about these accomplishments in its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pcaarrd), Instagram (https://instagram.com/dostpcaarrd), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/dostpcaarrd).

To help the Council in communicating the science behind food production, DOST-PCAARRD partnered with celebrity chef and entrepreneur Marvin Agustin. He will be releasing a series of videos in his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/MarvinAgustinbaYUMMYhan). His videos, which will feature recipes using native food ingredients, will encourage Filipinos to patronize products produced and developed in the country and not those sourced abroad.

Agustin has previously mentioned in his livestream the advantage of using native pig in lechon, particularly the Markaduke native pig breed from Marinduque. Markaduke is one of the native pig breeds improved and developed by DOST-PCAARRD and Marinduque State College (MSC).

“Lingid sa kaalaman ng lahat, may iba’t ibang lahi o breeds ng native pig sa Pilipinas na DOST-PCAARRD na maitaas ang kalidad. Ito ay ang Q-Black mula sa Tiaong, Quezon; Benguet Native Pig mula sa Benguet; Sinirangan mula sa Eastern Samar; ISUbela ng Isabela; Yookah mula sa Kalinga, at Markaduke mula sa Marinduque.

Ang pagdebelop ng mga breeds na ito ay masasabing tagumpay ng DOST. Marahil ang publiko ay hindi pa alam ang impormasyon na ito. Kaya naman inaasahan namin na sa pamamagitan ng mga videos ni Marvin ay mapapalawak ang kaalaman ng publiko tungkol sa mga accomplishments ng aming ahensya,” said DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña in a message during the launch. (DOST-PCAARRD S&T Media Services)