Biotech Expertise

Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)

The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, more commonly known as PCARRD, is a sectoral council of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). PCARRD is mandated to serve as the government’s main arm in planning, coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring the national research and development program in agriculture, forestry, and natural resources.

PCARRD’s various projects and programs are classified into four main groups:

  1. High-end sciences and technologies for sustained growth
  2. Improving R&D capability and governance
  3. Techno gabay unlad buhay para sa masa Program
  4. Formulating and advocating policies for S&T development

The high-end sciences programs are further classified into biotechnology, information technology, natural resources management, material science, and the integrated R&D programs.

The Biotechnology Programs

  • Development/Improvement through genetic engineering of socio-economically important crops
  • Application of genetic engineering to economically important microorganisms
  • Improvement of mass propagation techniques for forest plants
  • Genetic improvement through in vitro maturation, in vitro fertilization, and cryopreservation, superovulation and embryo transfer, and artificial insemination
  • Biological diversity conservation through fingerprinting, isozyme analysis and molecular mapping techniques
  • Genetic conservation, both in situ and ex-sity of crops, forestry, and livestock resources

A complete listing of PCARRD’s projects under the Biotechnology Program and other programs in the high-end sciences and technologies can be viewed at www.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph.

To prime up PCARRD’s institutional R&D initiatives to balance its modern and traditional biotech endeavors, the Philippine Agricultural and Forest Biotechnology Agenda (PAFBA) was crafted, taking into consideration the concerns of stakeholders from the academe, government institutions, private sector, and the civil society groups. PAFBA is anchored on national policies, priorities, thrusts, and programs of the DOST, Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the needs of key stakeholders.

The first PAFBA (1995-2000) is a master plan that harnesses new biotechnology tools for crops, livestock, forestry, and environment. PAFBA II (2002-2010) reflects a sharpened biotechnology R&D and biotechnology crosscutting concerns. It aims to strengthen biotechnology’s role in establishing the dynamic agriculture, forestry, and natural resources sectors from resource-based to technology-based systems. Through PCARRD’s institutional initiatives in biotechnology under PAFBA I (1995-2000), modest progress in the biotechnology of papaya, mango, corn, coconut, banana, and sweet potato have been achieved.

Priority R&D areas for crops will concentrate on major economically important crops such as coconut, mango, papaya, banana, and corn. Desirable traits will focus on yield, disease resistance, nutritional quality and tolerance to environmental stresses. R&D activities on livestock will focus on the use of recent reproductive biotechniques while the forestry program aims to ensure the availability of quality planting materials, focusing on trees such as narra, mahogany, yemane, bamboo, and rattan.

Contact details:
PCARRD
Los Baños,
4030 Laguna, Philippines
Tel. No. (049) 536-0014 to 20
URL: http:// www.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph



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