Gov’t, private firms push R&D commercialization

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Five government research and development (R&D) agencies and a private entity have agreed to jointly implement a program on the commercialization and utilization of R&D results.

The program is billed "Technology Forum and Market Encounter in Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Sectors".

Now bound by a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to pursue the program are the Market Encounter Goes to Manila, Inc. (MEGMA), the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), and four regional R&D consortia, namely: Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC), Central Luzon Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (CLARRDEC), Visayas Consortium for Agriculture and Resources Program (ViCARP), and Cotabato Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (CARRDEC).

MEGMA is a Metro Manila-based nonstock, nonprofit organization composed of government and non-government agencies. It is currently headed by Jose Leo P. Caparas, president.

The organization was established in 1985 to assist in the full development of the primary domestic market for the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); to enable MSME producers to test their products in the domestic markets; and to strengthen their capabilities to move into the export markets.

Under the agreement, MEGMA will provide technical assistance in developing new and innovative products and assists in bringing the R&D-generated products and technologies to consumers.

PCARRD, one of the sectoral planning councils under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), will mobilize and facilitate the formulation of action plan, projects, activities, and implementing guidelines regarding the collaborative activity.

PCARRD is committed to the country’s R&D objectives to generate upgrade, and employ a mix of locally generated and improved technologies in meeting the country’s needs for food security and sustainable development.

The consortium system that addresses regional research and technology management is one of PCARRD’s significant undertakings.

There are at present 14 regional consortia, one in each administrative region of the country, coordinated by PCARRD.

"The consortia have developed and implemented a dynamic system of research and technology management attuned to the development efforts of the regions to maximize adoption and utilization of research results," stated Rodolfo D. Ilao of PCARRD.

The four consortia (ILARRDEC, CLARRDEC, ViCARP, and CARRDEC) which will participate in the R&D commercialization program will coordinate in their respective regions the conduct of regional and provincial technology-for-market encounters and identify and prioritize the commodities and products that will be showcased and promoted.

ILARRDEC is based at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), a multicampus institution in Ilocos Norte whose seat of administration is the main campus in Batac town.

CLARRDEC is based at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

ViCARP operates from the Leyte State University (LSU) in Baybay, Leyte; while CARRDEC is based at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in Kabacan, North Cotabato. The heads of the four base state universities, in their capacity as chairs of the consortia’s regional R&D coordinating councils, signed the agreement.