To celebrate its 47^th anniversary, the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), together with the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines, Inc. (CAMP) and the College of Economics and Management (CEM), conducted a convocation with the theme “Making agriculture work to better serve our national purposes” on June 14 at the REDREC Auditorium. The event was livestreamed on social media.

The convocation was headlined by its keynote speaker, Hon. Jose Ma. Clemente Salceda, representative of the 2^nd district of Albay.

Dr. Violeta N. Villegas, CAMP treasurer and former IPB director, opened the program and emphasized the importance of teamwork between scientists, extension agents, and legislators in agriculture.

Dr. Fe M. Dela Cueva, IPB director, congratulated IPB on their founding anniversary in her opening remarks. She commended IPB for remaining at the forefront of plant breeding research and application and assisting the country’s agriculture sector since its foundation in 1975.

She also said that it is important for IPB to reflect on its journey and accomplishments and use these to guide the institute in attaining food sustainability and nutritional security. She ended her speech by expressing support for UPLB’s future-proofing initiatives through extensive research and extension.

For his part, Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr. called upon the incoming national administration to make the agriculture sector its highest priority as the country recovers from the pandemic. He emphasized that agriculture stakeholders must come together to recognize the sector’s full potential.

He also expressed his hope that the convocation will help generate ideas and solutions to the looming nutrition crisis and commended IPB for their initiative and commitment to the nation’s agriculture development.

In his presentation, Hon. Salceda discussed “A New Framework for Food Security and Agricultural Development,” where he gave a quick rundown of current issues in agriculture, such as the elevated national debt levels and climate change. He also provided possible strategies for addressing national concerns for the incoming administration, such as the country’s relationship with China, US, the European Union, and the UK, the rising inflation rate, and energy security.

Hon. Salceda tackled the current situation of the agricultural sector in the Philippines. He mentioned issues, including the unfair distribution of economic returns to farmers and the overdependence on imported products. While he acknowledged that importation helps increase nutrition intake among Filipinos, he highlighted that it also displaces Filipino farmers.

Amid these challenges, he said that agriculture is still the key to development. However, he said that agriculture performance in the country is heavily affected by the lack of proportional focus and emphasized the importance of reallocating the country’s resources to make agriculture more profitable.

“If you have profitable agriculture that is bankable, then it becomes sustainable,” he added.

His presentation was followed by an open forum with Dr. Agham C. Cuevas, dean of the College of Economics and Management (CEM), Academician Eufemio T. Rasco, Jr., president of CAMP, and Johann Lorenzo Punzalan, vice chair of the CEM Student Council, serving as panelists.

A recording of the convocation can be viewed on UPLB’s official Facebook page. (Kyle Ramiel Dalangin)