The Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship (DAME) under the
College of Economics and Management conducted a Year-End Agribusiness Forum
themed “Agribiznext: Future Trends in Agriculture and Food Production,“ on Dec. 18,
2023 at the Drilon Hall, SEARCA Auditorium.

Two distinguished alumni of DAME-CEM served as the forum’s resource speakers.
They are Prof. Rodolfo Nayga Jr., head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at
Texas A&M University, and Dr. Frazen Tolentino-Zondervan, an assistant professor at
the Amsterdam School of International Business at Amsterdam University of Applied
Sciences.

Prof. Nayga’s discussion was titled “The Market for Novel Food Products: The Case for
Lab Meat,” while Dr. Tolentino-Zondervan talked about “The Application of Blockchain
and Big Data Technology for the Sustainability of Fishery and Aquaculture Value
Chains.”

Prof. Nayga highlighted in his lecture the advantages of producing lab-grown meat and
how it can address food security in many countries. He also highlighted that lab-grown
meat is more sustainable and more ethical from the perspective of animal welfare
advocates.

However, high production costs and scaling up are some of the challenges of producing
this type of meat. He shared that lab meat products are currently being produced in the
US, Singapore, Netherlands, and Italy.

On the other hand, Dr. Tolentino-Zondervan discussed the status of blockchains in
fishery and aquaculture value chains. She said that blockchains are mostly used in
industries dealing with high-value seafood such as tuna, Patagonian toothfish, wild
salmon, scallops, and tilapia. She recommended that tangible incentives should be
provided to stakeholders of the seafood product value chains to encourage them to
participate in using blockchain technology.

The forum is the brainchild of DAME chair Mar B. Cruz and was coordinated by DAME
faculty Dr. Dinah Pura Depositario and Asst. Prof. Fitz Jimenez. Meanwhile, Asst. Prof.
Remund Jordan Labios served as the forum’s master of ceremonies. (Dinah Pura T.
Depositario & Fitz D. Jimenez)