𝐁𝐒𝐖𝐌 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐅𝐓𝐂 𝟐𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 (𝐓𝐀𝐂); 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧

Despite the heavy rain due to typhoon “Carina” in the Philippines, the DA-Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) Director Gina P. Nilo, PhD., attended the 27th Meeting of the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) – at the Hotel National, Taichung City, Taiwan last 24 July 2024.

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) serves as a crucial role in providing technical assessment and support for the Center’s work programs. As among the 12 valued members of the TAC, Dr. Nilo participated in reviewing the Center’s work program, assessing their impact on the region’s agriculture, and providing insights on how to enhance their effectiveness.

Together with Dr. Nilo are Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora, Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) – Department of Science and Technology (DOST) who served as Chairperson and Ms. Kristine Nilo, Project Officer I of the BSWM, as observer.

In the roundtable meeting, Enhancing International Collaboration for Sustainable Agri-Food System Toward Net-Zero aims to share experiences, challenges, and solutions among the FFTC – TAC members focusing on technology and data related to the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission reduction and adaptation technologies from agricultural activities and broader agri-food systems.

Dr. Nilo also presented the Enhancing International Collaboration for Sustainable Agri-food System toward Net-Zero in the Philippines and the BSWM’s Top 5 Priority Agenda which are the following:

1. National Soil Health Program (NSHP);

2. Implementation of the Sustainable Land Management (SLM);

3. Strengthening the Implementation of PD1435;

4. Philippine Soil Land Resources Information; and

5. Water Technologies and Cloud Seeding Operations for Climate Resilient Agriculture.

These top 5 priority agenda fully support soil and water resilient food system through sustainability of soil and water resources use and management in rural and urban setting and by strengthening the resilience of food systems in different climatic regions in the country.

She also mentioned the strategies and tools such as Composting Facility for Biodegradable Wastes (CFBW), Adaptive Balanced Fertilizer Strategy (ABFS) for Rice Protocol, and BSWM FertRight App. Key programs such as the Implementation of Solar – Powered Irrigation System in the Philippines, and the ongoing R4D on the application of compost and biochar, an upcoming collaboration of BSWM and JIRCAS Project for FY 2024 – 2025 and the implementation of FAO – GEF8 all contributes to the reduction on GHG emission and carbon sequestration.

Overall, the country implementation of the Soil Health Program of the BSWM was proposed for FFTC Strategic Action Plan 2025 2028 under Theme 4: Fostering circular agriculture for sustainable production and a greener future Strengthened collaboration along this topic is expected between and among FFTC and Asian and Pacific.