Central Mindanao University Academic Paradise of the South
The University launched the Village-level Biological Control Laboratory (Bio-Con Lab) on June 4, 2013 at the CMU Research and Extension complex. Its establishment aims to promote the use of biological control as a strategy in managing insect pests and/or diseases following the organic way. The Bio-Con Lab is a collaborative project of the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Unit 10 (DA-RFU 10) and CMU. The former provided the grant of PhP 400,000.00 and the latter shared a counterpart of PhP 1.3 million to fully establish and to operationalize the Bio-Con Lab.
Dir. Constancio Maghanoy, Regional Technical Director of DA-RFU 10, emphasized that farmers are partners in promoting the use of bio-con agents in insect pest management. Moreover, Dr. Soliven, the University President, shared her anticipation that the university employees will internalize and see the long-term importance of establishing a bio-con laboratory in the university. She added that the University commits to become a lead institution in the area in promoting and using bio-con agents.
A total of 89 participants joined the launching. Aside from the CMU administrators, faculty, staff and some students, other participants included some Bukidnon farmers and farmer leaders, representatives of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Crop Protection Center (DA-RCPC), Municipal Agriculture Officers, agricultural technicians, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), East-West Seed Foundation, Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG), and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) (RGPadoginog/CMU-PRIO).
