Project Leaders of Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC), Benguet State University (BSU), and Ifugao State University (IfSU) presented their accomplishment reports to the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) on July 31, 2019 at MPSPC Audio Visual Room, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Epiphania B. Magwilang of MPSPC, Richard Dumapis of BSU, and Rene W. Pinkihan of IfSU noticed during the presentation that the findings of their Phase I came out almost the same. Phase I of the project conducted during the dry season (December to April) is the culture of four strains of Nile Tilapia fingerlings.

The Department of Science and Technology - PCAARRD funded Tilapia Project was implemented last April 2018 through the Inception Meeting initiated by the Cordillera Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development Program (CorCAARRD).  All the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) participated in the drafting of the proposal for the project.

The breeding temperature of the Nile Tilapia is cold temperature so spawning becomes more effective in colder places. Since the Nile Tilapia are cold tolerant, the SUCs to implement this project are MPSPC, BSU, and IfSU since their location have cold environment suitable to the project.

“If the end-result of the project came out positive, it will be of great help to the fish farmers. However, we still have to wait for the results of the Phase II to determine the success and usefulness of the project,” Magwilang said in an interview.

At present, all the three implementing SUCs are in the third month of data collection for Phase II which is for the rainy season (May to December).

Dr. Cynthia V. Almazan, Tilapia ISP Manager of PCAARD asked a few questions regarding the reports and the project staff responded satisfactorily. Further, Almazan gave some updates from PCAARRD regarding changes in their project financial calendar and she also discussed about the Cash Basis Implementation of projects.

After the presentation of outputs, the Monitoring and Evaluation Team from PCAARRD and the Project Teams of the three implementing SUCs visited MPSPC’s project site at Otucan Sur, Bauko, Mountain Province.

Paul Taganas, Research Development and Extension staff of MPSPC and Ramon Calde, Cooperating Fish Farmer showed the Tilapia sites and answered queries raised by the PCAARRD Monitoring Team.

The PCAARRD Team proceeded to BSU after the on-site visit. Prior to the visit to MPSPC, the Team also visited IfSU. The Tilapia Project is expected to be finished this September 2019.