Fresh from his win in the 18th RSRDH in Roxas City, Dr. Molly L. Naigan of the School of Veterinary Medicine has again triumphed in the recently concluded 26th PSAS-VC Annual Seminar and Convention held in Sagay City, Negros Occidental last August 20-22, 2008.

Dr. Naigan’s paper entitled “In Vitro Acaricidal Effect of Tubli (Derris elliptica) Root Extract against Nymph and Adult Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguinues) and Tropical Cattle Tick (Boophilus microplus)” was judged as the BEST PAPER in the Health and Welfare Category. He will be proudly representing the Visayas Chapter in the 45th PSAS National Seminar and Convention this coming October in Central Luzon State University, Nueva Ecija.

Other competing papers came not only from Western Visayas but also from Regions 7 and 8. This annual seminar and convention was sponsored by the Philippine Society of Animal Science - Visayas Chapter.

Aside from Dr. Naigan, Dr. Elsa I. Abayon (RDS Director), Prof. Teody Teodosio and Prof. Wilner Leyson also attended the said event.

The success of Dr. Naigan and the Research and Development Services Unit of the University would never have been possible without the dynamic leadership of President Benny A. Palma.

The Aklan State University received an amount of P 14, 930,000.00 from the Department of Agriculture Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Executive Committee (DA ACEF-EXECOM) for the establishment of ASU Biodiesel Production Project. The Memorandum of Agreement between ASU and DA ACEF-EXECOM was signed on July 21, 2008 and was confirmed by the ASU Board of Regents on August 21, 2008. The Biodiesel Project will start its implementation schedule this October.

The researchers from Aklan State University are developing environment friendly ways to recycle wastes that contains fats and oils from meat product manufacturers and fast food chains in Aklan to protect the environment from further harm and to produce biodiesel that could be used as an additive to petroleum diesel.

The researchers found out that the fats and oils from the waste products of meat processing plants and food servers can be recycled and converted into biodiesel. The study also revealed that when this biodiesel was mixed with petroleum diesel, there is a lesser engine noise and smoke emission compared to an engine fueled with pure petroleum diesel

The researchers, Dr. Mary Eden Teruel, Engr. Tomas Ortega and Prof. Arlene Dela Cruz have been working on this research project for almost two years now. This project has won several awards in various Research Symposia.

They first presented it in the 2007 Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) In-House Review of the Aklan State University, Banga, Aklan held last July 5-6, 2007 where it won the Best Paper in the Completed Research Category. It also won the 1st Place in both the Development and Poster Category in the 17th Regional Symposium on Research and Development Highlights held the same year in the ASU Banga campus. The paper was also presented during the 2nd Visayas Cluster Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Forum in Sabin Resort Hotel, Leyte last March 4-5, 2008.

The practicability and significance of the project, especially in this time of oil crises, have caught the attention of the concerned agencies. Thus, it received funding from the DA ACEF-EXECOM with the hope that this project, in time, will be of great help to our country.

Banga, Aklan – The annual Agency In-House Review of Aklan State University-Research and Development Services (ASU-RDS) was conducted on July 17-18, 2008 at the ASU Function Hall, Banga, Aklan. It was participated by the different colleges and schools in Banga and four external campuses of the University. There were 50 participants distributed as follows: College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (CFMS in New Washington) has 13 participants, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Environmental Sciences and College of Teacher Education (CAFES and CTE in Banga) has 10 participants each, the School of Rural Resource Development and Management (SRRDM in Ibajay) sent seven participants, the Teacher Education Center (TEC in Makato) and School of Arts and Sciences (SAS in Banga) has three participants each, while the School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) and School of Management Sciences (SMS ) (all in Banga) has two participants each.

Paper presentations were categorized as Completed, On-Going and Proposed researches. There were five papers presented in the completed research category, two for on-going and 13 in the proposed research category.

As incentives to faculty-researchers, Certificate of Awards were given to deserving winners. In the completed research category, Prof. Eva R. Orlina both won the Best Paper and Presenter Award for her paper entitled: Characterization of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge and Soils in Boracay Island. For the on-going research, the paper entitled: Regeneration of Somatic Embryos from Zygotic and Nucellar Tissues of Helmar Pummelo (Citrus maxima L.) was adjudged Best Paper and Best Presenter for Prof. Michael T. Ibisate. Under the proposed research category, the paper entitled RDE Project for Fiber Industry (Abaca Musa textiles Nee cv Agbayanon) in the Province of Aklan by Dr. Evelyn Vedasto, et al. got the Best Paper Award, while the Best Presenter was won by Prof. Rowena M. Legaspi for their paper entitled: Performance of Darag Native Chicken Raised Under Different Production System: Study 1. Growth Performance of Darag Native Chicken Grown Under Orchard and Coconut-Based Production Systems. Winners from all categories came from CAFES.

Evaluators were invited to act as panelists during the presentation to come up with the Best Paper and Best Presenter Award. They were: 1) Prof. Marilou J. Ang Lopez of UPV, 2) Dr. Federito D. Launio of CapSU, 3) Prof. Jaime Cabarles, Jr. of CPU, 4) Dr. Roel A. Alli of WVSU in Lambunao, Iloilo, 5) Prof. Joseph O. Idemne of UPV and Consortium Director of WESVARRDEC and Mrs. Alicia L. Robelo of the DENR.

The Best Paper for this year’s In-House Review will compete in the upcoming Regional Symposium for R & D Highlights to be held at CapSU, Roxas City on August 13-14, 2008.

The moderators during the 2-day presentation are Dr. Elsa I. Abayon, RDS Director and Dr. Perlita R. Israel during the first and second day, respectively.

The successful conduct of this year’s In-House Review was facilitated by the RDS office headed by its RDS Director and was closely supervised by the Vice President for Research and Extension, Dr. Roberto L. Saladar.// MMT & LJT