It was a full house during the College of Agriculture Grand Alumni Reunion.
Highlighting the theme “CPU Agri Alumni Soaring High Towards Global Agri-preneurship,” the CPU College of Agriculture invited Centralian alumni to share their expertise in agriculture and entrepreneurship at the College of Agriculture Alumni Grand Reunion held at The Bacolod Pavillon Hotel on October 20, 2017.
According to Director Larry Nacionales, President of the CPU College of Agriculture Alumni Association, the seminars are part of the college’s support for helping the agricultural industry, “We want to continue our advocacy of developing communities and helping farmers by sharing our expertise and skills. Through the seminar, we can gather our farmers and they will be able to learn from our pool of experts to improve their agricultural practice.”
Simultaneous seminars took place in two venues.
Roberto “Francis” R. Jalando-on, CPUCA Alumni Negros Chapter President, Engr. Manuel C. Palada, member, CPU Board of Trustees, Dr. Rex Alocilja and Rev. Francis Neil Jalando-on, Director, Office of Communications with College of Agriculture alumni at The Ruins, in Silay, Bacolod.
Reminiscing the years – College of Agriculture alumni pose for a group picture.
At Seminar Area No. 1, Mr. Tim Arandela, the Coffee Coordinator of the Provincial Agricultures Office and a 1987 graduate of Agronomy from the CPU College of Agriculture, lectured about GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) in coffee production and cost and return analysis for the first seminar. He gave pointers on how to plant, manage, and harvest coffee. He also encouraged participants to invest in coffee because it is a sought-after commodity, “Coffee is the second largest commodity next to crude oil. Investing in coffee is also better if you sell your coffee directly to consumers for immediate consumption or by investing in a coffee shop.”
Roberto “Francis” R. Jalando-on, CPUCA Alumni Negros Chapter President thanks alumni and committee members for the success of the alumni grand reunion.
Roberto “Francis” R. Jalando-on, CPUCA Alumni Negros Chapter President and Dir. Larry Nacionales, President of the CPUCA Mother Chapter, led the ribbon cutting signifying the start of the College of Agriculture Grand Alumni Homecoming.
CPU President, Dr. Teodoro C. Robles and Dr. Larry Nacionales, President of the CPUCA Mother Chapter awarded Roberto “Francis” R. Jalando-on, CPUCA Alumni Negros Chapter President a certificate of appreciation for his leadership in spearheading the reunion.
CPU President, Dr. Teodoro C. Robles highlighted the Central Spirit and Faith as the bond that ties CPU alumni.
Engr. Eddie P. Cañuto, owner of Ephrathah Farms, and member of the CPU BOT talked about entrepreneurship during the seminar.
Alumni and guests listen to Rev. Amsil P. Alubog during the devotional.
Rev. Amsil P. Alubog led the devotional during the first day of the reunion.
Together Again – The College of Agriculture Batch 1979 reunites at the alumni grand reunion.
The second speaker, Dr. Jaime Cabarles, Dean of the College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences (CARES), talked about native chickens. He highlighted the growing demand of chicken products in Western Visayas and showcased, through a video presentation, the CPU chicken farm in Leon, Iloilo managed together with the Department of Agriculture. In his talk, Dr. Cabarles shared GAP regarding chicken production. He also underscored the grow-out production of organic native chicken, “We want to commercialize native chicken here in Western Visayas. There is still a lot of challenges in achieving this, but we are currently researching ways and methods to commercialize native chicken.”
The last speaker, Engr. Ed Cañuto, owner of Ephrathah Farms, talked about entrepreneurship. Engr. Cañuto attributed the success of this farm to hard work and, above all, faith and obedience to the Word of God, “Ephrathah is the old name of Bethlehem and it means ‘to be fruitful.’ In our farm, we uphold stewardship in everything that we do. Every Monday, to start the week right, we encourage our 75 workers to attend a Bible study. We don’t just want to earn, but we want to transform lives and communities.” He also talked about proper farm operation management, improving the efficiency of farm operations, monitoring of production and cost, and the supply chain.
Meanwhile, at Seminar Area No. 2, valuable knowledge and ideas on agriculture were presented by two Centralian Agriculturists and a Packaging Engineering Faculty.
The first speaker was Dr. Manny Palada, who shared his famous research on moringa (malunggay) and his presentation and output on medicinal-aromatic herbs. He generously imparted his experience and insights on the agricultural production practices in Florida, stressing on the “possibility of increasing production of local herbs such as garlic, ginger and lemon grass.” Dr. Palada added, “They are sustainable here in our country as we have the same tropical climate like the Virgin Islands, which is conducive to aromatic health herbs. Dr. Palada is of the Batch 1966 of the CPU College of Agriculture. He earned his master’s degree from UP Los Baños, and his doctorate degree from the University of Florida. Dr. Palada is the Coordinator of Agricultural Experimental Project at the University of Virgin Islands, which includes areas of St. Thomas, St Croix, and St. John Islands. He is currently a Visiting Professor at CPU.
The second speaker was Dr. Isagani G. Catedral, who lectured on mushroom culture and production. He believes in the potential of mushrooms to provide Filipinos with a good income and healthy food. “Mushrooms provide vitamins and minerals,” according to Dr. Catedral. He presented how he got good business out of oyster mushrooms, which can be grown and harvested anytime of the year. His success in mushroom production grew out of his perspective on the essential mushroom farm which he now operates in Tanauan City, Batangas. Determination and industry are needed to succeed in the mushroom production, according to Dr. Catedral. Dr. Catedral is of the Batch 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy. He earned his master’s degree in Agronomy and his Doctor of Philosophy from UP Los Baños in 1972 and 1984, respectively. He is a former Executive Director of the Philippine Cotton Development Administration.
The third speaker was Engr. Bernie Cangrejo who gave a talk along with Engr. Ron Adrian Dionaldo. Engr. Cangrejo and Engr. Dionaldo presented ideas on how farmers could market their products with good packaging and smart marketing strategies. The talk was not only informative. Engr. Cangrejo entertained the farmers with his “fast talk,” animated discussion, and colorful video presentation. The up-to-date presentation of products and actual areas of concerns were particularly explained, with strategic solutions. Engr. Bernie Cangrejo graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, Batch 1993, and his master’s degree is from Michigan State University-Online. Meanwhile, Engr. Ron Adrian Dionaldo graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Packaging Engineering, Batch 2015.
Engr. Cangrejo’s presentation also included discussions on the Packaging Engineering course being offered at CPU—the only one being offered in the whole of the Philippines. Packaging Engineering, according to Engr. Cangrejo, is a specialized field dealing with packaging problems, including study of products, packages, materials and containers, structures, methods, machinery, and transportation. Scientific and engineering principles are used to solve problems in design, production, and preparation of packaged farm products for distribution. The Packaging Engineering School was initiated by the Dr. Lejo C. Braña, forerunner of the BS Packaging Engineering Course in CPU.
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