Responses to food, agricultural challenges, presented at 46th Annual Scientific Meeting

Concrete steps to crack food and agricultural problems in the Philippines emerged on the first day of the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) held at The Manila Hotel on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

These courses of action, carefully designed by the country’s researchers, scholars, government agencies, and scientists constitute direct, practical, innovative solutions to pressing issues and longstanding predicaments in agriculture and food system in the Philippines.

Some of these glittering solutions were increasing small farmers’ marketable surplus, where these agricultural workers will be provided infrastructural and technological support in processing and selling their produce; bringing small farmers to wholesale and retail market; employing vertical farming, which grows crops in ascending layers of soil; practicing meat cultivation and urban agriculture; utilizing satellite research and innovation in farming, land mapping, monitoring of agricultural infrastructures, and damage estimation; implementing efficient waste management, where food waste will be turned into organic fertilizer for plants; and developing airports for effective transportation and storage of food supplies.

More than 600 individuals attended the first day of the 46th ASM, many of whom were students, members of nongovernment organizations, government officials and employees, ambassadors, researchers, scholars, academicians, and scientists.

The ASM, whose theme this year is “Beyond Farm Productivity: Transforming the Philippine Food System to Address Equity, Consumer Health, and Environmental Issues”, aims to showcase science and technology breakthroughs, deliberate science-and-technology issues towards policy formulation, and provide the society science-based recommendations. It is organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), one of the attached agencies of the Department of Science and Technology.

The NAST is mandated to, among others, recognize outstanding achievements relative to science and technology, incentivize individuals engaged in science-and-technology studies, and advise the president of the Philippines and his cabinet about matters involving science and technology.

Tomorrow, 11 June 2024 comes the second and last day of the 46th ASM, where topics on consumer’s decision-making, health, and nutrition will be discussed. Also included in tomorrow’s agenda are the presentation of NAST’s 46th ASM resolutions, awarding, and investiture and oath-taking of new academicians.

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