Two teams based in Los Baños won the prestigious 2005 First PESO Challenge Competition, a nationwide competition on technology and innovation business plan. PESO stands for Philippine Emerging Startups Open. They were awarded for their works in biotechnology innovation and enterprise.

Enhanced Solo bagged the Ayala Grand Prize. Enhanced Solo refers to Enhanced Solo Papaya Hybrid, which bears two unique traits in papaya - delayed ripening or longer shelf life and virus resistance.

Its delayed ripening trait allows its fruits to be harvested at the ready-to-ripen stage, and thus, its fruits ripen naturally to bring out their best in color, flavor and texture. With the delayed ripening trait, farmers will have the flexibility to bring his produce to more distant markets and with lower post harvest losses.

In addition, having a natural protection against the dreaded papaya ring spot virus (PRSV), makes this '2-in-1' papaya hybrid a boon to papaya growers and superior quality fruits to consumers.

The development of this export variety, Solo Papaya, is expected to lead the rehabilitation of the various papaya growing areas in the Philippines and the provision of additional income to small farmers.

Two heads are better than one. Enhanced Solo demonstrated how academic teams of different disciplines can provide synergy and come up with an economically viable technology.

The development of Enhanced Solo combines the use of molecular techniques and wide hybridization, the works of which were undertaken by scientists from the Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Baños.

The core team was led by Dr. Evelyn Mae Tecson-Mendoza, Dr. Simeona V. Siar, Dr. Antonio C. Laurena, Dr. Roberta N. Garcia and Mr. Jorge Gil C. Angeles.

The PESO Challenge is the Filipino version of the MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition wholly run by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mr. Federico C. Gonzales, executive director of Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, is PESO president and CEO. To know more about the PESO Challenge, visit http://web.mit.edu/peso/.