Turmoils spawned by excessive politics in the country have not deterred international and regional agricultural research and development (R&D) institutions from selecting the Philippines as venue of their scientific conferences.

A number of factors augur well for such a decision of the global R&D sector to hold such activities here.

Among these is the presence of a critical mass of outstanding Filipino scientists with creditable image in the international science community.

Another is the presence of conference facilities that make the holding of such scientific forums conducive to the exchange of knowledge and research breakthroughs, and intellectual growth.

Consider the calendar of activities in this year's fourth quarter alone.

In October alone, four events had been held.

Conducted on Oct. 10-14 at the Manila Southwoods Manor in Carmona, Cavite, was the first Global Banana Uses and Enterprise Workshop convened by the International Network for the Improvements of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP).

It was followed by the Banana Asia and Pacific Network (BAPNET) steering committee meeting held Oct. 13-15 also at the Manila Southwoods Manor.

BAPNET is an international network of 13 banana-producing countries and two institutes doing R&D work on banana and plantain (cooking banana). INIBAP acts as its secretariat.

An International Banana Technology and Trade Fair was held at the Cavite State University in Indang on Oct. 10-14 with logistical support from INIBAP.

Last Oct. 27-28, key officials of members of the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutes (APAARI) held their Needs Assessment Workshop at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna.

Host agency of the conference was DA-BAR while PCARRD and IRRI were co-organizers.

The steering committee of the Cereals and Legumes Asia Network (CLAN) of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) also held its meeting on Nov. 3-5 at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

CLAN is a research and technology network that supports, coordinates, an enhances technology exchange in food legumes such as sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, and groundnut among scientists in Asia.

Among the international and regional forums slated to be held in the last two months of the year in the Philippines are the Agricultural and Rural Development in Asia (ARDA): Ideas, Paradigms, and Policies Three Decades Later, Nov. 10-11; first International Symposium-Workshop on Vermiculture Technologies for Developing Countries (ISWVT) 2005, Nov. 16-18; and International Rubber Symposium, Nov. 22-24.

The ARDA conference, to be held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City, will be organized by the Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).