The Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) gears up for the "2006 Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Forum and Product Exhibition/Fair" on 18-19 May 2006 at the BSWM Convention Hall and BAR Building Grounds, Visayas Ave., Quezon City. The activity is in connection with the celebration of the annually-held Farmers' and Fisherfolk's Month.

This year's theme, Teknolohiya sa Agrikultura at Pangisdaan para sa Masaganang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran, highlights the importance of promoting technology commercialization in achieving sustainability in agriculture and fisheries. It serves as a call for all key players to come together and have a common goal of augmenting the lives of farmers and fisherfolk while creating self-reliant communities.

Highlighting this year's activities are: opening of the product exhibit, launching of CPAR operational manual, and conduct of seminar series featuring papers on the challenges of small and medium scale enterprise for agribusiness development, bird flu and technology commercialization challenges of bio-industries in the farm input markets, agriculture and fishery R&D in the technology commercialization framework, role of financial institutions in technology commercialization, and local participation and governance in technology commercialization.

There will also be a techno forum that will feature technologies on: 1) copra moisture meter developed by the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE), 2) mobile spindle stripping machine developed by the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA), 3) minus-one element technique for nutrient deficiency for lowland rice production developed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and 4) production of sugar from coconut toddy developed by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA). Likewise, a special business meeting of the Regional Integrated Agriculture Research Centers (RIARCs) and Regional Integrated Fisheries Research Centers (RFRDCs) managers wherein zonal R&D activities will be presented.

The techno forum and product exhibit is part of the Bureau's initiatives to the support technology commercialization researches that have potential impact to the farmers and fisherfolk and the improvement of their plights. It features breakthroughs, innovations, and technologies generated and developed by the different R&D institutions, which kicked off in 2005 coinciding major events at BAR.

This year, all national technology forums will highlight technologies on crops, livestock and poultry, fisheries and product systems and resources from the national DA units including staff bureaus and agencies. In addition, five regional clustered technology forums will be held in strategic locations in the country to be hosted by the DA-regional field units in Ilocos Region, Southern Tagalog (CALABARZON), Central Visayas Region, Southern Mindanao and Central Mindanao.

Both the national and regional technology forums are to be attended by DA units, private sector including civil society organizations, commodity specific industries, government, and non-government organizations, and other concerned groups.