July 21, 2018 – Project Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines (Project SARAI) Phase 2 conducted a whole-day workshop on SARAI Technology and Information Valuation at SESAM Lecture Hall. The valuation workshop was conducted by Dr. Canesio Predo, Assistant Professor from the College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CNFR). The workshop was attended by the project leaders and researchers of the different components of Project SARAI.

The main objective of the workshop was to discuss the valuation and impact assessment methodologies that can be used for the program. Aside from developing technologies, knowledge products, and systems for the agriculture sector, SARAI also aims to assess its performance through valuation and impact assessment. 

The program leader, Dr. Maria Victoria O. Espaldon,mentioned that the valuation and impact assessment will help the program integrate its results and outputs in such a way that farmers and other agricultural stakeholders will benefit from the whole system. The valuation methodologies will also help the SARAI team to be well-rounded, and to see the applications and relevance of economics on their researches. 

The second phase of Project SARAI, a three-year interdisciplinary research, development and extension (RDE) program, funded by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD), commenced in May 2018. The second phase will focus on establishing community-level SARAI hubs for nine major crops: rice, corn, coconut, banana, coffee, cacao, sugarcane, soybean, and tomato. (Maria Regina V. Regalado and Heidi D. Mendoza)