THE Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) recently conducted a seminar that focused on calamansi waste utilization and product development opportunities for Oriental Mindoro farmer-leaders, processors and representatives from the private sector and government.
Pedcris Orencio, SEARCA program head for Research and Thought Leadership, said participants including those from the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Science and Technology (DoST) and Trade and Industry (DTI) who gained a good grasp of the calamansi processing industry, opportunities and challenges.
"The virtual seminar aimed to enable the participants to recommend interventions and strategies for potential calamansi products and enterprises," Orencio said.
The capacity building activity was under the project titled "Upgrading the Calamansi Value Chain towards Improving the Calamansi Industry of Oriental Mindoro" funded by the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) and jointly implemented by SEARCA, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI), Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology (MinSCAT), and the local government of Victoria, Oriental Mindoro.
Orencio explained the project also aims to bring together the strengths of the research institutions, in collaboration with the local government units, private sector and industries to address the technical and market constraints that confront the calamansi industry.
"The collaboration operationalizes SEARCA's Academe-Industry-Government (AIG) interconnectivity model to strengthen agricultural innovations and promote market-driven agribusiness models towards increased productivity and income of farmers and stakeholders," he said.
Matilde Maunahan, SEARCA study leader, said the seminar took off from the results and recommendations of the value chain analysis and the stakeholders' validation workshop to set the tone for further initiatives in calamansi enhancement and product development.
Agriculturist Christine Pine of Oriental Mindoro discussed the calamansi industry roadmap of the province, and explained the current production trends, products and markets, and the major constraints along the calamansi value chain.
"Oriental Mindoro is envisioned to be the number one supplier of quality fresh and processed calamansi products that are compliant with good agricultural and manufacturing practices and standards catering to both domestic and international markets," Pine said.
UPLB Researcher Fides Tambalo also discussed the food and non-food products derived from calamansi by-products like pulp, rind and peels, and their market potential. She said non-food products include essential oil, and pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.
On the other hand, Oliver Evangelista, DoST- Industrial Technology Development Institute Senior Science Research Specialist, introduced the calamansi dietary fiber, which is an insoluble type of dietary fiber that can be derived from the pulp and peel of the calamansi fruit. He said the product prototype can be in the form of tablet, powder and cookies.