Speaking at the 36th UPLB Commencement Exercises, Albay Governor Joey Salceda exhorted the UPLB graduates to make a difference in the emerging field of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and in the renewed imperatives of rural development and agricultural resurgence. told graduates, “Your job is well cut out for all of you. Next only to the farmers, UPLB is the fulcrum of change in how conditions will evolve,” he told graduates.

The project titled “Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) for Maize in the Philippines” held its second review and planning workshop at UPLB and IRRI on July 25-27, 2006. The workshop aimed to evaluate the agronomic and economic performance of crop and nutrient management strategies tested at project sites during 2005-06, develop a site-specific nutrient management approach for maize in the Philippines based on results from 2005 and 2006, and develop crop and nutrient management recommendations and participatory approaches for delivery at key locations in 2007 and beyond. The project is a joint collaboration among UPLB, the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), and the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) of the Potash & Phosphate Institute (PPI)/Potash & Phosphate Institute of Canada (PPIC) and International Potash Institute (IPI).

Scientists at the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH) have scored another breakthrough with “BioGroe,” a biological fertilizer containing plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) which enhances growth and productivity of plants. A brainchild of researchers led by Dr. Erlinda S. Paterno, BioGroe is packaged as a powdered inoculant for use in vegetables, ornamentals, flowering plants and herbs.

Dr. Victor B. Ella, Dean of CEAT and Associate Professor of the Land and Water Resources Division, IAE-CEAT, and Mr. Nathaniel R. Alibuyog, PhD student of Land and Water Resources, co-authors for the paper Predicting copper transport in an undisturbed soil column using the two-region transport model, won the Best Paper Award in the Physical Science Category during the 6th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Philippine Society for the Study of Nature (PSSN) on May 15-21, 2006 at Kapalong, Davao del Norte.

Prof. Marloe B. Sundo received an International Publication Award for his paper entitled The Effects of a Compressed Working Week on Commuters Daily Activity Patterns, published in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Research, Volume 39, Issue 10, December 2005, pages 836-848.