Ms. Charmae F. Antipatia, Regional Corn Coordinator, Corn and Cassava Program of the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 6 (DA-RFO 6) visited the cassava experimental site of the project titled, “Cyanide Analysis and Shelf Life Studies of Selected Cassava Varieties at Different Maturity Stages” which is shortly titled “CyAnSS of Cassava” located within the UP Visayas-Miagao campus, specifically in Brgy. Mat-y. The CyAnSS of Cassava Project is funded by the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).
During the visit, Ms. Antipatia and the Research Team headed by the Project5 Leader, Dr. Vivian A. Topor, and Project Staff Prof. Steve P. Janagap, Prof. Josie B. Rojo, all of the Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, and Prof. Leah A. Araneta of the Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, CAS, as well as Ivan Dave C. Sansaet, and Keziah May C. Valencia (Research Assistants) discussed among other concerns ways to mitigate the scarcity of water during the implementation of the project. Opportunities for more future research collaborations of the two agencies were also laid out. Highlighted was the immediate collaborative plan of holding the training workshop to enhance the skills of research specialists and agriculturists of Local Government Units (LGUs) in Western Visayas to identify cassava varieties based on taxonomic characteristics and also the establishment of cassava specimen collection, which will be in collaboration with the Division of Biological Sciences. Furthermore, due to the availability of several cassava varieties in the experimental site, Ms Antipatia sought the permission of the Research Team to use the CyAnSS Project site as a cassava demonstration farm in Region 6.
