Danny O. Calleja

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 13 - Agribusiness has topped the list of growing industries in Bikol that would serve as Key Employment Generators (KEGS) in the next 10 years, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional office here.

A nationwide study called Project Jobs Fit (PJF) recently completed by the DOLE has actually identified a broad volume of job opportunities but listed only 108 in-demand yet hard-to-fill occupations across all of the economy's KEGS and emerging industries until 2010, Alvin Villamor, DOLE's regional director said over the week.

LEGAZPI CITY, July 9  - Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) field offices across the Bikol region have been alerted over the massive conversion of lands from agricultural uses to non-agricultural as a way for landowners to escape the coverage of the extended agrarian reform program.

PILI, Camarines Sur, April 5  -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) is promoting among rice farmers in Bicol the use of technologies developed by its Bicol Experiment Station (BEST) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) that are seen as effective tools toward increased production and income.

SORSOGON CITY, Feb. 23 -- As the El Niño phenomenon prevailing in some parts of the country ravages agricultural crops, a Cebu-based fertilizer manufacturer has came up with a product that could help plants withstand water shortage due to the dry spell.

In a statement recently released here, Amebocyte Cell Company, Inc. (ACCI), manufacturer of Vegegrow Organic Plant Food & amp (adenosine monophosphate) said this product is a pure liquid organic fertilizer derived from marine plant extracts.

AROROY, Masbate, Sept. 24- After years of being hooked to nose-irritating kerosene lamps, households in a remote mountainous village of this gold-rich town have recently realized the dream of shifting to electricity for their lights.

The power comes from a generator provided by the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) project of the government being implemented through various agencies led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

PILI, Camarines Sur, Sept. 9- The Bicol Association of Magsasaka Siyentista (BAMS) is seriously pushing for the modified rapid composting (MRC) technology for environment-friendly and cost-effective farming.

Gerardo Canoy, a farmer leader, said MRC generates savings of about P5,000 on fertilizer costs for every hectare of rice farm.

Canoy is an implementer of the science and technology (S&T)-based demonstration farm here under the Techno Gabay Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Unit (RFU) for Bicol based in this provincial capital.

SORSOGON CITY, Aug. 26  - The Sorsogon provincial office here of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has developed a technology that provides a simple method of producing oil from pilinut pulp.

It now serves as an alternative to the process introduced by the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna which uses enzymes in extraction and chemicals in refining pili pulp oil.

JUBAN, Sorsogon, Aug. 6 -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has earmarked P7 million for the construction of 100 housing units under the government's core shelter program implemented nationwide for homeless families.

Town Mayor Maria Theresa Guab-Fragata here said on Thursday the construction of the housing units are in full swing and being undertaken by the beneficiaries themselves through the bayanihan system.

The municipal government provides a food-for-work assistance for the workers and their families, Fragata said.

MILAOR, Camarines Sur, July 28- The Department of Agriculture (DA) had recently completed the construction of a 15.4-kilometer farm-to-market road (FMR) in this farming town that would benefit over 2,000 hectares of farmlands and about 2,000 households.