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 D. ON- GOING RESEARCHES AND EXPERIMENTS 1. SAKA 1000 SAKA 1000 is a 1,000 mē ornamental-based farming system employing the same principle and management practices followed by CRTD's Model Farms. New species of shrubs, vines, and ground covers for landscaping purposes and new varieties of chrysanthemum, gerbera, anthurium and poinsettia are grown for commercial market. Farmer-replicable greenhouse technologies are applied to ensure efficiency of production. Just like the other farming systems, SAKA 1000 hopes to showcase farm productivity and increased income in a limited land.
CRTD regularly conducts testing of different varieties of crops and off-season planting on its Verification Farm (VF) Crop Testing Area. Adaptability of crops to the existing condition-temperature, rainfall pattern, soil condition, etc. is observed and verified. Cultural and management practices employed, from sowing/planting to fertilization, pest management, and harvesting, are documented and packged for dissemination to PBSP-farmer beneficiaries and external clients. CRTD had tested different varieties of vegetable crops such as lettuce, cabbage, tomato, cucumber, carrots, sweet pepper, pakchoi, to mention a few. Cultivation of other high value crops (HVCs) under protected structures (i.e. greenhouse, tunnel-types) is also part of the verification activities. CRTD will soon conduct trials on the production and/or commercialization of herbs and spices (parsley, sage, rosemary, tarragon, etc,) and the demonstration/ validation of the hydroponics technology. 3. Stocks Improvement
4. Feeding Trials and Feed Formulation Feeds contribute largely in the cost of production particularly on livestock and poultry projects (i.e. swine, cattle, broiler, ducks, etc.). Feed cost continuously increases but most often than not, selling price of produce is relatively low. To minimize cost of production, CRTD conducts feeding trials and feed formulation utilizing locally available materials. |
2. Crop Testing
CRTD maintains stocks in its livestock, poultry, and aqua projects that will ensure efficiency of production. Purebred Kabir Chickens are being raised primarily because of its satisfactory egg laying and growing performance, imported dairy cows are maintained for its good milk yield, and fast growing strains of tilapia are reared.