Ethnobotany of Plants in Tagkawayan: Input for Information Communication Media on Medicinal Uses of Plants

In the Philippine countryside, where barrio folks are closely entwined with their natural environment, their close contact especially to the adjoin dipterocarp forests makes them more knowledgeable on the different uses of plants. This study focuses on the exploration of the traditional knowledge of plants more specifically on its medicinal uses. An enhanced and adapted semi structure interview guide was employed and a qualitative approach was incorporated in data gathering. The study recorded a total of 136 plant species of which 52% (81 species) were of medicinal uses, the foremost plant part used were the leaves (58%), route of administration was internal application (67%) and the most commonly method of preparation is boiling (58%). The dosage frequently given was 3x a day. Results showed a rich diversity of plant species in Tagkawayan and the barrio folks are knowledgeable on the traditional uses of plants, but this knowledge were not yet explored because these are trapped among older generation that are transferred through verbal means. Development of a reading material will be of great help for preservation and information dissemination of these beneficial uses of plants. The use of leaves is an indication that the biodiversity in the place is ensured and continued reliance on the use of herbal plant showed that plants could be a better alternative for synthetic drugs in treatment of common diseases.

Design, Fabrication, and Performance Evaluation of Electric Motor Driven Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Grater with Juice Extractor

Modern agriculture requires a modern approach which responds to the necessity of mankind. The study presents the fabrication and performance evaluation of a cassava grater with juice extractor. Such performance evaluation was conducted to determine its grating and juice extracting capacity and efficiency. It was made from locally available materials then tested experimentally using cassava with a grating capacity of 160 kg/hr. The study employed the Complete Randomized Experimental Design (CRD). In evaluating the experiment, the Two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant effect of each factor and the Tukey’s test was used to determine the significant difference between the combined treatments. Two factors with different levels were treated upon the experiment. These were mainly soaking time (0 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min) and the way the cassava was grated and juice extracted (Machine, Manual). Among these treatment combinations, the soaking time of 15 minutes obtained the highest grating and extracting capacity as well as for the grating and extracting efficiency leaving its quality and acceptable appearance on top. The computed benefit-cost ratio of 1.86 showed that grating and extracting cassava juice using the cassava grater with juice extractor was highly profitable and economical for local cassava producers.

Credit Needs of Rice Farmer-Households in Tayabas City, Quezon, 2015-2016

Credit has provided a way to meet the requirements for rice production and household needs especially during the period when farmers wait for their harvest. Further examination on timing of funds of rice farmers is necessary so that their demand for credit can be sufficiently met. The study aimed to evaluate the credit needs of rice farmer-households in Tayabas City located in Quezon Province, Philippines. This was done by interviewing 90 randomly selected rice farmers with an aid of pre-tested questionnaire. The households’ credit needs were assessed using funds flow analysis. Households’ credit needs are the amount of deficit incurred from spending all expenditures. It was found out that farmers’ demand for credit was at maximum during the months of December and June since these months were the start of cropping periods. Thus, they acquired necessary inputs and paid laborers. On the other hand, no demand for credit was observed during the months of March, April, August, September, and October. This was due to significant amount of income earned from rice farming and other farms. The findings of the study provide some implications on timing of credit distribution and monitoring of clients’ funds flow. Furthermore, sufficient livelihood programs must be provided by the government to offset capital insufficiency especially during period of waiting for harvest.

Growth and Survival of Ornate Spiny Lobster (Panulirus ornatus) in Nursery under Laboratory Condition

Nursery of juvenile lobsters in the coastal area was attempted but survival was very low with unknown causes of mortality. The study determined whether communal or individualized houses affect the growth and survival of small and big juvenile lobsters after 60 days nursery culture in the laboratory. Four (4) treatments with four (4) replicates were identified in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and these were small juvenile lobsters in communal tank (T1), small juvenile lobsters in individualized tank (T2), big juvenile lobsters in communal tank (T3) and big juvenile lobsters in individualized tank (T4). Results showed that communal tank for big juveniles attained significantly (P<0.05) highest weight increment of 5.31±1.66 g compared to individualized house for both sizes of lobsters (2.15±1.45 g and 0.68±0.49 g) and communal tank for small lobsters of 1.26±0.97 g. However, survival rate was very low in all treatments with communal tank obtained the highest survival of 45.75±8.50% with no significant difference among individualized tanks for both sizes of lobsters (29.00±20.93% and 20.75±15.76%) and communal tank for small lobsters (20.92±15.93%). Thus, communal tank is better than individualized tank in the nursery, particularly, for big juvenile lobsters but some aspects of the nursery may be improved to increase higher survival rate.