AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO LOS BANOS HIGHLIGHTS AGRICULTURAL

UNCLAS MANILA 000753 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB USAID PASS ROB BERTRAM, USAID/EGAT/ESP/IRB, JOHN WILSON, USAID/ANE/TS, KRISTIN BORK, USAID/ANE/EAA USDA FOR FAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EAGR RP SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO LOS BANOS HIGHLIGHTS AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS ¶1. Summary. During a March 10 visit to Los Banos, the Ambassador attended three events that celebrated longstanding American support for agriculture and higher education in the Philippines. At the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB),she was enthusiastically received as she spoke to over fifty U.S.-educated scholars and researchers. The Ambassador marked the progress on tests of locally developed, U.S.-funded biotechnology crops now growing in confined field trials at the university's Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB). Finally, the Ambassador met with the director of the International Rice Research Institute to acknowledge the USG's longstanding support of the institute and hear their concerns for future funding. End Summary. LOS BANOS, SCIENCE AND NATURE CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES ¶2. The college town of Los Banos in Laguna Province neighbors Metro Manila and boasts a population of over 80,000. It hosts UPLB, along with local, foreign, and international research centers, the most prominent of which are IRRI, the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, and the Philippine Rice Research Institute. Los Banos is home to thousands of students, researchers and expatriates. The city, nestled on the slopes of the densely forested Mount Makiling, is also a popular tourist destination due to its natural hot spring resorts with therapeutic hot baths. In order to protect the local ecosystem, the national government has banned heavy industry in the region, with only small scale industries allowed to operate. Chief among these are furniture making, metal craft, garment production, and food products processing. UPLB: A CENTURY OF U.S. PARTNERSHIP ¶3. At the invitation of UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco, the Ambassador delivered a speech to the school's leaders and over 50 U.S.-trained scholars and researchers currently working at the institution. Noting the bi-national history of the school that renowned American botanist and agriculturist Edwin Copeland founded in 1909, Chancellor Velasco thanked the United States as the school's most important ally and mentor. Since its founding, UPLB has deepened its ties with the United States by developing an exchange program with Cornell University, receiving research grants from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, producing hundreds of Fullbright scholars, and partnering with various USG agencies on a range of development activities. The Ambassador's remarks emphasized the history of cooperation and the continued support of the United States for the University. She acknowledged the school's plans to construct an "American Pioneer Professors" park on the campus, and congratulated the school on its nearly one hundred years of success. U.S.-SUPPORTED BIOTECH DEVELOPMENT: FROM GREENHOUSE TO FIELD ¶4. Highlighting the progress of a two-year, $1.1 million USAID-funded program, and returning to the site where she signed the initial agreement two years prior, the Ambassador spoke at a ceremony at IPB. Hosted by IPB Director Dr. Jose E. Hernandez, the Ambassador celebrated the successful migration from laboratories to closed-fields for testing of locally developed biotech papayas and eggplants that are resistant to viruses and pests. Filipinos consume more papayas than any other fruit except for bananas, and eggplant is the largest vegetable crop in the country. Should the field tests prove successful, these new varieties could have a major positive economic impact on the agricultural sector as well as reduce the need for harmful pesticides. Dr. Hernandez anticipates making these crops commercially available to farmers as early as late-2009. The Ambassador complimented the talent of the local scientists and expressed admiration for the Philippines' standing as having the tenth highest amount of land--over 300,000 hectares--dedicated to biotechnology crops. PROMOTING RICE FOR A BETTER WORLD ¶5. Ambassador Kenney met American Director General Dr. Robert Zeigler at IRRI, located adjacent to UPLB. Established in 1960, IRRI is the oldest and largest autonomous, non-profit international agricultural research institute in the world. Its mission is to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure the environmental sustainability of rice production. Dr. Zeigler briefed the Ambassador on IRRI's research and development agenda and led a tour of the select facilities, including long-term trial fields and the International Rice Gene Bank. The visit was capped by a lunch with the American community at IRRI. ¶6. The IRRI visit included discussion of IRRI's current funding situation. For over three decades, the USG, mostly through USAID, has been a major supporter of IRRI, with cumulative contributions since 1970 approaching $200 million, and USAID unrestricted core funding averaging $3.4 million since FY2000. However, during the week prior to the visit, USAID announced that funding would be cut from $2.7 million in FY2007 to zero in FY2008. The prospective funding cut, while not yet final, is due to overall reductions in agricultural research combined with high congressional earmarks. In response to IRRI's concerns, Ambassador Kenney and USAID officials made several suggestions to Dr. Ziegler on how he might explain IRRI's need for funding, and Dr. Ziegler announced that he plans to visit Washington in April 2008 to meet with appropriate officials, including senior officials at USAID and in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs. KENNEY