In this era of fast-paced world of innovation,
computer and technology, it is elating to learn that there are still
institutions and government entities that give significance and value in the
field of basic resource cultivation… farming.
Benguet State University (BSU) has done a tremendous contribution in
steering for competitiveness in farming industry. But first, let us learn about BSU’s humble
beginnings.
THE BEGINNING - BSU CHRONICLE
The Mountain State Agricultural College (former
name of BSU) is one of the leading agricultural institutions in Northern Luzon,
particularly in the mountain provinces, where many of the leaders in the fields
of agriculture, education, politics and industry are MSAC alumni.
Founded in 1916, it was originally known as La
Trinidad Farm School. It is located in Trinidad Valley, the “Salad Bowl of the
Philippines”, a scant six kilometers north of Baguio City. Initially, the
school offered the elementary and secondary agriculture curriculum. In later
years, a special secondary normal course for the upper twenty-five percent of
the junior and senior classes was offered, and a one-year post-secondary farm
mechanics course was introduced in 1948. The school had an original reservation
of 1,710 hectares, but Proclamation No. 209 by late President Ramon Magsaysay
reduced this to 609 hectares.
The school acquired the status of National
Agricultural School in 1951 and opened a college department in 1954. The school
was named Mountain National Agricultural School (MNAS). The special secondary
normal school was abolished in favor for the baccalaureate degree program. In
1958, the school turned out its first batch of Bachelor of Science in
Agricultural Education (BSAE) graduates. The Bachelor of Science in Home-making
(BSAH) was opened to the girls next year. Having two baccalaureate degree
programs, the school was renamed the Mountain Agricultural College in 1961.
On June 21, 1961, the college became a state
chartered institution by virtue of R.A. 5923. It remained under the Bureau of
Vocational Education until April 20, 1970, when the Board of Trustees under the
chairmanship of the Secretary of Education designated then incumbent
Superintendent Pedro A. Ventura as Officer-in-Charge. The Mountain State
Agricultural College marked the first milestone as a state college on November
17, 1970 when President Ferdinand E. Marcos appointed Dr. Bruno M. Santos as
its first president. The initial action of the College President was to
establish a library which is the heart of the college. During this time, the
library has been recognized as a vital organ of the institution, thus the heart
of the academe. By virtue of the Presidential Decree No. 2010 dated January 12.
1986, the Mountain State Agricultural College (MSAC) was converted into Benguet
State University (BSU facebook)
Vision
A premier state university in Southeast Asia
Mission
Develop people with a culture of excellence and
social conscience who actively promote environment-friendly technologies for
improving the quality of life.
LEGACY and ADVOCACY
BSU is an achiever for decades. Not only in the field of farming, but furthermore
in all aspects of academe and non-academic structure.
ACADEMICS
ACHIEVEMENT
SPORTS and ROTC. BSU was an over-all champion in the recenty
concluded 2014 Cordillera Administrative Region Association of State
Universities and Colleges Athletic Meet.
Event was held last December 3-6th.
The defending champion took home a total of 53 gold medals, 38 silver
and 15 bronze medal to claim their fifth straight title in the annual regional
sports meet held at the Payanan Sports Complex in Luna, Apayao.
More so,
BSU students likewise show competitiveness in poomsae (taekwando) by
bagging a gold and bronze medal award through an elementary student of BSU.
It was expected that the reigning champ,
BSU-ROTC Unit, has again emerged last year’s champion of the
Regional Annual Administrative Tactical Inspection 2013-2014 with a score of
96.35 points, the highest out of 14 participating schools in CAR and Region I.
PUBLICATION. The Benguet State University's official
student publication, Mountain Collegian, was hailed as the Best School Paper
during the 15th Regional Higher Education Press Conference held at the
Baguio-Benguet Community Credit Cooperative January 24.
The 50-year old paper was awarded overall
champion after it bagged top awards in the group contests, including best
magazine, tabloid, newsletter and broadsheet.
For its support to campus journalism through the
years, the School Press Advisers Movement (SPAM) has chosen the Benguet State
University as recipient of the first-ever “Courtesy for Institutions Award”.
The Mountain Collegian (MC), the official student publication of the Benguet
State University, on the other hand, was adjudged the Best in Cultural Page
(Mother Tongue-Based Language) and 2nd in Best Newsletter in the Group Contest.
BOARD PASSERS. The BSU College of Nursing ranked 4th among
the top ten performing schools nationwide and 1st in the Cordillera
Administrative Region on the May 2014 Nurse Licensure Examination. Further, Ms. Hanna Caasi Gale, a BSU
graduate of the College of Teacher Education, is among those who topped the
recent Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) conducted last August 2014. Ms.
Gale landed on the 10th Place with an average score of 87.40%. Prof. Josel M. Florentin, college
secretary, more so shared that the recent board examination for College of
Forestry places the BSU CF as the third top performing forestry school in the
country with more than 50 examinees.
LANGUGE PROGRAMS. There were 20 Songkonghoe University (SKHU)
students who finished International Language Center (ILC)’s 10-month Special
Program for English Language and Literature (SPELL). With the Korean newly graduates stay in the
university, they said that they grew up and they are very proud of themselves
for finishing the ILC-SPELL.
ENVIRONMENTAL
SUPPORT
RECYCLED MATERIALS. Fifty-five lanterns that used about 90
percent non-biodegradable and recyclable materials were paraded around the
school campus last Dec. 12, 2014 as part of the Yuletide celebration and to
promote environmental protection and awareness.
BSU- National Service Training Program (NSTP) instructor Alken Sasa
said, the activity supports the efforts of various government agencies,
non-government organizations, and the private sector in mitigating the effects
of climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE. Benguet State University is focusing on
climate change adaptive agriculture through its research and extension
programs. BSU President Ben Ladilad said
they have established a Climate Smart Agriculture Center, which focuses on
studies and research on climate change adaptation and mitigation. Dr. Carlito Laurean, head of the Climate
Smart Agriculture Center, said the project, which started three years ago,
concentrates on researches and developing technologies that could help farmers
adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. In terms of advocacy,
Ladilad said the school is in partnership with the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources and the Philippine Information Agency for
climate change information, education, and communication campaign.
WASTE MANAGEMENT. Benguet State University is also eyeing as
the future waste management conference center in Benguet.
BALILI RIVER and AMBURAYAN RIVER . In 2010, stakeholders led
by BSU and EMB-DENR Cordillera and other multi-sectoral groups initiated
activities to address environmental and social problems associated with the
Balili River and Amburayan River, in
hope to revive this important water resources aside from helping it be
designated as a Water Quality Management Area.
Activities to be implemented under the project include series of
clean-up drive, tree planting, fire prevention and engineering works for slope
protection. After which, there will be a
feedback system, continuous monitoring and evaluation.
SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
SCHOLARSHIP. Benguet State University
(BSU) has the highest number of scholars with 456, followed by Ifugao
State University (IFSU) with 206, Abra State Institute of Sciences and
Technology (ASIST) with 197, Kalinga-Apayao State College (KASC) with 195,
Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC) with 179, and Apayao State
College (ASC) with 46. Each student
grantee receives a total of P60,000 scholarship grant per year broken down to
P20,000 for tuition, P5,000 for textbooks and other learning materials, and
P35,000 stipend allotted for board and lodging, transportation, clothing,
health and medical needs, and other basic school needs.
STUDENTS AS PART OF LIVELIHOOD PROGRAMS. Benguet State
University-Buguias Campus students are focusing on skill building among
alternative learning system students, barangay women’s association, and
community residents to find innovative ways of recycling plastic materials. It
also involves an information campaign to create awareness on how community
members could creatively lessen their plastic wastes without burning them. Meanwhile, students from Benguet
State University – Main Campus decided to give their attention to livelihood
projects. Indigent students of the university are given the opportunity to earn
extra funds for their financial needs by establishing a partnership with
Kabayan which is behind the hand-woven products sold within the Cordilleras.
The plan is to provide a product outlet within the locality to address
unnecessary capital outlay while at the same time prevent overpricing. The
end-goal is to attract more buyers that will eventually bring about better
return on investment. At
the same time, BSU is training high school student leaders on livelihood
project management to enable them to implement income generating projects for
their school. They are also being encouraged to utilize readily available raw
materials in La Trinidad, Benguet in promoting micro-entrepreneurship.
AGRICULTURAL
INNOVATION
AGRI-PINOY. The Department of Agriculture is putting up
an Agri-Pinoy Trading Center worth P600 million on a four hectare lot. The site is located at the Benguet State
University. Benguet State University
(BSU) president Ben Ladilad said the Agri–Pinoy Center is eyed to be co-managed
by the state-run institution. He said
BSU can offer the expertise as well as the professionals to co–run the facility
eyed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) at the Strawberry Field's area. He furthers, that the intention for the
facility is good and can benefit the entire province especially in the wake of
the Asean Free Trade Agreement. The
university is part if the steering committee for the facility and can be an
asset to the success of the center.
"We can guide [farmers] in the needed technology as well as the
transport and packaging of the produce," Ladilad said. Ideally, the steering committee is composed
of the DA, BSU, and the Provincial Government of Benguet, La Trinidad local
government and the Office of the Congressman.
Ladilad said the Agri-Pinoy Center can also be part of the extension
program of the University which will benefit students and teaching personnel
when they use the facility in their courses to give a hands on experience in
the vegetable industry. The Agri-Pinoy
center is viewed to boost vegetable capabilities in marketing as well as
delivery. The center is expected to be
completed in 12 to 18 months.
ORGANIC FARMING. BSU was dubbed as pro-organic university in
2004 and is the first academic institution in the Philippines to acquire an
organic certificate. This university has a vision to become a premier state
university in South East Asia. Unfortunately,
only 30% of the farms in La Trinidad practice organic farming although they are
slowly working towards being 100% organic.
Ladilad said the school is closely working with the provincial
government and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to turn at least four percent
of over 130,000 hectares of plantations in the province to organic farms. The Benguet State University (BSU) has
started developing an organic agriculture program as it braces for the stiffer
competition in the agricultural industry with the Asian Free Trade Agreement
taking effect in 2016. Though already
incorporated within the school’s curriculum that started in 2010, BSU president
Dr. Ben Ladilad said they want to do more especially with the benefits that can
be derived from the program, not only by Benguet province but the whole nation
as well. The BSU’s organic agriculture
program is focused more on research and development to alleviate the effects of
climate change on the province's agriculture industry. In 2009, the Cordillera Organic Agriculture
Development Center (COARDC) was launched and became the 6th research
institution of the University. According
to COARDC Director Jose Balaoing, the program started with 10 students in 2010
who all graduated in 2012, becoming the first batch of certified organic
agriculturists of the province. For the
school year 2013-2014, there are already 41 students enrolled in the program.
CROSS-VARIETY OF STRAWBERRIES. After establishing the project in 1999, BSU had developed seven
strawberry varieties through cross-fertilization. BSU-Pierre, named after a visiting foreign
scientist, is a cross between Sweet Charlie and the Japanese variety, Toyonaka.
The unnamed variety, tentatively called T3, is a cross between the Fern and
Festival varieties. The first variety
the project had developed was called “Agsapa,” a cross between Selva and
Toyonaka. It was named “Agsapa” for the Ilocano word, dawn, because it represented
the dawning of locally developed strawberries.
Padua’s locally developed varieties are slightly resistant to strawberry
mites and fruit rot. More importantly, pesticides are rarely used on these, he
said. This contribution, among others,
garnered the Strawberry R&D program the 3rd place in the national level at
the recently concluded 2010 search for the Best Higher Education Research
Program by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched).
TISSUE-CULTURE FOR IMPROVED SAYOTE PRODUCTION. Sayote production in Benguet is seeing a brighter future if the
technology on micropropagation is maximized.
Tissue-culture, a technology first used to help remedy the diseases in
strawberries, is being popularized to benefit sayote growers in the
province. Milagros Dumaslan, a
researcher at the Benguet State University, is looking forward to the full
production of tissue-cultured sayote plants, which she had been working on to
help provide farmers with healthier planting materials. Dumaslan said tissue-culture is the most
effective way of removing plant diseases that cannot be removed through the
conventional method, which involves planting the matured fruits. She said planting even the healthiest sayote
fruit does not guarantee it will produce a virus-free plant. “Total eradication
(of the source of diseases) is the solution,” she said.
ARABICA COFFEE. Universities specializing in agriculture as
Benguet State University, are researching better ways to grow and farm coffee
plants. They push new found knowledge to local farmers. Farmers are forming cooperatives and
organizations such as the Philippine Coffee Alliance assist in helping farmers
do business in the coffee industry. From
just a P3 million loan payable in three years, RMC Benguet Arabica Coffee
Growers Cooperative is now running the most modern Arabica coffee mill in the
country, thanks to cooperation between Rocky Mountain Café Inc. (RMCI), the
National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), and the Benguet State
University (BSU). The mill is located in
the Benguet State University pilot farm in Barangay Longlong and is operated by
RMC Benguet Arabica Coffee Growers Cooperative (RMCBACGC). BSU provides
technical support throughout the coffee production process, from the farm all
the way to packaging of the beans. Canada-based Rocky Mountain Café, as buyer
of the coffee beans, provides marketing support to ensure sustainability of the
co-op’s operations. “This partnership will help Cordillera farming
communities to raise the quality of their Arabica beans through the use of
efficient, modern, and eco-friendly wet coffee processing technology such as an
ecological wet mill to soften the cherry pulps, ecological pulper to remove the
pulp, and an ecological coffee dryer with no air pollution emissions,” says Carmeli
Chaves, Director for Corporate Responsibility of Rocky Mountain Café
CONCLUSION:
BENGUET STATE UNIVERSITY – OPEN UNIVERSITY
BENGUET STATE UNIVERSITY – OPEN UNIVERSITY
The Benguet State University-Open University
(BSU-OU) was established in 1997 through University Board Resolution No. 768 in
fulfillment of Article XIV (Education) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution and
R. A. No. 7722 known as the Higher Education Act in 1994. The BSU-OU offers Master’s Degree programs
and non-degree or short courses that are not offered by the Graduate School in
the University. It also differs from the Graduate School by having an
open and distance mode of learning.
SOURCE: http://jaywing.com/agency/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-Open-University.jpg
In an open and distance mode of learning, the
students do not attend classes in classrooms regularly. At BSU-OU
students are given course modules and they meet their professors and classmates
once a month. Additional consultations with the professors are also done
by any modes of communication, i.e. through internet, fax, telephone or text
messaging. With this scheme, students are therefore able to gain new
knowledge and skills wherever they are whether at work, at home or even while
on travel, and at their own pace and time. (BSU Website)
It is admissible, that OU’s mission in providing
advanced quality life-long education for all through open and distance learning
interventions, has been beneficial for overseas student as myself. I am currently in Papua New Guinea together
with my family. We’ve been living here for
two years now. It is a great pleasure
and honor for a stay-at-home Mom like me, to further my studies and pursue my
dreams of achieving and becoming someone else outside of the daily chores and
responsibilities that a full time mother endures every single day. BSU-OU indeed gave a platform for us that
dreams and aspirations shall never cease once you become and opted to be a full
time mother. It is blissful that one can
still perform all the tasks that go along with motherhood, co-occurring being a
full-time online student overseas. It is
quite challenging at times for each facets require equal attention and
commitment, hence both rewarding. The
flexibility of distance learning turns time juggling between family and study
well manageable.
Thus, with BSU-OU’s vision of propagating socially
and professionally excellent human resource developer is nearly an arm reach by
bridging the length between BSU-OU’s educators and overseas ambitious student
like me through its distance learning programs.
BENGUET STATE UNIVERSITY AS AGRICULTURAL RESARCH
HUB OF THE NORTH
Furthermore, allow me to commend the hardwork,
strong undertaking, and timeless leadership of Benguet State University as a
working and moving agricultural institution in this generation of dramatic
technological growth. Prior in doing
this writing about the culture of BSU, I precociously accepted in my heart that
youth in this age of computers and internet, no longer dream of becoming a
farmer. Farming is an arduous field, if
not laborious to engage. I mean, how
hard can it be to grow a pound of rice if it costs only P50.00 to buy? I’ve had exposure with people who have gone
to the route of selling their farm lands to someone else, and move to urban
cities to work and settle. I am from
Bulacan, where farming and rice production is one of the main sources of income
of the locals. However, it was
disconcerting to know that farmers chose to sell their lands to developers and
make it a place for dwelling like subdivisions or malls. If only the farmers had the backing and
support of the local government along with an academic institution as Benguet
State University, perhaps many out of schools youths in Bulacan who are living
in poverty, would rather prefer tilting lands than having a life leading to
nowhere.
SOURCE: http://mommywrites.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html
It was an eye-opener for me, that indeed, as a
developing country where Agriculture employs 32% of Filipino workforce, that
what this country needs, are thousands of Benguet State Universities that exhibits
agricultural leadership, innovation and programs among others. This university has been part of the steering
committee along with the Department of Agriculture and the local government, in
guiding the farmers their needed technology as well as the transport and
packaging of various agricultural products.
It has become a major research and development organization in the
Philippines. Overtime the institute has
grown rapidly made a number of achievements in the field of training, research,
and extension that have been enabled it to play a leadership role in scientific
and policy innovations.
Benguet State University likewise, is actively involving
staff members and external stakeholders in capacity development processes. It is in these participatory events where
self-learning, critical thinking, team-building, and action planning are promoted. Thus, led to greater changes in knowledge,
skills, and attitudes of the stakeholders.
“Learning by doing,” is the culture of BSU that is
fundamental to capacity development.
Instead of developing individual knowledge, skills, and attitudes, BSU developed
an organizational culture, procedure, and system that channel the use of the
institution’s resources towards relevant goals.
BSU thus, created an environment that is open to self-criticism,
reflection, and improvement.
In closing, it is dignifying to claim that I am a
BSU student, even if I’m not in any way involve in agriculture nor
farming. For merely being a part of this
institution, through my actions and through my words, shall live with me the
mandate of BSU’s core values:
E xcellence
V ibrancy
E quity
R esponsiveness
A ccountability
S ervice
T eamwork
I ngenuity
N obility
G reatness
V ibrancy
E quity
R esponsiveness
A ccountability
S ervice
T eamwork
I ngenuity
N obility
G reatness
REFERENCES:
BSU Facebook Account
https://www.facebook.com/BenguetStateUniversity
BSU Website
www.bsu.edu.ph/
www.bsu.edu.ph/
BSU News Archives that can also be found on their website
FURTHER READING:
http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html
FURTHER READING:
http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html
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