Travel Report July 2001

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ACIAR Project No. FST/2000/127

Improving and maintaining productivity of bamboo for quality timber and shoots in Australia and the Philippines

Travel Report

Prof David Midmore

Philippines July 2001

Itinerary

Wednesday 18 Via Narita/Manila/ Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

Thursday 19 Met   at AIM by Dr Antonio Dano, and travelled to Cagayan de Oro, where   passed by the office of Ms Myrna Decipulo. Handed over chain saw and   accessories for use in bamboo project.

Friday 20 With   Antonio Dano, Myrna Decipulo and Lydia Tionco, left Malaybalay towards   NOMIARC and visited the recently installed bamboo thinning and   management trial on Dendrocalamus asper, giant bamboo. Culms had been   cut according to treatment, but some were left with c. 0.5-1.0 m of   protruding culm – these will be cleaned off with the new chain saw.   Spread over three blocking areas, clumps requiring mulch were still   lacking the mulch application, awaiting the stover from an adjacent   maize field harvest. The site is clean (only some minor branches to be   cleared in block 3) and all is set for a good experiment. We collected a   shoot for analysis the following day of nitrate, as a means to quantify   response of clumps to the additional nitrogen applied in some   treatments [The following day we took sap – that had exuded into an   opened cavity in the shoot – but could not detect any NO3. With the Merq   strips we were able to detect NO3 on the cut surface of the shoot. The   following Monday, with a fresh shoot, we cut out a cube of flesh from   the bottom, middle and top third for the shoot, macerated with a pestle   and monitor, and squeezed juice. Readings (after appropriate dilution)   read 270, 290 and 300 ppm respectively – indicative of a reliable method   to assess NO3 and N status of the plant. For later samples this will be   related to shoot age (on the same plant), and to total N in the most   recently fully expanded leaf - from various positions in variously aged   culms].

Thereafter we travelled to Lantapan, met with the Mayor (Rubio) and   proceeded to sample stream, river, and runoff water for pesticides. We   collected at three depths (top, middle, bottom, third of the   stream/river) at c. 10-11 am from the Kulasihan, the Alanib, the Maagnao   and the Tugasan, and from an ephemeral stream close to our own research   plots, and c. 100 m further downstream. These were analysed over the   next three days. The research plots at Victory, and at Leoniardo   Labial’s property were view, photographed and at the former we were able   to appreciate the marked vigorous growth response of tomato to the   incorporated wild sunflower treatment. Biomass, as well as tomato fruit   yield will be quantified at the end of the experiment. A number of   runoff events had taken place over the past 6 weeks (02 June, 09 June,   24 June, 16, 19) and runoff water was tested for NO3 levels with the   Merq apparatus in Victory. These will be reported in the next 6 monthly   report, together with soil loss, soil fertility and the pesticide data   outlined below.

Saturday 21 – Monday 23 Using   Envirologix Inc microwell test kits (based upon the Elisa principle) we   sampled the river and run-off water mentioned above, and vegetable   produce from our own plots and from the Malaybalay market. Although the   standard curves have yet to be analysed statistically, to give   confidence limits to the predicted pesticide levels in the various   samples, it was evident that we could find most groups of pesticides   (using kits to identify presence of organochlorines, and the   concentration to 100 ppb of organocarbamates and synthetic pyrethroids)   in at least some of the samples tested, likewise, these data will be   presented in the mid-year progress report, in association with stream   flow rates. Our sample represents a one-off data set that could have   picked up peaks of pesticides as they entered the river system. In   September we will undertake a through the day sample to verify or   otherwise this hypothesis, we will also sample tap (faucet) water in the   watershed. At c US $4.00 for reagents for each test, and with duplicate   samples and the need to run the standards in each test, sampling costs   becomes quite significant. The DENR laboratory at Malaybalay was   generously lent for the analytical work, and simple glass/plasticware,   micropipettes and sample tubes are left for safekeeping, as is the Merq   reflectometer.

Additionally on Monday 23rd we visited a number of lumber retailers   in Malaybalay, to get a snapshot of current retail prices. At Sta Ana,   gmelina was Pesos 11.50/board foot, mangium P 10:00/bf and bamboo stakes   P 1/ 6 ft strip. At AC enterprises gmelina was P 12:00/bf and at R-Jays   eucalyptus cost P12:00/bf, coco P 6.80/bf and mahogany p 19:00/bf. At   the fourth store, gmelina cost P 10:50/bf. All prices were therefore   quite uniform, and were in general higher/lower/ the same as our   previous (November 2000) sample period.

Dr Dano and I visited the PPDO to talk with Joel Victoria about GIS,   and the possibility of contracting them, placing someone in their   facility, for management of the SANREM GIS database. He explained that   the office lacked a trained GIS person, his training is only in the   hardware and software management. The GIS office was set up to assist   with the collection of taxes, supported by CIDA (Canada) using Autocad   Lite and Map Info. They now have Arcview 3.2, ArcInfo DAK 3.5.2 upgrade   version 4, and Arc View Spatial Analyst, so have the software to   undertake analysis relevant to SANREM. To train one person in Manila   requires P 13,000 plus accommodation and travel expenses. Currently they   can only work with vector GIS, and produce paper maps – their use of   Map Info does not let them undertake good topography maps, hence if the   unit is to serve SANREM, either we need to train someone from their   office, or hire someone from Manila/Los Banos to work in parallel in   Malaybalay. Either will require an MOU with the Head of the PPDO.   Comments please to David Midmore, or to Jerry Shively/Vicky Espaldon.

Lastly, as had been pointed out on our earlier visits to the   watershed, with the expansion of banana cultivation in the area   (projected expansion to 1000 ha by MKAVI) the demand for bamboo as   physical support material has mushroomed. In the past, the expansion of   tomato promoted by BRCI caused an explosion in the need for 6 foot   bamboo stakes (1ha requires c. 5000- still a P5000 input/ha at present,   using giant or whatever bamboo is available), and currently the local   and botanically un-named species “Laak”, a thinner diameter yet strong   bamboo, is in great demand. The Lantapan municipality is keen to have a   training session (tentatively for September, to coincide with various   other ACIAR/SANREM staff activities in the watershed) and MKAVI is keen   to promote bamboo as a riparian zone species for stream bank   stabilisation and nutrient removal. I will invite INBAR to be part of   the activity, since their priority R & D activity for the   Philippines is stream-bank stabilisation.

Tuesday 24 Travelled to Cagayan de Oro and met with staff at DENR, and with Dr   Robert Holmer, former student and currently manager of research at   Xavier University, with an EU project on the urban/rural interface, and   on waste management. Travelled to Manila and Rockhampton via   Sydney/Brisbane

Wednesday 25 Arrive Rockhampton at 1300 h.