Postharvest practices in selected legumes seed production of the Bureau of Plant Industry-Los Baños

Date

6-2016

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture

Major Course

Major in Agronomy

College

College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Ma. Fatima O. Mercado

Abstract

The farm practice was conducted at the Bureau of Plant Industry- Los Banos National Crop Research, Development and Production Support Center (BPI-LBNCRDPSC) located in Barangay Timugan, Los Banos, Laguna from June to August 2015. The general objective of the study was to document and to evaluate the postharvest practices in seed production of selected vegetable legumes namely cowpea, pole sitao, and bush sitao. BPI-Los Baños employs different postproduction activities to ensure seed viability and good shelf life namely, sun-drying, threshing, winnowing, seed cleaning, seed sorting, packing, and storing. The geographical location of BPI-Los Baños is suitable for growing vegetable legumes. They also have a large land area suitable for varietal improvement, and highly knowledgeable staff and skilled laborers. In addition, the Center offers a variety of crops to farmers, and they do not subject their seeds to seed treatment. However, the Center lacks appropriate storage facilities, labourer, farming tools, and supplies. They also heavily depend on sun-drying which was inefficient during rainy season. A Cost and Return Analysis was also conducted. It was found that for cowpea and bush sitao seed production, an ROI of 1.93 was computed. This means that for very peso spent there was a return of 0.93 centavos. On the other hand, an ROI of 1.11 was computed for pole sitao seed production. This translates to PhP 1.11 return for every peso spent. In terms of the sustainability of seed production in BPI-Los Baños, there are some points to reconsider with regards to the seven dimensions of Sustainable Agriculture. To address these matters, possible recommendations would be to reconstruct the storage facilities, procure more units of farming tools and supplies, acquire mechanical dryer, establish concrete guidelines on vegetable legumes seed sorting and testing, and complete conversion from conventional to organic farming.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993 2016 A3 /C48

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS