Climate change expert, 2 others named as PhilRice deputies

SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija, November 11, 2011-Three engineers, including a known climate change expert, have been appointed to top-level positions at the Philippine rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to meet the institute’s goals and objectives in rice production, including the attainment of rice self-sufficiency by 2013.

The three newly installed deputy executive directors were Dr. Eduardo Jimmy Quilang, Dr. Manuel Jose Regalado and Dr. Caesar Joventino Tado. They were appointed by Dr. Eufemio Rasco Jr., who was named PhilRice executive director by President Aquino last July 4.

Quilang is director of the institute’s climate change center. He became known for his researches on rice-based farming systems, water management, information system (GIS) and remote sensing. During his term as division head of the agronomy and soils plant physiology division, he led his team to winning the Best Research and Development Division Award.

Tado, a two-time service awardee of the Philippine Society of Agricultural Engineers who patented a seed cleaner model, pioneered the creation of PhilRice’s Rice Engineering and Mechanization Center in 2009.

He is a recipient of a number of scholarship grants such as the German Government Scholarship. He authored and co-authored over 30 papers featured in journals and conferences.

Regalado, a conferred scientist in 2009 by the Philippine Scientific Career System, was a former program leader of the knowledge management and promotion program and head of the rice engineering and mechanization division.

His research and projects on renewable energy, farm machine development, and windmill-pump system were recognized in local and international scientific journals and award giving-bodies. Regalado was also awarded as outstanding alumnus for technology in the agriculture category by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Rasco said that as his deputies, the three will oversee and direct the major and supporting divisions under their respective programs to help the country attain rice self-sufficiency in 2013.

PhilRice is a government-owned and controlled corporation mandated to develop high-yielding, cost-reducing, and environment-friendly technologies so farmers can produce enough rice for Filipinos. (Jason de Asis)