UPLB Organic Agriculture Research, Development and Extension Center

04/10/2026

A team from the UPLB Agricultural Systems Institute, composed of Ms Jessabel Magtoltol, Ms. Maria Theresa Nemesis Ocampo and Dr. Leila Landicho, conducted a Training on Soil Analysis and Building Soil Health on September 29,2026 in Barangay Cabiguhan, Gubat, Sorsogon and on October 1, 2026 in Barangay San Antonio, Tigaon, Camarines Sur.

Participated by the partner-organizations of Synergy Pilipinas, this on-site training provided lectures on the physical, biological and chemical properties of soil and its nutrient requirements; Philippine National Standards on Organic Soil Amendments and Plant Supplements; and management practices in building soil health. The participants also had an opportunity to conduct soil sampling and analysis using Soil Test Kit. The participants shall train their fellow farmers on the training topics, and conduct soil analyis in their respective clusters.

This training is one of the components of the project 'Advancing Sustainable and Resilient Agricultural Enterprises through Research and Extension', being funded by Synergy Pilipinas.

21/09/2026

The Interdisciplinary Studies Center on Organic Agriculture (IDSC-OA) and the UPLB Agricultural Systems Institute held the second “What’s Up, OA?” webinar for 2026 on September 14, 2026, via Zoom.

The special webinar series on organic agriculture brought together students, faculty members, researchers, agricultural practitioners, and other stakeholders to learn about recent undergraduate research in organic agriculture supported through the UPLB-LifeBank Foundation (LBF) Undergraduate Thesis Grant Program. The webinar highlighted the continuing collaboration between LBF and UPLB in supporting student research and addressing research gaps in organic agriculture.

The webinar featured three UPLB undergraduate researchers and their respective studies. Adrian Joseph Buenaventura, BS Agriculture major in Horticulture, presented his study on the growth, yield, and proximate analysis of indigenous legume microgreens—cowpea and pigeon pea, grown under varying cultivation media and treated with different concentrations of NaturaGrow. Adam Anne Librojo, BS Agriculture major in Agricultural Extension, discussed her research assessing the role of Farmer Field School in the adoption of organic production practices among farmers in Calamba, Laguna. Meanwhile, Lourice Gwyneth Dela Cruz, BS Agriculture major in Soil Science, presented her study on the influence of crop species on soil chemical properties and microbial diversity at the Organic Agriculture Research, Development and Extension Center (OARDEC)-UPLB, Laguna.

Through the presentations and succeeding open forum, the researchers shared their findings, research experiences, and potential contributions to organic agriculture.

The webinar demonstrated how the LBF Undergraduate Thesis Grant Program provides opportunities for undergraduate students to generate science-based knowledge while contributing to the advancement of organic agriculture.

11/09/2026

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧’𝗦 𝗨𝗣 𝗢𝗔? | 𝘈 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘦𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦

Join us this coming September 14, as three outstanding BS Agriculture graduates and grantees of the UPLB-LBF Thesis Grant Program in Organic Agriculture present their research studies.

Date: September 14, 2026
Time: 1:30 PM

Join directly via this link: https://tinyurl.com/oawebinar0926 (Open to all, no registration required)

Scan the QR code on the poster or copy the link above to join directly at 1:30 PM.

See you there!

10/09/2026

The last leg of OA Festival in 2026 was held on September 9, 2026 at the CMP Convention Center, Provincial Capitol in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. Hosted by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, the OA Festival gathered 140 participants representing organic farmers, OA focal persons at the municipal, provincial and regional levels, Municipal Agriculturists, local policy makers and the academe.

This event was highlighted by sharing of lessons and experiences of selected farmers on the production of organic soil amendments, marketing of organic produce, organic certification , and youth engagement. Meanwhile, enabling policies and programs were presented by the LGU-Kayapa, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Regional OA Focal Person, and the UPLB Organic Agriculture Program.

Organic produce were also showcased by the Kayapa PGS Group, Nueva Vizcaya PGS Group, Nueva Vizcaya Organic Producers' Association, and the Timpuyog TI Babbalasang Idi Kalman Nueva Vizcaya, Inc.

The OA Festival is one of the components of the project 'Future-Proofing Smallholder Farmers in the Philippines through Nature-Positive Food Production', which is being implemented by the UPLB Agricultural Systems Institute -Organic Agriculture Program, in collaboration with the Nueva Vizcaya State University. This project is being funded by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN).

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

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05/09/2026

‼️𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗦‼️

Are you a 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 working on sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture, climate resilience, agricultural technologies, or digital agriculture?

Synergy-Pilipinas and the UPLB Organic Agriculture Program of UPLB Agricultural Systems Institute are inviting 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆/𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀from 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘀 (𝗦𝗨𝗖𝘀) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 to submit research proposals under the Faculty/Staff Research Grant.

Research Grant Support:
✅️PhP 150,000 for experimental research
✅️PhP 100,000 for social research
✅️Maximum of 1.5 years research duration

📍 Research activities shall be conducted in partner communities of Synergy-Pilipinas in Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Sorsogon.

For the complete research guidelines, priority research areas, and proposal template, scan the QR code or copy this link: 𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽𝘀://𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆𝘂𝗿𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺/𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁

04/09/2026

𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆-𝐔𝐏 𝐋𝐁𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄

The Organic Agriculture (OA) Program of the UPLB Agricultural Systems Institute recently conducted a two-day training workshop on September 2-3, 2026, at the Organic Agriculture Research and Development Center (OARDEC).

The workshop brought together faculty and staff from 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝘂𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗖𝗟𝗦𝗨), 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗩𝗦𝗨), 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗖𝗠𝗨), and 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗜𝗻𝗰. - 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗠𝘀. 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗠𝗿. 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗼. This marks an important step toward strengthening the collaboration among higher education institutions in promoting organic agriculture in research and education.

As part of the workshop, the UPLB OA Team shared its experiences, guidelines, and implementation processes in managing the LBF-UPLB Undergraduate Thesis Grant Program on Organic Agriculture. The participating universities also shared their draft guidelines and processes, making the workshop a meaningful space for mutual learning and exchange of experiences. Through these discussions, the group explored ideas and approaches that can help strengthen and improve the implementation of the thesis grant program across participating institutions.

The activity was made even more meaningful with the visit of 𝗟𝗕𝗙 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗠𝗿. 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 for 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗠𝘀. 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗸𝗮 𝗘𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗕. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝘀-𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮. Their visit provided an opportunity to meet the faculty and staff who will be involved in implementing the program in their respective universities and to hear firsthand their questions and concerns regarding LBF funding and program implementation. The discussions provided clarity on several concerns and helped address issues raised by the participating institutions, further strengthening the groundwork for the successful implementation of the thesis grant program.

From one university to many, the UPLB OA Team looks forward to working with more academic institutions in nurturing the next generation of organic agriculture advocates, researchers, and practitioners and ultimately, helping bring organic agriculture closer to the youth.

08/05/2026

Congratulations to Mr. Mark Virgil Jamer!

Mr. Jamer was one of the grantees of the UPLB–LBF Organic Agriculture Thesis Grant Program, recognizing his dedication and valuable contribution to the field of organic agriculture. His Special Problem (SP) study was also presented during the International Conference on Organic Agriculture held at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) on November 27, 2025.

Congratulations on this remarkable milestone, Mark and best wishes for your continued success!

UPLB graduate Mark Virgil Jamer (BSc’25) has been named a McCall MacBain Scholar, chosen from thousands of international applicants to pursue a funded master’s degree and leadership program at McGill University in Canada. Mark is the first graduate from UPLB and the second from the Philippines t...