SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ (PIA) -- A total of 15 technologies were pitched in the 2024 Annual Launch of Knowledge Products for Adoption and Commercialization (ALOK) hosted by the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) through its Agriculture and Food Technology Business Incubator (AFTBI).

ALOK serves as a platform for innovation, collaboration, and development by fostering a dynamic ecosystem for advancing agricultural and entrepreneurial endeavors in the Philippines.

“The 2024 ALOK Annual Regional Pitching activity is a platform to present the technologies to potential investors to facilitate commercialization,” CLSU President Evaristo Abella said. 

Central Luzon Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium Director and CLSU Vice President for Research and Extension Edgar Orden emphasized the crucial role of commercialization in driving the development of innovative products and urged everyone to be aware and to attract potential investors to support these creative ventures.

Included in the pitched agri-based inventions are nine technologies in the food cluster and six in the non-food cluster developed by the consortium member institutions of the Regional Agri-Aqua Innovation System Enhancement (RAISE) Program Batch 2 of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) of the Department of Science and Technology.

Among the food clusters are: Aglibut sweet tamarind ice cream; the process of producing rough puff pastry with rabbit filling; the composition of rabbit canned meatloaf; the method of preparing instant mushroom noodles; Tibig leaf extract-based meat tenderizer; Kardeli; the process of making eggplant luffa longanisa; the method of preparing mushroom bulgogi; and the composition of nutri-chips from mushrooms, seaweeds, and malunggay leaves.

Meanwhile, pitched technologies under the non-food cluster are the mechanized bamboo stick polisher; the method of producing multi-nutrient lick block as feed supplement for ruminants; the production, field testing, and commercialization of boton; the mechanical cacao sheller with winnowing mechanism; the multi-purpose seeder; and the multi-crop reduce till planter.

The program also featured an open forum where the judges shared their observations and reminders for the improvement of the presenters' pitches.

One of the judges was the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Provincial Director Richard Simangan who praised the presenters, particularly for identifying their expected market and the cost of production as a basis for cooperators and other potential adopters.

“DTI would always advocate that whenever you have projects or proposals, the critical aspect of the business would be the market,” Simangan added.

As a result of the program, cooperators such as Amante Esguerra of Citrus Alley and Sheila Melissa Maniego of BiliNE expressed interest in the mechanized bamboo stick polisher of President Ramon Magsaysay State University.

During the program, Gella Patria Abella of CLSU emerged as the first best presenter, followed by Marielle Gamboa of Bulacan Agricultural State College in second place, and Ma. Luz Cabatan of Aurora State College of Technology and Kristine Pascual of the Philippine Rice Research Institute shared third place. 

The 2024 ALOK with the theme “Translating AANR Innovation to Viable Enterprises” is an initiative under the RAISE Program in Central Luzon of PCAARRD.

It was the first pitching activity conducted among the seven participating regions. (MJSC/CCN-PIA 3)