Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Forestry
PGC’s Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries Program is at the forefront of researches towards the genetic improvement of plant varieties and animal breeds using molecular marker-assisted selection and breeding. Ultimately, the program aims to produce improved varieties of crops indigenous to the Philippines such as abaca, Saba banana, pili, and coconut.
Initial projects of the program focus on high throughput discovery and development of gene and molecular markers for important agronomic characteristics such as disease resistance, delayed ripening, and early detection of sex, for use in the genetic improvement of the priority crops such as abaca, Saba banana, pili and coconut.
Other focus areas are development of diagnostic kits with high precision and specificity in identifying disease and genetic diversity of livestock, crops, forest trees, fish and food. The tools of genomics will also be used for microbial testing, discovery of antimicrobials and enzymes for agro-industrial uses, vaccine development and improvement of animal feeds. The program also deals on microbial metagenomics such as microbial communities of animal rumen and mangrove ecosystem. It would also contribute in the development and advancement of bioinformatics for genomic analysis in the Philippines.
Agri Projects
- Coconut Genomics Program: Improvement of Coconut Varieties through Genomics, Genetics, and Molecular Breeding for a Competitive and Sustainable Coconut Industry
- Philippine Shrimp Pathogenomics Program
- Genomics-Assisted Identification of Molecular Markers for Pest and Disease Resistance, Yield and Aroma in Philippine Specialty Coffee
- Abaca Functional Genomics: High Throughput Discovery of Genes and Molecular Markers
- Saba Genomics: Gene and Molecular Marker Discovery in Saba Banana
- Sugarcane Genomics for Increased Productivity, Profitability, Sustainability & Global Competitiveness of the Philippine Sugar Industry
- Development of DNA Markers for Genetic Diversity Analysis, Fingerprinting and Sex Determination of Pili (Canarium ovatum)
- Developing a Sustainable Dairy Cattle Genetic Stock in the Philippines