FPRDI, DA-BAR donate equipment to CamNorte pili processors
A set of the FPRDI charcoaling drum kiln and charcoal briquettor was turned over last 6 March 2014 to the Camarines Norte Pili Growers and Processors’ Association (CNPGPA) thru a joint project of FPRDI and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research.
In a ceremony held in Brgy. Matnog, Basud, Camarines Norte, FPRDI Director Romulo T. Aggangan and CNPGPA Chair Mr. Melchor Brinas signed the Memorandum of Agreement on the equipment turnover.
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| The FPRDI charcoal briquettor was one of the facilities donated to the CNPGPA. |
Funded by DA-BAR, the project “Technology Adoption and Utilization of Community-Based Pili and Other By-Products Processing and Packaging in Camarines Norte” implemented in 2013 a series of training courses on pili resin tapping, pili pulp oil extraction and pili shell charcoal briquetting in the province.
According to Project Leader For. Arsenio B. Ella, the project aims to maximize the use of the province’s pili resources, including the pili pulp and shells which are considered waste materials. To enable the CNPGPA to start a community-based production of charcoal briquettes from pili shell, the project management decided to provide a set of drum kiln and manual briquetting machine to the association.
The Bicol region has the biggest number of productive pili trees in the country. Around 7,046 hectares in the entire region are planted to pili trees, with 221,250 trees already bearing fruits and yielding 5,243 metric tons of nuts annually. In Camarines Norte alone, around 10,236 fruit bearing pili trees covering about 686 hectares were inventoried in 2010. (Florena B. Samiano and Rizalina K. Araral, 18 March 2014)#
