The DOST-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) helped a Laguna-based agro-forest farm by providing technical assistance through its incubation and piloting program.
The Adoress Farm is an incubatee in a collaboration between Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU) and DOST-FPRDI. It is being assisted in the production of hand soaps made from natural materials through DOST-FPRDI’s Technology Business Incubation (TBI) Program and Piloting of Select FPRDI Technologies Project.
During the visit, DOST-FPRDI expert Dr. Jennifer P. Tamayo shared promising results of the antimicrobial and dermal irritation tests on the soap. Antimicrobial test evaluates the efficacy of the soap in killing microorganisms, while the dermal irritation test gauges tolerable level of skin irritation when using it.
The Institute’s TBI is a facility that provides needed assistance to start-ups in the forest-based sector. Interested clients may avail themselves of its forest products processing technologies, and abusiness development, training, and testing services, among others.
Meanwhile, the Technology Piloting project examines the technical and market potential of selected DOST-FPRDI technologies under user-environment conditions. Both TBI and Technology Piloting are under the Institute’s Technical Services Division.
Also present during the 12 January 2024 visit were DOST-FPRDI’s Liezel Baldorado and John Francis Lamadora, and LSPU’s Dexter Cosme. (Apple Jean M. de Leon, 18 January 2024)