For almost three decades now, the CAGAYAN VALLEY AGRICULTURE AND RESOURCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM (CVARRD), a conglomerate of 15 agencies and academic institutions, has strived to figure as a potent partner of farmers in realizing decent real income by unifying and focusing agencies' research and development efforts in region 2.

     CVARRD thus envisions "A regional Center of Excellence in research and technology management providing leadership and policy dir ection in advancing the agriculture, forestry, environment and natural resources sectors to significantly contribute to sustainable development and...to the improvement of the quality of the people in Cagayan Valley." The consortium upholds its "...commitment to provide and implement inter-institutional mechanisms that can effectively focus and harness the R&D capabilities, programs and resources of various institutions in the Cgayan Valley Region towards the attainment of goals and aspirations of its people." CVARRD is the product of continuing mergers and collaborations. In September 10, 1976, the Cgayan Valley Research Agricultural Research Complex (CVARC) emerged through a MOA between the Philippine Council for Agricultural Resources Research (PCARR), the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the Cagayan Valley Institute of Technology (CVIT). CVARC was renamed Cagayan Valley Integrated Agricultural Research System (CVIARS) on Novmember 17, 1978, as a result of the merging of CVIT and the Isabela State College of Agriculture (ISCA) earlier in June 1978, into the Isabela State University (ISU). ISU was identified as a Regional Center under the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) national network of research centers and stations.

      The CVIARS setup was a partnership of ISU with BPI, the Philippine Tobacco Administration (PTA), and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), to pump prime development programs of region 2. In five years, more agencies in region 2 became members of CVIARS, i.e., the Cagayan State University (CSU), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology (NVSIT), and the National Development Authority (NEDA).

      CVIARS had since remained as the mechanism for planning, coordinating, implementing, and monitoring and evaluation of research activities on agriculture and natural resources in region 2 until November 25, 1988, when CVIARS was converted into a research consortium with the name it bears to this day, the Cagayan Valley Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (CVARRD). It is the same that reaped for region 2 the prestigious annual UGNAY AWARD which recognized CVARRD as the best consortium in the country in 1988, 2000, 2001, and 2002. With its four-time win, region 2's consortium has bagged the most number of UGNAY AWARDS, to this date.

    The consortium therefore continues to strive towards its vision, through persistence for potent partnership between and among members, i.e., BaSCo, CSU, DA-ATI, DA-BAR, DA-RFU 2, DENR-RO2, DOST-RO2, ERDB, ISU, MGB, NEDA-RO2, NTA, NVSU, PCARRD, QSC, and ULS.

ACTIVITIES FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2008