The Role of Abaca (Musa textilis) in the Household Economy of a Forest Village

Abaca (Musa textilis) is a plant related to the banana, the leaves of which provide some of the strongest natural fibres used by man. It is indigenous to the Philippines, and grows well particularly in the provinces of Bicol, Samar and Leyte. Abaca is also one of the few cash crops that can grow with relatively little input compared to other crops, in steep forest areas. For this reason, it is often the crop of choice of households living in villages at the forest edge. The role of abaca in the household economy of villagers in Leyte is described. The study shows that abaca is both an important secondary income source of households with lowland farms, and frequently the only source of cash income of the poorest households in the community. The implications of abaca's niche in the village economy, on increasing production of the crop, are discussed

Improving Commercial Possibilities of Non-wood Forest Products from Leyte, the Philippines

Current literature regarding the economic potential of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) has become more cautious than previously, and earning an income from NWFPs is no longer considered a certainty for dwellers in many forested areas. However, there is also more information on the NWFPs, the areas from which there can be sustained collection and the markets where they can be competitive. This paper discusses some of the considerations to be taken into account to prevent costly mistakes in choosing NWFPs for commercialisation. It also highlights the possibilities for particular products to improve their prospects in markets from the local to the national and international level, using information from literature and past data on NWFPs in Leyte Province in the Philippines as an illustration. Past data include a list of several NWFPs from Cienda, Leyte. A table of relative frequency of use was assembled from this list after two rounds of interviews, to form the basis for possibly marketable NWFPs using a provisional template

Lacuna

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69290/1/mfolkman_1271878489_Folkman_Thesisfinal.pd

Pyxidis Echo Lacuna

The intention of the work that supports this thesis is to provide a space for the viewer to suspend the exterior world and move into a space where he or she finds a line of questioning and a cyclic experience that ultimately leads to self-reflection. The microcosm and macrocosm enlarged and reduced, respectively, to human scale, allow one to experience this phenomenon in conversational dialog. By conflating the limits of the universe, the participant becomes omniscient within this configuration of large printed works on paper. Texture, line and variant translucent color provides the viewer with a multi-sensory experience. Interaction of the viewer with the installation activates the space with movement, light and distorted shadows. This metaphorical reflection provides an isolated experience within an architectural structure that addresses issues of the role of humanity as well the role of the individual affecting the space

Ang Birhen at ang Hari ng mga Bagyo

Kung nanaiisin ng isa na maunawaan ang relasyon sa pagitan ng mga lipunang Pasipiko at mga panahong humubog sa kanila, kinakailangang tuklasin ng isa ang mga kalayuang temporal at tropiko na namamagitan sa modernong kaalamang meteorolohiko at katutubong karunungang umiiral sa tabi nito. Sapagkat sa huli, ang panahong Pasipiko ay isang heohistorikong karanasan, umiiral bago pa man ito naging obheto ng pag-aaral ng kontemporanyong kaabalahang pangklima, at kinakailangang makitunggali ng ekokritikal na pag-unawa ng panahon sa maraming paghilig na mayroon sa kasaysayan ng diskursong ito. Tinatangka ng artikulong ito ang gayong layunin sa pagkilatis ng mga tropong matatagpuan sa dalawa sa pinakakilalang relihiyosong alamat ng rehiyon, ang kay Virgen del Rosario at kay Bernardo Carpio, at pagsuri ng mga pagkakatulad at pagkakaibang matatagpusan sa pagitan nila. Sa pamamagitan ng mahambing na pamamaraan, tumutungo ang sanaysay na ito sa isang kabatiran hinggil sa relasyon ng lipunang Tagalog sa palagiang sakuna, isang pag-unawa na ang anumang hinaharap na mahalagang asahan ay kinakailangang makisangkot at makitaya sa kinabukasan, o ang walang tinag na kabukasan hinggil sa ating kagila-gilalas at makasaysayang relasyon sa panahon at sa lahat ng kalalabasang kaakibat nito

Corpo, lacuna, traço

 The body is what disappears; the blank, the disappearance itself; the trace, what remains, the mark on the space, the trail, the scar. For seven years, I walked through different landscapes and narratives in search of the dead, photographing what I found: stones, bones, ashes, forests, ruins, houses, train tracks. Now these images compose an archive, a kind of Warburguian atlas in which they can find themselves, confront each other, invent themselves. The website Body, blank, trace is one of the results of my post-doctoral research, which focused on a study on monuments and memorials to the dead. Through reflections on the image, the body, memory and death, I came to understand the memorial as the new body of the dead, on the basis of a possible effect of presence, since it situates the missing person in the physical and material space of a community. Faced with a vast archive of travels and memories, I try to give an order to what remains – the images. Some show the rest, the trail, the trace. Others show the erasure of the dead. How to see what the landscape shows?O corpo é o que desaparece; a lacuna, o próprio desaparecimento; o traço, aquilo que resta, a marca no espaço, rastro, vestígio, cicatriz. Durante sete anos, caminhei por diversas paisagens e narrativas em busca dos mortos, fotografando o que encontrava: pedras, ossos, cinzas, florestas, ruínas, casas, trilhos de trem. As imagens agora compõem um arquivo, uma espécie de atlas warburguiano em que elas podem se encontrar, se confrontar, se inventar. O website Corpo, lacuna, traço é um dos resultados da minha pesquisa pós-doutoral, que teve como eixo um estudo sobre monumentos e memoriais aos mortos. Através de reflexões sobre a imagem, o corpo, a memória e a morte, compreendo o memorial como o novo corpo do morto, a partir de um possível efeito de presença, já que ele localiza o desaparecido no espaço físico e material de uma comunidade. Diante de um vasto arquivo de viagens e memórias, tento dar uma ordem ao que resta – as imagens. Algumas evidenciam o resto, o rastro, o traço. Outras evidenciam o apagamento dos mortos. Como ver o que a paisagem mostra

X-ray Photons in the CO 2-1 'Lacuna' of NGC 2110

A recent ALMA study of the Seyfert 2 Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) NGC 2110 by Rosario et al. (2019) has reported a remarkable lack of CO 2-1 emission from the circumnuclear region, where optical lines and H2 emission are observed, leading to the suggestion of excitation of the molecular clouds by the AGN. Since interaction with X-ray photons could be the cause of this excitation, we have searched the archival Chandra data for corroborating evidence. We report an extra-nuclear ~1'' (~170 pc) feature found in the soft (<1.0 keV) Chandra data of the Seyfert 2 Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) NGC 2110. This feature is elongated to the north of the nucleus and its shape matches well that of the optical lines and H2 emission observed in this region, which is devoid of CO 2-1 emission. The Chandra image completes the emerging picture of a multi-phase circumnuclear medium excited by the X-rays from the AGN, with dense warm molecular clouds emitting in H2 but depleted of CO 2-1 emission.Comment: ApJ Letters - in pres