Developing a Sustainable Food Security Program for an Urban Coastal City

Local urban coastal cities are most vulnerable to the impacts brought about by climate change. Very little attention, however, had been given to the role of coastal cities, including Navotas City, to the achievement of food security in urban centers like Metro Manila. A unified plan of action and a sustainable food security program are imperative given the unpredictability of climate change and the growing urban populations, which result in an increasing demand for a sustainable source of nutritious and affordable food. This study looked into developing a sustainable food security program designed to mitigate the impacts brought about by climate change on food availability, access, utilization, and stability; and how these affect Navotas City’s food security. Data from literature reviews and agency reports were validated by key informant interviews and focus group discussions to achieve the aforementioned objective

Climate Risk Analysis on the Food Security in Saguday, Quirino Province

Saguday is a 5th-class municipality of Quirino Province. The nine barangays of Saguday namely – La Paz, Cardenas, Salvacion, Santo Tomas, Rizal, Tres Reyes, Dibul, Cardenas and Gamis – are all vulnerable to climate change and calamities, not only because of the scarce resources of the municipality, but also due to the geographical and climatological condition of the area. Rainfall rates are projected to increase due to climate change and there will also be some likely increase in mean maximum tropical cyclone wind speed due to the projected 21st century warming (Knutson et al., 2010). Its location in Quirino Province places Saguday within the biggest watershed area in the region. Both observational data and modelling projections show that with climate change, wet regions will generally (but not universally) become wetter. Crop production in Saguday may also be affected biophysically by meteorological variables including rising temperatures, changing precipitation regimes, and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. As socio-economic factors influence responses to changes in crop productivity with price changes and shifts in comparative advantage, a 5th class municipality with scarce resources can be very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This present study identifi es the climatological problems and difficulties confronting the municipality

Urban Hydroponics for Diversified Agriculture: Part II

Achieving food security in urban communities proves to be a challenging task. The inability of cities to produce its food requirement means that food has to be imported from faraway places. Traffic congestion, rising fuel prices, and poor road infrastructure have caused problems in transporting food from farms to markets. The increase in rates of spoilage of perishable vegetables and in transportation costs is a food security issue that needs to be addressed

Urban Organic Farming for Diversified Agriculture

Urban organic farming had been shown in previous projects as well as the present one to have the potential of addressing the fundamental requirements of food security by addressing issues of availability since production is just in the vicinity, which also addresses the carbon footprint of food production because food need not be transported to far distances. The use of organic methods also contributed to increased food safety. More importantly, the practice of urban agriculture empowers local residents in the stewardship, specifically of their barangay’s green spaces and more broadly the whole urban environment (see Mogk, Kwiatkowski, &Weindorf, 2010). However, to make full use of the potentials of urban agriculture, the local government should integrate these initiatives in urban planning and framing of policies and regulations (see Mougeot, 2006 and Mukherji& Morales 2010)

Some effects of gamma radiation on the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (F.) (Col. Anobiidae)

The lethal and sterilizing effects of gamma radiation on the different metamorphic stages of L. serricorne were investigated. The test organisms were irradiated using a Co-60 gamma cell 220 irradiator with dose rates ranging from 173.4 to 194.2 kr/hr. The doses used were from 40 to 500 kr. Death was recorded if there was complete lack of response to tactile stimuli. Unhatched eggs were also considered dead. Mild etherization was used to induce the adults to extrude their genitalia so that their sex could be identified. Complete mortality within 24 hours was observed in the adults and pupae exposed to 400 kr, the larvae at 350 kr while no eggs hatched following exposure to 90 kr. No viable progeny was produced by adults exposed to 10 kr. The females were found to be more radiosensitive than the males. Although the great majority of the papers on L. serricorne concern infestation of tobacco, this species has probably the most varied taste in food of all stored product pests. Howe (1) reported about 40 infestations of plant materials ranging from dried crops to upholstery and books. It has also been noted as a herbarium pest (2). Otanes (3) and Metcalf et al. (4) wrote that it is the most important pest of tobacco in factories and cigar stores and causes considerable damage to other products as well

Developing a sustainable food security program for an urban coastal city, Navotas City, Metro Manila

Urban coastal cities are most vulnerable to the impacts brought about by climate change. However, very little attention had been given to the role of coastal cities to the achievement of food security in urban centers in the vicinity of the sea coast. The proposed project looked into developing a sustainable food security program for urban coastal cities designed to mitigate the impacts brought about by climate change to food availability, access, utilization and stability and how these affects food security. Data from literature reviews and agency reports were validated by key informant interviews and focus group discussions

Invasion stages of Pterygoplichthys spp. (Pisces: Loricariidae) in the Luzon Island, Philippines

Species invasion was identified as one of the main factors in biodiversity loss and it has been the subject of multilateral agreements among countries under the Convention of Biological Diversity to protect the natural environment. One of the more cryptic but potentially devastating invasion events of recent times in the Philippines is the one caused by species of Pterygoplichthys or locally known as janitor fish. In this paper, we provide an appraisal of this invasion event in several areas we surveyed were Pterygoplichthys spp. has been introduced. We performed: 1) a taxonomic survey of collected Ptmygoplichthys specimens in localities in the Luzon Island; 2) an ecological survey of waterways in the localities; and 3) field interviews of peopl e during the visits. Our results show that the eight sites visited have been invaded by Pterygoplichthys spp. Invasion stages range from Stage II to Stage V. The invasion situation at each site is discussed. In this paper, we also offer insights on a multiple founding event for Pterygoplichthys spp., as well as its implications to local policies on management and mitigation on species invasions

Modelling climate change risks for food security in the Philippines

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to look into the impacts brought about by climate change to the food security in Saguday, Quirino in the Philippines. Design/methodology/approach – A framework for developing community food security was utilized which identified the need to mitigate and address inherent externalities in a community such as flooding due to climate change as necessary preconditions to attaining a food secure environment. The study highlighted Saguday’s risk to externalities using risk assessment and modelling. Findings – Data from literature reviews and agency reports were validated by key informant interviews of local and national officials and focus group discussions with different stakeholder groups. Originality/value – A modification of the Urban Food Security Planning Process developed by Taylor and Carandang (2010, 2011) was utilized to address the local government unit’s need to mitigate and manage the inherent geographical risks that Saguday has in relation to its agricultural and food productivity. © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Outlined based geometric morphometric analysis in describing shape variation in suckermouth armoured catfishes (Pterygoplichthys spp.): Basis for the development of automated species identification system

The scientific community is facing taxonomic crisis. With still a huge number of species yet to be discovered, there is a great challenge to classify Earth’s biodiversity. Computer-based automated species recognition has been suggested as a prospective technology to aid in the quick identification of species, especially taxa that form part of routine investigation. Most automated species recognition systems mainly used geometric morphometric-based techniques. The present study investigates whether suckermouth armoured catfishes (Pterygoplichthys spp.), locally known as janitor fish, can be differentiated based on the shape of its head, using outline based geometric morphometric analysis.The variation in shapes is further determined and described. Specifically, we look at Pterygoplichthys spp., being an invasive species in the Philippines, which may establish negative effects in the freshwater environments. A total of 150 closely connected points were made along the outline of the head using tpsDig 2. Relative warp scores generated were used for the analysis of shape variations. Relative warp analysis demonstrated variation in the outline of the head. The four significant relative warps jointly accounted for 87.34% and 80.51% of the variation in the dorsal view and lateral view, respectively. This suggests that shape could be a potential character for the differentiation of Pterygoplichthys species, which would serve as the basis for the development of an automated species identification system

Comperiella calauanica sp. n. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), an endoparasitoid of the invasive coconut scale, Aspidiotus rigidus Reyne (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on Luzon Island, Philippines

Comperiella calaztanica sp. n., an encyrtid endoparasitoid of coconut scale insect, Aspidiotus rigidus Reyne discovered in Calauan, Laguna, Philippines is described and illustrated. This highly invasive armoured scale insect is a devastating pest of coconut trees including seedlings in three provinces on Luzon Island, namely: Batangas, Laguna and Quezon. A key to the species of Comperiella reported in the Philippines is also provided. The endoparasitoid is a promising biological control agent in the regulation of the coconut scale insect populations in the field. Survey results showed that parasitism by C. calauanica sp. n. on A. rigidus colonies in the affected areas ranged from 65-92% in the third quarter of 2014