A Japanese corporation has tapped Bicol University to develop cocopeat as a solution to the salinity problem left by the 2011 tsunami in Japan's rice fields.
BU last Aug.9 sealed a partnership with the Original Coco Corp.(OCC), a private Japanese firm for the research engagement that will also involve the Bicol University Development Foundation,Inc.(BUDFI) and Coco Technologies Corporation (COCOTECH), the Philippines' leading bioengineering company and coco coir manufacturer.
BU president Dr.Fay Lea Patria Lauraya on Monday said that under a memorandum of agreement(MOA) she signed with OCC president Kazuyuki Asanuma, the university has committed to provide facilities and researchers for the formulation of project proposals and experimental designs to the Japanese corporation.
OCC,on the other hand,will provide the university with technical information and data, as well as funds necessary for the research, Lauraya said.
Should results of the research turn out successful, the corporation will have the technology patented in both Japan and the Philippines, she added.
Joining the partnership are CocoTech headed by its president, Dr. Justino R. Arboleda who has committed to provide the needed cocopeat for the undertaking, at no cost, together with all technical information on the product; and BUDFI, represented by its chairman, Dr. Emiliano Aberin who shall manage the funds for the entire undertaking.
The duration of the BU research has been set for one year, unless a need to extend it is foreseen or an earlier termination is found necessary, at which case either may be entered into upon mutual agreement among the involved parties.
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