Balik Scientist Goes For Organic Cacao
zbsarian
Dr. Divina Amelin, showing here a big pod of cacao, is a Balik Scientist from the University of Florida in the United States. She is now detailed with the Cacao Foundation of the Philippines (COCOAPHIL), working on integrated pest management in cacao plantations. A graduate of UP Los Banos and the University of Florida, she is an entomologist. She says that pod borer is a major pest of cacao. The damage could be minimized by strict sanitation in the plantation, sleeving or bagging of fruits, monitoring and other good agricultural practices. Cacao is one industry that is being revived in the country today.
