May 23, 2025
Helping people and planet thrive despite increasing pressures on ecosystems, requires a transformation towards more sustainable farming practices and solutions. Regenerative agricultural solutions offer a pathway to restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, and improve ecosystem resilience while ensuring food security for future generations.
This was exemplified by BioCoat-Z®, the 2024 Bayer Regenerative Initiative Award winner recognized during the 56th Pest Management Council of the Philippines (PMCP) Anniversary and Scientific Conference last year.
BioCoat-Z® was developed by Filipino scientists at De La Salle University – Biological Control Research Unit (DLSU-BCRU), led by Prof. Divina M. Amalin, PhD. and her team. The team noted that cacao yields had dropped significantly over the past few years and often due to pest damage. To protect the cacao crop, BioCoat-Z®, a particle film technology solution, acts as a coat for the cacao crop to protect it from insect pest damage caused by Cacao Mirid bugs and Cacao Pod Borers. The coat also acts as a barrier from extreme heat making the cacao resilient to increasing heat conditions. To learn more about BioCoat-Z® and winning team, watch the video below.
Keen on becoming the 2025 Bayer Regenerative Award winner?
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In the heart of North Cotabato, Jean Jose Somera spent her childhood immersed in their small farming community. Watching her father till their one-hectare rice farm, she realized that there are a host of problems within the agri-sector that needed to be addressed. In highschool, she learned that science could be the answer.
Rising pressure on ecosystems, such as emergence of new pests and changing climate, demands agriculture to transform to produce more while using resources more efficiently. Recognizing the power of collaboration to solve the challenges confronting farmers, Bayer Crop Science and Pest Management Council of the Philippines (PMCP) launch the Bayer Regenerative Initiative Awards 2024, which will put a spotlight on innovators with novel pest management solutions that help secure farmers’ harvests while helping the planet thrive.
The Philippines topped the World Risk Report with a 46.82 world risk index as a country prone to natural calamities due to climate change. The Department of Science and Technology reports that an average of 20 storms and typhoons enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility each year, with about 8 or 9 of them crossing the Philippines, causing loss of lives and destruction to property and livelihoods.
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