CSSP 2008-2009
Rhodora R. Aldemita, PhD

The set of officers and members of the Board of Directors were sworn to office during Awards Night of the Crop Science Society of the Philippines 38th Conference in May 12 to 16 in Grand Hotel Iloilo City. The officers include: Dr. Rhodora R. Aldemita as President; Dr. Emma K. Sales (USM), vice president); Mr. Ramon A. Oliveros (IRRI), secretary; Dr. Jessica D. Rey (IRRI), treasurer; Dr. Norvie L. Manigbas (PhilRice), PRO; Mr. Tomas P. Clemeno (IRRI), auditor; members: Dr. Nenita V. Desamero (PhilRice), Mr. Renato A. Reaño (IRRI), Dr. Sergio Francisco (PhilRice), Dr. Manuel Gaspar (PhilRice), Dr. Leoncia L. Tandang (BSU), and ex officio: Dr. Jose E. Hernandez (UPLB).

There were a total of nine regular meetings and three special meetings conducted during the year. Four BOD members had perfect attendance. All meetings were conducted in IRRI except for one, which was held in Kamayan sa Palaisdaan.

BOARD RESOLUTIONS:
There were eight Board Resolutions made that include:

1-2. on signatories of the account (2)
3. PJCS authors to pay publication fee of PhP 300 (B&W), 400 (colored) for members; 500/600 for non-members
4. Professional fee of Frank Hilario of PhP 30K increased to 40K per issue
5. Solicitation of Advertisement for PJCS
6. Close CSSP account (with FCSSP money) to transfer to FCSSP account
7. Transfer of funds of P205,634.8 from BPI Ayala Life Mutual account to Planters Bank to be used for the (PJCS) operating expenses.
8. Transfer of P100,000.00 funds from LandBank to the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Special Deposit Account (SDA) and Withdrawal of the amount of P100,000 out of the P200,000 from Planters Bank (Planters B Club), deposited to Planters Bank‘s Premium One Account.
9. To obtain from the CSSP the Php 500 contribution of the Iloilo attendees for transfer to the PJCS. To be done yearly including the FCSSP year.

MAJOR DECISIONS/ ACTIONS
BOD Membership:

1. Approved giving Dr. Leoncia L. Tandang the last BOD seat, replacing the elected Alvaro Pamplona who declined because of work commitments. Dr. Tandang accepted the decision.
2. Retained Dr. Norvie Manigbas as PRO while on Postdoctoral stint in Korea. His website assignment was given to Dr. Desamero and Mr. Oliveros, and the president
3. The quorum was set at 6 BOD members, which is 50% of the total BOD members plus 1. There are 11 BOD excluding Dr. Hernandez (ex-officio) and Dr. Manigbas is out of the country, so the decision was based on 10 attending members.

4. The BOD members were given permanent chairmanship in the national organizing committee to facilitate implementation in the conferences, as follows:

President – Overall Chair/Program Committee
Vice President – Paper Committee
Secretary – Secretariat/Invitation/Souvenir Program
Treasurer – Finance/Solicitations
PRO – Fellowship and Awards Nights
Auditor – Election Committee
Ex-officio – Achievement Awards
Others – Poster, Farmers’ Forum, Field Tour, Physical Arrangement, Venue

Philippine Journal of Crop Science

1. The Philippine Journal of Crop Science signage was put up along the Pili Drive
2. The Journal was revitalized and new Editorial staff were hired starting the August issue, 2008 as follows:

Dr. Pompe Sta. Cruz, UPLB Agron Prof, Editor in Chief (EIC)
Ms. Anna Lissa Aquino – Managing Editor
Ms. Clement Dionglay/ Mr. Leslie Bolaños – Lay-out Artist
Ms. Joan Decena/ Mr. Ian Suñer – Editorial Asst.

3. Authors can email papers to the EIC at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
4. The president wrote a proposal to DOST for PJCS funding support. The president and the secretary defended the proposal to the DOST on March 16 and obtained approval for P240,000 support for printing and distribution for one year, to be funded specifically by PCARRD and PCHRD.
5. Conducted inventory of the Journals. Requests for back issues can be entertained depending on availability. Mailing cost to be borne by requesting party. The requests should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
6. Advertisements for the PJCS were solicited from Syngenta, East-West, and Hebborn
7. Have requested for extra shelves for the journal from IRRI – but there is no action yet

CSSP Website
Mr. Sherwin Adriano was hired to develop the CSSP website for Php 15,000.00. The
materials uploaded were contributed by BOD members: Oliveros, Aldemita, Rey, and Reaño. The website www.cssp.org.ph was registered for 1,800.00 and uploaded at the end of April 2009 with an annual maintenance fee of 1,200.00. The website manager will still be deliberated upon in the next meeting.

Involvement of CSSP BOD to the FCSSP Conference
The BOD actively participated in the FCSSP conference in the following committees:

Dr. Aldemita – Chair: Program/ Organizing, Paper/Abstract; Member: Solicitation and Election
Dr. Sales – Member: Solicitation and Accommodation
Dr. Rey – Member: Program/Organizing, Solicitation
Mr. Oliveros – Chair: Accom, Conference Tour; Member: Awards
Mr. Clemeno – Chair: Socials Com
Dr. Desamero – Member: Posters, Best Paper Judge, Election Com
Dr. Gaspar – Member: AgriEntr Forum and Best Paper Judge
Dr. Francisco – Member: AgriEntr Forum and Best Paper Judge
Mr. Reaño – Member: Tour, Awards; Chair: CSSP Elect Com
Dr. Tandang – Member: Accom Com & Best Paper Judge
Dr. Hernandez – Chair: CSSP Awards Com

Philippine Association of Agriculturists (PAA)
The CSSP was invited to join as one of the six societies to comprise the PAA Board of Trustees. The PAA is the recognized, accredited professional organization for Agriculture responsible for licensing agriculturists since 2000. The Philippine Association of Agriculturists was established in 1917 and got revived in 1997 by the present Chairman of the Board Tomas L. Claudio. The number of licensed agriculturists has been increasing, thus the need to have a body that will support the licensing activities; the re-training and retooling of agriculturists for new agricultural technologies; representation in the congress/ senate; act as advisory to the secretaries; and act as a strong body to influence the direction of agriculture.

A Society representative to the PAA does not require him to be a licensed agriculturist or a regular member for now this can be changed as the BOT desires. PAA members who do not belong to any Societies will not have a representation to the BOT since BOT members are representatives of Societies. The “would be formed” BOT may decide to add another seat to the BOT to cater to these “barbarians”. Since BOT members are all Societies not individuals, the representatives can be changed as the Society desires. The Society can opt to elect or add to its set of officers a permanent representative to the PAA BOT.

Since there was a split decision in the BOD, a consensus was made to present the PAA to the general assembly. The BOD thinks that membership to the PAA would allow the involvement of the Society in the above-mentioned activities; can increase attendance to scientific meetings once the Society is affiliated; can conduct other activities for the students and researchers to uplift the science of agriculture; and can facilitate the licensing of Agriculture graduate before 1997. The negative views include: the constitution is not yet ratified; there is no established activities conducted as yet; this will be an added activity to the CSSP with credit given to the PAA; and views that the PAA will only use established Societies such as CSSP for its own gain.

Challenges for the Next BOD

1. Update the CSSP directory, life members, etc
2. Sustain the website initiative

- Hiring of a website manager
- CSSP materials for uploading, including past best paper and poster winners
- Actively answer queries sent through the contact us feature

3. Maintenance of the PJCS standard and regular circulation

- Need for a circulation manager
- Encourage publication of high quality scientific papers
- Tap the DA-BAR for possible PJCS funding support
- Conduct activities other than the conference

As my term ends, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to the guests, resource speakers, donors, and most of all the participants for making the FCSSP conference a success; to the BOD (who became my confidant) for the trust and support, making my term challenging, exciting and memorable; and to all for giving me the chance to serve
the Society. It made me use my “charm” several times, tap new contacts and reconnect and use my old contacts and friends, and I have become a better person (I think) and a professional - a really fruitful and “humbling” experience. THANKS MUCH!!!