VSU celebrates Rootcrops festival

The Visayas State University (VSU), through the Philippine Root Crop Research and Training Center (PhiRootcrops), celebrated the Rootcrops Festival as one of the highlights of the 91^st VSU Founding Anniversary. The festival is a project funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources, Research and Development (PCAARRD), and the Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center 8 (ATI-RTC 8). The festival showcased Rootcrops Rock, Rootcrops Dance Festival, Rootcrops Technology Forum, Rootcrops Treat, Rootcrops Artwork Contest, and Rootcrops Cookfest.

The Rootcrops Rock, an interactive learning activity joined by elementary pupils, focused on the different uses of sweet potato, cassava, gabi and ubi in the food, feed and industry and nutraceuticals. Rootcrops Treat was an evening treat with dinner composed of rootcrop-based food.

The Rootcrops Artwork Contest was participated in by elementary, high school, college students, and professionals with the theme “Reinvigorating Agriculture for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.”  The Rootcrops Cookfest was open to HRTM and Food Technology students with rootcrops as the main ingredient.

Moreover, the Rootcrops Technology Forum focused on “Rootcrop Innovations for Health and Growth” which aims to promote rootcrop processing system and food products from rootcrop science and technology for adoption by interested stakeholders. The Rootcrops Technology Forum exhibited products made out of rootcrops, like: tarroz wine–fermented pure extract of Taro, developed food products from cassava grates and flour like cassava cookies, cassava espasol, cassava macaroons, yucca sticks, jolly rolls and pitsi pitsi, sweetpotato pickles, and taro yogurt.

On the other hand, the Rootcrops Dance Festival featured a mass showdown of different contingents from VSU-Alangalang, VSU-Tolosa, and the VSU Main Campus represented by the College of Education. It featured the different activities of rootcrops farming such as planting and harvesting and triumphs against calamities and/or natural disasters. The VSU-Alangalang Campus emerged first and received PhP20,000.  The College of Education won the second prize and received PhP15,000, while VSU-Tolosa won the third prize and received PhP10,000. SMCLemos