Researchers Eric Jhon Cruz and John Julius Manuben of the NCPC Pesticide Management Division were among the winners of an online international contest about sustainable crop protection. They attended the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Next Generation Agri Summit and some sessions of the 14th IUPAC International Congress of Crop Protection Chemistry last May 19-24, 2019 at Ghent, Belgium through a full financial support from the sponsor of the Summit.
Out of the 500+ applicants worldwide, Mr. Cruz also won as one of the 5 Next Generation Agricultural Innovators (NGAGE) Champions. He will receive 5,000 euros seed funding to implement his research idea and one-year worth of mentoring and training opportunities. He pitched his idea entitled “PestiSorb: remediation of pesticide rinsate using activated carbon derived from agricultural wastes” at the IUPAC Congress.
The Next Gen participants were tasked by group to develop a project proposal in line with the topic: Educating the Future Generation on Crop Protection. Two groups were declared as the winners, one of which is Team TNT (Youth for Today N’ Tomorrow) where Mr. Manuben is a member. Their group will receive 500 euros to implement their project within one month after the event
