VIEWS & OPINIONS : Few weeks after returning to his mother unit at the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE), this blogger (who was detailed to PhilSCAT for 6 years from 2003 to 2009) now observes that the organization seems all set for the implementation of the government's streamlining program more popularly known as Rationalization. Necessary adjustments and new systems seem working efficiently, and the proposed structure is observed to be highly feasible.
With this observation, some pioneering staff of this research organization who decided to retire under the Rationalization program can exit with confidence and sense of fulfillment, as they were able to institutionalize an efficient R & D system worthy to emulate.
BPRE, under this re-structuring program, shall cover additional commodity or scope termed as Bio-Process Engineering which include among others R & D on postharvest biotechnology, food safety and mechanization -- the modern trends in food and agriculture industry in this new millennium.
BPRE, formerly the National Postharvest Institute for Research and Extension (NAPHIRE), was created on May 24, 1978 through Presidential Decree (PD) 1380. It was tasked to spearhead the development of the country's postharvest industry. As then subsidiary of the National Grains Authority (NGA in 1980), BPRE's power and functions were expanded in line with the conversion of NGA into the National Food Authority (NFA). In 1986, BPRE became an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture through Executive Order (EO) 116. After six years, it was transformed into a Bureau through EO 494. And now, with the Republic Act 8435 the Agriculture and Fishery Modernization Act (AFMA), BPRE takes the lead in providing more postharvest interventions to empower the agriculture, fishery and livestock sectors. (30)
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