Prof. Precelita L. Osillos, Biology Prof. of the College of Arts and Sciences (SLUC) capped the ‘Nemesio E. Prudente Award’ for being the Best Research Presenter along STEM Track during the International Research Conference on Higher Education (IRCHE) 2021 which was held on December 13-16, 2021. The event was anchored in the theme “Leveraging Cultural and Technological Diversity towards New Opportunities for Industry 5.0”.

The Nemesio E. Prudente Award honors presenters and researchers for their outstanding research contributions. This prize is named after Dr. Nemesio “Doc” E. Prudente, a respected educator, political leader, and human rights fighter who served as President of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and is credited with founding the Institution.

Her paper titled “Isolation, Characterization and Evaluation of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) Associated with Wild Legumes and Cogon Grass” was conducted to isolate, characterize and evaluate the potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with the wild legumes and cogon grass as biofertilizer.

“I was able to isolate 6 species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associated with wild legumes and cogon grass namely, Acaulospora laevis, A. mellea, A. morrowiae, A. scrobiculata, G. margarita and one unidentified Glomus species,” Prof. Osillos mentioned during a quick exchange.

She further explained that when these fungi were used as inoculants to tomatoes, they promoted rapid growth rate, increased the number of leaves, stimulated earlier flower onset and fruit emergence, increased fruit yield as compared to the control. Inoculation also resulted in the highest tissue Phosphorus (P) among the treatments, lower percentage of tissue Nitrogen, and higher Potassium (K) content in the leaves.

“Soil analysis showed that AMF inoculation did not affect the soil pH but decreased soil electrical conductivity (EC), K, P and gave the lowest increase in terms of % organic matter (OM),” she added.

She emphasized that the study also aimed at discovering the AMF found in the locality. Her study showed that these 6 species of AMF are safe and are an inexpensive source of biological fertilizer.

The International Research Conference on Higher Education (IRCHE) 2021 is a multidisciplinary event that emphasizes research as the key method for acquiring new knowledge and novel ideas across disciplines. PUP organized this conference, which drew 400 delegates from various government and private institutions in various countries. They included researchers, scholars, school administrators, innovators, policymakers, and other members of the academic and research communities. The articles were divided into five equally prominent research programs in higher education: business, computer science and information systems, education, humanities, social sciences, and communication (HuSoCom), and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). (Jerald Saculles)