Los Baños,officially the Municipality of Los Baños,colloquialy 'elbi' or simply LB,is a 1st class municipality in the province of Laguna,Philippines. According to the 2020 census,it has a population of 115,353 people.
The University of the Philippines Los Baños,also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi,is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay in the province of Laguna,some 65 kilometers southeast of Manila. It traces its roots to the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA),which was founded in 1909 by the American colonial government to promote agricultural education and research in the Philippines. American botanist Edwin Copeland served as its first dean. UPLB was formally established in 1972 following the union of UPCA with four other Los Baños and Diliman-based University of the Philippines (UP) units.
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan was an Indian agronomist,agricultural scientist,plant geneticist,administrator,and humanitarian. Swaminathan was a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main architect of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Swaminathan's collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug,spearheading a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and backed by public policies,saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s. His leadership as director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines was instrumental in his being awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987,recognized as one of the highest honours in the field of agriculture. The United Nations Environment Programme has called him "the Father of Economic Ecology".
Science and technology in the Philippines describes scientific and technological progress made by the Philippines and analyses related policy issues. The main agency responsible for managing science and technology (S&T) is the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). There are also sectoral councils for Forestry,Agriculture and Aquaculture,the Metal Industry,Nuclear Research,Food and Nutrition,Health,Meteorology,Volcanology and Seismology.
The University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Forestry and Natural Resources is one of the 11 degree-granting units of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It started as the Forest School under the UP College of Agriculture in 1910,making it the oldest forestry school in the Philippines. It is one of the five founding units of UPLB upon its establishment in 1972.
Nora Cruz Quebral was a pioneer in the discipline of development communication in Asia and is often referred to as the "mother of development communication",giving birth to an academic discipline and training many scholars in that field. Among her students were internationally known devcom educators and practitioners such as Felix Librero,Pedro Bueno,Antonio Moran,Alexander Flor,Rex Navaro and Maria Celeste Cadiz. Her landmark 1971 paper entitled Development Communication in the Agricultural Context and her leadership of what was then the UP College of Agriculture's Department of Agricultural Communication,paved the way for academic programs in development communication at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). That institution later became the UPLB College of Development Communication (CDC),where Quebral served as Professor Emeritus.
The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines,abbreviated as ONS,is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order are known as National Scientists.
The main campus of University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) is located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay in the province of Laguna,64 km (40 mi) southeast of Manila. The complex covers 5,445 ha of land encompassing the entire Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR) and surrounding areas. Its land grants in the provinces of Laguna,Negros Occidental,and Quezon have a combined area of 9,760 ha. The Total Campus Area (Rural) 15,205 hectares.
The University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Agriculture and Food Science,formerly named University of the Philippines College of Agriculture or UPLB CA,is one of the 11 degree-granting units of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Founded in 1909 as the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture,it is the oldest constituent of UPLB,and is one of the four founding units of the university upon its establishment in 1972.
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is one of the eleven degree-granting units of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. It is the largest college in University of the Philippines System which offers most of the general education subjects required of UPLB students,as well as the highest number of degree programs in the University. The Philippines' Commission on Higher Education has recognized CAS as a Center of Excellence in Biology,Chemistry,Information Technology and Mathematics,as well as a Center of Development in Physics and Statistics.
The College of Economics and Management (CEM) is one of the eleven degree-granting units of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. It is the first in Asia to offer degree programs in Agricultural Economics and has trained agricultural,resource and environmental economists from all over the continent.
The College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology is one of the eleven degree-granting units of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. It began as the Department of Agricultural Engineering under the College of Agriculture in 1912. It was then elevated into the Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Technology in 1976 and eventually became a full-fledged college in 1983.
The Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) is a research institute of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. It is the national biotechnology research center and repository for all crops other than rice,which is handled by the Philippine Rice Research Institute.
The UPLB Limnological Research Station traces its root from the Department of Entomology,of the then UP College of Agriculture. Since its conception,the station contributed immensely to the understanding of the bounties of Laguna de Bay and helped establish the duck farming industry on Los Baňos foreshores and pioneered in aquarium fish production in the country. It serves as the base for studies on limnology and biology of aquatic organisms aimed at developing strategies for the optimum utilization and sustained production of aquatic resources;developing,adapting or improving conventional technologies used to increase fish production;and promoting environment friendly approaches for effective water management.
Adelina Adato Barrion was a Filipino entomologist and geneticist whose extensive contribution to the study of Philippine spiders earned her the moniker "Asia's Spider Woman," although she also contributed significantly to the study of other species,and to the study of genetics in general.
Masagana 99 was an agricultural program of then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to increase rice production among Filipino farmers. The program,launched in 1973 at a time the country was experiencing a rice supply shortage,led the Philippines to attain self-sufficiency in 1975–1976,and export rice to its neighboring Asian countries in 1977–1978. By 1980,however,problems with the credit scheme rendered the loans inaccessible to rich landowners while leaving poor farmers in debt. The program was also noted to have become a vehicle of political patronage.
Dr. Benito S. Vergara was a scientist in the Plant Sciences,and was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines in 2001,the highest honor bestowed by the Philippine Government for the work of Filipino scientists. Vergara was also behind the development of the Rice Museum and Learning Center,and is known for his extensive plant catalogues in rice and ornamental plant varieties,as well as his work starting the Farmer's Primer on Growing Rice,an illustrated manual explaining basic rice growing concepts.
Gelia Tagumpay Castillo was a Filipino sociologist. She specialized in rural sociology and was a pioneer of the concept of participatory development. She was a university professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Her 1977 book Beyond Manila examined rural development in the Philippines. She was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 1999.
Mudjekeewis Dalisay Santos is a Filipino fisheries scientist and marine biologist at the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI). He was the first Career Scientist to have been conferred the Scientist V rank by the Scientific Career System. In July 2018,he was elected and conferred as an academician member of the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines (NAST-PHL). He is also the president of the Philippine Society in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2022. His fields of interest in fisheries science are genetics,resource assessment,aquatic biodiversity,biotechnology,climate change adaptation,and policy.
