Two experts of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) were honored for their significant contributions to rice research.
Dr. Roel R. Suralta, scientist III and chief SRS, was recognized as one of the 2021 National Research Council of the Philippines (NCRP) Achievement awardees.
The award is given to members of the Council for their outstanding achievements in research, active membership, and significant contributions to the growth and development of their fields.
Suralta is a multi-awarded scientist who specializes in environmental stress physiology and root developmental biology. His papers on root plasticity in rice are published in top-tier journals and have hundreds of citations from researchers in the Philippines and abroad. His studies have far offered new perspectives on rice root adaptation in abiotic stress-prone growing-environments affected by climate change.
Meanwhile, Rosaly V. Manaois, head of the Institute’s Rice Chemistry and Food Science Division, was recently conferred the Scientist I rank by the Scientific Career Council of the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Science and Technology on Jan 21.
She is now among the 13 career scientists in DA-PhilRice – four of whom are women. She is also the first food scientist in the Institute to be conferred a scientist rank.
Manaois pursues studies on prebiotic components of rice, rice blends using nutrient-rich local crops, and rice-based food products. She also leads the marketing of some food products.
With fellow researchers, she developed the brown rice cracker-ice cream sandwich (BRICS) — a convenient, nutritious, and marketable value-added product made from Brown Rice Flour (BRF) and buffalo’s milk. Manaois finished BS in Chemistry at Central Luzon State University in 2001, and MS in Food Science at Louisiana State University (LSU), United States of America in 2009. She joined DA-PhilRice in 2001.
