The University of the Philippines (UP) is mourning the death of National Scientist Ramon C. Barba at the age of 82 on October 10, 2021.
Dr. Barba was Senior Consultant to the UP Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) when he was conferred the Order of National Scientist in horticulture by President Benigno Aquino III in 2014. A Professor at the UP College of Agriculture, he led UPLB’s tissue culture program gratis from 1975 to the late 1980s.
He obtained his high school diploma from UP Diliman in 1954 and his BS Agronomy from UPLB in 1958.
He returned to the Philippines in 1968 after graduate studies abroad and was appointed Assistant Professor in 1969. At that time, he invented a means to reliably induce mango flowering. This ensured fruit availability the whole year-round. It is considered the most significant breakthrough in the mango industry.
That “his technology of using potassium nitrate to stimulate flowering is a milestone in the study of tropical tree physiology,” is stated in his profile by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).
“He did not collect any royalty from the patent so that ordinary farmers can freely use the technology,” the NAST added.
Eventually, his research on tissue culture or micropropagation of bananas, sugarcane, cassava, and other crops improved their production schemes and protocols.
An Academician of the NAST since 2004, he was elevated to the Order of National Scientist for his achievements in plant physiology. He was cited for “his dedication, perseverance, innovativeness and positive attitude to work productively despite limited resources.”
“His willingness to share his discovery to the greatest number of beneficiaries is shown by his noble decision of not enforcing his patents so that anybody could freely use the technology,” the NAST said. “He is selflessly committed to serve the industry in disseminating the technology through lectures, seminars, and production guides without material reward,” it added.
In this video from the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO, Dr. Ramon Barba talks about the process of inducing the flowering of mango trees using Potassium Nitrate.
