I look for either news or views on agriculture and related subjects, and that’s how I found that CropLifePhilippines (https://www.croplife.org.ph) has a digital publication, Good Harvest[1](upper image). This is the 4th monthly issue, dated June 2021, which I have downloaded easily. Now I want to help CropLife improve its publication, and others beside.
First, the name is notoriginal – I googled for “good harvest” and I got 1.9 million results! You want to be original, to be remembered as only you.
Next, there is a cover but no Table Of Contents.
While the individual articles are worthy in themselves, they do not cite sources of data or information, and thereby lack credibility.
In the article “Improving Soil Health: Key To Improving Vegetable Yield,” there is no author given. Also, the article is not quite credible, as it cites only one authority (never mind who), from Iowa State University, and not one from the Philippines.
The article “Best Veggies For Startup Backyard Gardens” merely repeats what is already contained in the guide published by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI). Instead, that article could have simply summarized the ATI publication and come up with its own recommendations. Why reproduce an existing publication in your publication?
There is another portion of the publication with the title “Best Practices.” And no, it does NOT deal with “best practices” for vegetables while it mentions only unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones with the subtitle, “UAV Applications On Vegetables In Asia Show Promise.”
The article “The Tomorrow Of Agriculture” by Leopoldo C Valdez of CB Andrews Asia Inc mentions “The Agricultural Revolution” as composed of:
1. improved crop growing methods and models
2. advances in livestock breeding
3. invention of new farm equipment
4. discovery of the laws of inheritance by Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian friar.
Too short, hence not quite credible.
And Good Harvest has an extra-long article on gene editing, which tells me CropLife’s main interest lies in new crops created by gene manipulation.
Here’s Good Harvest quoting Jordan Baoedang as saying that he and fellow farmers of Buguias, Benguet are still recovering from their losses during these months of lockdown – and does not say anything about how things will improve.
Finally, I note that, curiously, the publication has zero editorial staff! CropLife can afford the staff expense, but perhaps it has not found good candidates. At the very least, CropLife should look for an Editor In Chief, someone digitally literate, someone who has the unifying power of insight – intimated above, lower image. (Me, I’m volunteering as a one-man band, WFH. Sim Cuysonknows how to contact me, via ELR.)
From my 46 years of editorial experience in publications, print and digital, I see that Good Harvest suffers because there is no knowledgeable Editor In Chief minding the business!@517
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