With Govt Limits To Growth, Cut! The Privatization Of Benguet Agri Pinoy Trading Center

Government must serve business interests, at the same time make sure that the commerce serves the common good of the consumers.

Madelaine B Miraflor is happy to report: “BAPTC To Spin Into Corporation To Provide Farmers, Traders More Services, Bigger Income[1]” (16 June 2021, DA.gov.ph). The government-run Benguet Agri Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC) in La Trinidad, Benguet, will become a corporation.

How good has the trading center been? Ms Madelaine says:

During its initial year, a measly 269 metric tons (MT) of vegetables were traded by 108 farmers, traders, and buyers. (Volume) transactions grew exponentially through the years, registering more than 1,000 MT in 2016, 71,220 MT in 2017, 106,000 MT in 2018, 121,200 MT in 2019, and 169,850 MT in 2020.

Phenomenal! After 6 years of operation, the BAPTC is now the country’s biggest vegetable trading facility. I say: “It can be bigger, better!”
(vegetables-in-trading image[2] from Herald Express)

That decision to incorporate was made during the 31 May 2021 meeting of the BAPTC’s Project Steering Board (PSB), according to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, PSB Chair. Mr Dar said:

We aim to optimize the potentials and profitability of the BAPTC through the provision of more cost-efficient services and modern facilities (for) farmers, traders and other stakeholders. As a corporation, the BAPTC will become a major player in our drive to modernize and industrialize the agriculture industry in the Cordillera Region.

The PSB decided against government bureaucracy that discouraged efficiency and innovation, unlike a private business concern. Mr Dar said:

With a corporate set-up, (the BAPTC) will be able to optimize (stakeholder) benefits, improve the marketability of Cordillera vegetables, and provide our farmers, buyers, and traders reasonable (returns) for their produce (and marketing efforts). Further, it could create subsidiaries to engage in other revenue-generating (projects).

During that board meeting, Ms Madelaine says:

The suggested businesses (included) trading of farm inputs and implements, other agricultural and food processing equipment; setting up of one-stop-shops including pharmacy; savings and loan unit; training and events management; and physical wellness facility.

History: With initial funding of P700 Million from the DA, the BAPTC started operations in 2015 occupying 4 ha of the strawberry fields of Benguet State University (BSU). The site chosen is first-rate: La Trinidad is the #1 municipality in Benguet, and BSU is the premier State University in the Cordillera region.

BSU’s Violeta Salda, who is BAPTC’s Chief Operations Officer, says that as of May, the Center has accredited 187 groups, composed of 146 farmers’ cooperatives and associations with more than 31,400 members; 34 buyers and traders groups; 4 transports’ groups and 3 packers’ and porters’ groups, with a combined membership of more than 4,500. Along with the growth of business, the number of stakeholders has grown from 108 pioneers to the current 40,000, an incredible increase of 370 times in 6 years!

With good business management, the BAPTC will grow even bigger in size, product variety and volume, and net earnings, in the coming years. Excellent for the farmers, excellent for consumers.@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/baptc-to-spin-into-corporation-to-provide-farmers-traders-more-services-bigger-income/?fbclid=IwAR1-kTwye1ZJkkRzLTd1IIhr0lXjKmvVLN8pcQvUtug87jxIP-ce_7qTDkQ

[2]https://www.baguioheraldexpressonline.com/pacalso-rules-out-vegetable-shortage-in-benguet123/

Nobody Should Die Of Covid-19

From “Sencia Sabado,” I saw this on Facebook 29 August 2021, “Awan Matay Iti Covid-19,” (Nobody Dies Of Covid-19). I translate freely from the Ilocano:

Studies by doctors show this virus lives in the respiratory system of a person and this is where the symptoms arise slowly; steadily the Covid-19 virus destroys the body, until a person dies.

Believe it or not, suob (steam therapy) is what we are doing abroad. You will be saved and your health will improve. Nobody dies of Covid-19 if the virus is disabled by way of suob.

With anyone who feels a fever, cough, pain or itch in the throat, difficulty in breathing, or any symptom or sign of Covid-19, by the traditional steam therapy with salt, the virus will be disabled; breathing will become easier immediately; and the fever will disappear.

This is all you have to do:

(1) Boil 1.5-2 liters of water in a casserole.

(2) When the water boils, put in 3-4 tablespoons of salt.

(3) Stir to dissolve the salt.

(4) Switch off or stop the boiling and transfer the water to a stainless container or use the casserole itself; put your face above the container, while covering all parts of your body with a blanket.

Close your eyes and get a towel or cloth to ward the heat off the face. Breath in through the nose to make sure the warm vapors enter the respiratory system and disable the virus. Breathe out through the mouth.

Stir the warm water with a spoon for as long as there is steam. The heat will disable the virus that is present in the nose, mouth and throat, and your body will sweat out the disabled virus. Your breathing should now improve; your fever will go away, and you will no longer feel any pain in your throat.

Repeat the suob procedure for 3 to 4 days as long as you feel the symptoms of Covid; do it twice a day, once in the morning after taking a bath, then in the evening before sleeping. For prevention, if you come from a grocery store or have been out and met people, do the suob to disable the virus and prevent it from entering the body. After the suob, put on a sweater and pajama; take care that your body is not exposed to the air or cold.

To improve your health more, add to body resistance by doing the following:

Take Vit C tablet, or drink lukewarm water with lime or lemonade.

Boil garlic or ginger and drink as hot as you can. Put in honey to put some taste especially for children.

Avoid drinking anything cold (soft drinks, cold water, juice and others).

Drink plenty of warm water, as hot as you can take.

Don’t stay awake long; sleep 7-8 hours a day.

Each healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits.

Above all, pray to God Almighty.

Beauty Tip:

Pssst.... When you sweat, not only is the virus disabled but your skin is cleansed; your face looks younger because toxins are released. Enjoy!@517

Richard Tantoco For PH Native Forests, My Unbelievable Pinoy Million Tree Man!

“EDC’s COO Richard B Tantoco talks of his personal and professional journey with his love for nature[1]” (Energy.com.ph).

Love for nature. During the Age of Dinosaurs (large typewriters), I was a very busy Editor In Chief of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), now Ecosystems Research & Development Bureau, from 1975 to 1981, busy founding & writing & editing for FORI’s 3 regular publications – monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop and quarterly color magazine Habitat (that I patterned after the US National Geographic).

Nonetheless, Mr Tantoco surprises me that, ever since, I have never met a Million Tree Man like him! And native PH trees at that!

He writes (“Seeing Green”):

I have two dreams. The first is a personal one, and that is to plant a million Philippine native trees in five years. I still don’t have a business model for this endeavor right now, but maybe at some point I can sell some of the seedlings and create an eco-tourism venture that exposes the youth to nature and explains the importance of trees in an experiential manner.

A million native PH trees. I say that should attract a million PH youth, male & female.

But! Isn’t Mr Tantoco simply dreaming and/or wanting to sound pro-nature!?

Mr Tantoco joined the Lopez Group, becoming President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) in 2008, EDC is the Group’s “100-percent renewable power arm,” he says. That same year, the Group also launched BINHI (seed), a greening legacy program, directed by Chair Emeritus Oscar Lopez.

BINHI was established to bridge forest gaps and bring back to abundance 96 of our vanishing Philippine native tree species. At the outset, it was an ambitious goal to rescue the most threatened endemic Philippine hardwoods from the brink of extinction. Trees of these 96 species (were) being cut down at an alarming rate, given the natural beauty of their grain and their mechanical strength.

Thus, with BINHI, the Lopez Group aimed “to combine the business need to reforest (their) concession areas with the need to preserve (Philippine forest) heritage.”

BINHI is collaborative. Making sure that the efforts are guided by science, the planners were partners Perry Ong and Leonard Co (UP Diliman College of Biology), team of Pat Malabrigo (UPLB College of Forestry), working with BINHI’s own Agnes De Jesus, a botanist.

They also have a team of foresters, permanent hires according to Mr Tantoco, for each of the project sites, to work with 88 farmer associations in and around target communities “to ensure that the trees we plant survive and grow into forests.” He says:

Our community partners earn good living by taking care of the trees themselves… The millions of trees planted to date have enriched the lush forests in our sites and in the areas of our community partners. These have been crucial in creating robust carbon sinks and in recharging the geothermal reservoirs that our business depends on.

Thank you, Mr Tantoco, a businessman minding the conservation of PH native trees!@

 

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[1]https://www.energy.com.ph/2021/06/17/seeing-green-energy-development-corporation/?fbclid=IwAR3HoLoJJIkGbjM5xT4pbIi2L6Yhf7sDbJnG_NrJ0m1FFrYMM9coKpvemTU

Vibrant Communication For Development Is What Is Lacking In PH Govt Departments

Above, looking at the Internet of Things (IoT), I see both Information and Communication, the give & take and the response, towards Development.

(“Internet of Things, IoT” image[1] from Alamy.com)

That thought has arisen from my repeated reading on Facebook the “DA-CAR Press Release No 21-135” dated 27 August 2021 written by ANN (Author Not Named) with this opening paragraph:

To keep government information offices and media updated on the priority programs of the government in (the) Cordillera region, more than 150 information/communication officers and media partners attended the meeting focusing on “strengthening government communication towards resilience and recovery” at the Conference Hall, Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office-Cordillera (DA-RFO-CAR) on 25 August 2021.
(bottom image)

CAR is the Cordillera Administrative Region. Actually, only 25 joined the meeting in person while more than 130 attended virtually. The assembly was facilitated by the Philippine Information Agency CAR headed by Regional Director Helen Tibaldo and hosted by the DA-RFO-CAR Regional Agriculture & Fisheries Information Section.

ANN says:

Agriculture Secretary William Dar was overwhelmed by the large number of participants… (He) urged the promotion of accurate information in his message. In addition, Sec Dar expressed his appreciation to the information officers, (saying) they are the important partners in bringing across truthful and relevant information in the region.

Mr Dar emphasizes “the promotion of accurate information” – the delivery of information that is factual and not slanted. While I am a private person, I appreciate much that Mr Dar says that public information officers are “the important partners in bringing across fruitful and relevant information to the region.”

I appreciate what ANN additionally says:

In the welcome address of Ms Tibaldo, she emphasized the critical role of government communicators especially during the pandemic such as being always on the loop from the very start: planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of government programs, projects and activities.

That is tantamount to Ms Tibaldo saying – and I agree – that communicators should be aware & knowledgeable of, so that they can communicate: government planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs, projects and activities.

If so, without realizing it, Ms Tibaldo is as if saying that communicators should be communicators for development!

Towards that welcome mission, the problem I see right now is that there is not enough communication that is being explained as directly or indirectly related to development, at the very least, at the village level. Village growth must be used as the source and measure of national development.

I believe that all that is because the communicators do not connect their communication efforts to what Mr Dar, as head of the Department of Agriculture, values: association, cooperation, partnership among & between government and non-government concerns. Public communicators and private media people would have their hands full if they valued those values.

Additionally, I believe an Internet of Thoughts Agriculture (IoTA) should be pursued by Philippine communicators public & private. With IoTA pulsating in the digital universe, we will be witness to nationwide development that is as vibrant as development can be!@517

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[1]https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/ict-information-and-communication-technology.html

Cordillera Rice Terraces – The Need To Rethink This PH National Treasure

Those world-famous Banaue rice terraces are good for tourism, but what about farming & climate? A question never before asked till now!

Pinoys, when you complain against climate change, you complain against what your own people, perhaps including you, may have done to Mother Earth, for decades – abuse natural resources.

The rice terraces are beautiful to tourists, Filipinos and foreigners alike – but they are not so beautiful when you consider the rice planted and the yield. Look at the above image again – yellow swaths against greens – ricefields with soils poor in nutrients for any crop.

Truth to tell, the owners of those terraces are not earning enough, and so they leave the area, or stay and complain about life.

It is as if the terrace farmers have no choice. But there is! They just have not been thinking the science of it. This is a wide-reading agriculturist speaking.

Mar Berry of World Agroforestry has written about it: “Coping With Climate Change Through Agroforestry: The Experience Of The Ykalingas In The Philippines[1].” I hate to say it against a fellow communicator, but Mr Berry’s article is 3 times not accurate. Thus:

1.   Steep slopes & rocky soils.
He says, “The Ykalinga people practice bench terracing to maximize the use of their land, which is usually composed of steep slopes and rocky soil.” No Sir: Bench terracing is not maximizing use of land – growing a food forest would be. No Sir: The land now occupied by the terraces originally was not rocky at all; it was rich in organic matter, but terracing removed all that natural goodness.

2.   Ykalingas learning about agroforestry. 
Mr Berry says, “To adapt, Ykalinga farmers in Kalinga, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines are learning about agroforestry.” On the contrary, Mr Berry, ages before ours, the Ykalingas were already “practicing” agroforestry by allowing Mother Nature to grow the forests with all those foods – plants and animals – for humans. What needs to be done now is to rethink those rice terraces.

In fact, the Ykalingas unlearned the growing of (that is, allowing to grow) the natural food forest – now they have to relearn it.

3.   Bench terracing as maximizing the use of the land. 
What I can see is that the Ykalingas are neglecting agroforestry and insisting on the rice terraces as we can see. To simplify, agroforestry is forest + farm – the rice terraces are 100% farm and zero forest. I hope the people of the Department of Agriculture in the Cordilleras are teaching them to practice agroforestry again, but right now what is seen is agro (rice terraces) and what is unseen is forest (trees amid rice).

Mr Berry describes “the biophysical limitations in the area” as having “steep slopes, rockiness and shallow soils prone to erosion.” He is correct about the slopes and rockiness, but not the shallow soils

Originally, those were not shallow soils, but because the natives did not return the organic matter lost when they cleared the trees for rice, they slowly impoverished the soil, as well as themselves!@517

[1]https://worldagroforestry.org/blog/2020/06/08/coping-climate-change-through-agroforestry-experience-ykalingas-philippines?fbclid=IwAR2pbYVsSMFGvmpGQ20jtlwJR3iCVxNF6mx1omwsTmHNRiQAOnPDJd_d0FM

Earning P3 Million From Bangus In 5 Months, 4 Fisher Coops In Lanao Did That!

 

With bangus fingerlings from the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program, 4 Lanao del Sur fishers’ cooperatives harvested and sold a total of P3 Million after 5 months. Wow!

That is from the news “Four Fisherfolk Cooperatives In LDN Earn More Than Php 3M From Bangus Production[1]” written by Jennifer A Valcobero (07 June 2021, SAAD.da.gov.ph). The gross of P3,032,480 was from a total of 22.77 tons of bangus harvested.

SAAD is a national program of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The Lanao Del Norte cooperatives & number of their members are the Baroy Stakeholders & Fishermen Cooperative with 62, Lala Fishermen’s Cooperative with 63, Simbuco Aqua Marine Multi-Purpose Cooperative with 207, and Tangueguiron Seaweed Grower & Fishermen Cooperative with 67 – for a total of 399 fisher beneficiaries of the DA program in that Northern Mindanao province.

The 4 fishers’ groups had held synchronous stockings in December 2020 and harvests in May 2021.

Teodolo Bueno Jr, Chair of the Lala fishers coop, happily shared:

Wala kaayo naapektohan ang kooperatiba sa pandemic tungod sa SAAD Project. Pagsulod sa Covid sa Pilipinas, nag lockdown man pud mi diri, pero mura mig wala ga lockdown kay busy kaayo mi sa among SAAD Project. Gitukod ang among fish pen, naglockdown diri dapita, pero nakakuha mi og mga permit, nakakuha mig mga travel pass kay naa man mi kaugalingon nga truck. Ang mga materyales gipalit namo sa Cagayan, naglahos lahos lang mi. Mura mig walay pandemic diri tungod sa SAAD.

(“Our cooperative was not affected by the pandemic because of the SAAD Project. When Covid-19 infiltrated the Philippines, this place was put on lockdown, but it seemed like we were not on lockdown because we were too busy with our SAAD Project like installing our fish pens. We got permits from the LGU and we even had our travel pass since we had our own truck. We travelled to and from Cagayan De Oro City to buy the materials for our fish pen. As if there was no pandemic because of SAAD.” – Translated by Ms Jennifer, with a little editing)

The bangus grower groups sold their fish harvests within their communities and outside the province like Iligan and Pagadian City.

Al Jun Barbon Magamano, Provincial Focal Person for the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources, said:

We acknowledge the responsiveness, efforts, and dedication of our project partners in the implementation of our SAAD Program in Lanao del Norte, which led to the successful production of more than 20 tons of milkfish, with income generated of more than (3) million pesos.

Noel Saldajeno, Provincial Fishery Officer in Lanao Del Norte, said:

Truly, the SAAD program is (more than) promising. It does not just give hope to the fisherfolk but it is the hope that we have been looking and longing for, for quite a long time. We have been looking forward to fulfilling the promise because we know that the Philippine Government is a Promise Keeper.

So, I’m happy to proclaim: “Long live SAAD!” Promise.@517

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[1]http://saad.da.gov.ph/2021/06/four-fisherfolk-cooperatives-in-ldn-earn-more-than-php-3m-from-bangus-production/

SEARCA – To Transform PH Agriculture As Resilient Systems, DA Will Need Science

“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have noted with keen interest how the (Philippine) agriculture sector has managed to achieve a positive growth rate,” Searca says.

“A positive growth rate” – That is the rating that Director Glenn B Gregorio of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture (Searca) gives at the Center’s website on the performance of PH Agriculture amid the Covid-19 pandemic. That is considering the 2% growth rate in the first half of the year.

Mr Gregorio does not mention it, but that is the overall achievement masterminded by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar (face in above multi-image). In effect, Mr Gregorio is saying:

“Mr Dar’s ‘OneDA Approach’ is working!”

After looking at the short-term, Mr Gregorio is looking at the long-term performance of PH Agriculture, as I understand him, assuming that the Covid-19 lockdown will not continue.

In the past several decades, I have been in and around the UP Los Baños campus, where Searca has its headquarters, and this is the first time I met a systems-oriented, intellectually active Searca Director. Mr Gregorio has my admiration in my independent advocacy for nationwide communication for development (ComDev).

To summarize his “position paper” of 817 words (title & text), Mr Gregorio has 3 major recommendations for PH Agriculture:

(1)   Overall: More resilient systems, decision-support systems; access to resources;

(2)   Science: More science-based and forward-looking reforms;

(3)   Extension: More sustained support for DA’s Province-Led Agriculture And Fisheries Extension Systems (PAFES).

The more I look at my own 3-point summary above of Mr Gregorio’s viewpoints on how to bring PH Agriculture to the next level, the more I see:

Science is the key and communication is the most crucial resource!

What is the best way to access science, resources, support systems? Extension. What is the best way to extend those? PAFES. And the best medium for PAFES is? Digital.

To DA, I have been proposing Stored Matter Adapted To Rural Terrain Translated For Johns Utilizing  Agricultural Notes, Notions, Novelties In Science (SMART JUANS) as design for storing (a) science-based knowledge and (b) experience-tested technologies & systems for everyone to access anytime anywhere. PAFES can simply access SMART JUANS – once constructed – and do any type of extension as the occasion demands, no sweat! Just a laptop and a WiFi connection.

To emphasize: The language of SMART JUANS, as a Knowledge Bank, must first be in popular English, understandable by a junior high school student. If the farmer does not have a high schooler, s/he can always ask the Municipal Agricultural Officer (MAO) for guidance. This will be part of the new orientation for MAOs and PAFES.

Mr Gregorio says:

Overall, what remains is the need to accelerate the transformation of the sector into a dynamic and highly productive sector through long-term institutional and programmatic innovative interventions to make the agricultural food system responsive to food security and poverty reduction targets.

I add: “Where crucial, PH Agriculture must be redesigned digitally to serve country food security and farm income security!”@517

Can You Grow “The World’s Most Beautiful Trees” Near You? Yes!

 

And the children will love you for them!

Yesterday, Sunday, 22 August 2021, browsing Facebook I saw again Aida Page’s sharing, “The Most Beautiful Tree in the World” (image on top), and I could not resist this comment: “Most colorful, yes. Most beautiful is different.”

“The World’s Most Beautiful Trees” are different to different people – and they should be enjoyed as such.

There is science and there is art hidden in my statement above of 17 words. The science is agroforestry, agriculture+forestry, or the cultivation of forest farms. The art is landscape horticulture, or the growing of food in eye-pleasing arrangements, structures & systems. The bottom multi-image[1] is from Growing With Nature, and it asks: “Types of Food Forests: Which is Right for You?”

Thinking aloud of food and forest, I am also thinking of climate change. You don’t have to completely understand the concept of “climate change” to be part of the solution.

I believe we should be planting at least 1 million hectares of any of the 3 types above, or any other type of forest gardens, to change the economic as well as the terrestrial climates in the villages and, indirectly, in the cities.

In other words, forest gardens are how we grow the climate we want! If slowly.

And you know what? Literally “the most promising site” is the one where it looks impossible to plant & cultivate The World’s Most Beautiful Trees! It could be the one within your reach.

If I had space, I would choose the one on the left in the bottom image, so that I could grow trees & food crops. Together, they would make up “the world’s most beautiful trees” to me.

When I say “The World’s Most Beautiful Trees,” I am referring to their association; I am not separating one tree from another even visually.

Anywhere in the Philippines, you can construct your own food forest – your landscape garden. If you wish and it’s wide enough, it’s good for farm tourism!

Bamboos with dragon fruit?
Chicos with corn?
Coconuts with coffee?
Lanzones with roses?
Mangoes with vegetables?
Rambutan with pineapple?
Strawberries among the pines?

The World’s Most Beautiful Trees are what we can plant today starting with their earliest form, either seed or seedling – even sapling or bud grafted to a scion.

For me The World’s Most Beautiful Trees are the native species in my country the Philippines:

Banaba, Lagerstroemia speciosa

Bani, Milletia pinnata

Dap-dap, Erythrina orientalis

Ilang-ilang, Cananga odorata

Malabulak, Bombax ceiba

Molave, Vitex parviflora

Narra, Pterocarpus indicus

Salingbobog, Crateva religiosa

If you plant any or all of them in your forest farm, you can call them The World’s Most Beautiful Trees because they are yours!

I say that in growing your forest garden, if large enough, you learn 3 lessons of health simultaneously:

One, you need trees to aerify, not only beautify, your surroundings, to nourish your mind.

Two, you need fruits and/or vegetables to nourish your body.

Three, friends and others will visit your place, to nourish your pleasure and treasure!@517

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[1]https://www.growingwithnature.org/types-of-food-forests/

June Rey Peñafiel – How NOT To Empower Youth In Agriculture

Journalists, please be careful with your hype! 
(“Hyperbole” image[1] from Li’l But Mighty)

Especially about individual successful farmers. Now then, the digital newspaper story “Young Maguindanao Farmer Empowers Youth Via Agriculture[2]” by ANN (Author Not Named, 19 August 2021, Philippine Canadian Inquirer), has 3 lessons: (1) Journalism, (2) Empowerment, and (3) Agriculture. I’m not exaggerating!

1^st Lesson: Journalism

ANN says June Rey Peñafiel, above, a 27-year-old farmer in Maguindanao, has harvested 12 metric tons (MT)/hectare with hybrid rice SL-8H, planting seeds from the Department of Agriculture (DA) under the Hybridization Program. June Rey has been planting rice since 2013, twice a year. He has enjoyed per hectare a return on investment (ROI) of 4 times, gross income being P160,000 and gross expenses P40,000.

Yes, hybrid rice enriches him with that fantastic ROI! But that is a singular story. According to DA Hybrid Rice Program Adviser Frisco Malabanan, there are still areas that have not attained even the potential yield of 6 to 7 MT/ha[3]. Dreams that have not come true.

Consider ANN’s claim in her title: “Young Maguindanao Farmer Empowers Youth Via Agriculture” – ANN is claiming that with his continuing hybrid rice success, thereby June Rey’s triumph has demonstrated this:

All Filipino youth can be successful in agriculture by simply following June Rey and planting SL-8H hybrid rice! This is Hyperbole, and in journalism it is common to exaggerate the news. No Sir, no Ma’am! “One swallow does not make a summer” – Aristotle.

2^nd Lesson: Empowerment

With his SL-8H success story, June Rey is not thereby empowering the youth – the technology & system of cultivation of hybrid rice is already there and has not been supplied or discovered by this young farmer. Not only that – empowerment includes the ability to obtain adequate funding, proceed to production, processing, storage and marketing. And yes, the seeds he planted came from the DA – that is not personal empowerment. Claiming “sipag at tiyaga” (industry & persistence) as his own contribution to his phenomenal success is inadequate, even simplistic.

3^rd Lesson: Agriculture

No matter how rewarding, the growing of hybrid rice is not all there is to agriculture! What about multiple cropping? The choice(s) of crop(s) depend(s) on soil(s) & climate(s) in the region(s), target market(s), and competition(s).

ANN also mentions that June Rey is looking into other income opportunities via diversified farming, not only rice farming. “Diversified farming requires farm practices that will give a high ROI and, especially, needs a skillful farmer like (June Rey).” And so June Rey has in his farm a fishpond and water reservoir for irrigating his crops almost all year-round.

ANN says, “(June Rey) never doubts his capability and knowledge when it comes to farming and (some fruits) of his labor (are) in acquiring his own harvester and tractor.”

The June Rey Peñafiel narrative is very encouraging, but applauding to high heavens a single success story is ignoring the paradigms of association, cooperation and partnership in agriculture that, following Secretary of Agriculture William Dar’s national vision, we must pursue primarily.@517

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[1]https://www.lilbutmightyenglish.com/blog/hyperbole-exaggerating-to-make-a-point

[2]https://canadianinquirer.net/2021/08/young-maguindanao-farmer-empowers-youth-via-agriculture/

[3]https://www.bworldonline.com/hybrid-rice-areas-seen-yielding-up-to-12-tons-per-hectare/

“Those Fundamentals” – PH Agriculture Can Take A Cue From Monetary Board Member!

V Bruce J Tolentino et al have just authored a book co-published by the Department of Agriculture (DA) with its attached agency, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) – which has just inspired me with a concept, as intimated in my title above.

The book is titled Enabling Rural And Agricultural Finance For Inclusive Development In The Philippines, published August 2021 (264 pages, available in pdf) – the above multiple images comprise the book cover.

In her Preface to the book, Jocelyn Alma R Badiola, currently ACPC Executive Director, reminds the reader that the ACPC was created in 1986 through Executive Order 113, “to synchronize all credit policies and programs in support of the (DA’s) priority programs.” Thus, the ACPC was “given the responsibility of reviewing and evaluating the economic soundness of all ongoing and proposed agricultural credit programs, whether for domestic or foreign funding, prior to approval.”

Leading the first efforts then was the now-main author of the book, Mr Tolentino, who was appointed as the first ACPC Executive Director by then-Secretary of Agriculture Carlos G Dominguez III. Ms Jocelyn says:

Today, the ACPC remains the country’s premier government institution for program development and research on agrifishery credit – a feat that would not have been possible without the expertise and dedication of our first Executive Director, whose vision of a sustainable rural finance system for farmers and fisherfolk served as the guiding principle of the Council.

As an editor of many books published here and abroad, I was thinking that the contents of this book must be out of date because they were published many years ago. And then I read, in his own Introduction to Book 1, where Mr Tolentino is saying:

A key insight gleaned from my time in Mindanao, at the ACPC, abroad, and in the Philippines – and which is now clearer than ever from my vantage point at the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – is that… the (farming) fundamentals must be attended to, and those fundamentals include good seeds, the right germplasm, proper irrigation, wise plant management… All of these ingredients enable productive and profitable agriculture, which is necessary for a borrower to be deemed credit-worthy and (the) project viable for bank financing.

Listening to this member of the Monetary Board of BSP saying, “The fundamentals must be attended to…” gave me the idea: “Why not multipurpose cooperatives as loan managers for farmers?”

Consequently: The ACPC entitles each PH coop to, say, P100 million every year, depending on need. The coop requires that a farmer be a bonafide coop member before s/he can borrow – and must attend a month-long virtual training course in the use of funds – along with the proper crop & livestock operations – to enable the farmer to profit from the loan, as “the fundamentals must be attended to, and those fundamentals include good seeds, the right germplasm, proper irrigation, wise plant management.”

With such coop-managed ACPC loans singling out such farming essentials, PH Agriculture will advance, and farmers will rise from poor to welcome lives!@517 

Think! Proposal For PH DA To Spend P1.7 Billion For A Knowledge Bank

 

I just learned that our Department of Agriculture (DA) has P9.8 Billion of unspent funds – that reflects the Ilocano in Secretary of Agriculture William Dar. Another Ilocano, I’m thinking of helping spend fast P1.7 Billion going digital, creating this last quarter of the year a Knowledge Bank for 5 million Filipino farmers.
(“Knowledge Bank” image[1] from Knowledge Bank, Facebook)

The Commission on Audit (COA) has come out with a negative spending report on the DA. Ralf Rivas says, “COA Questions DA For P9.8-Billion Unspent Funds, Wrong Farmers’ Lists[2]” (19 August 2021, Rappler). Wrong lists? Today, as Editor In Chief of 46 years and Internet-ready for 30 years, I am more interested into what the DA could use the funds for:

P1.7 Billion as Intelligence Fund in Agriculture.

This particular Intelligence Fund is for creating a universal, limitless Knowledge Bank that is actually the brains of SMART JUAN: Stored Matter Adapted To Rural Terrain Translated For Johns Utilizing Agricultural Notes, Notions, Novelties In Science. (See my first essay about it, “Smart Juan” – The Digital Renaissance Of “Juan Tamad” Into An All-Knowing Farmer[3],” 15 August 2021, TIT for TAT. Why not check out 2 other enlightening essays on the same subject.)

With that P1.7 Billion budget, all 109 state colleges & universities[4] (SCUs) scattered all over these islands can be active in gathering lessons learned in science, recording in digital forms successful as well as failed experiences in the raising of crops and animals. The top 10 SCUs will be assigned P100 million each, the rest to share the remaining P700,000,000. The headquarters will be at the campus of the #1 of the SCUs: UP Los Baños. Hundreds, nay thousands of staff each armed with a laptop will be hired by the SCUs for knowledge works.

Let us cultivate the PH farmer intelligently.

The P1.7 Billion will be spent on gathering and processing data and information into an Internet-based, farmer-understandable and decider-friendly knowledge base.

To explain a little, let me briefly discuss the insufficiencies of 2 existing examples of knowledge products, 1 each from IRRI and PhilRice.

IRRI’s “Nutrient Manager for Rice (NMRice)” –
This is limited to rice and supplying nutrients. And IRRI is assuming there is only 1 rice variety! Also, I know there are other options than applying fertilizer on any crop.

PhilRice’s “Usapang Barayti: NSIC Rc 480” (“Talking Variety”) –
Without positioning the variety, PhilRice is recommending this one at once!

We must be cultivating the Filipino farmer as a SMART JUAN.

For instance, with so many rice varieties to choose from, Juan is bewildered and so you must awaken the smart in him.

SMART JUAN is a Knowledge Bank you can draw from much information, instructions, inspirations, insights, alternatives, applications, opportunities, options – you decide for yourself.

Unlike SMART JUAN, IRRI’s “Nutrient Manager for Rice” and PhilRice’s “Usapang Barayti” instruct the farmer exactly what to do and does not discuss the whys and wherefores. They are thinking for Juan.

Let us teach Filipino farmers to think for themselves!@517

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[1]https://www.facebook.com/Knowledge-Bank-112879070400418/photos/

[2]https://www.rappler.com/business/department-agriculture-unspent-funds-wrong-farmers-list-coa-report-2020

[3]https://titfortatteachingindependentthinking.blogspot.com/2021/08/smart-juan-digital-renaissance-of-juan.html

[4]https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-philippine-star/20111218/284532995001733

“English, The Great Language Of Democracy” – Who Said That? Manuel Luis Quezon!

 

“English, the great language of democracy, will bind us forever to the people of the United States and place within our reach the wealth of knowledge treasured in this language.”

I am celebrating PH President Manuel Luis Quezon’s (MLQ’s) birthday Thursday, 19 August, with him saying that[1] 30 December 1937, Rizal Day. In the same breath, MLQ said:

The fact that we are going to have our national language does not mean that we are to abandon in our schools the study or the use of the Spanish language, much less English…. English, the great language of democracy, will bind us forever to the people of the United States and place within our reach the wealth of knowledge treasured in this language.

Even Quezon, your favorite nationalist, acknowledged the power of the English language in the matter of knowledge!

Me, a full-blooded Ilocano, informally adopted (American) English as my primary intellectual language sometime in the mid-50s when I was 1^st year high school in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, exulting mentally with the well-stocked library of the HS Dept of private Rizal Junior College (RJC) full of American and British classic books of fiction and history, and the American magazines LOOK, Newsweek, Reader's Digest (my favorite), and TIME. RJC’s was a poor boy’s library of the world full of truth & fiction.

The latest related news is: “Philippine High School Students Win Historic 1st Gold In World Debate Championships[2]” (17 August 2021, Margo Hannah De Guzman Quadra, Good News Pilipinas). The victory was achieved in the 2021 “World Schools Debate Championships” virtually held in Macau from 26 July to 06 August 2021. Via China, young Filipinos were/are teaching us old Filipinos!

The champion Philippine team members were Robert Nelson Leung (Philippine Science High School, Cordillera Administrative Region Campus – Gold Medal); David Bloom, International School of Manila; Jake Peralta, Southridge High School; Riva Fong, De La Salle Zobel; and Chanel Ang, Immaculate Conception Academy.

If we want to continue to excel in our country and abroad, we must make English the National Language of Filipinos!

Sorry, MLQ. But I thank you that your Executive Order 134 “Proclaiming The National Language Of The Philippines Based On The ‘Tagalog’ Language” also states:

Such an adoption of the Philippine National Language shall not be understood as in any way affecting the requirement that the instruction in the public schools shall be primarily conducted in the English language.

In the lower image above, MLQ is quoted as saying:

I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans, because however a bad Filipino government might be, we can always change it.

Now then, we have a bad national language, I now move that we change it!

English is the language of modern (and ancient) knowledge – those nationalist Filipinos who insist that we talk to each other in a Tagalog-based language are trying their best to keep Filipinos' knowledge of the world in the 1940s, left out in time!@517

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[1]https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1937/12/30/speech-of-president-quezon-on-filipino-national-language-december-30-1937/

[2]https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/philippine-high-school-students-win-historic-1st-gold-in-world-debate-championships/?fbclid=IwAR2Lt1BFj6pEczrN1FvOcP64CJwlsfjo-mddrE8hZZkQV8tKnViz48sRb-8