With Secretary William Dar & Paradigm Shifts, PH Agriculture Survives & Thrives

Today, 05 August 2021, William Dar celebrates, with the Department of Agriculture (DA), his 2 years as Secretary of Agriculture. President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him to that position 05 August 2019; that was the year before the pandemic.
(superimposed image taken by me 14 May 2016)

Gumamela Bejarin says Mr Dar has his 2-year report and is ready for the next year: “Agri Chief Reports Progress In Agri-Fishery, Lays Down Plans For Coming Months[1]” (04 August 2021, DA.gov.ph). He has big plans for the DA; first literally, as the DA is huge in itself!

The DA is composed of 1 institute: Agricultural Training Institute, and 7 Bureaus: (1) Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering, (2) Agricultural Research, (3) Agriculture and Fisheries Standards, (4) Animal Industry, (5) Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, (6) Plant Industry, and (7) Soils and Water Management.

The DA has 18 attached agencies: (1) Agricultural Credit and Policy Council, (2) Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, (3) National Dairy Authority, (4) National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, (5) National Food Authority, (6) National Meat Inspection Service, (7) National Tobacco Administration, (8) Philippine Carabao Center, (9) Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, (19) Philippine Coconut Authority, (11) Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries, (12) Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, (13) Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority, (14) Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, (15) Philippine Rice Research Institute, (16) Quedan Rural Credit and Guarantee Corporation, (17) Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, and (18) Sugar Regulatory Administration.

If you were looking for proof that the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture could be the largest single leadership headache in government, there you have it!

Now, “we have made strong and hopeful steps forward,” Mr Dar says in his 2-year report of his secretaryship. And I, having watched zealously on the sidelines since Day 1, wholeheartedly agree.

And how did Mr Dar accomplish what looked impossible amid the pandemic? With his visionary and missionary Servant Leadership.

Mr Dar has had a great many years of experience bringing out the best in people he is working with. For 15 years, he was the Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India, starting when ICRISAT was truly dead last among the 15 international research centers, including IRRI, of the CGIAR – and he brought ICRISAT to #1!

When he assumed office as PH Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, he already had a management plan that he called “The New Thinking For Agriculture,” of which I wrote: “William Dar's 8 Paradigms For PH New Thinking For Agriculture[2]” (26 August 2019, Communication For Development, Blogspot.com).

Even earlier, former NEDA Director General Cielito F Habito himself wrote about “Dar’s Paradigm Shifts[3]” (09 August 2019, Inquirer.net), saying, “We now have a true and seasoned agricultural expert at the helm of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the person of Dr William Dar, whose reputation precedes him.”

PH Agriculture never had it so good until we Filipinos made those paradigm shifts with our Servant Leader William Dar!@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/agri-chief-reports-progress-in-agri-fishery-lays-down-plans-for-coming-months/?fbclid=IwAR0-iepjITQia28ostbNx4fL68D8VkHbg4exne9rsrnVJAWpK0_CqZBCDeo

[2]https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com/2019/08/william-dar-8-paradigms-for-ph-new.html

[3]https://opinion.inquirer.net/123151/daris-paradigm-shifts