Tagalog “Palayamanan” (Rice + Wealth-Making), Ilocano “Pagayamanan” (Rice + Wealth-Making + Thanksgiving)

Above, you are looking at the promises of Palayamanan. Tagalog: Palayamanan – palay (rice) + yamanan (wealth-making). Ilocano: Pagayamanan – pagay (rice) + yamanan (wealth-making + thanksgiving). I say Pagayamanan is better! 
(Palayamanan original image[1] from Palayamanan Farmers COOP, Facebook)

Palayamanan was born in 2001; in the last 20 years, why have I, an Internet hound, not read how it has multiplied itself and multiplied the wealth of Filipino rice farmers!? Either Palayamanan has failed, or its PhilRice creators have.

I did not realize this before: The rice terraces are a beautiful example of monoculture: Beauty is skin-deep. Philippine visitor-smart tourism is an enemy of farmer-smart agriculture!

But first, why is monoculture widely embraced throughout the world? Earth Observing System lists these as advantages of monoculture farming:

(1)   Increased productivity and efficiency

“In most cases, farmers select the crop that will thrive best in the local environment.”

(2)   Open(s) a room for new technologies

“When growing monoculture crops, agrarians tend to have some extra time and financial resources to refer to new technologies in agriculture helping them to maximize their agricultural performance.” New technologies include drones, ground sensors, and satellite-derived data.

I am not going to quarrel with those advantages enumerated for monocultures. What I want to question is the decision of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and, following IRRI’s single-crop example, PhilRice doing research & development (R&D) on rice and rice alone, IRRI for 61 years, PhilRice for 35!

No, I advance-aiming agriculturist and warrior writer am not questioning the quality of R&D executed by either IRRI or PhilRice – rather, I am questioning their stubborn one-crop mentality!

Did neither IRRI nor PhilRice scientists know the disadvantages of monoculture? Conserve Energy Future[2] alone can give 7 and I quote:

(1) Destroys soil nutrients.
(2) Results in the use of harmful chemicals.
(3) Pollutes groundwater supplies
(4) Adversely affects and alters the natural ecosystem
(5) Results in the overall soil's degradation and erosion
(6) Requires lots of water to irrigate
(7) Uses a lot of fossil fuel energy.

Here is Greentumble’s separate list of the disadvantages of monocultures (“Advantages And Disadvantages Of Monoculture Farming[3],” Greentumble.com):

1. Pest problems
2. Pesticide resistance
3. Soil degradation
4. High use of fertilizers
5. Environmental pollution and climate change
6. Water-demanding
7. Overproduction of commodity crops
8. Declining biodiversity
9. Dangerous for bees
10. High risk of harvest loss
11. Fossil fuel-dependent
12. Not climate smart.

Sarah Besky of Cornell University says (28 June 2017, “Monoculture,” Culanth.org):

Agriculture – or more accurately, horticulture – marks human settlement. Growing plants is both a means of making place and a reason to stay there… When agriculture reaches for economies of scale, plants become plant; think of the singularized nouns soy, cotton, and rubber.

The problems begin with farmers reaching for economies of scale. No more “wild landscapes” – just all-tea, all-sugar, all-coffee, all-tobacco, or all-rice. Thus the need for science and technology!

We must look back at Mother Nature and grow plants and animals like she does – together. And give thanks!@517

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[1]https://www.facebook.com/PalayamananBalayangPalacpalac/

[2]https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages-disadvantages-examples-monoculture.php

[3]https://greentumble.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-monoculture-farming/