Where Are The Poor Rice Farmers In The Updated PH Development Plan 2017-2022?!

Ha. On Facebook, the National Economic & Development Authority (NEDA), who directed the preparation of the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, is asking for feedback. As a Filipino, I have downloaded the pdf, read it with the Editor In Chief in me, and these are what I have to say in summary:

(1) Vision is Excellent. “Metatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay (strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure life for all).”

(2) Strategies are Well-Conceived: “Malasakit” (Concern for the people), “Pagbabago” (Transformation) and “Patuloy na Pag-unlad” (Continuing Progress) (English translations mine).

(3) Goal is Brilliant as well as Complete. “The Goal is to lay down the foundation for inclusive growth, a high trust and resilient society, and a globally competitive knowledge economy.”

Excellent vision, well-conceived strategies, brilliant & complete goal – yet, even at 332 digital pages, The Plan is incomplete! It’s the lack in Methodology.

I want to concentrate on the Goal, first part, “inclusive growth,” which means to me economic progress that includes the poor. Especially the poor farmers. That is to say, those who are on the poverty line and below are able to rise from their economic insufficiency to economic sustainability– mainly as fruits of their genius.

I do declare: To solve the problem of poverty, first you must resolve the cause(s). After programmatically searching those 332 pages, I found that the brains of The Updated Plan did not search for any of the causes of poverty! How can you solve a problem not knowing the root cause(s)?!

The best that the Updated Plan offers to rice farmers is this 32-word sentence about the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF):

The (RCEF) provides assistance to rice farmers in the form of farm machinery and equipment, high-yielding seeds, access to affordable credit, and skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques.

Nothing on rice farmers’ emancipation from poverty!

Now then, with me being the son of a poor Ilocano farmer of Pangasinan, with the perspective of my BS Agriculture major in Ag Edu (UP '65), and with my 45 years off-and-on varied experiences as Editor In Chief of technical publications, I want to tell the NEDA people where The Updated Plan is outdated – what I know are the causes of poverty of our rice farmers, which have kept the poor that poor since the Spanish colonizers taught the islands Agriculture. I will now package them and call the result The Farmers’ Muddle:

(1)   Relatively high costs of inputs– seeds, fertilizers, pesticides

(2)   Improper use of technologies– cultivating soil and planting seedlings

(3)   Reliance on fast-cash loans– usurious paybacks

(4)   Inefficiencies in harvesting and drying– non-mechanized

(5)   Ill-timed selling of new harvests – price dictated  by merchants.

Covering all of the above, the updaters of the plan could have directed Secretary of Agriculture and very-much-experienced Servant Leader William Dar, to formulate The 21^st Century PH Farm Revolution Package. That should have made one complete chapter of The Updated Plan. NEDA, if you leave the rice farmers poor, how can you sleep soundly at night?!@517

Chooks-To-Go Roasts Drug-Free Chickens? Check!

For chicken ready to eat, in cities & many towns in the Philippines, my googling says we have Andok’s, Bojangles, BonChon, Chooks-To-Go, Chowking, Hot Star, Jollibee, Kfc, Mang Inasal, Max’s, and McDonald’s. A few I never heard.

In my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, the very first to arrive as a fast-food setup is Chooks-To-Go. I don’t remember when, but that was years ago. The food store was right there across the street from the Danggay House, the home of our Nagkaisa Multi-Purpose Cooperative, located next to the town plaza. The Asingan town hall was also and still is nearby.

The Chooks-To-Go chickens a-roasting were delicious to see, but I thought, “They’re all the same, those ready-to-eat birds. Grown with antibiotics, the antibiotic being used in a quantity that turns it into a growth hormone. How do I know that? I’m an Agriculturist, UP Los Baños ’65 (yes, I’m 80), and a wide reader.

Here comes “Zero Antibiotics Chicken,” image above, a Facebook post of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc (BAVI), which owns Chooks-To-Go:

For us, health comes first.

I say, food is health – or not. Do you know that your rice grains may have pesticide residues from the farmer’s sprayings?

And a healthy Philippines is best achieved only with truly healthy chicken.

I will have to add to that. A healthy Philippines is achieved additionally with truly healthy rice – no residues of fungicide, insecticide, or weedicide.

That’s why we at Bounty Agro Ventures Inc (BAVI) always make the first move to offering healthy food.

Thank you, Ronald Mascariñas!

Our Zero Antibiotics Chicken is now produced by all our processing plants. More Filipinos now have access to the chicken that is “Laki Sa Alaga, Hindi Sa Gamut.” (Grown By Care, Not By Drug – my translation).

In 2019, we were the first Filipino company to rank among the world’s best poultry integrators when it comes to antibiotic stewardship.

That should read “zero antibiotic stewardship.” The usual modern poultry house feeds or injects antibiotics in small doses into live chicken flesh, whereby the antibiotic behaves like a growth hormone – and the chicken grows fast. Not healthy!

And in 2017, we were the first in the country to ever raise chicken without antibiotics – which is crucial to fight the fast rise of deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

So, it has been 3 years since those Chooks-To-Go chickens began to be grown without antibiotics. Now then, you don’t have to eat chicken that comes with free antibiotics!

All this and more for a healthy Philippines.

Yes, Chooks-To-Go, here’s to a healthy Philippines by means of healthy chickens! What did Father of Medicine Hippocratessay again? “Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine thy food.” Healthy foods, healthy bodies.

One last word: The restaurants I enumerated above all cook foreign breeds of chickens. If you asked me, my preference is the native chicken, not because I love my country but because I love the taste of the native – intense & flavorful with just a little salt or fish sauce (patis).

For now, let me have another order of Chooks-To-Go, please!@517

Fish Makers As Peace Makers – The Abra Fish Cage Livelihood Project

We are in the border of Ilocos Sur and Abra, in Pilar, landlocked town 2 of whose villages are “conflict-affected” – Nagcanasan and Ocup. In the Facebook sharing of Noel Ocampo Reyes, who is the spokesperson and Assistant Secretary for Communications & Media Affairs of the Department of Agriculture (DA), we are looking at 2 units of fish cage techno-demo projects installed in the Pagada River that passes through those villages.

This effort of establishing a fish source was the initiative of the 81^stInfantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. The idea came about during the soldiers’ “Serbisyo Caravan” (Service Caravan) last 24 November 2020. After that, the soldiers coordinated with the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Provincial Fisheries Office in Abra to identify what fisheries intervention was feasible in the Pagada River.

Four months after the Service Caravan, BFAR, the local government unit of Pilar, in partnership with the Community Support Program of the Charlie Company, 81st Infantry Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, through Commanding Officer 1LT Arthur Rey B Aranggo, executed the stocking of tilapia fingerlings in the river (above images).

Rodelio D Diaz, speaking for the Nagcanasan fishers, said the eagerness to put up a fish cage started last year, as their fish supply still came from the town of Bangued in Abra, a 2-hour drive with a jeepney fare of P400. I say, you produce your own and save much on costs.

Mr Diaz was happy:

We are very thankful that even in the remotest area in Pilar, our barangay… Nagcanasan, we are still able to receive livelihood assistance from the government.

In Barangay Ucop, Juanito D Dela Cruz Jr said, “We will religiously do the record keeping to show the feasibility of producing fish in our area because we wanted to produce food for our (families)."

Record keeping – This is quite welcome and a revelation! I have been writing on Filipino farmers for 13 years, and this is the first time a farmer talks about record keeping. In short, he wants to know where the money goes and how much comes out with his efforts. A good business sense that most farmers lack.

The tilapia fingerlings were sourced from San Ramon East, Manabo, Abra through Lym Pait, a fisher beneficiary of the research cum extension project funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research and implemented by the National Fisheries & Development Institute, National Freshwater Fisheries Technology Center of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and BFAR Cordillera Administrative Region.

BFAR Regional Director Lilibeth L Signey said each of the units includes 4 modules (cages) stocked with 6,000 tilapia fingerlings. The assistance comes with bags of fish feeds good for 3-4 months. Ms Lilibeth said, “A yield of almost 2 metric tons is projected after 4 months.”

This End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) initiative is based on PRRD’s Executive Order 70 series 2018 institutionalizing the “Whole-of-Nation” Approach to end local insurgency as a necessary step to gain sustainable and inclusive peace. This is ELCAC Fish for Peace!@517

Davao As Cacao Capital Of PH – Bohol As Chocolate Capital Of Asia!

If you want to settle the dispute between which province should be declared “Cacao Capital of the Philippines,” I say you are being short-sighted. The Genius Rule is: To solve a problem, change the problem! So, look at my title again: “Davao As Cacao Capital Of PH – Bohol As Chocolate Capital Of Asia!”

Given that, Davao can claim all the modern cacaocredits it wants – and Bohol can claim all the historical chocolate credits it has! For instance, where else in Asia can you find the Chocolate Hills except Bohol!? Ha, ha. The upper image[1] is from Garden Café Tagbilaran, Bohol; the lower image is captioned: “The province of Bohol has several cacao trees growing in the backyards of small farmers.” So, Chocolate Hills, cacao backyards: Beat that!

Patricia Bianca S Taculao says (03 July 2020, “Bohol’s Chocolate Princess Revives Heirloom Cacao Planted In Backyards[2],” Agriculture.com.ph):

The province of Bohol, located in the Central Visayas Region, is known for its natural wonder, which is also a favorite tourist destination: the Chocolate Hills. It got its name from the color of the hills during the summer (months), when the lush, green grass on them turns brown. Those who are unaware of this circumstance often ask, “Where is the chocolate?” not knowing that the answer can be found in the backyards of the locals.

Also because of the shape – chocolate drops.

Dalareich Polot is a chocolate maker based in the region. Ms Patricia says Ms Polot says:

Cacao is part of the culture of Bohol. With so much Spanish influence spread across Bohol, it has become the norm for Boholanos to have one to three cacao trees either in the back or front of their houses.

Spanish influence? The word “cocoa” is the Spanish “cacao;” the cacao tree is a native of Mexico[3] (Wikipedia); now you know how the cacao reached the Philippines – via the galleon trade.

Can you dispute history? Ms Polot believes there are more than 10,000 “historical cacao trees” in each town in Bohol. Most of these are of the variety “Criollo,” a word whose definition betrays its origin: “indigenous to or characteristic of a Spanish-American country[4]” (American Heritage Dictionary).

In 2014, Ms Polot enjoyed a scholarship in Ghent University in Belgium to study cacao and chocolate. She believed so much in the Criollo that in 2018 “she launched a program to revive cacao trees in Bohol to help small farmers earn an income from them.” She called the project, “Adopt a Cacao Tree and Preserve Bohol’s Cacao Heritage.”

Cacao Heritage. Ms Polot is Chair of the Bohol Cacao Council. She says, “I’m spearheading the activities of the cacao farmers and at the same time learning from them. We bought cacao from these small farmers and empowered them.”

Cocoa is a heritage act in Bohol. Ms Polot says, “My mom learned how to make tablea from my grandmother.”

“Tablea” is found neither in the English dictionary nor English Wikipedia. The origin must be Filipino. It must be Bohol!@517

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[1]https://www.gardencafetagbilaran.com/bohol-tourist-attractions/

[2]https://www.agriculture.com.ph/2020/07/03/bohols-chocolate-princess-revives-heirloom-cacaos-planted-in-backyards/

[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_bean

[4]https://www.thefreedictionary.com/criollo

Clustering White Garlic – When You Are Good, You Might As Well Be #1! Many Of “You”

 

“Ilocos Norte: Garlic Capital of PH[1]” – You can easily look at it as Provincial Crop Dominance, while I look at it as The Natural Virtue Of Farm Clustering. The first emphasizes success in cultivating the crop, the second emphasizes success in grouping the growers.

The value of farm clustering is emphasized by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar as part of the OneDA Approach to the survival, and beyond that, the triumph of PH Agriculture as a major contributor to national development (inclusive of the poor). Emphasis on the Crop favors business for the few; emphasis on the Cluster favors business for the many. I choose the many.

The new PH Agriculture must be inclusive business for the many!

I wrote about farm clustering first day this year: 01 January 2021, “Whispering Hope Clustering – Interventions And Assistances Provided By PH DA[2],” Brave New World). There, I quote Mr Dar as saying, “It is important to convince farmers and their respective (farmer) cooperatives and associations or FCAs to collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and (assistances) provided by the DA and other government agencies.”

With farm clusters, DA assists more of producers who are more; you produce more and more uniformly – and you receive more aids and assistances from the DA. What more do you want?!

Ilocos Norte is “The Garlic Capital of the Philippines,” as according to a report by Leilanie Adriano(06 March 2021, “Ilocos Norte Claims 'Garlic Capital' Of PH Tag,” PNA.gov.ph). Above, the upper image shows UPLB crop scientist Lilian Pateñadisplaying garlic plantlets, tissue culture being the process that produced the planting materials successfully grown by Ilocos Norte garlic farmers. Tissue culture guarantees that your succeeding crop performs exactly like the previous crop – dictated by the Law of Heredity.
(lower image[3] from The Manila Times)

Ms Leilanie says mostly the Ilocos Norte towns of Bacarra, Burgos, Pasuquin and Pinili, including Batac City, are devoting around 1,880 hectares to white garlic production. Ilocos Norte remains the country’s #1 white garlic grower, with an average production of 4,161 metric tons, which is 55.7% of the national produce. Not planned, but this is white garlic clustering.

Some sort of clustering is already practiced in Benguet for highland vegetables. I am now thinking of other PH crops in other provinces that may be good for farm clustering in a few towns; here are some personal suggestions for a farm cluster in a single province:

abaca in Davao Oriental,
cacao in Bohol (already there but needs improvement),
coconut groves devoted to virgin coconut oil in Laguna,
pinakbet vegetables in Pangasinan, and
rambutan in Palawan.

The high points of farm clustering are:

Economics – you mechanize and save on labor while increasing production;
Enrichment – you make more people richer by visibly cooperating;
Environmental – you practice sustainable agriculture over a wide area;
Evolution – your technology is applied in many towns and may in fact improve over time.

Clearly, Ilocos Norte white garlic shows that farm clustering works for everyone!@517

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[1]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132812?fbclid=IwAR1PD3RerT4Q5lGPN60vT71o7svjdbWXYgYWhqrGvABP2g9gbOOF60ldcrY

[2]https://bravenewworldph.blogspot.com/2021/01/whispering-hope-clustering.html

[3]https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/11/12/business/agribusiness/native-garlic-makes-a-comeback/795134/

Christianity Not Only Brought To The Philippines Culture – Also Agriculture!

Negative. The Rappler essay by Nicolas Faller Jr (NFJ), published 16 March 2021, “No, We Shouldn’t Celebrate 500 Years Of Christianity In Our Country[1]” is only contrarian, not convincing. All claim, no corroboration. Clearly, NFJ neither amasses his content nor argues his contention.

So now I will argue to the contrary: “Yes, We Should Celebrate 500 Years Of Christianity In Our Country!” I do not know which school NFJ graduated from, but I am an alumnus of UP Los Baños and, for God’s sake, I got a perfect grade of 1 (Excellent) from our  UP Diliman professor in Western Thought, Mr Bituin. Now, NFJ gets from me a grade of 5 (Failed) on his essay. To justify the 5, since I am an agriculturist, I will concentrate on what the Spaniards did for PH Agriculture.

In the “History Of The Philippines[2],” Wikipedia says:

Outside the tertiary institutions, the efforts of missionaries were in no way limited to religious instruction but also geared towards promoting social and economic advancement of the islands… They also introduced advances in rice agriculture, brought from America maize and cocoa and developed the farming of indigo, coffee and sugar cane.

Now then, where would NFJ get his cup after cup of coffee if we Filipinos did not welcome Christianity brought by the Spaniards to this country?!

One of Spain's objectives in (colonizing) the Philippines was the conversion of the local population to Roman Catholicism. The work of conversion was facilitated by the disunity and insignificance of other organized religions, except for Islam, which was still predominant in the southwest. The pageantry of the church had a wide appeal, reinforced by the incorporation of indigenous social customs into religious observances.

Before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our peoples were disunited (a polite term). There were religions, plural – and nationally insignificant because of their quantity and quality. Roman Catholicism unified the warring tribes and civilized them, while using indigenous customs.

What I dislike was this:

Among the most significant changes under Spanish rule was that the indigenous idea of communal use and ownership of land was replaced with the concept of private ownership and the conferring of titles on members of the principalía.

Objecting to communal ownership of lands, the Spanish conquerors introduced private ownership. With private land ownership came titles of the upper class (principalía). I must say here I prefer the communal ownership of lands, because with modern technologies and systems, such ownership is necessary to bring about economic & social efficiencies.

Of course, the family of our National Hero Jose Rizal suffered from heavy taxes exacted by the Spanish clergy who owned or controlled lands in Calamba and Los Baños, but this was not the dictate of Christianity but rather the dictate of greed, despite the admonition of God in his Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”

Isn’t it amazing that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar has been advocating farm clustering or consolidation as a methodological solution to individual and inefficient operations of farmlands?!@517

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[1]https://www.rappler.com/voices/imho/opinion-no-we-should-not-celebrate-500-years-christianity-our-country?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR16lzlOO2zJJj3RPd5quwcAZs1UYxSwcn6QaQTmi9y_HaVwl8IIDpM6WOU#Echobox=1615877113

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines

P9,000,000 Earned From Pork With PRDP Assistance By Women & Workers In Cadiz City

In 2000, the community-based farm workers association Caridad Hog Raisers Association (CHRA) in Hacienda Caridad in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, started as backyard raisers of swine for fattening. In 2020, despite setbacks in the intervening years, the association generated sales of P9 million!

Surprise. That is from a report of April Grace Padilla, “Beating The Odds, Rising Grander: Caridad Swine Raisers Opt To Upscale PRDP Livelihood Enterprise In Cadiz[1]” (15 March 2021, PRDP.da.gov.ph).

Such million-peso success has been generated by Workers, Women and Will, not necessarily in that order. In 2013, super-typhoon Yolandaimmensely damaged the breeding pens. The swine raisers persevered. In 2017, the PRDP came into the picture with financial assistance totaling P563,000, the fund going into putting up new pens and completing 2 production cycles a year. Wilma Dignos, CHRA Project Manager, says:

We only started as 30 members and we gradually grew to 51 members after three years since our implementation. The first two cycles in 2017 had been a big help in sustaining our daily needs and in supporting the education of our children. In fact, we gave as high as P6,000 dividend for each member during our first year (of) operation (with PRDP assistance).

In 2018 came another challenge – the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the country, which resulted in decreased business by CHRA. Says Ms Wilma:

The traders bought (meat at) a really low price. This is when our group decided to open up a meat shop in order to (market) our own produce,

Wanting to ensure that quality products as well as services were provided to buyers, CHRA held a customer service orientation among its meat shop staff. Says Ms Wilma:

This posted a favorable outcome as (CHRA was) able to gain regular customers. Fortunately, (these) regulars (now) frequent our shop because of the quality meat we sell. We also made sure to equip our staff with strategies in delivering the best service among our customers through an orientation.

With the opening of the meat shop, CHRA got back on track in the business. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet business increased! CHRA saw this as “another challenge for them to increase the number of sows in order to supply the demands (in) their meat shop.” Ms Wilma says:

It is truthfully challenging to continue our operations in the midst of the pandemic. We (came) short of supply of the fatteners so we opted to buy from other backyard raisers in our neighboring towns for the (supply in) our meat shop,

Now then, CHRA is buying from other swine raisers in the area. They are increasing their association’s own business – as well as that of backyard raisers other than members of CHRA.

Supplying the local hospital used as Covid-19 quarantine facility, CHRA generated P9,000,000 (as mentioned above), with P7,000,000 being paid to backyard raisers from whom the hogs were bought for the meat.

Millions from pork. Some choice cuts the Cadiz sugarcane workers and women are producing & marketing!@517

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[1]http://prdp.da.gov.ph/beating-the-odds-rising-grander-caridad-swine-raisers-opt-to-upscale-prdp-livelihood-enterprise-in-cadiz/