Healthy Farms for Healthy Foods

PhilRice is SRO, and SRO is PhilRice – The Legacy Award is well-deserved and more. Santiago Rigonan Obien, SRO, made history with the Philippine Rice Research Institute, PhilRice. The award was given on 27 November 2020 as part of the “2019 Rice Achievers Awards” ceremonies held at the headquarters of the Bureau of Soils & Water Management in Diliman, Quezon City. Historically, Executive Order 1061 signed by President Ferdinand E Marcos on 05 November 1985 created the Philippine Rice Research Institute, PhilRice [1] ; President Corazon Aquino affirmed the creation on 07 November 1985; and in June 1987, Santiago R Obien was appointed PhilRice Director ( Wikipedia.org ), PhilRice was born only once, that’s for sure – but as Executive Director, SRO saw PhilRice was born with a double challenge: (1)    Be the national agency worthy of the national staple food of Filipinos. (2)    Be recognized world-class. Before PhilRice, SRO had been FAO consultant not for nothing. Now then, an

  “Teaching kids to count is fine,  but teaching them what counts is best.”  Bob Talbert, “Generation Mindful  genmindful.com On Facebook, I am almost always reading about agriculture and Single Success Stories, SSS – they make their writers and their subjects happy, and I can’t take that away from them. Those journalists who come up with SSS stories are teaching people to count one by one by one. Instead of SSS, me, I prefer to count group by group, Group Success inspiring Stories, GSiS – and as I see it, this is what the PH Department of Agriculture, DA, is concentrating on, headed by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, following his own “New Thinking for Agriculture.” Let’s count. So far, in PH Agriculture, there are how many SSS stories already told? Say 500 since 10 years ago. Let us grant that they have inspired another 500 people, to make 1,000 SSS stories worth telling. Success means each became rich, or richer. That’s nothing if you consider the successes of collaborativ

The functions of the University of the Philippines ’ College of Agriculture, UPCA, now UP Los Baños, have always been 3: Instruction, Research, Extension . Pertinently, my photograph taken at UP Los Baños campus on Valentine’s Day 2019 – note the arms extended. The Oblation is saying, “With Love, Everything I have is Yours!” Today, Friday, 27 November 2020, I google for “UPLB Development Extension” and I get the webpage https://ovcre.uplb.edu.ph , “Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Development, Extension.” Now, that webpage says Dr Merdelyn C Lit is “Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension!” Where’s “Development?” Under Extension, the website says, “Training Programs, Analytical & Research Services, and Human Resources.” The Training Programs total 23 – it means you have to attend a training in order for UPLB to be able to say it did Extension on you. But Training is only half of Extension – where is the other half? Extension has to be in the field. The farmer has

“Science with a human face” is the best 5-word guide I have ever encountered to national, inclusive development. You know what? The above news is all science, no human face! “Science with a human face” means “Science serving the people.” If you did not know, that rallying cry was coined about 20 years ago by ICRISAT, based in India, when now-PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar was Director General. What good is your science if it’s all paper, no people? Clarivate “Web of Science” has all the right to proclaim to the world about its list of “Highly Cited Researchers 2020” – these are the authors of technical papers who have been cited most often in scientific journals anywhere in the world: Papers published enrich science – they do not enrich the farmers. And why not? Farmers don’t plant, cultivate, harvest, dry & sell papers! As a creative writer in agriculture & agroforestry in the last 45 years, beginning when I became the Chief Information Officer (not the title) of

Class, for today, we have 2 lessons.  1 st Lesson – Check your facts.  2 nd Lesson – Check your figures. If to you the right panel in the main image above is a good portrayal of a Filipino farming family, this teacher who happens to be the son of a farmer, is telling you that you have not been taught correctly! I declare: Not even the poorest Filipino family head & members dress in holey clothes! That illustration is an offence both to the farmers on one hand and the government on the other. And there is the hidden, if unintended, message: If you want to be poor, be a farmer! Above, with her half-body inset, GMA creative writer Suzette Doctolero defends the DepEd illustration in a Grade 3 virtual learning module ( Jan Milo Severo , 19 November 2020, “No Discrimination? 'Encantadia' Creator Agrees With Farmer's Look In DepEd Modul e [1] ,”   PhilStar.com ). “Encantadia” is a TV fantasy series on enchanted people in 4 kingdoms shown over the years in Channel 7 (GMA

Remember: Science is for People, not Plant Breeders, not Journalists. The article “SEARCA Tells Filipino Plant Breeders To Use Genomics In Crop Dev’t” in the Manila Bulletin of 23 November 2020 by Madelaine B Miraflor ‌ , has lessons for the Editor and the Journalist. I happen to be an agriculturist, writer & editor. So I know that there, the Journalist misses the point of the news coming from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture, SEARCA. The angle of the Journalist is off tangent . Yes, SEARCA said, via Director Glenn B Gregorio , “Plant breeders should use technology that makes use of gene transformation to fast-track development of crops like the Golden Rice, which has superior traits.” But that is not the major message of Mr Gregorio. We can find that main point from what the SEARCA Director says, which the Journalist herself quotes: I am a plant breeder, and I’m very familiar with (molecular) marker-assisted selection. As I

A college degree does not teach you how to become a rich farmer – you have to learn actual entrepreneurship in the field itself! Above, “Is This The End Of College As We Know It?” is a Facebook sharing by Ivanka Trump , adult & digitally aware daughter of US President Donald Trump . The image comes from the article of that title [1] by Douglas Belkin in The Wall Street Journal published 12 November 2020. I cannot access the WSJ article, but suffice it for me to say that the American reality is the same Philippine reality – we are looking at being digital already . Whatever the state of college education – which to this teacher is malabo , blurred, unclear – that WSJ story simply inspires me to think of PH youth going into agriculture but not having to earn a college degree, those young ones between 15 and 24 years of age, by UN definition. And this is what I’m thinking as the educational setup: Entrepreneurship in Agriculture School for the Youth. EASY! The school EASY will

“MinDA Chief Seeks Lifting Of Ban On Mature Coconut Exports [1] ” ANN says (Author Not Named, 04 September 2020, BusinessMirror.com ), Facebook sharing by Nestor V Saludo today, 22 November 2020. Mindanao Development Authority, MinDA, Chief Manny Piñol is seeking the exemption of Mindanao from the effects of PD 1106, issued by President Ferdinand Marcos, FM, in 1985, which banned the export of mature and dehusked nuts. Mr Piñol wants PD 1106 to “be lifted to immediately help coconut farmers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic” for Mindanao farmers. Actually, in November 2018 yet, Secretary of Agriculture Manny Piñol already officially requested that such a ban be lifted. Ah, Mr Piñol, my hero FM believed in simple economic wisdom: If you sell your raw materials, you’re selling yourself cheap! Because you are selling your would-be several products as only one cheap product! If you do that, the Malaysians will love you; the Chinese will love you even more so! You are not competing with

How many lifetimes has PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar lived so far? You don’t know but as of today, Mr Dar has received 3 lifetime awards in science leadership, that is, in 2010, 2014, and 2020. I have been following Mr Dar’s career since January 2007, when he made me a work-from-home, WFH, international consultant of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India, when he was Director General, 2000-2014. 3 rd Lifetime Achievement Award Today, from a press release of the Department of Agriculture, DA, where he is Chief, I learned that Mr Dar received yesterday, 20 November 2020, the “Lifetime Excellence Award” given by the Asia Leaders Awards, ALA. According to its website ( Asia Leaders Awards . asia ), the ALA is meant [1] : To acknowledge these leaders who are making a difference not only in their respective fields but also promoting the Philippines as the premier business hub in Asia and beyond. Mr Dar is not a businessma

Question: Above, more than the flowers, what makes the scene beautiful?  Answer: The clean, good-looking cabbage heads. That is from a Facebook sharing of William Dar, PH Secretary of Agriculture. Get it? That method of planting is what farmers and gardeners call interplanting , planting in-between rows. I’m an Agriculturist, but I’m not familiar with the flowers, so I cannot tell you the name – but I can tell you that the flowering plant is grown for a double purpose: one, for the passersby to admire; two, for the insects to appreciate, approach and eat! Cabbage heads safe . That Facebook sharing is itself a Facebook sharing of Asuncion Soriano-Garcia titled, ““Pesticide-Free, No Cabbage Worms.” Question: Why don’t we see perfect cabbage heads all the time?! Answer: Our cabbage growers’ heads are not perfect! They do not apply the science that is already there: Intercropping and/or Multiple Cropping. Instead of just one farm produce, two or more. And not only do you get more foo

Lower image: Flooding is so widespread and deep there are no signs of life. Dreadful! From a Facebook sharing by PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, “Climate Change Bigger Threat Than Covid-19 – Red Cross [1] ” (AFP, 18 November 2020, Manila Times ), here is what Red Cross is saying: The world should react with the same urgency to climate change as to the coronavirus crisis, the Red Cross said on Tuesday, warning that global warming poses a greater threat than the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Publicly, relief operations are underway; privately, donations in cash or kind are being sought for the residents of the provinces of Cagayan & Isabela in Northern Luzon. From a Facebook sharing by Nestor V Saludo, I noted “Reforestation Thru Agroforestry” presented in a webinar on 24 October 2020 by Forester Romana Atienza Mauricio of the Ecosystem Research & Development Bureau, ERDB, which is under the Department of Environment & Natural Resources, DENR. So, thinking

Childish, right? Playful. Exactly! That’s why it’s the best way to think of something new, or think out of something bothering you! For good. The genius behind? American psychologist Carol Dweck, popularized in her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success . “In recent years, many schools and educators have started using Dweck's theories to inform how they teach students” (ANN, 29 August 2013, “Growth Mindse t [1] , ” Great Schools Partnership ). Ah, but the moment I saw the Facebook sharing by Lina Concepcion Luna Ilag today, Wednesday, 18 November 2020, immediately, to teach everyone I reinvented the name to this: Genius Mind-Play: The ABZ Of Creative Thinking. Now then, whoever you are, simply browse the ABZ entries first and you will profit just by reading! A ttitude & effort determine how much I learn. I can B e B rave & step out of my comfort zone. C hallenges help me grow. I’ll try a D ifferent strategy. E ffort makes me stronger. I can welcome F eedback. G e

“We Don’t Need Nice Homilies [1] ” is one of the latest preachings of Roman Catholic laity proselytizer Scott Hahn. From Ohio, he is urging priests to preach boldly, especially considering these lockdown times, imploring them: There is a need today for strong proclamation of the Gospel – and nowhere is this more true than in the need for strong preaching and teaching. But priests today are pressured to make homilies light, short, and uncontroversial. And I find myself, a “convert” from “safe” or non-controversial journalism in agriculture to boldly proclaiming a “new gospel” as it were, which Secretary of Agriculture William Dar calls “The New Thinking for Agriculture” with its accompanying “8 Paradigms” that are contributory to its execution. The paradigms are: (1) Modernization, (2) Industrialization, (3) Promotion of exports, (4) Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms, (5) Infrastructure development, (6) Higher budget & investment, (7) Legislative support, and (8) R

On Facebook, above, I was horrified to read: “Rice. It takes 5,000 liters of water to produce a kilo of rice. Every grain counts.” My reaction was: Isn’t that insane!? My God! Woefully, we are wasting water! Every drop counts! (“Creative ways to save wate r [1] ”  image from Ecolife ) Is that piece of pinoyrice.com data wrong? I googled, and IRRI says that in India and the Philippines, the average is about 3,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of rice [2] (Knowledge Bank, IRRI.org ). Not 5,000. So, that rice data is 40% wrong! Actually, IRRI contradicts itself; elsewhere but in the same website, Rice Knowledge Bank , it says, “It takes 1,432 liters of water to produce 1 kg of rice [3] . ” So that rice data is 71% wrong! Still, I question the 1,432 liters. I am an Agriculturist, a farmer’s son, and I went to the fields with my farmer father a few times, including harvesting rice with scythe. (Unfortunately, I sliced my left thumb, end of learning!) I know that irrigation wate