Healthy Farms for Healthy Foods

How many millions are there we have of PH farmers? Never mind! Scientist or not, agriculturist or not, if you have not been paying attention, you do not know that we could solve farmer poverty automatically by solving a much bigger problem: Climate Change! Here comes the ADB to the rescue!? Ben O De Vera says, “ PH Pushes ADB-Supervised Asean Info Exchange On Climate Action: (12 June 2022, Inquirer.net , business.inquirer.net ). PH Independence Day – Will the “info exchange” on the climate crisis result in the Asean being able to declare Independence Day from Climate Change? I doubt it very much! In relation to this, Mr De Vera says Finance Secretary Carlos Dominquez “urged the ADB to spearhead an Asean-wide initiative that would enable member-countries of the regional organization to exchange information and best practices on localized climate adaptation and mitigation programs.” To “exchange information and best practices” – Mr Secretary, I doubt that any of the Asean countries

Now, now, why do I want to change the sex of Filipino farmers from Male to Female? Because the male farmers are hardheaded, matigas ang ulo, natangken ti ulo! I’m referring to farmers who insist on applying chemical solutions of all kinds in their farms – they are exacerbating Climate Change by inducing greenhouse gases (GHGs). Via Ma'am Leni and Angat Buhay , I am appealing to the female species “to get rid of the male species” of farmers and, with such modern sex change, simultaneously change the nature of Philippine farming! Why? Male Filipino farmers insist, with some blessings of their Godfathers local and international, PhilRice and IRRI, on applying chemical fertilizers and pesticides – because it’s easier, faster, more convenient. Bad Godfather, bad! Alvin Chandra says, “In The Philippines, Climate Change And Conflict Conspire Against Rural Women” (26 July 2017, Phys.org, phys.org ): Heavily exposed to increasing incidence of extreme weather events, the Philippines is

An agriculturist and a wide reader, I learned about the Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE) of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) maybe 1965, but from then IRRI had not attracted me to learn more about it. So why do I write about it now? Today, I want to relate the LTCCE results with rice communities combatting Climate Change. From 2 IRRI websites – lte.irri.org and irri.org/long-term-experiments – I have found a total of about 1K (1,000) words as IRRI’s report on those continuous studies, from at least 120 croppings. Whatever IRRI’s justification for so many years of studies with so few words to report? Asking for a friend! About IRRI’s Long -Term Experiments (LTE), the website says ( lte.irri.org ): Inspired by the Green Revolution, IRRI proactively begun looking at the sustainability of intensive rice cropping systems in the 1960s with the long-term vision of determining the interactions among different components of the rice ecosystem. And what are t

It’s time that we Filipinos (embracing Filipinas) take it literally and figuratively: farming at heart, farming with a heart – because the males do it grudgingly. To produce more food & at the same time reduce Climate Change. No, they teach this neither in IRRI, nor PhilRice, nor UP Los Baños!  I am a UP Los Baños alumnus, BSA Ag Edu. (Almost 82; thank God for another year!) Today, I would like to invite Ma'am Leni Robredo and Angat Buhay to engage in a new venture/adventure: Organic Farming , a territory that the males of the species have refused to inhabit! (To check on my character & reputation, please contact Pids Rosario , President of Madecor , Los Baños.) I call this proposed joint project “Hearts & Farms” to emphasize more the love and less the labor – I assure you my organic farming technique I call “Grass2Cash” emphasizes the fact that even with you ladies with zero experience, the rotavator will convert the weeds into income magically! (With my instruction

How can anyone escape poverty? I know of 2 ways. One, more outputs from same inputs. Two, more outputs from less inputs. That’s what I’m saying. That’s what I wanted him to say. NEDA Secretary General Arsenio M Balisacan spoke at the “43rd National Conference of Employers” organized by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, held at the Marriott Hotel, Pasay City (24 Aug 2022, “Ramping Up Philippine Economic Growth And Inclusion: Near And Medium-Term Prospects Amid The Headwinds,” NEDA, neda.gov.ph ): The Philippines… is today the best-performing economy among major ASEAN members. In 2021 and the first half of 2022, our economy grew the fastest, indicating that the recovery of our high-growth trajectory in the past decade has been quite robust. That is excellent news! The Marcos Administration is well aware of our economy’s domestic and external risks. These include factors that could disrupt our food supply, including elevated commodity and input prices aggravated by geop

Why do Filipino farmers remain poor? Manuel Reyes , research professor at Kansas State University, gives 2 reasons. One, they keep using expensive imported farm machinery. Two, they keep applying expensive chemical fertilizers. Mr Reyes is an alumnus of UP Los Baños, with BS & MS degrees in Agricultural Engineering ; currently, among other things, he is the principal investigator for “Promoting Conservation Agriculture For Vegetable Growers In Cambodia And Nepal” (UCDavis FeedTheFuture, horticulture.ucdavis.edu ). Last month, he was one of the resource persons at the “Philippine Open Systems Agriculture Machinery Manufacturing Workshop” during the Regenerative Agriculture International Conference at May’s Garden in Bacolod City, that ended 06 July ( Carla Gomez, 07 July 2022, “Reliance On Imported Machines, Fertilizers Keeping PH Farmers Poor – Expert,” Inquirer.net , newsinfo.inquirer.net ). Ms Carla quotes Mr Reyes as saying during the conference: We need to focus on agric

I find it strange that it takes the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to come up with a plan for my country’s agriculture. “Why did ADB not choose the Department of Agriculture (DA) to prepare its own 10-Year Modernization Plan?” Asking for a friend! I’m reading ANN who says, “ADB Taps SEARCA For 10-Year Agriculture Modernization Plan” (Author Not Named, 17 Aug 2022, BusinessMirror , businessmirror.com.ph ). Now, now – there are 3 strange things here that I am especially noting: (1)    I have very high regards for SEARCA Director Glenn B Gregorio , but “Why did ADB tap SEARCA for a modernization plan for PH Agriculture?” Asking for a friend! (2)    Why did ADB not ask the DA itself to plan for PH Agriculture?” Asking for another friend! (3)    If the ADB did that for the Philippines, would/did ADB do that for the other SEARCA 10 member-countries? According to ANN, the PH industrialization plan has a nine-point track to carry out, as follows (verbatim): 1.      Consolidated production

In the face of Climate Change, where are the geniuses today!? The world needs them right now in The Rice World. Alas, whom we have are Reluctant Geniuses in the Philippines: in the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Science & Technology (DoST), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). Reluctant Geniuses: Secretary of Agriculture: PH President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr . Secretary of Science Renato Solidum Jr . Director General of IRRI Jean Balié . Executive Director of PhilRice John C De Leon . Chancellor of UPLB Jose V Camacho Jr. Reluctant geniuses, they have not moved against climate change! The whole world must be mobilized by “Science with a global face” (borrowing from ICRISAT’s slogan when William Dar was Director General). If those reluctant geniuses opened their minds and swung their arms in cohesion, we can defeat climate change in these islands via Ag

Some 56 years ago, in 1966, I discovered for myself in the open shelves of the library of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (now UP Los Baños ), “minimum tillage” courtesy of the twin books of American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner – Plowman’s Folly (1943) and Soil Development (1953). That was contrary to my BSA major in Ag Edu learnings, but I came to believe in the wisdom of the minimum disturbance of the soil accompanied by the maximum incorporation of natural organic matter from the weeds and crop refuse via the rotavator. (“Rotavator in field” image from iStock , istockphoto.com ) But let us listen first to “Farming Without Disturbing Soil” – That is so much against current practices worldwide why should we pay any attention to it!? Here come Sacha Mooney, Hannah Victoria Cooper & Sofie Sjogersten (British?) with that article ( 27 April 2021, The Conversation , theconversation.com ). They are talking about Zero Tillage as intelligent response o

I personally know IRRI has the “ Riceworld Museum & Learning Center ” because my son Paul Benjamin was once its Curator; years earlier, I had graduated from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in whose campus IRRI is located . I was UPLB Freshman when IRRI was Rice Freshman in 1960 when it was established. I have been in and out of the campus since then, and as a writer & editor, today I want to know about IRRI’s scientific contributions to the rice world in the field of climate change. Today, IRRI tells me in its website (IRRI, irri.org ): Climate Change & Sustainability Rice production is both a victim and a contributor to climate change… At IRRI we develop and adapt climate-responsive solutions, working with extension agents, national research institutions, and governments across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, to promote sustainable rice-based food systems. First, we help rice farmers adjust to climate change. By leveraging the genetic diversity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being touted all over the world as the Savior of Mankind, specially in Agriculture. Differently, I surmise that saying, “AI will save the world” is actually saying, “Man will save himself from his own iniquities!” SMART or SHARP Agriculture? I just blogged “’Smart Farming’ Is What Indian Consultant Deepak Talwar Advises, That We Filipinos Adopt 5G Technologies To Improve Our Agriculture” (19 Aug 2022, Towards A New Eden , towardsaneweden.blogspot.com/ ), where Mr Talwar says PH Agriculture can “create value for business owners and customers alike” using 5G. (“Smart farming” image from Unsplash , unsplash.com ) Oh? Valtra.com says (“Smart Farming: A Brief History,” valtra.com ): Some say Smart Farming can trace its roots to the late 1990s when tractors first started using GPS [Global Positioning System] to map out farms and cropping maps. Precision is equated to Intelligence. Scholarly Community Encyclopedia says ( encyclopedia.pub/ ): The “smart”

I'm a very wide reader, a Filipino and an 82-year old agriculturist greatly interested in communication for village development in the 21 st century (CoViD21) – but today is the first time I encounter 5G being advised for adoption in agriculture in countries like our dear Philippines. Now, what is 5G? Ericsson says “5G is the fifth generation of cellular networks” and is “up to 100 times faster than 4G” ( ericsson.com ). Well, we have 4G and 5G Internet connections right now near Metro Manila – but I don’t see “100 times faster.” (As to another kind of speed, my CoViD21 is faster than anybody’s: I blog almost every single day! Check out my Towards A New Eden , towardsaneweden.blogspot.com where I now have almost 1K essays in 1K days.) Now, now, Mr Talwar, where is “Climate Change” in your 5G advice? Where is “Smart Farming” if all you are avoiding is manual labor and ignoring the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that chemical agriculture (CA) keeps producing whose effects redound to th

BBM Sir, I admire your 3-layered optimism for Agriculture as the new President for our dear Philippines. Azer Parrocha says, “Marcos Bares 3 ‘Dreams’ For PH Agriculture Sector” (15 August 2022, PNA, pna.gov.ph ) – “sustainable livelihoods for farmers, food security, and affordable food for all. And zero hunger.” This is BBM’s original Pinoy statement in his vlog: Simple lang naman ang pangarap ko. [Una], kailangan magkaroon ng kumikitang kabuhayan ang ating mga magsasaka ng sa ganon ay maengganyo ang susunod pang mga henerasyon na ipagpatuloy ang industriyang Ito. Pangalawa, magkaroon tayo ng seguridad sa pagkain na 'di umaasa hanggat maaari sa ibang bansa. At pangatlo, ang magkaroon ng murang pagkain para sa lahat. Ang pangarap ko ay wala nang gutóm na Pilipino. (“My dream is really simple: First: Our farmers would have profitable livelihoods so that the next generation will continue to pursue this industry. Second: We would possess food security and as much as possible not de

The males of the species have wreaked havoc on this, our Garden of Eden that the Angel called “Climate Change” is telling us: “Get out! Get out!” (“Garden of Eden” image from Adobe Stock, stock.adobe.com ) We have poisoned the soils of the Garden of Eden so much that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are generated & contribute much to climate change – and since we don’t want to stop poisoning the Garden, the Angel of Climate Change is telling us: “Out! Out!” The intelligent response is shown in the lower image above: “We will not move on. We will MOVE FORWARD. Angat Buhay.” In this case, the Females have been thinking much better than the Males! (“We will move” image from Facebook, facebook.com , “Leni” image frm Facebook, facebook.com ) We cannot live outside of the Garden of Eden – we have to learn to live in it. And so we have to change our modern agriculture to “Garden-of-Eden Agriculture” – we have to move forward and let the natural forces work! I must blame the males, all those Ad