“Let Us Make Cordillera Serve As PH Model Vs Climate Change” – Agriculture Secretary William Dar. Now, Considering That, We Have Lots Of Work To Do!

Look at the above images again. No, I did not see it immediately, but PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar was correct in pointing out that in the Cordillera, the mountains with the forests and rice terraces are alreadymodels of climate change. Good and Not That Good.

How is that? The forest trees on the mountainsides should be able protect the farms down below from winds and rains too strong for the crops growing on the terraces. But in this case, there are not enough trees to absorb the gale strength of the wind. And the field of rice growing on the valley (lower image) shows that with climate change, the practice of monoculture should now be buried in the trash left by typhoons!

To fight climate change, we must change monocultures to multicultures, from single crops to multiple crops growing in the same area at the same time. And no, not simply a mixture but a planned combination of food and wood crops: the wood crops are both for food and protection against strong winds. Don’t forget beauty!

That is why I have been proposing the new science of Regenerative AgriForestry (RAF) since middle of this year, which is different from Regenerative Agriculture (RegenA) and Regenerative Agroforestry (RAg). Both RegenA and RAg do not specify that the soil be regenerated, while my RAF requiresit, in fact begins with it.

The soil is the source of man’s food and wood – if it is not regenerated, or which is the same, not assisted in regenerating itself organically, and instead we continue to grow the food and wood with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, here comes your climate change even worse!

I say organic is the key to regenerative anything – we must supply the soil with organic matter so that it can regenerate itself, its own body and health, producing plant nutrients and soil moisture, even as it catches the latter from underground.

In Regenerative AgriForestry, the first thing to do is to supply that organic matter – I call my preferred method “Mulching Matilda” – where on the very first day of farming, with the crop refuse and weeds still on the field, I will rotavate the whole field shallowly, some 2-3 inches deep only, so that the soil and plant materials will be cut to pieces and mixed with each other in one circular motion of the rotavator blades. When you are done with your Mulching Matilda all over that hectare, you will have an organic mulch already laid out over 10,000 square meters, no sweat! [To test my Matilda Mulch, let us ask UP Los Baños to conduct a public field trial. No chemical fertilizers & pesticides. That mulch of mine will grow crops healthy and fight off any threatening bacterium, fungus or virus.]

Food & Wood fighting Climate Change. Highlands: How about bamboo trees growing along walls of terraces? Lowlands: Ricefields with bitter gourd under mango trees? The possibilities are endless!@517

This Writer Sees, “When Farm Groups Go Up, Up Goes The Nation!” Kadiwa Is A Godsend – Whose Idea Do You Think?

National recovery is a prime concern of the Du30 Administration, and this is visible in the latest joint move of government agencies to generate wealth via production of food from lands and waters, with financial support for farmers and fishers, as well as improvement of tourism economics.

ANN says “DA, NEDA, DTI, Other Gov’t Agencies Join Forces Towards National Recovery” (Author Not Named, 25 Jan 2022, DA.gov.ph):

Looking beyond the global economic slowdown… Philippine government agencies forged an alliance towards recovery and rebuilding the country’s economy under the Task Group on Economic Recovery – National Employment Recovery Strategy (TGER-NERS).

The TGER-NERS virtual press conference was held 18 Jan 2022 with cabinet secretaries Karl Kendrick Chua(National Economic Development Authority), Ramon Lopez (Department of Trade & Industry), and Berna Romulo-Puyat (Department of Tourism) sharing their agencies’ energized economic & employment plans.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar “presented the continuing efforts of the DA in partnership with the local government units (LGUs), private sector, and farmers’ and fisherfolk’s cooperatives and associations (FCAs) in attaining the national food security goals of the Duterte administration.”

I note the DA’s emphasis on cultivating partnerships with other government departments, LGUs, the private sector, and FCAs. Previous heads of the DA failed to see the intrinsic value of partnerships.

Mr Dar cited the DA’s initiative “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” (“Kindred Spirits in Harvest & Income” – Frank’s translation):

To make food affordable and accessible to the public, and strengthen markets for our farmers and fisherfolk, the DA has implemented nationwide the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita marketing program.

Louise Maureen Simeonsays this modern Kadiwa is “a collaborative project of the DA, Department of Interior & Local Government and Food Terminal Inc (15 Sept 2019, “Government Revives Marcos-Era Stores,” PhilStar Global):

The Kadiwa store system was originally introduced by… President Ferdinand Marcos to help bring down the prices of agricultural commodities. It was also implemented by (President Joseph Estrada).

Kadiwa is a marketing lesson from Apo Ferdi. A good idea should never be allowed to die – especially for the common good!

Mr Dar said, “The initiative that directly links farmers with consumers is a win-win strategy, benefitting both food producers and consumers.”

Today’s Kadiwa stores began rolling out March 2020. As of 15 Dec 2021, Kadiwa stores had catered to 1.5 million households with food produced by 38,383 farmers and fishers around the country.

ANN says:

In the remaining months of the Duterte administration, the DA Kadiwa marketing program aims to serve more clients – roughly 3,000 individuals and 100,000 households per month.

I see Kadiwa as an anti-profiteering program to restrain the desires of merchants to extract pounds of flesh from consumers Shylock-like.

The DA through its Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) has also extended financial support to small farmers and fishers, as well as the youth engaged in agribusinesses.

With TGER-NERS in full swing, I foresee the Philippine economy will respond with a TIGERGER - Ilocano word that suggests a positive trembling in excitement!@517

Vision Is What The PH President Always Needs! An Agriculturist, I Will Ask The Presidential Candidates, “What’s Your Vision For Agriculture?”

PH presidential candidates, all 5 frontrunners of them: Ping Lacson, Bongbong Marcos, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, Leni Robredo – who has the Vision and the Leadership to turn that Vision into Ideas and Ideas into Action?

 (“Leaders” image from Leadership, Leadersandteamwork.wordpress.com)

Avid followers and/or fanatics of presidential candidates continue to praise their wo/man, but nobody ever talks about any Beautiful National Vision and how we Filipinos can achieve it.

And why should a President have Vision? The business of the PH President is to make the archipelago prosperous for everyone – if you ask me, especially in agriculture, as it is the #1 industry in the country, which employs 12 million people.

Prosperity. “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion” – Jack Welch. He should know. Mr Welch was Chair & CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001 (Wikipedia). He retired with a severance pay of $417 Million, “the largest such payment in business history up to that point.” More importantly, a President can learn from him about leadership: “At GE, Welch became known for his teaching and growing leaders.”

Inspiration. “Great leaders have vision, share vision, and inspire others to create their own” – Roy T Bennett. Mr Bennett is “a thought leader. He loves sharing positive thoughts and creative insight that has helped countless people to live a successful and fulfilling life” (Amazon.com). Why not a President who is a thought leader, who loves sharing positive thoughts and creative insights?!

A proper President has a national Vision for all citizens, rich and poor. As an Agriculturist, my Vision is for All Farming Families to be Healthsome as well as Wealthsome!

At this point in time in Philippine history, we need a visionary as leader. Do we have a thinker, no matter an egoist, among our presidential candidates?

“We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done” – Alan Turing, Father of Theoretical Computer Science (Wikiipedia). So, Mr/Ms Candidate, what plenty is there that needs to be done?

“He who looks through an open window sees fewer things than he who looks through a closed window” – Charles Baudelaire, essayist and art critic. Is your candidate able to look through a closed window?

I love this one from Charles Dickens, who writes in A Tale Of Two Cities: “That glorious vision of doing good is so often the sanguine mirage of so many good minds.” An excellent leader guides so many good minds.

“It doesn't matter how fast you can go, it doesn't matter how much passion you have, and it doesn't matter how much energy you put into something. If you don't have a vision and clarity on the destination you want to reach, you'll simply never get there” – Dean Graziosi, highly successful author, entrepreneur & investor.

Now I see: Voting for a PH presidential candidate is Investing in the Future of the Philippines, my country!@517

Is Indian Agriculture Showing The World The Way To Fight Climate Change Via Sustainable Agriculture? I Now Prefer Regenerative!

India surprised the whole world during the 26^th Conference of the Parties (CoP26) 31 October-12 November 2021 at Glasgow, Scotland, when it presented its Pledge of Panchamrit (Five-Fold Strategy) to fight climate change – implying that India knew better than any country how to cope with this global challenge. Let’s investigate!

In “Indian Agriculture: The Route Post-CoP26” (15 Jan 2022, ICRISAT.org), Arabinda K Padhee & Anthony Whitbread enumerate & explain the Indian five-fold strategy thus:

1. Diversification
2. Agro-Ecological Approaches
3. Water-Use Efficiency
4. Renewable Energy Usage
5. Digital Agriculture.

Diversification

The authors point out “potential benefits of crop diversification” based on research, including sorghum and millet, especially where rice yields are low: increase in food values and reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Agroforestry… brings synergies between trees and crops or forages (such as trees on field bunds, inline agroforestry and high-density fruit orchards) to help diversify existing farming systems and achieve medium- to long-term sustainability.

More than agroforestry, I now prescribe AgriForestry, my regenerative science marriage of food & wood crops mixed in wide expansesto defeat or at least withstand ferocious winds brought by storms. We must graduate from Sustainable to Regenerative. (For more on AgriForestry, see my essay, “Transforming Ifugao Rice Terraces Into Food & Wood Wonders – I Wonder How?” 17 Jan 2022, Primate Change, Blogspot.com.)

Agro-Ecological Approaches

Greenhouse gas emissions from chemical agriculture are avoided when Natural Farming practices are employed, which “bring synergy towards ecosystem services and biodiversity.” The authors say pesticides and fertilizers pollute the environment; yes, in AgriForestry, “It’s out with those devils!”

Water-Use Efficiency

India is promoting micro-irrigation practices (sprinkler and drip) with government assistance, even as Indian agriculture uses about 80% of total freshwater resources. India hopes such will cover large crop areas for more food produced even as there are more savings. Good!

Renewable Energy Usage

“India’s ambitious renewable energy target (500 GW by 2030) must include the potential agriculture sector upfront.” So there is solar-powered irrigation. So far, the highly subsidized or free electricity for irrigation has not been taken advantage of by Indian farmers. (I note that the authors do not explain why.)

Digital Agriculture  

The authors say, “Increasing use of mobile telephones (and smartphones) in rural India offers a unique opportunity to leverage information symmetry and connectivity to the advantage of farmers.” Again, they do notdiscuss further, so I take this as only pointing out the potential. The digital universe and data ecosystems “carry the potential to raise farm productivity and income by supporting the delivery of information and services, market integration and management of risks, mainly arising from weather extremes.” I note that they do not mention stored digital knowledge in agriculture, only digital marketing of farm produce.

My main criticism covering the whole Indian Panchamrit is that it wholly depends on Sustainable Agriculture – GHGs are still there. I insist it should be Regenerative Agriculture, which I have further advanced to Regenerative AgriForestry – to produce an abundance of food and absence of GHGs!@517

With 100+ Filipino Artists Showing Visual Love For Her, A Creative Mind Myself, Is Leni Robredo Now My Presidential Candidate? I Am Waiting For A Vision In Agriculture!

Surprise! Yes, I was astonished 100+ artists agreed to “participate in a fundraising exhibit to support Robredo’s campaign” (Christa I De La Cruz, “BenCab, Elmer Borlongan + Over 100 Artists Come Together In A Fundraising Exhibit,” 25 Jan 2022, Spot.ph).

The above paintings shown are: “Uprising of Love” by Jomike Tejido, “Laban Lang” by Elmer Borlongan, and “Lendenii” by Robert Alejandro. The paintings differentiate themselves with their creators’ techniques, from abstract to detailed pieces, but with the same message in love:

We Pthink Leni!

The art exhibit “Mas Radikal Ang Magmahal” (“To Love Is More Radical” – my translation) will be shown virtually on www.radikal.ph. Indeed, the 3 images above collectively prove the exhibit’s title/claim.

Ms Christa says:

Vice President Leni Robredo's various programs, including the anti-poverty project Angat Buhay, vaccination drive Swab Cab, and online tele-consult Bayanihan E-Konsulta, are mostly powered by supporters, volunteers, and partnerships with various organizations. So it doesn't come as a surprise that her bid for (her country’s) presidency is also driven by volunteer initiatives. (The list) includes the convergence of more than 100 artists who agreed to participate in a fundraising exhibit to support Robredo's campaign. “Mas Radikal Ang Magmahal” opens online on 14 February, Valentine's Day (radikal.ph).

Participating artists include Aldy Aguirre (“Braving The Waves”), Robert Alejandro, Elmer Borlongan, National Artist BenCab, Kora Dandan  (“Sa Tabing Dagat”), Liza Flores (“Sowing The Seeds”), Jomike Tejido, with Gigo Alampay as organizer.

Ms Christa quotes Mr Alampay saying:
I think the coming election is as important as any we have faced. I lived through the 1986 elections, and this coming May 2022 exercise is reminiscent of the good [versus] evil vibe that pervaded those times.

[Robredo] is a transformational leader, and is the candidate that I have no reservations voting for. She's the president that my children deserve – honest, competent, incorruptible. Unfortunately and ironically, she is facing tall odds. So I just wanted to do what I could. For my children. For our country. For our future.

Now, if you look above again, you will note the “Thumbs Up & Down” icon (from Freerange) I superimposed. While I admire the art and heart of those 100+ artists trying to raise funds for Leni by their labors of love, I find something missing:

As with the other presidential candidates, Leni has announced no Vision for our beloved Philippines, no Mission accompanying, and no Strategy underlying.

What did the Bible say again? “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). And since I am an Agriculturist, I am looking for how she is looking at Agriculture, the #1 industry in the Philippines.

Salvador Dali said, “A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.” So? Translating “Mas radikal ang magmahal” herself, Leni Robredo must impress as a painter. I suggest she paints Vision as figure of speech, paints Mission as image, and paints Strategy as words. Just try that in Agriculture!@517

How Do You Do Excellent Extension For Filipino Farmers? Here Is An Excellent Lesson From Australian Collaborating With Philippine Scientists Via DoST

I am reading a UP Mindanao report containing a good simultaneous lesson for the Department of Science & Technology (DoST) and the Department of Agriculture (DA); from me: “Extension is promotion of process for people.”

Via Facebook, here is the latest news from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), a DoST agency, by Paul Jersey G Leon: “Bringing Hope To Conflict-Vulnerable Communities In Mindanao Through Agricultural Extension” (14 Jan 2022, PCAARRD.dost.gov.ph):

An alternative agricultural extension model has been giving a ray of hope to six conflict-vulnerable, geographically isolated, and disadvantaged communities in South Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Zamboanga Sibugay. This was the highlight of the paper, “Giving Farmers Uwen Fananafedew: Improving Agricultural Extension Policy In Conflict-Vulnerable Areas Through The Livelihood Improvement Through Facilitated Extension (LIFE) Model,” which was implemented by the team of Dr Emma Ruth V Bayogan of the University of the Philippines Mindanao. (Note: I googled “Uwen Fananafedew,” no luck.)

“Alternative agricultural extension model” – I’m imagining now with the DA’s Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) adapting the LIFE Model, ATI could revolutionize & render vibrant agricultural extension in all Philippines.

The LIFE Model of Extension was actually initiated by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technologyin Melbourne, Australia, and implemented in Mindanao with the LandCare Foundation of the Philippines, University of the Philippines Mindanao, University of the Philippines Los Baños, and DoST.

(The LIFE Model is) an agro-enterprise development program hinged on facilitating farmers’ access to technical innovations, building community social capital, and collaborating effectively with local institutions through facilitated extension.

The LIFE Model simplified farmers’ access to technical innovations, helped build social networks, and eased the collaboration of local institutions – for farmers’ common benefits. “Facilitated extension” means “held the hands of.” A teacher, I love facilitated extension!

The LIFE project started in 2013 in 3 sites: Zamboanga Sibugay, Maguindanao, and South Cotabato; succeeding, it expanded to 10 sites in 2017.

Ms Emma Ruth presented her UP Mindanao report during the National Symposium on Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (NSAARRD), where NSAARRD adjudged it “Best R&D Paper (Development Category)” during the “S&T Awards and Recognition” ceremony held 29 Nov 2021.

South Cotabato and Maguindanao farmers learned to grow vegetables while Zamboanga Sibugay farmers improved their knowledge and skills on seaweed farming; (also, Sibugay) farmers grew eggplant and tomato in containers. Through the Farmers’ Field School (FFS), farmers also improved their organizational skills.

The FFS helped the farmers organize themselves – thank you, UP Mindanao for discovering/encouraging a new/exciting role of the FFS!

I love how Jessa Jael S Arana summarizes the methodology of the LIFE Model, saying (02 Jul 2021, “Research Collab Brings LIFE To PH Conflict Areas,” UPLB.edu.ph):

This is through an innovative extension model that combines farmer education with community building and institutional partnerships.

At heart an extensionist, I have come to the conclusion that those 17 words capture how we should conduct agricultural extension from now on in – and out – of conflict areas!@517

My President This Coming May 2022 Elections Is One Who Appreciates Agriculture As The Most Important Sector Of PH Economy

A Filipino, I’m looking for a presidential candidate who appreciates the need for Primate Change to combat Climate Change, the current not-so-quiet World War that billions of people either do not recognize or realize.

Above, the middle image says, “Climate change and the people factor” – Why net zero needs the people factor to succeed” (Kpmg), where “net zero” means zero greenhouse gases. (multi-image of PH presidential candidates from Panex-TV-Facts, YouTube.com)

Where do you find the people factor? In farming, I say. Agriculture is the most important sector of the Philippine economy, says Juan Edmund Fernandez Martinez of UP Open University in “Governance In Agriculture And Rural Development,” 2013, Ombudsman.gov.ph):

Agriculture is the queen of the economy, the basis on which industry is built, an essential stepping stone to development…. (The) overall economic growth depends upon growth in agriculture… the source of food and raw materials to the rest of the economy, as well as a source of demand for non-agricultural inputs and consumer goods and services. Finally, almost 70 percent of the nation's poor are in the rural sector and depend directly on agriculture-related economic activities for their major source of livelihood.

Therefore, if you ask me, the Philippines needs a prime investment in its President, one who believes that:

(1)   Agriculture with the wise leadership about climate change in mind is crucial.

(2)   Farmers with the wise practice of Agriculture will change climate change for the better.

Being an agriculturist, I’m thinking of Agriculture and how it can be changed fundamentally to promote climate change for the good. I call my proposed science “AgriForestry” – note, not “Agroforestry.”

This needs a national initiative I call New La Liga Filipina, after National Hero Jose Rizal’speaceful reform movement. Yes, Dr Rizal practiced excellent agriculture when he was exiled in Dapitan. I have written about Rizal and his Dapitan mixed farming (see my essay, “A Haunting Message From Filipino Hero Jose Rizal, Via Sen Kiko Pangilinan!” 30 Dec 2021, RegINA, Queen Mother Earth, blogspot.com). He was into multiple cropping and what we now call agroforestry – trees grown with farm crops. In what I am advocating, I have combined Agriculture aggressively enough with Forestry to call it AgriForestryand differentiate it from simply Agroforestry.

FAO defines the term thus (FAO.org):

Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems and technologies where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are deliberately used on the same land-management units as agricultural crops and/or animals…

My AgriForestry is Agricultural crops grown deliberately with Forestry crops, where the wood crops that are grown are dense enough to withstand strong winds, to protect the food crops from storms & typhoons. Above, that image of rice terraces (from Shutterstock.com) shows proper AgriForestry: a combination of wood crops and food crops helping fight climate change while continuing to attract tourists.

“Climate Change” is not a political battlecry of any of the PH presidential candidates – and it should be.

Presidential candidates, to fight climate change, we need people, people!@517

The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews: “Communication For Development, Or Communication For Devilment?” – Asking For A Friend!

What truth-checkingare PH journalists and GMA media admirers talking about, I don’t know! I know they did not think-check Jessica Soho’s set of “probing” questions!

Above image, the title of the Twitter entry from GMA Network proudly says, “The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews.” The introducing statement says, “After no-show Marcos Jr hits yet journo Jessica Soho for being biased, GMA Network claps back.”

Jairo Bolledo says (22 Jan 2022, “Biased? GMA Tells Marcos Camp Jessica Soho’s Questions ‘Tough’ Like The Presidency,” Rappler, Rappler.com):

MANILA, Philippines – GMA Network on Saturday, January 22, refuted the claim of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s camp that veteran journalist Jessica Soho is “biased against the Marcoses” – the reason it had cited for refusing to join her interview with presidential aspirants.

If you ask me, an Ilocano like BBM, ti agpayso, I will tell you that everyone is biased for or against the Marcoses!

The GMA Network statement continues:

Throughout her career, Ms Soho has consistently been named the most trusted media personality in the Philippines by both local and foreign organizations, a testament to her embodying the GMA News and Public Affairs ethos: ‘Walang Kinikilingan, Walang Pinoprotektahan, Serbisyong Totoo Lamang.

My free translation of that GMA ethos: “Nobody Favored, Nobody Protected, All Truthful Service.” And I will grant it 100% sincere.

But: Service to What? For Whom?

Mr Bolledo says one of those interviewed by Ms Jessica, Ping Lacson said:

Jessica Soho, biased? I was asked very hostile questions like my role during Martial Law, why I evaded arrest in 2010, my co-(authorship) and sponsorship of the anti-terror law, human rights issues, and other hard questions. I don’t think so. Like any journalist, trabaho niya ‘yun (that’s her job).

Differently, I self-appointed journalist say Ms Soho was biased not only against BBM but all the 4 presidential candidates she interviewed in her GMA talk show. Why? She hurled only personal questions!

I pity all the presidential candidates who were asked embarrassing questions: Panfilo Lacson, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, and Leni Robredo.

The GMA Network Statement said that those interviewed had “chosen to participate and take the opportunity to explain their advocacies to the public.” Is that a fact? So why did Ms Soho not allow them their voice but instead, according to Mr Lacson, “asked very hostile questions like my role during Martial Law”? I think I know why; correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like Ms Soho was not practicing Communication for Development (my 1980 concoction) but instead was practicing Communication for Devilment – where “devilment” means “mischief” (American Heritage Dictionary).

BBM was right in rejecting the presidential interviews, because they were not presidential! Ms Soho was not truly looking for “presidential,” an adjective that my favorite American Heritage Dictionary defines as “befitting a president, especially the president of (a country).”

Presidential, Positive: The GMA Network Statement said, “To explain their advocacies to the public” – Ms Soho should have asked each candidate’s “Vision, Mission & Strategyfor the Philippines!” Presidential, Negative: Ms Soho was.@517

Excellent City Leadership, Deficient PH Journalism! On Butuan City’s "AgriBoost" Being Among 15 Winners In Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge 2021

Yes, Butuan City’s AgriBoost is a Winner in Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge 2021; No, it is not the Grand Prize Winner –only 1 among the 15 winning cities from 13 countries chosen by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

(image from PhilStar.com, Mayor Lagnada 3^rd from right)

Of the many reports I googled on the results of the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge(GMC), only 4 got the news right.

Most PH media said Butuan City was the Grand Prize Winner of the Bloomberg GMC, which is very wrong: Butuan is only 1 among 15 winners chosen from a group of 50 Champion Cities. This journalist cannot forgive that journalistic untruth, as googling would have corrected the error. Does this mean Filipino journalists are Lazy Juans?

Pola Rubio says, “Butuan City, Philippines is among the 15 winning cities of the 2021-2022 Global Mayors Challenge announced by Bloomberg Philanthropies Tuesday” (18 Jan, “Butuan Wins Bloomberg Philanthropies Funding For City Programs,” PH.news.yahoo.com):

“AgriBoost,” the city’s winning proposal, is an agribusiness model innovation that improves the agricultural market by giving farmers predictive data to make decisions about the type and quantity of crops to plant. According to Bloomberg, it considered Butuan’s idea on agriculture and marketing as compelling because of its ambitious goals that could be achieved short-term through the initiative.

AgriBoost, ambitious but achievable – with farmers, their cooperatives and marketers collaborate for the good of all, including food consumers. My congratulations to Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada.

On his part, Alexander Lopez of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) says (19 Jan 2022, “Bloomberg Win Big Honor For Butuan: Mayor,” PNA.gov.ph):

AgriBoost is an innovation designed to address the agri-business value chain issues such as boosting the competitiveness of farmers through technical and resource support, demand-driven production, and reliable farm gate pricing.

Government has to support the farmers technically and financially; farmers have to produce according to predicted demands; and growers have to enjoy reliable farm gate prices. On top of that, consumers must enjoy affordable quality vegetables, virtually increasing their purchasing power.

It also strengthens the agricultural hub in the city that helps catalyze market forces, the orchestration of collaborative planning and decision-making among the value chain partners.

ANN says, “The goal of AgriBoost is to ensure that the city’s residents have enough healthy and affordable food while farmers and suppliers receive good prices for their produce” (Author Not Named, 18 Jan 2022, “Butuan, Philippines Wins Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge, journal.com.ph).

Dwight De Leonsays (“Butuan Wins In Bloomberg’s Global Innovation Contest,” 19 Jan 2022, Rappler.com):

“This brings mixed feelings of pride and honor as we dedicate this win to all of us,” said Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada, in an address to city hall employees.

As with the other winning 14 cities, Butuan City will be awarded $1 million for urban innovation. Also, Butuan City will receive technical support and coaching for 3 years.

Now, is this Bloomberg-news journalistic incident telling me PH journalists have hyperactive minds and super-lazy hands?@517

If Bongbong Marcos (BBM) Will Support Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), He Will Have My Smart Vote!

Among PH presidential candidates, nobody is talking about what ought to be done with agriculture – especially considering Climate Change. You are not The Big Friend if you don’t talk about The Big Enemy.

Above image, sharing on Facebook by Bonifacio Bebe Menguito Via iSambayan, much respected Filipina opinion-maker Solita Garduño Collas-Monsod says:

Hindi kasama sa website in Bongbong Marcos ang kanyang programa ng gobyerno. Walang kahit isang salita tungkol sa kung ano ang kanyang gagawin para sa bansa bilang pangulo.

My translation:

Not included in the website of Bongbong Marcos (BBM) is his program of government. Not a single word is said about what he plans to do for the country as President.

Ha, ha! Ms Solita’s words make up both an obvious criticism as well as a sly suggestion – BBM, come up with your program of government!

Among the May 2022 candidates, BBM knows most about agriculture, having been Governor of his province, Ilocos Norte. I have written in praise of him; see my essay, “PH, I See Cooperatives Country Champions – And BBM My Hero!” (12-10-21, RegINA Queen Mother Earth, Blogspot.com). That was as big a boost as I could give – this one is huger if he comes right down to it:

If BBM will support climate smart agriculture (CSA), I have found my presidential candidate!

We are talking at least 5 million farmers – potential voters – who need all the help they can get when it comes to agriculture.

If amenable, BBM will prod Congress to generate a budget of P517Billion for Year 1 to cover different varieties of loans to farmers via cooperatives, including the manufacture of farm machineries, organic fertilizers, organic pesticides etc.

BBM will cause government machinery to grind out policies, programs and projects to popularize CSA all over the country. And that is not easy – our farmers have been farming and causing their share of global warming by their ab/use of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and cultivation techniques that expose their fields to long-term irrigation on one hand and barrenness on the other hand.

Pinoy farmers must learn CSA if they are to help stop catastrophic climate change in these islands: hot weather alternating with super typhoons, and droughts alternating with floods.

CSA calls for the following (a few examples of practices):

Organic Fertilizers. Their manufacture does not require fossil fuels whose use in the production of inorganic fertilizers emit greenhouse gases (GHGs). The GHGs are seen as man’s major contribution to climate change, which is to his own doom.

Alternate Wet & Dry Irrigation. Drain the field regularly to conserve water.

Minimum Tillage. The less you cultivate the soil, the less it will lose structure, moisture, and nutrients – and the less it will warm up during the day.

Multiple Cropping. You will not need pesticides if you grow 2 or more crops with each other – the pests in one crop are the foods of the insects in another crop.

People, if you are smart yourself, you will support climate smart agriculture in the first place!@517

THiNK! My Journalism Challenge To VERA Files & Rappler & Their Tsek.ph Partners Consisting Of 22 Academic, Media And Civil Society Institutions And Initiatives, Including My Alma Mater UP

To put it mildly, these are challenging times, from the Covid-19-related pandemic to politics trying to defeat heat-seeking, truth-aimed journalism. As a self-taught journalist, I’m out of there!

Meanwhile, ANN has come out with the news, “Bigger Tsek.ph To Be Relaunched Jan 24” (Author Not Named, 21 Jan 2022, verafiles.org):

Consistent in its efforts to counter disinformation through verified information, an expanded Tsek.ph, the country’s pioneering fact-checking collaboration, will be relaunched on Jan 24 in time for the May 9 elections.

It is like Tsek.ph saying, “What’s in a name? That which we call Truth by any other name would smell as sweet!” Except it’s not my species of rose.

The launch will be attended by its partners consisting of 22 academic, media and civil society institutions and initiatives that have agreed to collaborate to provide the public with truthful and factual information regarding the elections by debunking false and misleading narratives from public figures, news media and social media. It will be livestreamed on Tsek.ph and DZUP’s Facebook pages.

VERA Files says, “Truth is our business.” This journalist says, “Truth Journalism (TJ) easily fails the Rotary 4-Way Test.” I became a Rotarian years ago; a Rotarian I will always be. And TJ fails miserably with Zig Ziglar’s THINK test. As a journalist, not simply Truth but THiNK! is my business.
(“Think!” image from Think.gov.uk)

ANN says:

Tsek.ph was initiated by the University of the Philippines (UP) in 2019 as a public service commitment to combat disinformation. It is a project under the university’s Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs and spearheaded by the Department of Journalism under the College of Mass Communication.

UP, bastion of academic freedom. Now then, the likes of VERA Files and Rappler & UP journalists must look at themselves as heroes. But Truth Journalism is not communication for development (ComDev), to which I am dedicated. Not communication for devilment.

In 2019, Tsek.ph united three academic institutions and 11 media partners. This year, Tsek.ph expanded its membership in academe and media and now includes fact-checkers from civil society and multisectoral organizations.

Merriam-Webstersays to “fact-check” is “to verify the factual accuracy of” (Merriam-webster.com). ANN says:

Mr Baybars Orsek, Director of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the US-based Poynter Institute, will deliver the keynote speech at the launch. The IFCN promotes the excellence of fact-checking to more than 100 organizations worldwide through advocacy, training and global events.

Fact-checking is part of journalism’s commitment to provide the public with accurate information they need to become informed citizens. It also plays a watchdog role by holding those in power accountable for spreading false or misleading claims. As the May elections draw near, fact-checkers have pooled their fact-checking efforts to help the electorate choose the right candidates. Tsek.ph unifies these laudable efforts in an online hub.

Nah. Negative. A hard-headed ComDev communicator, I will remain Positive in THiNK! Journalism for as long as I live!@517

Are You Smart About Climate Smart Agriculture? American GrainPro Is, But Not Quite!

Once an Editor, always an Editor. Filipino, a UP Los Baños BS Agriculture major in Ag Edu 1965 graduate, I taught myself writing & editing science texts starting April 1975, copywriting 2 years before. Now comes this GrainPro challenge of a copy.

Editing science must be repetitious, and 100%-attention labor each time. No exceptions. The need to re-read & re-edit for quality is my experience in the last 47 years, from April 1975 when I was hired as a writer, and immediately became the Editor In Chief of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), based at the campus of the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA). FORI is now ERDB; UPCA is now UPLB – how time flies!

Today I have 81-year-old editorial eyes with a sense of close affinity to text declaring the world is suffering from man-worsened climate changes. And my heart goes to the small farmers. That is why GrainPro’s Facebook post titled “Hope For Smallholder Farmers In Adapting Climate-Smart Agriculture” caught my attention. Visiting the source page at GrainPro.com, this copywriter was disappointed with the technical article:

GrainPro failedto match its own promise of small farmers combatting climate change via climate-smart agriculture (CSA)!

“Hope For Smallholder Farmers In Adapting Climate-Smart Agriculture” promised much and delivered little, succeeding in promoting its smallholder technologies of grain drying while failing in promoting CSA from planting to harvesting – GrainPro saw a great opportunity, and then lost content!
(image of “Editor” from Foxit.com)

If I were the copywriter for GrainPro, I would have written in it a complete set of inputs and outputs, technologies & systems, up to and including marketing.

I have “known” GrainPro ever since Los Baños-based IRRI helped that company successfully improve its “Solar Bubble Dryer” and commercialized it 7 years ago, in Sept 2014 (Knowledgebank.irri.org). I believed so much in the GrainPro dryer’s ingenuity and usefulness for small farmers that I blogged about it on 06 Nov 2014 (see my essay, “Farmer-To-Market Research. A Challenge To Telangana & ICRISAT,” Icrisatwatch.blogspot.com).

But for GrainPro to sell its inventions and use CSA to promote them without adequately presenting what makes climate-smart agriculture smart is to me not smart! At the stage when you are already using GrainPro’s dryer, you are almost done with your farming before you started with CSA!

As it is, it seems to this Editor that all GrainPro really cares is to sell its inventions, not much else. But I blame the Copywriter or the Editor, not GrainPro.

GrainPro says:

As defined by the United Nations, climate change refers to the long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns in a particular location. While these changes are natural, human activities, more specifically the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that we generate as a result of our actions, have been the main driver of climate change.

GrainPro, what have smallholder farmers been doing that drive climate change? You failed to mention those, so farmers cannot relate your dryer to CSA. Sorry GrainPro, your climate smart agriculture copy doesn’t look thatsmart. You can do better!@517

 

INSPIRE: To Restore A Vibrant Situation Of The Local Pork-Food Industry In The Philippines

How do you manage a whole industry while controlling a problem like the deadly Asian Swine Fever (ASF)? A necessary part of controlling the ASF is, first of all, helping the small swine growers in raising pigs in healthy ways, and merchants in dealing fairly with them and the consuming public.

Thus, I appreciate the virtual signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department of Agriculture (DA), headed by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, and North Star Meat Merchants Inc (NSMMI), headed by NSMMI President Anthony Ng (above image). This occurred Tuesday, 18 Jan 2022, according to ANN (Author Not Named, “DA, North Star Partner For Contract Growing Arrangement Of INSPIRE Beneficiaries,” DA.gov.ph). INSPIRE is the DA’s “                       program.

Under the MoU, the DA, through its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS), will be very busy assisting beneficiaries of INSPIRE. This is a direct leadership challenge to Director of AMAS Ramon Yedra. AMAS will monitor small hog raisers as they carry out their responsibilities according to the CGA, link raisers to feed companies, facilitate training on hog raising and meat handling, and help growers in seeking financial assistances. ANN says, among others, this is to “intensify DA’s initiative in restoring (the) vibrant situation of (the) local hog industry” with the DA’s INSPIRE and “Bantay African Swine Fever sa Barangay” (BABay ASF) programs. “This is in support of (the) DA’s (twin) goal of reviving the local (hog-growing business) and providing affordable, local fresh-chilled, and frozen pork for the consuming public.” Goodbye ASF?

In the pork industry, you have to mind the swine raising as well as the trading. To sustain the industry, the DA must support production, systematize protection, and shore up the marketing of the products.

Mr Dar said during the occasion:

I would like to believe that in every step of the way we need to look at opportunities for us to be able to link various stakeholders, (especially) our local producers, (with) our main objective towards enhancing capacity and looking forward always that the local hog industry progresses.

Ultimately, this is all on the part of the DA to help ensure national food security. When there is a supply gap, we expect the DA to work to augment the local inventory, to bring in supplies from other countries, “so that affordable (products) are made accessible to help (the) consuming public in general.” Good work, DA!

This year, we hope to have more (financial) resources to enhance our repopulation program for the hog industry, and also to encourage (the) private sector to come forward and invest.

Mr Dar also encouraged the private sector to help government develop a vaccine for ASF. This swine disease has been wreaking havoc on the Philippine swine industry that drastic measures had to be undertaken by the DA, including decimating whole local swine populations.

Pig raisers, meat merchants, and the DA must help each other for their own good – as well as that of the consuming public.@517

Europeans Imaging Green Fertilizers, I Filipino Imaging Black! Introducing My Green-Ground Gold Organic Fertilizer Plus

New, Europeans call it “Green Fertilizer” – being manufactured sans fossil fuel = no greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, no climate change added. Congratulations from this warrior writer in the Philippines!

(above image from Milorganite.com)

Rachel Donovan says (“First Fossil-Free Fertilizers To Hit The Market In 2023” (13 Jan 2022, Irish Farmers Journal, farmersjournalie.com):

These fertilizers (are being) produced using renewable energy, unlike ordinary fertilizer, which is produced using natural gas, a non-renewable energy source.

The producers are a team from Yara, a global producer of fertilizer, and Lantmanne, a Swedish aggie cooperative. In fact, the Yara-Lantmanne (YL) team began testing the commercial viability of green fertilizers in 2019 yet.

Ms Rachel says:

The green fertilizers (are being) produced using ammonia based on renewable energy produced in Europe….. With the program, Lantmannen says it has reduced the climate footprint from wheat cultivation by up to 30% since 2015. With green fertilizers in the mix, the company says the climate impact will be reduced even further by 30%.

Thank you YL!

I will now leave the Europeans in their green fertilizer business while I tell you of my black gold fertilizer campaign business. I am not a businessman in the usual sense, nor do I plan to be – my business is to sell the world the concept of my original Green-Ground Gold (3 Gs) Organic Fertilizer Plus brainchild.

Instead of a business, I just have a brainstorm. So the 3 Gs are free, all yours for the tasking. You obtain the 3 Gs by the process I call “Mulching Matilda” – as follows (I am reproducing from my Christmas Eve essay, “PH Farmers Want Cost Of Fertilizer Way Down – Much Better, Yield & Net Income Way Up!” (24 Dec 2021, RegINA, Queen Mother Earth, Blogspot.com):

If I were a farmer, my first choice would be what I call now, to be melodramatic about it and memorable, Mulching Matilda. Calling the rotavator “Matilda,” this is what I will cause to happen:

Matilda cuts into the surface of the field shallowly, with all those weeds and crop refuse waiting, so that her rotavator blades cut & mix at the same time soil, weeds & crop refuse – mixing them automatically into a mulch as well as spreading that fresh mulch evenly over the field. Isn’t that wonderful?! Immediately and automatically, that mulch begins to deteriorate as a source of organic fertilizer as well as moisture for the crop.

That is your revolutionary organic mulch already prepared and spread all over your field in the same single operation!

I first called the process “organic rotavation” – see my 06 June 2015 essay, “The New Organic: It's A Revolution!” (A Magazine Called Love, Blogspot.com). My brother-in-law Inso Casasus had been doing it for 50 years and out-harvesting his rice neighbors who kept imitating him – without ever noticing his Mulching Matilda.

The 3 Gs degrades the total atmospheric GHGs while it enriches farmers in all villages, European or Asian or not!@517

Primate Change – How To Remake The World We Have Remade. We Start With Agriculture

As I write, 17 Jan 2022, I strongly believe that only Primate Change can change Climate Change in favor of mankind. And because of the millions of hectares involved, I see the main area of struggle as Agriculture cum Forestry, with what I now term “Regenerative AgriForestry.”

Last year, I came to believe that the climate champion was found in Agriculture Only (see my essay, “Regenerative Agriculture – What’s In It For The Philippines?” 05 Oct 2021, RegINA, Queen Mother Earth). I said there:

Regenerative agriculture is farming that enhances and/or restores ecosystems (like soils) even as it helps workers of the fields grow healthy crops & livestock.

Early this year, the more I thought of it, I saw that regenerative agriculture itself could be improved by agroforestry: Regenerative Agroforestry. Only to find out that different people had come up with the concept & term many years ago. And yet I thank them! Because, thereafter, Monday, 17 January 2022, I came up with a much saner science that is a new one, my innovation: Regenerative AgriForestry(explained in my earlier essay, “Transforming Ifugao Rice Terraces Into Food & Wood Wonders – I Wonder How?” 17 Jan 2022, Primate Change, Blogspot.com). In short, AgriForestry is growing food along with wood. One for nourishment, the other for protection against the elements.

Primate Change: In 20 Sept 2018, Vybarr Cregan-Reid came up with his book Primate Change (How The World We Made Is Remaking Us), 320 pages (Apple Books) – but he did not even hint on us primates changing the climate. I was probably the first and so far the only one to say, “We need Primate Change to combat Climate Change” (see “Primate Change? Or Climate Change?” 31 March 2007, The American Frank, Wordpress.com).

We primates are guilty of climate change.
We have been changing the world into our images & likenesses!
Ergo, we have to change our ways.

Now, how do we remake the world into the image & likeness of Queen Mother Earth?

As I was saying, I was thinking of “Regenerative Agroforestry” (16 Jan 2022, “Fighting Climate Change: Reinventing Agroforestry Into ‘Regenerative Agroforestry’ – Frank A Hilario, Philippines, 15Jan22,”  RegINA, Queen Mother Earth, Blogspot.com). But later, I found that some people had earlier came up with the concept of “Regenerative Agroforestry” and so I had to change mind; today, I came up with “Regenerative AgriForestry” as I pointed out earlier.

I have the certainty of Numbers. There are at least 5 Million farmers in the Philippines cultivating 7 Million hectares. That area is equal to 70 Billion square meters. If only half of that were subjected to Regenerative AgriForestry, every inch practicing my “Mulching Matilda,” that is, by rotavator initially creating organic mulches all over (later planted to food crops & wood crops growing in mixtures), the organic layer covering those fields will certainly cool the whole Philippines considerably!

I have the certainty of Combined Sciences. The New Agriculture will grow food, and the New Forestry will grow wood – and together will rectify climate changes!@517