The Many Advantages Of Going Organic Agriculture According To Retired UPLB Professor Teodoro “Ted” Mendoza, Long-Time Practitioner

Climate Change: As primate, Man needs Primate Change. Campmates: We must change our diet to organic foods. Shipmates: We are in one sinking ship, we must follow the Ship Captain’s organic orders. The whole world is Noah’s Ark, and The Flood is our own making!

I saw the above Facebook post on 29 March 2022, of the webinar of Vinzons’ Policy Centertitled “Ensuring Affordable, Available, Sustainable Food Production And Supply. Before It’s Too Late!” also the title of the paper presented by one of the speakers, Teodoro Mendoza, retired Professor of the UP College of Agriculture & Food Sciences of UP Los Baños. Mr Mendoza is a long-time advocate of organic agriculture dedicated to nationally “reduce the carbon footprint and food energy bill.” The event was livestreamed 28 March 5-6 PM on the Vinzons Policy Center’s Facebook page.
(inset Facebook image:Mr Mendoza with wife Dette)

Organic agriculture (OA) is not new to me. I have been advocating OA since 1966, yes since 57 years ago – this advocacy should show in any article in the mid-60s student paper Aggie Green & Gold – so anything organic interests me greatly.

Mr Mendoza’s overall recommendation is: “We need to take a whole food system approach to food.” I get all the following from him (italics):

Great emphasis on supply and production. Under-emphasis on consumption and utilization.

Shift to plant-based diet or Planetary Health Diet – a diet good for Humans and Mother Earth. Eat brown rice, banana, root crops, corn, adlai, sorghum

Food systems: major driver of greenhouse gases emission
Food systems: 44-57% of greenhouse gases causing global warming and climate change across food value chain

“Organic Agriculture + Planetary Health Diet = Healthy living.

Before it’s too late:

1.     Regenerate soil fertility/productivity.

2.     Reforest critical watersheds in support of irrigation (2 ha forest/ha irrigated area)

3.     Restore mangrove forests to prevent storm surges. Mangroves are sanctuary breeding grounds for diverse fish species.

(1)   Eat organic: less meat, more complex carbs, fruits, veggies = less land area to feed one person.

(2)   Feed animals 44% of grains – 70% of aggie fields (1.45 B ha) for pasture & feed grains production

(3)   50% of once-forested lands (700 M ha) planted to trees to sequester CO², requiring less water, nutrients & oil to cultivate.

Organic agriculture will sequester back CO² in the soil, will require less water for irrigation, and result in less health bills due to illness from foods derived from chemical agriculture.

50-75% reduction of current global emissions – soil OM, biomass: effective carbon sinks.

90% reduction in cash costs – Family-based organic farms.

Zero energy footprint – Localized food grown means no packaging, no cold storage.

Zero medical footprint – Safe, nutritious & medicinal food.

Borrowing from Hippocrates, Mr Mendoza says: “With organic agriculture, food is our medicine & not medicine is our food. Organic Agriculture + Planetary Health Diet = Long Healthy Living.”

Against the Climate Crisis, I say: “We must do organic agriculture – or sink with the modern Noah’s Ark of our own making!”@517

“Support The Backbone Of PH Economy” – BusinessMirror. “Time To Change Our View Of Agriculture As 'Man With The Plow'" – Frank A Hilario

Too Late The Hero when it comes to PRRD and what his legislators can do to hugely help finance PH Agriculture!?

I almost forgot: BusinessMirrorhad a 583-word Editorial titled “Support The Backbone Of Philippine Economy” (30 Nov 2021, BusinessMirror.com.ph) – neither mentioning even  once “Agriculture” norshowing an image of the subject. Perhaps our media editors were still thinking of Agriculture as typified by “The Man With The Plow”?
(image from a room in Amancio Farm Hotelin Cordon, Isabela that I took 22 June 2018)

Whatever, BusinessMirror, much thanks anyway!

I a UP Los Baños agriculturist agree with the editors of BusinessMirror when they declare that Agriculture – in the editorial “agri-food sector” – is the “Backbone of Philippine Economy.” They don’t make editorials like they used to anymore!

Now then, BusinessMirror magnifies the importance of growing cacao (for chocolate) and coffee (for that universally famous hot drink), saying:

Unfortunately, despite the fact that these two cash crops are grown in the Philippines, local planters have yet to fully take advantage of the good global prices. The country’s climate is suitable for these crops, yet farmers continue to prefer rice, corn and other crops that grow faster and can be sold immediately. Two years after Congress converted the quantitative restriction on rice into tariffs, the government has yet to entice more farmers to practice crop diversification.

From those 77 words above, I a farmer’s son can harvest several intellectual fruits ripe enough for munching right away: country’s climate, rice, corn, cash crops, crop diversification.

“The country’s climate is suitable for these crops,” BusinessMirror says, referring to cacao and coffee; scientifically, I know that wet & dry, our climate is more than suitable for many of our crops.

If only our farmers employ the best procedures or practices that science can offer them!

Crop diversification– anywhere, anytime, I would recommend this type of farming: mixed cropping, otherwise referred to as agroforestry, intercropping, multiple cropping. Grown at the same time in the same field, more crops means more natural protection from pests & diseases – this how Mother Nature works: Creatures feed on other creatures who otherwise would feed on the crops’ leaves, stems and/or roots.

(BusinessMirror does not mention crop & livestock as a rich combination for farming and, since I am not a husbandman – I obtained my BSA major in Ag Edu from UP Los Baños in 1965 – I don’t mind.)

BusinessMirror says:

The next president of the Philippines should keep these things in mind when crafting a strategy for the agri-food sector. Increasing the budget of the local farm sector is not enough; there must be a reckoning of the policies that have not been implemented properly, which effectively prevented the sector from increasing its contribution to the country’s economy.

I say the next PH President should carefully select and intently listen to his/her Secretary of Agriculture – and mind the Senators and Representatives in Congress. Politics should not get in the way of progress via Agriculture!@517

Sri Lanka Fails Big, Gargantuan, Huge In Organic Farming – Bad News For Organic Agriculture Preachers Like Me!?

Last year, 2021, Sri Lanka strictly instructed her 1 million plus farmers: “Don’t Panic, Go Organic!” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanted to prove and show the world how his country would be the historic first 100% organic civilization. Sadly, Sri Lanka failed him, or he failed himself – or was it organic farming that failed?

ANN says “Sri Lanka To Pay $200M Compensation For Failed Organic Farm Drive” (Author Not Named, 26 Jan 2022, Aljazeera, Aljazeera.com). I am for the practice of organic farming all over my country, the Philippines – is this Sri Lanka nationwide debacle the worst news ever for advocates of organic farming like me?

The island country is currently reeling from a severe economic crisis that has triggered food shortages and rolling blackouts as the Covid pandemic sent the tourism-dependent economy into a tailspin.

The government will pay 40,000 million rupees ($200m) to farmers whose harvests were affected by the chemical fertilizer ban, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said.

What went wrong?

The lack of imported farm chemicals compounded the island’s economic crisis, with food shortages forcing shops to ration sugar, lentils and other essentials.

That tells me something was wrong about Sri Lanka’s national efforts to become Organic Sri Lanka in the first place – why would farmers be demanding chemicalfertilizers when they were supposed to be applying organicfertilizers?!

Now then, I have questionsconcerning Sri Lanka’s agricultural extension:

On National Program Implementation

Did Sri Lanka Agriculture Minister Aluthgamage – as would PH Agriculture Secretary William Dar have done if the Philippines went similarly organic – have in advance an Organic Roadmapso that, among other things, farmer groups and clusters were encouraged with assistances in machinery and aids in grants and loans to carry out essential organic activities, with commercial organic fertilizers available as well as methods for preparing one’s own organic formula? The government cannot simply dictate – it must actively help farmers become successful businessmen in their own rights!

On Technology (Software) Availability

Did Minister Aluthgamage make sure that the procedures for organic farming were written down, in English and Tamil, publicized thoroughly, and available anytime via the Internet, even via cellphone? Did they prepare a Knowledge Bank for non-experts in advance?

On Organic All-Out Media Support

Did President Rajapaksa officially & earnestly implore that all Sri Lanka media promote organic farming for the sake of the country? Print & digital media, none exempted: Where is your patriotism? If I were a Sri Lankan, I would have proselytized day in and day out!

Above image is a terraced field in Sri Lanka (Panduka,  Blogspot.com). If those terraces were using organic farming methods, the soil would be blacker and I am sure the yield would be fabulous – if the soil were organically enriched the way it should be.

Done right, organic farming is Regenerative Agriculture, returning to the soil the natural wealth that crops & livestock take away from it; it is anti-climate change, producing no greenhouse gases; it is low-cost-yet-high-yield agriculture – Sri Lanka’s is human failure, not technology!@517

Earth Hour & Jose Rizal – In The 21st Century, Love Of Country Redefined!

On Facebook, the first image on Earth Hour I saw Saturday is that above, saying: “Provincial Government of Rizal joins the entire world in the observance of Earth Hour, 26 March 2022.” Our National Hero Jose Rizal died for Love of Country; the province named after him lives for Love of Planet Earth. May pinagmanahan! (One takes after one!)

Earth Hour on Facebook says (Facebook.com):

Join us as we switch off all non-essential lights for #EarthHour on 26^th March 2022, 8:30pm… Together we have the power to #ShapeOurFuture.

Observing Earth Hour, we mortals are supposed to contribute in shaping our future. Our Facebook source says:

Our purpose is to empower an interconnected global community to achieve tangible environmental outcomes for our living planet. Did you know? The “Plus” sign on the Earth Hour logo symbolizes that the campaign is beyond just 60 minutes.

As usual, I was googling for materials, texts & images, to be able to write. For the sake of the environment, I started writing 57 years ago, founding & editing publications in forestry: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly popular magazine Habitat. I started blogging 15 years ago several months before Al Gore& the IPCC co-won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their Climate Change campaigns. I have been blogging almost non-stop since 2007, so my Earth Hour on the Internet is something like 131,400 hours!

I will spend more Earth Hours as long as I live. I am praying to God that I will live to 120 years; isn’t that promised in the Bible? In the meantime, I have shifted my Earth Hour to spending blogging for organic agriculture, which explains the title of my new blog, created only last month, February: “Towards A New Eden” (Blogspot.com).

Organic agriculture is anti-climate change! Because if you apply organic fertilizer, your material will not produce greenhouse gases (GHGs), the immediate cause of global warming.

In his 24 March Facebook post; Roman Catholic preacher Bo Sanchez says, “You have a mission to fulfill in your life.” Yes Sir! And I found it 57 years ago in the open shelves of the library of UP College of Agriculture, now UP Los Baños, in the 2 books of American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner: Plowman’s Folly (1943) and Soil Development (1952) – “trash farming.” I have modernized it using the cultivator called rotavator, with which the soil is naturally enriched via what I call the creation of WEALth: Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash to Trigger Terrestrial Health – plant materials and soil cut & mixed and laid upon the whole surface of the field during rotavation. This is my version of organic farming.

That is to say, “Earth Hour” to me is when you study how to take care of the soil, when you practice Regenerative Agriculture (RegenA) – organic farming is RegenA, as it avoids chemical fertilizers that generate GHGs that generate climate change. Organic farming/RegenA is my contribution to “Together, we have the power to #ShapeOurFuture.” Rizal redeemed!@517
(Bookworm image from earthhour.org)

“Meet Patricia Non, Champion of Community Pantries!” – William Dar, Secretary Of Agriculture. “Give What You Can, Take What You Need” – Patricia Non

She was doing what she could, out of the goodness of her heart, something socially original & heart-warming – opening a community pantry for the poor who needed food to get some free, amidst Covid19 restrictions.

Joseph Pedrajastells us she is Ana Patricia Non, 26 years old, a virtual unknown until she actualized this unprecedented act of kindness (“Who Is Patricia Non, The Woman Who Sparked Kindness Through The Maginhawa Community Pantry?” 06 May 2021, Manila Bulletin, MB.com.ph).

She did it out of love for the poor. She did it along Maginhawa Street in Teacher’s Village in the Philippines’ capital Quezon City.

Mr Pedrajas says:

There was no mob action that greeted that first opportunity to get free food. The people waited in line for hours and followed the rule which Patricia had written on a cardboard sheet – ”Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan.”  (Give what you can, take what you need).
(lower image from her)

She must have been thinking of Saint Mother Teresa who said, “Give, but give until it hurts.” Isn’t Patricia a saint herself!

Mr Pedrajas says:

Little did Patricia Non know that her small act of kindness would create a ripple effect. In a few days, other community pantries sprouted around Metro Manila; in a week, more opened in the provinces. Today, the community pantries have become too many to count.

Kindness multiplies itself, and sprouts like mushrooms – everywhere!

From UP Diliman College of Fine Arts, she is a graduate in Visual Communication. What she did was in the field of Visual Kindness!

Before this, she was an entrepreneur with a small furniture shop – which closed with the pandemic. That is all we know about Patricia. When asked personal questions, she had only one reply: “It’s not about me. It’s about the community pantry.”

It’s not about Ana Patricia Non; it’s about what you can do for those in need in whatever little way you can.

During her interviews with the media, Patricia’s generosity extended from sharing food to the poor to sharing information on how to start a pantry.

“Women too often say to themselves, 'It's too difficult. I'm not going to get there.' I tell them: 'Listen: do not question your abilities. Dare to do what you want to do and realize that you can do it.” Isabelle Kocher

Mr Pedrajas says:

Her youth and anonymity before the Maginhawa community pantry had baffled authorities and government leaders. A spokesperson from a government agency had implied that Patricia had links with the communists.

Among others, Rev Fr Richie Ramos Fortus shared on Facebook that he had witnessed Patricia’s dedication to helping others while he was still a seminarian in Bay, Laguna. Fr Richie said she, who resided in Quezon City, would come to Bay before the Holy Week to serve in the Summer Children’s Camp.

Himself, Secretary of Agriculture William Dargives honor to Patricia Non for this mission of helping the less fortunate. Shouldn’t we all?!@517

Farmers’ Progress – How Might The PH DA Convince A Million Farmers To Switch To Organic Farming, And How I Wish It Would!

The Philippines has an 11-year-old Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 (Republic Act 10068), but I have yet to read so many successful stories of farmers applying organic fertilizers in their fields. Today, I would like to find out more.

RA 10068 says (FAO, 2010, leap.unep.org):

This Act declares that the policy of the State shall be to promote, propagate, develop further and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the Philippines in order to enrich the fertility of the soil, increase farm productivity, reduce pollution and destruction of the environment and prevent the depletion of natural resources.

Beautiful! But I saw something I did not like. This Editor In Chief with 50 years of experience immediately saw what was lacking in the Abstract as presented by FAO 12 years ago:

Did you notice that the 4-5 purposes of the Act does not say anything about the farmer? If you ask me, it should have said, in the first place, instead of fertility of the soil: “in order to enrich the farmer…”!

I think I know why they missed putting that in – because the thinkers of Organic Philippines were strictly guided by their desire to standardize and guarantee that all farm produce claimed to be “organic” are in fact organic and have passed the strict criteria called for under the so-called Organic Certification.

Meanwhile, I would like to say that I am proposing that farmers go into organic farming without first aiming at organic certification.

The first objective of farmers applying organic fertilizers to their crops is to reduce the big costs of fertilizers – and thereby guarantee their big returns! (Certification can come later.)

But as I write this, I see that “not-so-expensive” Atlas PerfectGro 14-14-14 is selling 25 kg for P1750 (lazada.com.ph). For 10 bags total, for fertilizer alone a farmer cannot afford P17,500!
(lower image from BusinessMirror.com.ph)

So I recommend that he concocts his own fertilizer, maybe asking advice from a member of the organic-conscious MASIPAG farmer organization (to contact, visit masipag.org).

(Extra: To conquer the cecid fly, I am also advising the mango growers to apply organic fertilizers on their orchards – a healthy tree fights off any pest or disease naturally.)

I have my own organic formulation. I call it WEALth, for “Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash to Trigger Terrestrial Health” – here’s how to create your WEALth:

Run the rotavator so that the blades will cut down into the soil shallowly, 2-3 inches deep. When you have rotavated the whole area, your organic would-be fertilizer has already been spread across the field for you!

Thus, you produce WEALth at zero expense – you spend only for the cultivation, which you have to do anyway.

About WEALth, I have the 50-year experience of my brother-in-law Enso Casasos to back up my claim of the organic wisdom of my WEALth – although I did not call it by that name when he was applying it in his ricefield.

Try WEALth sometime. You will be glad you did!@517

The Problem With Mangoes Is The Mangoes – How To Save The Mango Industry From Dying Because Of The Cecid Infestation

Here, you are notgoing to see an image of a cecid fly whose species is now deeply troubling mango farms in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Why because according to my agricultural eyes physical and mental, the problem is somewhere else.

(mango farm image from dotproperty.com.ph)

As I write this, the “2^nd Luzon Mango Congress is going on, 24-25 March 2022, at the Bureau of Soils & Water Management (BSWM) next to the Department of Agriculture (DA) headquarters in Quezon City. Why is this Congress important? Well, Luzon produces 45% of the mangoes in the Philippines (DA.gov.ph).

Thursday, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar addressed the Congress, saying as according to his Facebook sharing 24 March 2022, “I challenged them to implement collectively the management and control protocols against the cecid fly. The communities of mango must unite to control the cecid fly!”

Oh, I am sure they are united – but so far, that unity has not eliminated the common enemy called the Cecid Fly. This is the 2^ndCongress; the 1^st was held 20 Feb 2020 at the exact same venue – 2 years later, exact same problem!

(Secretary Dar), guest speaker during the First Luzon Mango Congress held on 20 Feb 2019 at the (BSWM), proposed that good investment in agricultural research could properly handle the infestation of (cecid) and other industry-specific problems facing the agriculture sector (DA.gov.ph).

He urged the mango industry stakeholders and concerned DA agencies to enhance the protocol on the Good Agricultural Practices… on mango production, making use of the latest agronomy and integrated pest management practices.

Here we are at the 2^nd Luzon Mango Congress at the same venue – with the same goal: “Saving the Mango Industry.”

I have been reading  the CropLife Training Manual On Mango Production I downloaded from CropLife.org.ph, and I note this particularly: “Weak and undernourished mango trees are susceptible to pest infestations. “

Therefore, since the cecid fly infestation is all over the Philippines, it tells us that those mango trees are undernourished! No, chemical fertilizers are not enough – they supply only the nutrients you paid for: N, P, K, Mg and micronutrients if any. The time is ripe to try applying organic fertilizers to your trees!

There’s More. Earth Observing System says about monoculture(eos.com), “Too many of the same plant species in one field area… (result) in decreasing varieties of bacteria and microorganisms… needed to maintain fertility of the soil.” I say, more than that, any monoculture does not grow another crop that harbors natural enemies of the pest in question. So: How do you defeat the cecid fly, the one pest that is killing PH mango industry? Frank A Hilario says, “Don’t apply Pesticide – instead apply Knowledge!”

I said above, “The problem with mangoes is mangoes.” That is to say, your mango farms are all monocultures, single-species plantings. So:

My advice? Those plant species that are hosts to natural enemies of the cecid fly, find & grow them along with your mango trees!@517

How Do We Celebrate “World Environment Day?” 2 Related Answers: “We Believe Farming Is The Biggest Job On Earth” – BASF. “Everyday Is Environment Day For Me!” – Frank A Hilario

We have ignored “World Environment Week” and it’s time to pay attention to it. All the more reason because wars of all kinds are going on all over the world, and I am scientifically convinced that the kind of environment we have, or the kind we cultivate, propagates such wars.

The inclusive date for “Environment Week” according to Jenica Dizon is 20-27 March (upper image). Differently, the Government of Virgin Islands says it’s 04-10 June (lower image from  bvi.gov.vg via YouTube). What? We don’t even have a single inclusive date! We mortals do not care much about our environment to celebrate it, do we?

Not the issue of the inclusive dates, what I want to tackle here is what we mortals can commonly do to truthfully celebrate World Environment Day/Week.

The above image I saw on Facebook, the post “Be Green, Be Great” by Waves For Water PhilippinesCountry Director Jenica Dizon,“highlights the importance of caring for issues facing our environment.”

I have always cared much about the environment. I am an agriculturist and already for half-a-century proselytizer for the environment, starting as Information Officer of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), an agency of the Department of Natural Resources, in 16 April 1975. In FORI, I brainchilded 3 publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. I encouraged myself in conservation, even brainchilding Communication for Development (ComDev), as I saw UPLB’s Development Communication (DevCom) paradigm was neglecting development.

So: Even as I am a graduate of UPCA (now UP Los Baños), BSA Ag Edu, my working firstenvironment was Forestry! A non-conformist, I never had a regular job in an agriculture office, except for 1 year at the Farming Systems & Soil Resources Institute (FSSRI), which was under Director Elpidio “Pids” Rosario, a classmate of mine and a believer in my communication skills, plural. Thank you, Pids!

“We believe farming is the biggest job on earth” – BASF (agriculture.basf.com). So do I. I have my 2016 photograph of Rolando Andres’ techno-demo hybrid ricefield in San Manuel, Pangasinan, with a BASF tarp saying almost exactly that: “Farming, the biggest job on earth.”

Now then, any week is Agriculture Environment Week for me!

There is the practice of Agriculture in the whole world, whether we know it or not, where Agriculture is the single biggest culprit in generating greenhouse gases (GHGs), so it must receive the biggest attention of all. That is all because of chemical agriculture.

Now then, environment-wise, I submit that we must practice organic agriculture, whether this is the World Environment Month or not – it should be World Environment Day every single day!

Organic agriculture isregenerative, returning to the soil what man has taken from it: natural wealth. Regenerative brings again and again these 3: healthy soils, healthy foods, healthy environment. No GHGs.

Me, meanwhile I will celebrate World Environment Day everyday by writing about organic agriculture as much as I can!@517

My Heart Goes To Farmer Cooperatives, DA’s Heart Goes To Groups Who Have No Facilities For Storage Before Marketing Of Produce

It seems only now that farmers have a Secretary of Agriculture who knows much of what they need, from seeding to selling: William Dar, who is from a poor family in Ilocos Sur.

Last year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) began constructing an onion cold storage facility in Moncada, Tarlac (Glen S Ramos, 22 June  2021, “DA To Construct Onion Cold Storage Facility In Moncada,” Maharlika.tv). The building, all 364 sqm of it, has been finished (bottom image). Zorayda Tecson says, “DA Turns Over P20-M Onion Cold Storage Facility To Tarlac Farmers” (16 March 2022, Philippine News Agency, PNA.gov.ph). The facility is for 820 onion farmers in Moncada, members of the Sapang Multi-Purpose Cooperative. Note: Cooperative. Under Mr Dar, the DA deals with formal farmer groups: associations, cooperatives, clusters, because: In union there is strength!

Regional Executive Director Crispulo G Bautista Jr of DA Region 3 says, “The project intends to (improve) the price of bulb onions in lean months while maintaining the supply in the local market and encouraging more farmers to engage in onion farming.” The cold storage will help increase the shelf life of bulbs and decrease postharvest losses – resulting in increased farm income for the producers.

Cesario Tabago, President of the Sapang coop, says the cold storage is a big help as it enables farmers to store produce in a safe place and obtain a good price for it at the market-appropriate time. He says, “Matatanggal na ang mga middlemen na karaniwang bumibili ng aming produkto sa napakababang halaga” (This removes those middlemen who ordinarily buy our produce at very low prices).

During the turnover, Ms Zorayda says, “Bautista assured (his listeners) the DA will build more (such) facilities in the region to help save the farmers from huge post-harvest losses.” The storage facility will prolong the shelf life of onions for 6 to 8 months. At anytime, the setup has a total capacity of 10,000 bags of dry bulb onions, equivalent to the total harvest of 24 ha. It is part of the DA's program Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2). “Recover” has reference to losses due to Covid19 restrictions as well as incomplete farmer facilities for proper storage of bulbs while awaiting welcome signs for marketing.

The facility can reduce postharvest losses from 10 to 15% even as it maintains the quality of the produce. Now, the onion growers do nothave to dispose of their harvest just to catch up with the open market – with cold storage, the bulbs can wait for the market to open at reasonable prices.

Since Sapang is a cooperative, I know from being a member of one in my hometown Asingan in Pangasinan, that as a member, the farmer can borrow from the coop at any time for any purpose; with the storage facility, if the price of onions is notright, s/he doesn’t have to sell just to have funds for the household. Finally, the market will now favor the farmers!@517

Multiple Cropping, Monocropping, Agroecology, Farming Systems, Organic Farming – The Art Gomez I Did Not Know

The world does not pay much attention to people with original ideas, does it? I did not know all this about Arturo Gomez, and I had been in and out of UP Los Baños when he was a name, becoming one time Director of the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study in Agriculture (SEARCA) – one, that he was the Filipino Pied Piper of Multiple Cropping.

(images: with wife Kwanchai; multiple cropping from hotels.com)

Saturday, 19 March 2022, I am reading 2 Facebook sharings on the death of Art Gomez, those of UPLB Professor Teodoro “Ted” Mendoza and UPLB alumnus & organic agriculture advocate Pablito Malabanan Villegas, both of whom I know.

Ted Mendoza’s sharing

Dr Arturo Gomez – a mentor and a scientist of all time.
Condolence to the Family.
Sir: You planted the seeds of multi-crop systems for the Philippines and the rest of the world some half century ago when the trend was plantation monocropped agriculture.
Surely, your efforts are not in vain .What you were promoting 50 years ago if adopted, should have addressed a lot of food problems now.
This generation and the next have to implement the systems you were promoting 50 years back.

I say: Multiple cropping still not the vogue in the Philippines, hardly taught in courses, classes or workshops within and without the so-called “Los Baños Science Community” that is composed of 6 major scientific institutions: Asean Center for Biodiversity (ACB), Forest Products Research & Industry Development Commission (Forpridecom), IRRI, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), UP Los Baños, and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

Yes, the trend is, as Prof Ted puts it, still “plantation monocropped agriculture.” No wonder single-cropped Philippine banana, coconut, corn, onion, pineapple, and rice still suffer from their ancient pests & diseases. Monocrops lack the natural protection that multiple crops enjoy – the “friendly” organisms in one crop are “enemies” of organisms in the other crops, as they actually consume them as food. That is natural pest control. Mother Nature helps similarly when you do intercropping or companion planting.

Yes, Mr Gomez, “This generation and the next have to implement the systems you were promoting 50 years back!”

Pablito Malabanan Villegas’ sharing

Yes, Dr Ted, I know Dr Art Gomez devoted his life and career to promoting and practicing appropriate farming systems technologies globally. I am one of his avid followers and practitioners and advocates globally as well. I firmly believe in sustainable farming systems as my idol’s poor farm parents practiced it in upland farming systems -- lo and behold such farm technology generated above poverty line income that sent us 8 siblings to school that liberated us all from indigency, food insecurity and hopelessness!

(It’s still the solution today), so let us stop mono-cropping. Go, go, go agro-ecological and organic-based FARMING SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY AND ITS VALUE CHAIN OPTIMIZATION AND CLUSTERED FARMING!

I say, summarizing, here are 3 scientific minds speaking the same language: Nature-based agriculture.@517

“Prioritize Agriculture To Achieve Zero Poverty Rate” – Presidentiable Bongbong Marcos. Yes Sir! And To Save Us From Climate Change, I Am Looking At Organic Agriculture

Since last month, I have been enticing any of the Presidentiables to pay close attention to agriculture (see my essay, “Vision Impossible, PH Presidentiables!? Well, You Have To Use Your Inner Sight, Insight. Do Not Allow The Negatives To Negate Your Campaign!” 06 Feb 2022, Towards A New Eden, Blogspot.com). No luck until today.

In that essay, I emphasized farms & farmers, and organic farming. Not surprising, as I am an alumnus of UP Los Baños, BSA Ag Edu 1965 – an agriculturist who is a teacher. More appropriately, an extensionist, having concocted my own theory of communication for development of villages in the 21^st century (CoViD21) last Tuesday, 23 Nov 2021.

Yes, CoViD21. I’m excited, really, that a Presidentiable has spoken of Agriculture as #1 in his priority. Daniza Fernandez  says “Prioritize Agriculture To Achieve Zero Poverty Rate – Marcos” (20 March 2022, Inquirer.net). I am a farmer’s son from Asingan in Eastern Pangasinan, so I know farmer poverty. We were not poor, but sometimes we did not have any dish except rice – we settled on bagoong (salted fish), sometimes with onions. And when I attended my grade school class, I brought with me about a tablespoon of molasses powder for snack.

In the countryside, poverty is when your family can hardly meet the necessities of life in food, clothing, and medicine. Farmer poverty is when your father farmer has to borrow money from a usurer in order to buy fertilizer and pesticide. Farmer poverty is when your family has to borrow money from the usurer, again, in-between harvests of rice. Farmer poverty is when your family has to borrow money from the usurer, again, to pay the school fees of your child. Farmer poverty is when your family has to borrow from the usurer, again, to pay for the medical expense when someone gets sick.

We have 5 million farmers. How many poor families are there among our farmers? As of 17 Dec 2021, we are looking at the “Proportion Of Poor Filipinos Registered At 23.7 Percent In The First Semester Of 2021” (Philippine Statistics Authority, psa.gov.ph): “This translates to 26.14 million Filipinos who lived below the poverty threshold estimate at P12,082 for a family of 5 per month.”

That’s P56/person/day, or P18.67/meal. You don’t know poor until you are, or have neighbors who are.

Rappler’s story has this title: “Climate Change Creating ‘New Poor’ In PH” (Rappler.com). Also. But more the other way around – it is the Filipino farmers who create climate change in the country because of their wrong practice of agriculture.

The prevailing mode, chemical agriculture (CA), is the one that creates greenhouse gases that help exacerbate climate change.

For agriculture to ease up climate change, BBM should see organic agriculture (OA) being adopted throughout the Philippines immediately. OA grows incomes and healthy foods and pleasant climes!

Above images: Top from Asia Media, asiamedia.lmu.edu, bottom from Rappler , both images I redesigned to indicate a nascent revolution – necessary! @517

“Our Next PH President Should Know About Climate Change” – Rodel D Lasco. “S/He Should Only Be A Smart Thinker” – Frank A Hilario. Above All, “Thinking Is Power.”

Thankfully, via email today Saturday, 19 March 2022, my good friend JAQ suggests our Presidentiables should somehow be climate change-conscious even now. Unfortunately, not one of those many candidates for President has spoken anything close to that subject.

Specifically, JAQ sent me the link to Rodel D Lasco’s column of today (Saturday, 19 March 2022) in the Inquirer, “Toward A Climate Resilient Development” (inqm.news), where after explaining the latest work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Mr Rasco says:

Our next president’s term will coincide with this critical decade for climate action. Thus, one relevant criterion for our vote is the candidate’s qualification to steer the country toward a climate resilient path. As one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate hazards, we cannot afford to make the wrong choice.

I agree that we are now in that “critical decade for climate action” as according to the IPCC report mentioned. But if Mr Rasco is implying that the next PH President should know the science of climate change, I say:

No, we do not need a Scientist President. Whom we need next is a President who has a mind wide open about climate change – after some immersion – and has a decisive manner of governance so that s/he can select her climate change advisers.
(“Thinking Is Power” image from ssla.co.uk)

Among the most significant conclusions of the report is the need to pursue climate resilient development… which refers to the “process of implementing greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation measures to support sustainable development for all.”

That is, considering the storms, typhoons and floods that visit us too often and too murderously, the next PH President must see to it that adaptation and mitigation measures are mapped out at once so that the country can proceed to “sustainable development.”
(“Sustainable Development” image from topper.com)

Mr Rasco does not explain it, but “sustainable development” is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (UNESCO, en.unesco.org). That’s too vague; this is more workable for me (un.org):

Sustainable development –
results achieved by what is done that is:
technically feasible, and at the same time
environmentally sound, and at the same time
economically viable, and at the same time
socially acceptable.

Now then, I will interpret Mr Rasco’s presidential requirement – “the candidate’s qualification to steer the country toward a climate resilient path” – as the wisdom to effect overall management so that the country’s climate change programs and projects result in sustainable development.

“To steer the country toward a climate resilient path” – Perfect! Considering all of the above, I would advise the next President to declare that, nationwide, the climate-intelligent path to agriculture is organic.

Right away, we must stop chemical agricultureand switch to organic agriculture. Why? With organic agriculture, there are zero, none, nil, no greenhouse gases emitted from farms and gardens. Sooner than later, that would change climate change!@517

World Bank Financing By $200 Million PH’s “Blue Economy” – The Reality Of Overfishing Makes The Concept Of The “Fish Management Area” Truly Necessary

Wow! The World Bank is setting aside $200 Million (P10 Billion+) to finance the PH project “Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency (FishCoRe)” to help 500,000 Filipinos to skillfullyrise above poverty in their capture and culture fisheries, and the country to intelligently conserve its marine resources. FishCoRe hopefully will be implemented this year.

(inset image from PCAF, pcaf.da.gov.ph)

In a letter to PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, WB Country Director Achim Fook said:

We fully support the goals of the FishCoRe Project to sustainably improve incomes of Filipino fisherfolk, and support resilient coastal communities through enhanced ecosystem management, productivity-enhancing technologies, aquaculture, reduced post-harvest losses, value-chain infrastructure, and related activities.

Mr Dar, chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to which the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is attached, says FishCoRe, a 7-year project, is BFAR’s “medium-to-long-term intervention to increase resiliency (considering) climate change and as a bounce-back strategy for the country’s ‘blue economy’ amid the Covid-19 pandemic (restrictions).”

BFAR has divided the Philippine archipelago into 12 Fish Management Areas (FMAs) in which “to sustainably manage fishery resources through a science-based and participatory governance framework.” Science must be followed, implemented by people from different groups public and private.

FishCoRe will benefit 500,000 stakeholders in fish capture and culture in FMAs 6 and 9 covering 11 regions and 24 provinces, 32 million hectares of waters. FMA 6 covers the coastal waters off the West Philippine Sea including Pagudpud Bay, Subic Bay, Manila Bay to Lubang Island; FMA 9 covers the waters in Bohol Sea, Panguil Bay, Iligan Bay, Gingoog Bay, Butuan Bay, and Sogod Bay.

Mr Dar said:

We are optimistic that the FishCoRe Project will be able to establish examples of good governance mechanisms, leading to better management of the “blue resources” and aquaculture development.

Here are the “key growth targets” – (a) increase in household income, (b) increase in value-added fishery commodities, (c) reduction in postharvest losses, and (d) reduction in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing incidences. In fact, (b) and (c) are designed to improve (a) income. Differently, (d) is designed to conserve resources by preventing overfishing.

Ah, overfishing is subtle. In technical terms, overfishing means “catching fish faster than stocks can naturally replenish themselves.” In practical terms, you catch the small fish and the females with eggs – and bring them home. Without small ones growing, how can there be more fish to catch later? Female fish with eggs – I remember as a young boy fishing with a hook or fish trap made of bundled tips of bamboo (the Ilocano “rama”), everyone wanted the fish eggs!

No, nobody told us that if we ate the pregnant females with their delicious eggs, who will give birth to the next generation of fish? We had eaten the next generation! A scientific fact that most fishermen either do not realize or do not accept.

The reality of overfishing makes the concept of the Fish Management Area truly necessary. It is long overdue. Congratulations, Secretary Dar!@517

“The Greatest Revolution Of All Time!” Frank A Hilario Calls It. “Born Out Of Love” – The New Eden

The greatest revolution of all time suggests itself today – born out of love! An intellectual reaction to Russia’s war on Ukraine on that part adversely affecting energy products. It also revives a lingering love affair of mine 57 years back when I graduated from UP Los Baños. First love never dies? I have always been a rebel thinkerer.

Above, the love image from 123rf.comsuggests The New Garden of Eden where grows Adam’s Apple in its original state: au naturel. Absolutely no chemicals involved. Entirely grown naturally.

Yes, The New Apple. From The Organic Revolution.

Revolution in agriculture. And it will occur in the Philippines first!

Here’s a wake-upper you probably haven’t heard. Luisa Maria Jacinta C Jocson says (“Alternative Fertilizers Touted As Import Costs Rise,” 01 Feb 2022, BusinessWorld, bworldonline.com):

The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) said farmers must explore non-traditional fertilizers after sharp increases in the price of imported fertilizer. “The challenge is to (reduce) our dependence on imported chemical fertilizers by encouraging the use of non-traditional fertilizers like organic, microbial, and biorational fertilizers,” FPA Executive Director Wilfredo C Roldansaid.

I say, “Don’t panic, go organic!” 100% organic. The greatest revolution I’m telling you about. Because the effects would be worldwide – and unopposed!

Count the results of going 100% organic in farming & gardening now:

Cultivation cost shrinks 10 times. At least 5 times.

“We have been asking the [Department of Agriculture (DA)] since last year to provide subsidies to rice and corn farmers to cover the cost of fertilizer” – the farmers’ group SINAG said. Fertilizer price nearly doubled to P1,600/bag in August 2021; in December, this went up to P2,500/bag. On the average, 10 bags of fertilizers go into every hectare planted.

Ms Luisa Maria says, “(SINAG) said that the government must provide more support to farmers to deal with rising input costs.” They are demanding that the DA subsidize the cost of chemical fertilizers.

Better for the DA to subsidize organic fertilizer (OF) for you farmers. Best if you make your own. Whatever material you use to make OF, the cost should not be that much. (What’s more, I can teach you my 57-year old zero-cost method, “WEALth” – for a glimpse, see my essay “Here’s Looking At The New Agriculture In The New Garden Of Eden!” 12 March 2022, Towards A New Eden, Blogspot.com.)

All foods become healthy – and buyable!

No chemical fertilizers applied, no chemical pesticides sprayed – no unnatural chemicals in or on fruits, leaves, whole vegetables. Consumers will happily buy healthy foods.

Food security is assured 100%.

Because everyone can afford all kinds of food grown by farmers and gardeners, the Philippines will become the new Garden of Eden!

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) disappear.

GHGs from the farms and gardens in these 7000 islands will decrease to zero, none, nil. I expect the pleasant effect we will feel within 2 growing seasons.

So: The best idea, and most revolutionary, is for PH Agriculture to apply 100% organic fertilizer. To Good be the Glory!@517