“Fertilizer Management” Is Correct Critical Thinking, But The World Bank Should Be Thinking Wholes And Not Simply Holes!

The World Bank thinks it has the intelligent internationally implementable initiative against the impending food crisis: “Fertilizer Management.” “Fertilizer?” Or “Fertility?” That is the question!

Juergen Voegeleadvices on “How To Manage The World’s Fertilizers To Avoid A Prolonged Food Crisis” (22 July 2022, World Bank Blogs, blogs.worldbank.org). In 99 words, Mr Voegele, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, assesses as all-in-all an appropriate approach:

Hidden behind the worst global food crisis in a decade, fertilizer prices have skyrocketed and remain volatile. This poses a serious threat to food security, as the planting season starts this summer. So far, the war in Ukraine has mostly affected countries importing wheat and corn. But many countries, including some major food exporters, are net fertilizer importers. Persistently high fertilizer prices may spread to a broader variety of crops including rice, a staple which has not yet seen war-related price hikes. We must act now to make fertilizers more accessible and affordable to avoid prolonging the food crisis.  

“Fertilizer Management” – That is critical thinking.

Mr World Bank enumerates three broad steps for countries to take:

(1)   “First, countries should lift trade restrictions or export bans on fertilizers.”

(2)   “Second, fertilizer use must be made more efficient.”

(3)   “Third, we must invest in innovation to develop best practices and newer technologies that will help increase output per kg of fertilizer used.”

In response, I Conservative Agriculturist say:

1^st step is not easy – countries exporting fertilizers are bound to protect their farmers above all.

2^nd step is all right. Farmers should prevent the wastage of fertilizers as much as they know how.

3^rd step is problematic – and it will take so much time.

“Fertility Management” – That is holistic thinking.

Even if all those 3 Sustainable Development Steps were taken quite successfully, I agriculturist say “Fertilizer Management” is limitedthinking; that approach assumes that fertilizer is the critical factor in agriculture in any country of the world.

Fertility Management is the much more intelligent approach at these critical times – and even in ancient times!

And now I will tell you of one approach to Fertility Management that Mr World Bank has left out:
Regenerative Agriculture (RA).

Artificial or chemical fertilizers, which Mr World Bank has assumed as givens, are degenerative factors:
(1) they poison the soil;
(2) they poison the organisms that help crops grow healthy;
(3) they grow crops that are unhealthy and call for more chemicals for protection;
(4) the crops produce unhealthy foods, what with chemical pesticide residues – and,
(5) above all, with the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that they produce, they are climate change allies!

Organic fertilizers are regenerative because:
(1) they return the natural nutrients that crops need to grow well;
(2) they nourish those soil organisms that nourish crops naturally;
(3) they grow healthy crops that do not need weedicides & pesticides;
(4) they produce healthy foods, with no chemical residues;
(5) they produce zero GHGs – helping fight climate change!

World Bank: We should think Wholes and not simply Holes!@517

IRRI And PhilRice Were On The Right Way Toward P20/Kg Rice Or Cheaper, But Their Attempt At System Of Rice Intensification (SRI) Failed Them! Why?

The astounding System of Rice Intensification (SRI) came from Cornell University to the Philippines in 2000, and trial plantings were made in Southern Mindanao, resulting in average yields of 7 t/ha in 2001 and 12 t/ha in 2002 (sri.ciifad.cornell.edu). 20 years later – What happened to the tremendous SRI promise?!

Above, we see the enthusiastic Facebook sharing of PH ex-Secretary of Agriculture William Dar where he says, “In PhilRice, Munoz, Nueva Ecija to visit the testing of SRI Technology and derby on fertilizers on rice!” My comment on the Facebook sharing [translation added]:

In 2003, IRRI reported a very sad SRI yield of 1.44 t/ha – according to CIFAD, Cornell U; PhilRice did not report any encouraging yield either. But Engr Carlos Salazar of NIA reported from his own farm a yield 6.9 t/ha in 2003. Maabak ti IRRI ken PhilRice! Apay ngay? [IRRI and PhilRice are the losers here! Why are they?]😎

Repeat: CIIFAD (above) reports that IRRI tried SRI and got a miserable 1.44 t/ha, while PhilRice itself obtained discouraging yields with SRI. Considering my being an alumnus of UP Los Baños and Editor In Chief of so many theses, dissertations and technical papers, not to mention quite a few technical journals, I greatly suspect something wrong with the methodology as applied independentlyby both IRRI and PhilRice.

To IRRI and PhilRice, I say: “Time to rise with rice and shine!” Especially with the presidential-candidate challenge and/or promise of now-President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr for a “P20/kg rice” or lower. I interpret that to mean “We will discover one way or another how to bring down the selling price of rice to at P20/kg.” SRI is it!

According to the CIIFAD report (above):

After the director of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in the Department of Agriculture learned about SRI at a conference in Indonesia in 2000, the ATI center in Southern Mindanao undertook trials that averaged over 7 t/ha in 2001 and 12 t/ha in 2002. In 2004, the Cotabato ATI center reported even higher SRI yields. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Los Baños, however, reported a disappointing yield of only 1.44 t/ha in its 2003 trials followed by a yield of 3 t/ha in 2004. The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) trials similarly did not report significant increases with SRI.

On 20 June 2018, I wrote “PH Rice Self-Sufficiency, No With Duterte, Yes With SRI, If You Know What I Mean!” (Gaia Con Gaia, gaiavsgaia.blogspot.com) about the Zarraga Integrated Diversified Organic Farmers Association (ZIDOFA) SRI experience in Iloilo Province, Panay Island – lower image above shows many tillers from one hill, promising high yield. Joby Arandela, Chair of ZIDOFA, said:

We are spearheading a regenerative agriculture initiative using the climate-friendly and organic-based System of Rice Intensification (SRI) here in Panay Island.

Were IRRI and PhilRice not paying attention to others except their own coconuts that they did not try organic fertilizers? So much for modern agriculture research & development!@517

Dutch Priest Titus Brandsma, Warrior Journalist, Now Saint; Frank A Hilario, War-Of-Words Journalist, Not Now Faint. “When In Rome, I Would Not Do What The Romans Do!”

Even the Roman Catholic Church love journalists who fight for press freedom – I am a true-blue Roman Catholic and journalist but I don’t support journalists, Catholic or not, who fight for their right to pursue the hundreds of unrighteous rather than for the good of millions of poor people!

Courtney Mares says (10 May 2022, “Titus Brandsma: A New Patron Saint of Journalism?” National Catholic Register (ncregister.com):

More than 60 journalists write to Pope Francis with request, saying soon-to-be saint’s “journalistic works stand out among all his other activities,” adding that “he gave his life for it. In our view, this makes him particularly suitable for this patronage.”

An open letter published on May 10 said that the world “urgently requires a holy intercessor” like Brandsma, a Carmelite priest and journalist, “in these times of disinformation and polarization.” In part, the petition says:

We, Catholic journalists, recognize in Titus Brandsma a professional peer and fellow believer of considerable standing. Someone who shared the deeper mission that should drive journalism in modern times: a search for truth and veracity, the promotion of peace and dialogue between people.

The holy terror journalist was canonized on Sunday, 15 May 2022 (“Pope Canonizes Dutch Priest, Professor Titus Brandsma” NL Times, nltimes.nl).

Father Brandsma died in the Dachau concentration camp in 1942 “after he firmly opposed mandatory Nazi propaganda in Catholic newspapers.”

The appeal letter was co-written by three journalists from the Netherlands, where Brandsma was born, and a journalist from Belgium. It was co-signed by more than 60 Vatican correspondents.

Titus Brandsma has meant a lot to the Catholic community in the Low Countries, but his journalistic works stand out among all his other activities. He was [Editor In Chief] of a newspaper, devoted himself to the modernization and professionalization of the Catholic daily press in the Netherlands, and strove for better working conditions and the establishment of professional training for journalists.

In contrast, I am not a saint and I am a war-of-words Roman Catholic journalist. Titus Brandsma “devoted himself to the modernization and professionalization of the Catholic daily press in the Netherlands” – ha, ha! All PH media have not modernized and professionalized themselves out of American bad media habits such as their practice of “press freedom”!

I have been urging the modernization and professionalization of the media in my country –

But not freedom of the press. Not freedom to go after the bad but freedom to go after the good! Lawmen must pursue and punish the bad; but journalists must pursue and publish the good for the good of communities of people, especially the poor!

I am an agriculturist, and by choice I journalize for people progress, via what today (starting 2021) I call “Communication for Village Development in the 21st Century” (CoViD21).

Not always with a paid employment, I have been journalizing for community development of and on pursuing CoViD21 in the last 46 years! Thank you, Lord, for the privilege!@517

“Many Hands Make Light Work” – Ancient Greek Proverb. “Raise Your Hands To Help Your People First!” – Frank A Hilario

A good friend, Wilfrido Villarama, points out to me the preoccupations of today, people looking for government’s “community-action initiatives” such as Community Engagement, Solidarity, And Citizenship (book authored by Jalton C Taguibao, cover shown above). In those 3 broad concepts, something huge is missing! Guess what?

Now, what does the book contain? In its website, of both original & updated versions, both undated (main.vibalgroup.com), publisher Vibal repeatedly says:

This book focuses on the application of ideas and methods of the social sciences to examine challenges of contemporary community life. It focuses on community-action initiatives such as community engagement, solidarity, and citizenship as guided by the core values of human rights, social justice, empowerment and advocacy, gender equality, and participatory development. It enhances students’ sense of shared identity and willingness to contribute to the pursuit of the common good.

Excellent cover, excellent summary! Calling Filipino citizens to contribute to the pursuit of the common good by watching out for “human rights, social justice, empowerment and advocacy, gender equality, and participatory development.”

Where are the people helping themselves first? Essentially, the Taguibao book calls for citizens to be “watchdogs” – but not call for citizens to be “workdogs.”

Too many watchdogs, no workdogs! For instance, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) was founded on 25 October 1953, or 69 years ago, by Catholics (Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org). What has the FFF done for the common good except complain?

No, Mr Taguibao is not calling for workdogs, as I put it – those watchdogs of ours, as exemplified by the FFF, exist for the purpose of criticizing the government, which is every citizen’s right – but they have not pursued any community development project right where they are!

Those citizen groups do not help themselves in pursuit of the growth of their communities according to their best of lights. That is what is missing in “Community Participation.”

Even the American National Democratic Institute (NDI), as pointed out to me by my friend, does not have the right frame of mind. It says in its own website (ndi.org):

Ensuring that government actually works for the public good requires informed, organized, active and peaceful citizen participation. Citizens must, therefore… [develop] the skills to voice their concerns, act collectively and hold public officials…

Even the American NDI has only half of the equation! Citizens must be helping themselves first before yelping against the government. Community participation works in 2 ways: people complaining and people helping themselves.

And so, without naming names, we are calling on non-government organizations (NGOs), community and civic groups, to think hard of how they can help their members and the community at large – with or without government assistance. You cannot complain against inaction if you have not done any action to help yourself first!

“Nilalahat ko ang mga NGOs – puede ba, hindi puro ngawa, walang ginagawa!” I am addressing all NGOs – help the people first before you complain for them! Labor for your community enough first before you lambast the government for not doing enough!@517

“Digitalize Philippines!” – President BBM. “Digitalize An Internet Of THINKs Agriculture! (IoTA)” – Frank A Hilario, Blogger

Actually, we Filipinos are now “highly digital” with cellphones everywhere, for talking, texting and viewing – mostly personal. An excellent take-off point to create a “Digital Philippines.” We need a leader to announce it – and now we have President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr.

(BBM image from Bloomberg, bloomberg.com)

We already have the Department of Information & Communications Technology (DICT) and BBM has given the “marching order” to Secretary of ICT Ivan John Uy: “We need to digitalize the Philippines" (Raymond Carl Dela Cruz, 24 July 2022, “Bongbong Marcos Vision: A Digital Philippines,” PNA, pna.gov.ph). Mr Dela Cruz quotes Mr Uy as saying:

We see that there are so many things that are in store for us in this current administration. Our digitalization efforts will be pushing through with more vitality, with more energy, and we have a president who is digitally in-tuned with what is really needed in terms of information and communication technology to make the country really move forward.

“We need to digitalize the Philippines." Thank you BBM Sir, for seeing & saying that now, 2022.

What is missing there is the Vision – “Digitalize the Philippines towards what?” And my answer to my own question is, restricted to my own field of knowledge, Agriculture, being an alumnus of UP Los Baños:

“We need to digitalize Agriculture for a prosperous Philippines,” I say. I have been seeing that in the last 19 years.

For me, the concept of a digital library for Agriculture started in 2003 with the proposal of then-Director General of ICRISAT William Dar for the “Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture” (OpAPA). To operationalize OpAPA, as a PhilRice consultant, I wrote the digital book The Geography Of Knowledge (198 pages). Knowledge should always be for discovery in a digital library open 24 hours a day. (Nothing happened to OpAPA, sorry!)
(“Digitization” image from sourcetrace.com)

Mr Uy says, “Many of our rules on procurement, civil service, are very restrictive and medieval.”

And I say, “Many of our technologies in farming are very restrictive and medieval! Well, that goes with other countries, including the United States.

What do I mean by that? Example, plowing – we still use the disc plow, which was invented by North Carolina native Charles Angell Sr in 1882, or 140 years ago! (Kansas Historical Society, kansapedia). The disc plow destroys the soil structure and everything that goes with it, including availability of nutrients and moisture for crops.

Another American, Edward H Faulkner, discovered trash farming, which is minimum tillage with careful incorporation of plant materials with the topsoil (see my 21 April 2009 essay, “Not My Achievers’ Night. It Rained On My Parade!” A Magazine Called Love, amagazinecalledlove.blogspot.com).I re-invented it with the introduction of shallow rotavation; I am now recommending to digitalize Agriculture as the “Internet of THINKs Agriculture” (IoTA). THINKs – True? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind? Swell! The best agriculture you have to think through!

The Internet of THINKs Agriculture should be available via a digital library in popular English language (translations later). IoTA can then become BIG!@517

BBM Sir, Under Your Presidency, PH Agriculture Can Become The World’s Model – But We Have To Wake Up The Sleeping Giant Called "University Of The Philippines Los Baños"!

Above, in the middle of the image, beyond the structure going up, before Mt Makiling in the background, is the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, now 114 years old. In terms of agriculture, my alma mater UPLB does not deserve any red flower in homage, having been sleeping a hundred years – It has defaulted on Organic Agriculture!

I took that photo on my 70^th birthday, 17 Sept 2010, with my Casio Ex-S5 camera. 2 years later, I bought my Lumix FZ100 digital camera and almost singlehandedly produced my first coffee-table book, The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable, for the Agricultural Credit Policy Council’ssilver anniversary 25 April 2012, with Jovita Corpuz as Executive Director. At that time, already I had taught myself digital writing, editing, desktop publishing. As a 1965 UPLB alumnus, BSA Ag Edu, I say, “Nobody should stop learning!” And teaching.

Sorry, but UP Los Baños has stopped learning and teaching something old, something new!

The concept leading to organic agriculture had come out in the early 1900s yet (Britannica.com). UPLB was born 1908, now a centenarian – too old to learn about a subject as old as it is?

UP Los Baños has not seen fit to encourage farming that is both farmer-smart and climate-smart – organic agriculture.

BBM Sir, let us not follow the unschooled example of UP Los Baños and instead learn and promote organic agriculture for the country in the next 6 years!

Let’s take 2 Big Lessons from Sri Lanka, which failed to become the world’s model in agriculture – that country is now in a nationwide crisis. Why because of the bad policy of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposing organic agriculture nationwide allat once!

What are the big lessons from Sri Lanka’s downfall?

1^st Big Lesson –
Organic Agriculture is worthy of national adoption.

2^nd Big Lesson –
Let us not declare Organic Agriculture to be adopted nationwide in one single day or week – we have to do it intelligently.

Why Organic Agriculture (OA) for the Philippines?

1.     OA is Productive.
When you apply organic fertilizer on the soil, your crop has all the nutrients it needs to grow and bear fruits. Organic comes from plants, and to plants it will return.

2.     OA is Healthy.
Nature designed it. Not a single part of the organic fertilizer is unhealthy to your crop and therefore your crop bears healthy fruits.

3.     OA is muchCheaper than chemical agriculture.
The plant parts that become organic fertilizer come from local sources and no part is imported – and therefore sells much cheaper.

I cannot over-recommend organic agriculture.

The use of organic fertilizers is a method of the so-called RegenerativeAgriculture. It’s called regenerativebecause it renews the fertility of the soil by man-aided natural means and does not need artificial or chemical fertilizers – no need to import those.

BBM Sir, we need to regenerate the whole Philippines from mis-development. And we need to start from A – Agriculture!@517

Our Historians Make Me Cry, And I Am Not Filipina Actress Ella Cruz! History Vs Bias That Historians Have And Would Not Admit

Historians and non-historians reacted negatively when Filipina actress Ella Cruz said what she said about history and gossip, during the press conference for her new movie, “Maid In Malacañang,” a film about the last 72 hours of the Ferdinand Edralin “FM” Marcos family before flying out of the presidential palace for Hawaii, ending the coup that Juan Ponce Enrilehad ignited, leading to People Power Revolution, ending Martial Law.

What did she say again? Patricia Taculao says Ms Ella said (04 July 2022, “Actress Ella Cruz’s ‘History Is Tsismis’ Comment Draws Flak From Netizens,” Manila Standard, manilastandard.net):

History is like tsismis. It is filtered and dagdag na rin, so, hindi natin alam what is the real history. Andoon na iyong idea, pero may mga bias talaga. As long as we’re here alive at may kanya-kanyang opinion, I respect everyone’s opinion.

(“History is like gossip. It is filtered and also added to, so we don’t know what is the real history. The idea is there, but the bias is there surely. As long as we’re here alive and with our opinion, I respect everyone’s opinion.” – my translation)

Reactions to Ms Ella’s statement were negative. ANN says (Author Not Named, 22 July 2022, “Ella Cruz Responds To Pokwang, Agot On ‘History Is Tsismis’ Controversy,” ABS-CBN News, news.abs-cbn.com):

A tearful Ella Cruz responded to critical comments from showbiz personalities, including her former co-stars Pokwang and Agot Isidro, over the actress’ controversial remark comparing history to “tsismis” or gossip.

Cruz spoke at length about what she described as the “darkest point" of her life in an interview with TV host Boy Abunda, in an episode of “The Interviewer” released on Friday.

She first sought to clarify the context of her statement, recalling she was asked for her point of view on the history of the Marcoses, in relation to her starring role in “Maid in [Malacañang].”

The film is billed as an alternate perspective on the People Power Revolution in 1986, which ousted former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The project’s release coincides with the return to power of the Marcoses, with the patriarch’s namesake son being elected [President] in the May 2022 elections.

(Ms Ella plays Irene Marcos in the movie.)

Are our historians, Filipino or foreigners, to be 100% trusted when they declare that such and such is an historical fact? Absolutely not! We have to check them out.

Let me give you my favorite example of our historians being all wrong – this is about the “Declaration of Philippine Independence on 12 June 1898” – I non-historian say that is a historical falsehood. Tsismis lang yan, gossip only. Why, because in the Aguinaldo Declaration itself is found this phrase: “… under the protection of the powerful and humanitarian nation, United States of America”!

Historians have their own biases, or do not do enough research. Now, I challenge the historians to prove me wrong! No, historians are not always right! Now, now, Ms Ella Cruz, you can stop crying.@517

“PH Activists Have Not Learned To Be Intelligent About Their Protests In The Last 100 Years!” – Frank A Hilario, Blogger, Non-Conformist

Defying history & authority – and intelligence – PH activists will be with their placards on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City protesting President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on Monday, 25 July 2022, somewhere near the Batasang Pambansa building (Batasan) in Quezon City. I say that that is not exhibiting their intelligence!

ANN says (Author Not Named, 22 July 2022, “Defying Authorities, Activists To Hold Commonwealth Protest On Marcos SoNA,” news.abs-cbn.com):

MANILA — Despite failing to get a permit, cause-oriented groups under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) coalition will push through with their planned demonstration along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Monday, 25 July, the day of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's first State of the Nation Address (SoNA), its Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr said Thursday.

"Tuloy pa rin po ang rally. I don't think it will be stopped by the mere denial of the permit kasi nga po umaayon naman tayo sa karapatan natin sa Konstitusyon," Reyes told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

(The rally will proceed. I don't think it will be stopped by the mere denial of the permit because it's well within our constitutional right.)

Bayan knows it has the Constitutional Right to protest on the streets; but Bayan does not know that it has the Cerebral Right to protest via social media? Pity!

(Yes, I voted for Leni Robredo; yes, I support my President, Ferdinand“BBM” Marcos Jr. Yes, as a writer and crusader for popular prosperity, at the very least I support dialogue in social media in any topic that ultimately pertains to democratic pursuits. I’m a blogger; I also protest, but not as anti.)

The non-intellectual street protest in PH was introduced 119 years ago. GOVPH says (“A History Of The Philippine Political Protest,” GOVPH, officialgazette.gov.ph):

On 01 May 1903, the Union Obrera Democratica de Filipinas… the first workers’ union in the country, staged a massive rally calling for an eight-hour working day and the recognition of 01 May as a public holiday. Led by Dominador Gomez and attended by over 100,000 people, the rally culminated in the arrest of several members as well as the harassment of workers’ groups in the succeeding months.

Harassments. What do you expect when you protest too much?!

Note that Bayan’s head Reyes is not saying anything about the why of their planned rally somewhere near the Batasan. So, it is safe to say that the placards will not be “safe.”

That is to say, PH activists have not changed their tactics in a century, and in The Age of Social Media have not learned that the best place to protest is not physical but digital! Not only that it is safe, but you can also be creativewithout end.

Activists! Go form your social media group & campaign via Facebook! Do also Twitter and YouTube to sell your ideas – endlessly if you wish.

Choose your media; be peaceful – and you can be as creative as you want protesting – you’ll be glad you did!@517

From The Ilocos, “A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022” – An Unbelievably Quick & Scientific Way To Produce That Pie-In-The-Sky P20/kg Rice By Dec 2022!

“A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022?” Yes! You better believe it. I’m talking about increasing the yield of rice and simultaneously decreasing the cost of production to almost zero – unbelievable!

BBM Sir, you said (displayed in PhilMech Facebook sharing, above) and I quote:

We need an immediate plan to ensure that our food supply and the food prices are within reach of ordinary Filipinos from now until the end of the year.

Sir, accidentally, this UP Los Baños alumnus (1965) has that “immediate plan” – truthfully, it is already 57 years old! Which, borrowing from IRRI (lower image) and your father, Ferdinand “FM” Marcos, I now call:

“A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022.”

IRRI-FM’s “Miracle Rice” (IR8) happened in 1968. “Miracle Rice” tripled yields, an astounding achievement of IRRI scientists. Undoubtedly a miracle.

Today, based on personal knowledge and experience, here is how to produce “A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022” –

Step 1 – Rotavate field intelligently.
Run a rotavator shallowlyto produce on your ricefield the rich soil-plant mix that decomposes slowly and serves as the natural fertilizer for your rice. No fertilizer to buy!

Step 2 – Plant anyrice variety.
No need to plant a “wonder” rice variety like “IR8” (bred by IRRI) which your father FM employed for his successful “Masagana 99” Program.

Step 3 – Plant equidistant 2-week old seedlings.
I guarantee that you double or triple your yield if you transplant 2-week old seedlings singly with equal distances – based on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) preached by Fr Henri De Laulanie, SJ, based on farmer practices in Madagascar.

But of course, BBM Sir, you are bound to exclaim that what I have just written is “Unbelievable!” That’s understandable, because UP Los Baños itself is not “preaching” SRI for rice. I am a UPLB alumnus, differently a wild, wide reader, and definitely an original aboriginal, an Ilocano from Asingan, Pangasinan.

Intelligently, before you yourself proclaim “A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022,” here’s how you can get firsthand experience. With the financial assistance of the Department of Agriculture(DA), which you now head as the interim Secretary of Agriculture, I propose a simultaneous nationwide DA techno-demo, one 5-ha techno-demo farm for each of 146 cities and 1,488 municipalities in the country (Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org).

The “A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022” techno-demo should be executed immediately for the current planting season. As the “A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022” Program Director for those 1,634 rice fields – I will supervise and provide instructions via the Internet.

BBM Sir, I’m speaking from decades of actual experience in my hometown – of my brother-in-law non-college graduate Enso Casasos using the steps listed above. Unfortunately, he died of a kidney disease years ago – but we can always interview his farmer neighbors, not to mention the wife, who is my cousin, mother-side: Ida.

Do I need prize money for offering my revolutionary brainchild “A Low-Cost Miracle Rice 2022?” Not necessary, but welcome. The important thing is to serve rice-eating Filipinos as best as we know how!@517

Worried But Not Surrendering. I Am Convinced That Regenerative Agriculture Can Save Us From Climate Change And Simultaneously Enrich The Earth

I am very worried. Wildfires and heat waves from the Amazon to the Arctic, from Europe to the US, huge sea waves, flash floods and landslides tell me climate change is endangering people all over the world – so, as long as we can do something about those, we should. Starting yesterday!

(images: “We can reverse” from Tecnologia Horticola, tecnologiahorticola.com; “We could sequester” from PA Environment Digest, m.facebook.com)

Here comes Rodale Institute with its appeal for world action: “Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change (A Down-to-Earth Solution to Global Warming) [15 pages, published 17 April 2015, Rodale Institute, rodaleinstitute.org]. In the very beginning of that document, Rodale Institute Director Mark Smallwood says:

Regenerative organic agriculture refers to working with nature to utilize photosynthesis and healthy soil microbiology to draw down greenhouse gases.

With the use of cover crops, compost, crop rotation and reduced tillage, we can actually sequester more carbon than is currently emitted, tipping the needle past 100% to reverse climate change.

Instead of “Regenerative Organic Agriculture,” I will continue to use the common term “Regenerative Agriculture” (RA) but likewise exclude bio-fertilizers as concocted in laboratories and include only naturally occurring organic materials.

As far as I know, by itself organic agriculture is regenerative whether you mention or not in combination: “regenerative organic agriculture” or “regenerative agriculture” – initially, organic fertilizers regenerate the health of the soil.

But I prefer to use the term “Regenerative Agriculture” because I have my own RA method that neither calls for concocting a bio-fertilizer nor uses such materials as vegetative mulch or compost. I call mine

Rotavator Organic WEALth – Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health.

This is how that organic wealth is instantly produced:

Run the rotavator over the field with standing weeds (and crop refuse if any) with a shallow cut of 2-3 inches of the surface soil, not deeper. The blades will then cut the soil and vegetative matter simultaneously into pieces and in the same rotation mix them well, then lay them all over the field beautifully.

That modifies the concept of trash farming by Edward H Faulkner who wrote the book Plowman’s Folly in July 1943 saying:

“The fact is that no one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing.”

In my 2^nd ICRISAT book (2009), The Smart Revolution (ICRISAT Partners in Research And Development), this is what I wrote about Faulkner’s method (page 22):

[His] book, Plowman’s Folly (1943), taught me… that one could build a rich soil from a poor one by continuously incorporating crop refuse into the topsoil, along with minimizing cultivation, thereby simulating the natural cycle of death and life of organisms…

To Faulkner’s method I introduced shallow rotavation for minimum tillage simultaneous with the automatic creation of a soil-plant mulch all over the field – an original idea that astoundingly enriched my brother-in-law Enso’s harvests for a great many years!

Yes, I do believe my Rotavator Organic WEALth method can help save the world from chemical agriculture – from climate change!@517

How Old Should You Transplant Rice Seedlings For Higher Yield – An Un/Fortunate Exchange Between Daisy Langenegger And Frank A Hilario

Thursday, 14 July 2022, I saw the Facebook sharing of Daisy Langenegger, and I could not help but write this comment: “the seedlings are already too old! the usual farmer practice, hindi na natuto! 😎” [“They have not learned!”]

Ms Daisy felt it was my personal insult to her and she replied with a tirade of 341 words. (Read a shortened reproduction of it at the end of this essay – no hard feelings!) This educator’s reply was 8 words: “whatever. the seedlings are still too old, period. ”

Ms Daisy’s first words were: “Frank A Hilario Sir, are you mentioning me?” No, I did not “see” her in the picture. Now I see, “hindi na natuto” reads as an insult, sorry. What was I thinking? Not a proper way to treat a lady!

Yes, these are a month old seedlings of our own farm… organically farmed rice seeds and we are doing this intentionally to make them more resistant to snail damage.

Ms Daisy, you’re not alone. One month-old rice seedlings are the practice all over the Philippines; I saw that already almost 60 years ago in the ricefields of my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan. Transplanting rice seedlings that old has nothing to do with organic farming – my father grew his rice chemically, and I was the one who sprayed those pesticides – and I enjoyed spraying those leaves with “2-4D” until they were dripping wet! Innocents beguiled.

Not to say that we have more than 22 years of actual rice farming practice devoted to research on what works best in our particular [ecosystem] with maximum result that’s in line with our sustainability and health goals.

But Ms Daisy, why do farmers who practice System of Rice Intensification (SRI) transplant at 2 weeks old, singly and in equidistance? Month-old seedlings transplanted are too old to grow their maximum number of tillers – while young SRI transplants produce more tillers that produce more panicles that produce more grains.

Was mine “Facebook Fervor”? I’m terribly sorry for thinking only of science and not somebody else’s feelings…….

 

Selections from Daisy Langenegger’s tirade:

Frank A Hilario Sir, are you mentioning me? Yes, these are a month old seedlings of our own farm developed organically farmed rice seeds and we are doing this intentionally to make them more resistant to snail damage.

… We have more than 22 years of actual rice farming practice… As you are very busy downloading farming systems in the [Internet] and styling yourself as ultimate expert in organic agriculture… , we ecological farmers are actually putting into practice what we are learning and… learned… from our 2 generations of…ancestors… and… from … our best teacher – Mother Nature.

I believe you should start farming yourself… Time to try out your own farming theories Mr UPLB BS Agriculture degree holder/ power lobbyist/ influencer so at least you get your license to lecture us. You’re getting too indulgent in your posturings as agricultural expert. Bah, humbug!  

Thanks for your left-handed compliments of me!@517

Maria Ressa & Rappler – Journalism For Development Vs Journalism For Devilment? If You Invoke Freedom Of The Press, Why Cannot The Other Party Invoke Freedom Of The Pressed? Even Of The Oppressed?

Is press freedom being denied Maria Ressa & news media Rappler? Differently, I believe she is simply being denied further exercise of that freedom. There is a big difference. Without realizing it, is Rappler practicing Devilment Journalism, not Development Journalism?

Press Freedom  – I never forgot UP College of Law Dean Ricardo Pascual in the early 1960s in a lecture at UPCA (now UP Los Baños) defining freedom in practical terms: “Freedom is like this – You have the right to swing your arm short of my nose!” Thus: Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press are the same: You watch out if you literally or figuratively swing your arm short of someone’s literal or figurative nose!

So, why are the press people, above all Filipina Nobel Peace Prize 2021 winner Maria Ressa, complaining about Freedom of the Press when in fact they are exercising it – and now they are receiving the results of the exercise of the Freedom of the Pressed, the people trying to defend themselves and/or to stop the press from exercising its freedom that is demonizing them?

Nobel Peace Prize winner or not, you journalist invite trouble when you pursue your brand of journalism that I call “Truth Journalism” – and which cannot even pass

The “Rotary 4-Way Test” –
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Whatever journalists are experiencing when they exercise their Freedom of the Press, without considering the Freedom of the Pressed, are the natural products of the exercise of their freedom.

All the more press freedom as pursued by everyone here and abroad cannot pass what I shall now call the THiNK! Journalism Test:

True? If True, is it
Helpful? If Helpful, is it
Inspiring? If Inspiring, is it
Necessary? If Necessary, is it
Kind?
THiNK!

It is clear to me that if our journalists exercise THiNK! Journalism instead of STINK Journalism, they will gain more followers and society will benefit more from their word-works.

Maria Ressa says of Rappler: “This is a newsroom that’s been under attack for six years and we’ve prepared ourselves.” Freedom of the Press vs Freedom of the Pressed.

The better question is: “Why don’t Maria Ressa and her journalists bravely practice Development Journalisminstead of Devilment Journalism?

I myself have been practicing what I call Communication for Development, since 1976 when I joined the Forest Research Institute (FORI) and later became Founder & Editor In Chief of the FORI monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat that I patterned after the American National Geographic. Copycat, I have been practicing Journalism for Development for 46 years!

My unsolicited advice to Maria Ressa & her Rappler media,
considering the news “Defiant Nobel Laureate Fights For Her Freedom” –
For Heaven’s sake!
Forgo Devilment Journalism.
Go for Development Journalism –
Thus, even without awards, everybody wins!@517

Knorr Of Big Business Unilever Thinks Big Business Regenerative Agriculture – My Tiny Country PH Also Should!

“Knorr’s plan for 50 regenerative agriculture projects is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use by an estimated 30% while improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods.”

That is regenerative agriculture (RA) news by Julian Cirineo (05 Nov 2021, “Unilever Wants To Rethink How Farms Work To Secure Food And Resources For The Future,” Rappler, rappler.com). Note: 50 (not 5 only) RA projects to improve greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and water use by 30% – plus improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods.

Note the last 7 words in the above paragraph.

How can RA improve biodiversity? RA requires that the farmer practices multiculture (a few or many crops grown at the same time in the same place), where monoculture (such as rice-only or corn-only) is the practice – the biodiversity improves crop health because of the ensuing balance of nature, such as some organisms feed on other organisms that would otherwise become pests or cause diseases. RA is your natural pest & disease control agent!

How does RA improve soil health? Immediately upon application of organic fertilizer, the nutrients from the rotting matter transfer to the soil, enriching it.

And how does RA improve livelihoods? Compared to the total cost of chemical agriculture (CA), the cost of farming with RA is much lesser, resulting in much higher farmer income.

This alumnus of UP Los Baños says “biodiversity” is a foreign word to millions of Filipino farmers and the vast majority of agriculturists! Pity.

More Knorr details are given by FoodDrinkEurope (17 Feb 2022, “Unilever: Knorr’s Regenerative Agriculture Projects To Reduce Food’s Climate Impact,” FoodDrinkEurope, fooddrinkeurope.eu):

Unilever’s largest food brand – Knorr announced the launch of 50 new projects (around half of them in Europe) in regenerative agriculture in the next five years focusing on key ingredients (vegetables, grains, spices, herbs), to reduce Knorr’s carbon footprint.

Now, Unilever has learned what we Filipinos have yet to learn: Our crops contribute much to our “carbon footprint.” A carbon footprint, says The Nature Conservancy, is “the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions” (nature.org).

Philippine “modern” agriculture practices are actually as old as 114 years starting with the founding of the UP College of Agriculture (now UP Los Baños, my alma mater) on 05 March 1908: monoculture, persistent flooding of rice, transplanting over-mature seedlings, too many seedlings in haphazard transplanting – what else is old?!

The lower image above shows the many-sided effects of climate change on land used for agriculture, among them “reduced yields” and “increased irrigation.” Instead of persisting on chemical agriculture (CA) as farming groups and individuals do in the Philippines, Knorr is being intelligent about agriculture. Why not us Filipinos?!
(“Climate Change” image from ScienceDirect, sciencedirect.com)

Unfortunately, not even the century-old primary agricultural university in the Philippines, which is UP Los Baños, is teaching how we can change our farming to save our planet – and ourselves! I do not understand why someone in UPLB is not paying attention to climate change & farming systems?!@517

“Farming, The Biggest Job In The World” – BASF. Literally & Figuratively, “That’s Where You’ll Find Me! Not Somewhere Over The Rainbow” – Frank A Hilario

BBM Sir, I have been reading and re-reading your inaugural address, all 2,675 words of it, because I wanted to find out where I would, if I could, fit in – and I found it, unsurprisingly, in Agriculture – I’m a journalist and an alumnus of UP Los Baños, 1965. What special gift do I bring to Agriculture in these Marcosiantimes? I am that one recognized by the UPLB Alumni Association: “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing.” The one and only in 100 years.

To bring good news out of farming, we have to promote good, better, best farming! Via good, better, best agri journalism!
(“Good News” image from Stroud, stroudcenter.org)

Like you have to study to be good at being President, I Ilocano had to study to become what I thought I was good at: Creative Writing – in a foreign language, English.

We don’t have any journalist group active in promoting Agriculture for good beyond the bad – none, zero.

BBM Sir, you are the interim Secretary of Agriculture. “Congrats!” And “Good luck!” You have chosen to work first-things-first. As BASF puts it: “Farming, the biggest job the world.” And you must realize it that it’s true, as President of your country!

What can I offer you – our country – that other journalists or writers can/not offer? My dedication to Agriculture, being a not-so-poor Ilocano farmer’s son from Asingan, Pangasinan, and an alumnus of UP Los Baños, 1965. Singularly, as “Outstanding Alumnus for Creative Writing 2011,” I am the first and the only one so far in the 100+ years of the entire UP System.

Actually, I have already written about what I wish you would do: Form the media group I call “BBM Media” – [see my essay, “BBM Sir, About The Negative Media, If You Want It Done Right, You Have To Do It Yourself! This Ilocano Recommends Setting Up A Media Group Called “Bloggers for Building Minds Media (BBM Media) – THiNK! Journalism For National Development,” 25 June 2022, Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com].

Note the name of my blog: Towards A New Eden – If you have to dream, why not dream huge?! THiNK! Journalism For National Development – that is what is missing in Philippine media, as in other countries. Whether print or digital, media tend to be negative, not positive – to deconstruct, not construct.

Among other things, you said in your inaugural address:

This is a historic moment for us all. I feel it deep within me. You, the people have spoken and it is resounding. When my call for unity started to resonate with you, it did so because it echoed your yearning, mirrored your sentiments, and expressed your hopes for family, for country and for a better future. That is why it reverberated and amplified as it did, to deliver the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy.

As a journalist and agriculturist, I am thinking of helping deliver The Biggest Growth of Agriculture in the history of Philippine democracy!@517

“The Times Call For A More Expansive Notion Of Agriculture” – PH Ex-Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar, Commencement Speaker, Benguet State University

Days towards and at the end of his term as Secretary of Agriculture, I saw the full figure of William Dar on Facebook every now and then – with a happy face!

The above image is from his Facebook page, 12 July 2022, with this caption: “Liam Dar Sicada and myself enjoying the breeze and fresh air at the farm in Lingsat, Sta Maria, Ilocos Sur!” Liam is a granddaughter, and Mr Dar is a native of Santa Maria. Ilocano. As an Ilocano myself, I dare say the ilocanos are a hardy, happy race!

Mr Dar was Secretary of Agriculture from 05 Aug 2019 to 30 June 2022. The happy face is showing 12 days after an intense 29 months of accepting the problematic past, directing the chaotic present with 27 agencies of the Department of Agriculture (DA), and pointing to the promising future of Philippine agriculture. President Ferdinand“BBM” Marcos Jr has taken over the chaos as interim Secretary!

On the morning of Friday, 08 July 2022, Mr Dar was guest speaker in the 97th Commencement Exercises of his alma mater Benguet State University (BSU), which is based at La Trinidad, Benguet. At BSU, graduating with a BS Ag Edu, he had risen to Vice President for Research & Development. As he spoke, he had had behind him, among other leadership achievements, the unequalled distinction of being Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in India, leading ICRISAT from dead last (kulelat) to #1 among 15 international agricultural centers, including IRRI, of the CGIAR.

Speaking virtually, among other things, he said:

Agriculture saved my life. Then it gave me a new one full of intellectual promise and high-level critique.

His parents were poor they could not send him to high school. One of his uncles did – and wrote history. And so did William Dollente Dar, the one who saved ICRISAT from mediocrity!

Pertinently, to the BSU graduates, in the presence of Marita Rana Canapi, Chair of the BSU Board of Regents, and Felipe Salaing Comila, University President, among other things he said:

The times call for a more expansive notion of agriculture, one that is not saddled by the romanticized trope of overworked farmers and fishers.

Before he was appointed Secretary of Agriculture in Aug 2019, already he had his “more expansive notion of agriculture” – he brought to his office what he called “The New Thinking For Agriculture” that was imbued with “8 Paradigms” as sources of strengths for bringing PH Agriculture from Worst Class to World Class.

Mr Dar failed in rescuing PH Agriculture from Unhappy to Happy – why did they expect him to solve within 3 years the multitude of problems with a much-limited budget!?

“I see myself starting over,” Mr Dar told the BSU graduates. And I Frank A Hilario see our dear PH Agriculture having to start over. And I myself persist in proselytizing for Regenerative Agriculture – the soil itself has to regenerate its richness!@517