Unclear, Uncertain, Unhappy – Unless We Resolve Our Share Of Climate Change, You Are Looking At The Future Of The Philippines!

How many millions are there we have of PH farmers? Never mind! Scientist or not, agriculturist or not, if you have not been paying attention, you do notknow that we could solve farmer poverty automatically by solving a much bigger problem: Climate Change!

Here comes the ADB to the rescue!? Ben O De Vera says, “PH Pushes ADB-Supervised Asean Info Exchange On Climate Action: (12 June 2022, Inquirer.net, business.inquirer.net). PH Independence Day – Will the “info exchange” on the climate crisis result in the Asean being able to declare Independence Day from Climate Change? I doubt it very much!

In relation to this, Mr De Vera says Finance Secretary Carlos Dominquez “urged the ADB to spearhead an Asean-wide initiative that would enable member-countries of the regional organization to exchange information and best practices on localized climate adaptation and mitigation programs.”

To “exchange information and best practices” – Mr Secretary, I doubt that any of the Asean countries, including our dear Philippines, (a) has any Climate Change information other than what we can gather digitally; and (b) has any climate adaptation and mitigation programs running to report on.

If I know my logic, not a single country has any scientifically based adaptation and/or mitigation program vis-à-vis Climate Change. Like: It would require that farmers junk their chemical fertilizers and pesticides and instead resort to practices in organic agriculture. Would the chemical companies simply sit & watch?

And I attribute all that to the bullheadedness of the farmers who are mostly males. 2+ years ago, I said, “Since Male Farmers Are Hardheaded, Let's Cultivate The Female!” (see my 12 Jan 2020 essay “Thinking P2B, Youth Agripreneurs, Schools And The Metaphor Of The Factory – SCUs For The New PH Agriculture!” Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com).

I say, since we can no longer trust male farmers, let us cultivate female farmers. And we will have to show them how to do organic farming, which is an entirely new world for male farmers here or abroad.

Mr Dominguez said:

This initiative will hopefully encourage other countries to design and accelerate the implementation of their own climate programs. This sends a very strong signal to the international community that the Philippines is fully committed to deliver on our climate ambitions. We hope to inspire other emerging economies not only with our determination but also with innovative financial systems.

Mr Dominguez, Sir, “fully committed to deliver on our climate ambitions” means:

100% rejecting the agriculture that generates greenhouse gases (GHGs) – and that is Chemical Agriculture (CA), which is practiced with gusto all over these islands – and

100% resorting to Regenerative Agriculture (RA), which rejects all applications of chemical fertilizers and pesticides – the harbingers of GHGs that cause Climate Change.
(“Regenerative Agriculture” image from YouTube, youtube.com)

Mr Dominguez, are you with me in trying to convince Leni Robredo and her Angat Buhay (“Life Uplift,” my translation) ladies to go into Regenerative Agriculture? You must be crazy – but it would be a wise move on your part!@517

“Why Don’t We Change The Sex Of Filipino Farmers From Male To Female?” Asking For A Friend! Let The Women Take Charge Of Farming To Fight Climate Change!

Now, now, why do I want to change the sex of Filipino farmers from Male to Female? Because the male farmers are hardheaded, matigas ang ulo, natangken ti ulo! I’m referring to farmers who insist on applying chemical solutions of all kinds in their farms – they are exacerbating Climate Change by inducing greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Via Ma'am Leniand Angat Buhay, I am appealing to the female species “to get rid of the male species” of farmers and, with such modern sex change, simultaneously change the nature of Philippine farming!

Why? Male Filipino farmers insist, with some blessings of their Godfathers local and international, PhilRice and IRRI, on applying chemical fertilizers and pesticides – because it’s easier, faster, more convenient. Bad Godfather, bad!

Alvin Chandrasays, “In The Philippines, Climate Change And Conflict Conspire Against Rural Women” (26 July 2017, Phys.org, phys.org):

Heavily exposed to increasing incidence of extreme weather events, the Philippines is among one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world.

The major reason for Climate Change? The GHGs that chemical fertilizers and pesticides contribute in their manufacture, distribution and application. The male farmers love all those chemicals – all quick-acting.

Thus, our male farmers are paying much for expensive chemicals, and wreaking havoc on our climate generation with those GHGs, and not minding those, and so everyone of us is paying much for what the male of the species is doing wrong!

As I write Monday, 29 August 2022, I celebrate PH “National Heroes Day,” changing the sex of Filipino farmers from Male to Female, from Hard-Headed to Soft-Spoken. Thus, we have The New Heroes we need – Beautiful!
(“Lady Farmers” from Esquire, esquiremag.ph)

Actually, I have already started campaigning for females to take over PH Agriculture! (See my essay, “ Ma'am Leni & Angat Buhay People, May I Interest You With Farming With A Heart!? Together, We Can Reinvent Organic Farming – Our Objective Is To Defeat Poverty And Climate Change Wonderfully!” 27 Aug 2022, Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com/).

Elsewhere, Mariana Broitman says “We are still far from solving gender inequality (07 March 2021, “Why The World Needs More Female Farmers,” Fair Food, fairfood.org). Ms Mariana sees disarming ladies arming for farming by going digital. She points to farming as a male-dominated sector and she doesn’t like it herself.

Ms Mariana, granting that Gender Equality is a big issue, it is miniscule compared to Climate Change!

Me, I don’t like the male-dominated farming sector myself because the males are making all the wrong decisions in what materials to apply in farming – those chemical fertilizers and pesticides that all those male farmers love to swish around, produce those GHGs! They are unwitting criminals!

When will Males ever learn about Regenerative Agriculture? I don’t think they will ever learn – so, let the Females take over the farms and do the right thing – apply organic fertilizers – to do right to their fields, crops, animals, families, and country!@517

“60 Years Of Continuous Rice Research – What Has IRRI Learned About Rice Farming & Climate Change? Asking For A Friend!” – Frank A Hilario

An agriculturist and a wide reader, I learned about the Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE) of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) maybe 1965, but from then IRRI had not attracted me to learn more about it. So why do I write about it now? Today, I want to relate the LTCCE results with rice communities combatting Climate Change.

From 2 IRRI websites – lte.irri.organd irri.org/long-term-experiments– I have found a total of about 1K (1,000) words as IRRI’s report on those continuous studies, from at least 120 croppings. Whatever IRRI’s justification for so many years of studies with so few words to report? Asking for a friend!

About IRRI’s Long -Term Experiments (LTE), the website says (lte.irri.org):

Inspired by the Green Revolution, IRRI proactively begun looking at the sustainability of intensive rice cropping systems in the 1960s with the long-term vision of determining the interactions among different components of the rice ecosystem.

And what are those interactions (plural) among different components of the rice ecosystem? I cannot find any digital report.

IRRI has always been at the forefront of rice research using more advanced rice varieties, fertilizer management, irrigation approaches, and modern pest control methods in its Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE). It is among the few "classical" long-term experiments, being the world's longest-running triple rice cropping experiment. After almost 60 years, IRRI is still leading in what is now called sustainable agricultural intensification.

IRRI’s LTE Operations Team “manages the long-term experiments;” the LTE Oversight Committee “oversees and provides scientific leadership in the evolution of long-term experiments of IRRI.”

Now then, I ask the LTE Operations Team what justifies the LTE itself? I ask the Oversight Committee: “In these Climate Change times with so much greenhouse gases (GHGs) generated in ricefields dedicated to chemical agriculture – that IRRI ricefields are – what makes chemical agriculture intensification sustainable?”

Today, as an agriculturist and educator (BSA Ag Edu, UPLB '65), and a communicator for village development in the 21^st century (CoViD21), my original concept since 1980 – today I want to challenge IRRI rice scientists to set up 2 side-by-side experimental 1-ha plot each:

hybrid rice X cultivated with IRRI’s best suite of technologies & systems, plus any chemical fertilizer(s);
hybrid rice X cultivated with my original “Organic Rotavator Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health” (Organic Rotavator WEALTh) – zero fertilizer.

With my self-generated rotavator WEALTh, we will compare that which is the better system – Chemical Farming or Organic Farming – in terms of costs & returns: (a) kg grains and (b) production cost/kg grains. IRRI can use whatever kind, number and amount of chemical fertilizers they wish, no problem.

Will IRRI consent to this comparative short-term study, say 1 year? I hope so!

For CoViD21. Whatever, IRRI should learn what it has failed to learn in the last 15 years when Climate Change became the topic of the day and what Chemical Agriculture has been contributing to it in terms of greenhouse gases generated in those ricefields: Yes?@517

Ma'am Leni & Angat Buhay People, May I Interest You With Farming With A Heart!? Together, We Can Reinvent Organic Farming – Our Objective Is To Defeat Poverty And Climate Change Wonderfully!

It’s time that we Filipinos (embracing Filipinas) take it literally and figuratively: farming at heart, farming with a heart – because the males do it grudgingly. To produce more food & at the same time reduce Climate Change. No, they teach this neither in IRRI, nor PhilRice, nor UP Los Baños! 

I am a UP Los Baños alumnus, BSA Ag Edu. (Almost 82; thank God for another year!) Today, I would like to invite Ma'am Leni Robredo and Angat Buhay to engage in a new venture/adventure: Organic Farming, a territory that the males of the species have refused to inhabit! (To check on my character & reputation, please contact Pids Rosario, President of Madecor, Los Baños.)

I call this proposed joint project “Hearts & Farms” to emphasize more the love and less the labor – I assure you my organic farming technique I call “Grass2Cash” emphasizes the fact that even with you ladies with zero experience, the rotavator will convert the weeds into income magically! (With my instructions, my brother-in-law Enso Casasos had done it for decades!)
(“Rotavator” image from Agriline Philippines, agriline.ph)

Our Kiko Pangilinan is included because he is a farmer himself. To start “Hearts & Farms,” Angat Buhay will provide funds for the techno-demo and training of Angat Buhay ladies. (Of funding, we can talk about the details off-Facebook.) With enough funds, I would like to start the training via the Nagkaisa Multi-Purpose Cooperative of which I have been a board member; Nagkaisa is based in Asingan, Pangasinan, my hometown. The first female volunteers will train with the off-the-shelf rotavator.

I emphasize the coop as the entity for working with the rotavator and organic farming. We know that the good coop works for the good of every member.

Why do we want organic farming in our fields? Based in Canada, award-winning Japanese environment activist David Suzuki says (“What You Eat Affects The Climate,” David Suzuki Foundation, davidsuzuki.org):

Studies show that chemical farming uses more energy per unit of production than organic farming. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in soils produce nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas about 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

With organic farming, we want to change the climate for the better!

We can take heart that a few Americans have taken heart with their agriculture. Thus, “Heart & Soil Farm” is found in “the heart of the Red River Valley, North Dakota (Heart & Soil Farm, heartandsoilfarm.com).

At the start, I will train Angat Buhay ladies how to operate the off-the-shelf rotavator with my adjustmentsto bring about the desired results all over the field. I call that output:

Rotavator Organic WEALTh
where WEALTh means “Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health” – your automatic organic mulch that will turn itself into organic fertilizer as needed, beginning Day 1.

As our “Hearts & Farms” project proceeds, we will reinvent the rotavator to produce that Organic WEALTh automatically!@517

I’m Hoping NEDA Head Arsenio Balisacan Sees That As You Bring About Prosperity Of Organic Farming, Automatically You Bring About Poverty Of Climate Change

How can anyone escape poverty? I know of 2 ways. One, more outputs from same inputs. Two, more outputs from less inputs. That’s what I’m saying. That’s what I wanted him to say.

NEDA Secretary General Arsenio M Balisacan spoke at the “43rd National Conference of Employers” organized by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, held at the Marriott Hotel, Pasay City (24 Aug 2022, “Ramping Up Philippine Economic Growth And Inclusion: Near And Medium-Term Prospects Amid The Headwinds,” NEDA, neda.gov.ph):

The Philippines… is today the best-performing economy among major ASEAN members. In 2021 and the first half of 2022, our economy grew the fastest, indicating that the recovery of our high-growth trajectory in the past decade has been quite robust.

That is excellent news!

The Marcos Administration is well aware of our economy’s domestic and external risks. These include factors that could disrupt our food supply, including elevated commodity and input prices aggravated by geopolitical and trade tensions, the spread of infectious animal diseases, inclement weather, and issues in global value chains. The slowdown of major trading partners and the emergence of new public health concerns may also result in weaker demand for goods and services worldwide.

That is excellent warning!

Mr Balisacan says “The 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda, covering both short-term and medium-term issues, sets the tone for the Administration’s priorities, policies, and programs.” Thus: “The… Agenda’s objective is to reinvigorate job creation and poverty reduction by steering the economy back to its high-growth trajectory.”

“Poverty reduction” via “high-growth trajectory” – thinking of Agriculture, I take that further to mean, thinking of what President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr is referring to when he says “poverty reduction” among poor farm families:

High-growth trajectory options in Agriculture:
Option A: Is BBM pushing for more outputs from same inputs? Or,
Option B: Is BBM pushing for more outputs from less outputs?

In Agriculture, which is my field (BSA, UP Los Baños ’'65), I want to support BBM not in pursuing Option A but in pursuing Option B.

The essay I blogged yesterday, “How We Filipinos Can Produce Rotavators Cheaply, Make Our Soils & Farmers Richer Automatically – And Make Climate Change For The Better!” (25 Aug 2022, Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com), recommends 2 things simultaneously being done:

Push for higher farm outputs from almost zero inputs; at the same time,
Push the generation of greenhouse gases to zero while at the same time push the production of healthy farm produce and hefty farm incomes!

Organic Agriculture Prosperity would appear simultaneously with Climate Change Poverty! I propose to create this magic by Science & Technology all over the islands via Agriculture by inventing a revolutionary PH-original rotavator that I call “OrganicMaker” – it cultivates the field and simultaneously creates an organic layer of trash all over. Thus, OrganicMaker enriches the soil – and enriches the farmer. Zero chemical fertilizers, zero greenhouse gases: Poor Climate Change!

Today, my invention awaits an investor – Mr Ramon Uy, your patriotism is my command!@517

How We Filipinos Can Produce Rotavators Cheaply, Make Our Soils & Farmers Richer Automatically – And Make Climate Change For The Better!

Why do Filipino farmers remain poor? Manuel Reyes, research professor at Kansas State University, gives 2 reasons. One, they keep using expensive imported farm machinery. Two, they keep applying expensive chemical fertilizers.

Mr Reyes is an alumnus of UP Los Baños, with BS & MS degrees in Agricultural Engineering; currently, among other things, he is the principal investigator for “Promoting Conservation Agriculture For Vegetable Growers In Cambodia And Nepal” (UCDavis FeedTheFuture, horticulture.ucdavis.edu).

Last month, he was one of the resource persons at the “Philippine Open Systems Agriculture Machinery Manufacturing Workshop” during the Regenerative Agriculture International Conference at May’s Garden in Bacolod City, that ended 06 July (Carla Gomez, 07 July 2022, “Reliance On Imported Machines, Fertilizers Keeping PH Farmers Poor – Expert,” Inquirer.net, newsinfo.inquirer.net).

Ms Carla quotes Mr Reyes as saying during the conference:

We need to focus on agriculture where the money returns to the community. We are dependent on sophisticated foreign machines that our farmers do not need. We need simple machines made by Filipinos for Filipinos.

“Reyes also stressed the need to focus on organic agriculture and the use of locally produced fertilizer. Organic fertilizer produced by local farmers will free the country from having to buy expensive imported fossil fuel-based fertilizer. Organic farming will also enable farmers to diversify into other crops, protect the environment and biodiversity, and boost the health of the people.”

Ms Carla also said:

“Ramon Uy, President of the RU-Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation Inc that hosted the international conference, said the production of local farm machinery will provide jobs and organic fertilizer will be additional sources of income for farmers.”

Now then, Mr Uy, I have an inventor’s concept of a rotavator we can manufacture locally, cheaply. This machine we will invent is such that even as it cultivates the soil, it multiplies the terrestrial value as it creates a layer of organic fertilizer on top of that field automatically.

So: Locally made rotavator, check!
Location-specific automatic organic fertilizer, check!
1 invention, multiple values, check!

Where to invent it? Mr Uy, I’m thinking of UP Los Baños with its Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center at the College of Engineering & Agricultural Technology (CEAT), which is accessible to many people – I am a UPLB alumnus, so there should not be any problem arranging for collaboration with the project. As CEAT is located nearby, we can invite IRRI as well as the PhilRice Los Baños Station as project collaborators. (Message me on Facebook for chat and/or email.)

I will call this dream device of PH farms now “OrganicMaker” – the name indicating that even as you operate the device, simultaneously it cuts the weeds and soil to pieces and mix them all at the same time in the same rotary motion – automatically producing an organic mulch. (And yes, our device will be easy to repair.)

Mr Uy, we will use the actual decades-long experience of my brother-in-law Enso Casasos whom I taught the “automatic organic-maker” use of an off-the-shelf rotavator!@517

I Agriculturist & Journalist Note “10-Year Modernization Plan” For PH Agriculture Via ADB – Thanks, But No Thanks, ADB!

I find it strange that it takes the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to come up with a plan for my country’s agriculture. “Why did ADB not choose the Department of Agriculture (DA) to prepare its own 10-Year Modernization Plan?” Asking for a friend!

I’m reading ANN who says, “ADB Taps SEARCA For 10-Year Agriculture Modernization Plan” (Author Not Named, 17 Aug 2022, BusinessMirror, businessmirror.com.ph). Now, now – there are 3 strange things here that I am especially noting:

(1)   I have very high regards for SEARCA Director Glenn B Gregorio, but “Why did ADB tap SEARCA for a modernization plan for PH Agriculture?” Asking for a friend!

(2)   Why did ADB not ask the DA itself to plan for PH Agriculture?” Asking for another friend!

(3)   If the ADB did that for the Philippines, would/did ADB do that for the other SEARCA 10 member-countries?

According to ANN, the PH industrialization plan has a nine-point track to carry out, as follows (verbatim):

1.     Consolidated production and postharvest facilities (commodity systems-oriented)

2.     Construction of critical infrastructure spatially integrated within agri-fisheries industrial business corridors

3.     Modernized food terminal facilities and similar facilities linked to transport nodes in urban and peri-urban areas.

4.     Smart irrigation and water impoundment or retention systems serving two or more commodities

5.     Other large-scale infrastructure (waste management facilities, fish ports, ICT (Information Communication Technology) including high-speed connectivity

6.     Scaled up mechanization and adoption of other commercial scale-oriented technologies

7.     Large-scale production and distribution of biologically safe technologies including biopackaging

8.     State-of-the art research and development facilities linked to province-led agriculture and fisheries extension systems networks

9.     Development of agri-fishery enterprises and business incubation initiatives linked to large investors.

I particularly note, as an agriculturist and the son of an uneducated farmer, that postharvest facilities are at the top of the list – I know that much farm produce goes to waste in the provinces because farmers do not plan what to do after harvest! (When will they ever learn?)

The Plan looks complete. Thus: We have “smart irrigation and water impoundment or retention systems serving two or more commodities” tells me that irrigation is very much in the agri-industrialization plan. This also tells me that, among other crops, rice being irrigated will continue – which essentially is telling me that PH irrigation systems will not change.

And no, the modernization plan does not mention what PH Agriculture should do to address climate change. “Failing to plan is planning to fail” – Allen Lakein.

In any case, it looks like I am the only blogger, journalist, or writer whatever who is campaigning for PH Agriculture to plan & implement a Regenerative Agriculture to multiply the benefits to farmers (healthy incomes) and consumers (healthy foods), and at the same time complement the regenerative advantages in terms of a healthier climate – reduced greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Organic agriculture (OA) is regenerative. Instead of chemical agriculture, if OA is practiced, would it not reduce to zero (0) GHGs emitted from PH farms? Not asking for a friend!@517

“Synergism & Science With A Global Face – Of Rices & Scientists Amidst The Threat Of Climate Change: Where Is Collaboration When You Need It Most!?” Asking For A Friend!

In the face of Climate Change, where are the geniuses today!? The world needs them right now in The Rice World. Alas, whom we have are Reluctant Geniuses in the Philippines: in the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Science & Technology (DoST), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

Reluctant Geniuses:
Secretary of Agriculture: PH President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr.
Secretary of Science Renato Solidum Jr.
Director General of IRRI Jean Balié.
Executive Director of PhilRice John C De Leon.
Chancellor of UPLB Jose V Camacho Jr.

Reluctant geniuses, they have not moved against climate change! The whole world must be mobilized by “Science with a global face” (borrowing from ICRISAT’s slogan when William Dar was Director General).

If those reluctant geniuses opened their minds and swung their arms in cohesion, we can defeat climate change in these islands via Agriculture.

What is needed is Synergy – which is nothing but Teamwork!
(Images: “Synergism” from Dreamstime, dreamstime.com, “Teamwork” from pexels.com)

After American Al Goreand the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) co-won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for their work on climate change, we should be looking for flashes of genius in the fields of science and rice.

An agriculturist and author, what I have been looking for to blog (and brag) about are eye-opening discoveries by any head that belongs to the PH DA, or DoST, or IRRI, or PhilRice, or UP Los Baños – or all of the above.

Wherever in the world you are, not people-to-people conflicts like the undeclared Ukrainian War, but The #1 Global Public Enemy right now is “Climate Change,” also called “Global Warming.” So, calling all the geniuses to fight this internal/infernal evil!

Well, the geniuses of the DA, DoST, IRRI, PhilRice and UP Los Baños have all been sleeping all these 13 years since Al Gore and the IPCC woke us up with a dire warning: If the world doesn’t change, the climate will change the world direly.

Yet today, we still know next to nothing about how to grow rice without growing climate change and endangering all our lives!

The DA is hardly talking about greenhouse gases (GHGs) generated by chemical agriculture;
The DoST is talking about “Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change [Adaptation] in Health” – but not how to stop climate change;
IRRI is breeding rices that “can withstand climate change” – but not engineering systems and practices that produce zero GHGs;
PhilRice is talking about rices that adapt to drought-prone areas – but not avoiding the generation of GHGs; and
UP Los Baños has its “UPLB Climate Change & Disaster Risk Studies Center” and like everybody else has not studied how to stop the generation of GHGs in the ricefields.

To The Reluctant Geniuses: “People, if we do not stop the GHGs, who will? If not now, when? If not you, who?” Thrice asking for a friend!@517

To Grow Our Crops Up & Grow Down Climate Change, Should It Be “No Till” Or “Maximum Till”? As An Investigative Agriculturist, I Believe It Should Be “Rotavator Manuring”!

Some 56 years ago, in 1966, I discovered for myself in the open shelves of the library of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (now UP Los Baños), “minimum tillage” courtesy of the twin books of American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner –Plowman’s Folly (1943) and Soil Development (1953). That was contrary to my BSA major in Ag Edu learnings, but I came to believe in the wisdom of the minimum disturbance of the soil accompanied by the maximum incorporation of natural organic matter from the weeds and crop refuse via the rotavator.

(“Rotavator in field” image from iStock, istockphoto.com)

But let us listen first to “Farming Without Disturbing Soil” – That is so much against current practices worldwide why should we pay any attention to it!? Here come Sacha Mooney, Hannah Victoria Cooper & Sofie Sjogersten (British?) with that article (27 April 2021, The Conversation, theconversation.com). They are talking about ZeroTillage as intelligent response of farmers to Climate Change:

… Agriculture accounts for a staggering 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Tractors running on diesel release carbon dioxide (CO₂) from their exhausts. Fertilizers spread on fields produce nitrous oxide. And cattle generate methane from microbes in their guts.

In newly published research from farms across the UK, we discovered that an alternative approach called no-till farming, which does not disturb soils and instead involves placing seeds in drilled holes in the earth, could slash greenhouse gas emissions from crop production by nearly a third and increase how much carbon soils can store.

Not bad – zero tillage with direct seeding. No need to cultivate the soil, so you reduce much the cost of farming. But if you have to apply fertilizer, chances are that you will choose the inorganic: I say, “Bad!”

Learning from Mr Faulkner, and improving on his tillage, that year I came up with the idea of a rotavator running on a field with weeds (with crop refuse if any) so that an automatic layer of organic trash is laid out. I now call this original process-cum-product the “Rotavator Organic WEALTh (Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health).” All over the field, the organic matter soon begins to decompose and yield its benefits to the crops: nutrients, moisture, beneficial organisms micro and macro – and zero greenhouse gases! [I first wrote about this original “Organic WEALTh” of mine 27 April 2022 (see my essay, “Can You Grow Sugarcane Solely By Organic Fertilizer? CaneCo In The Antilles Archipelago Shows The World How!” Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com)].

“Organic WEALTh” is not your usual green manuring result because the manner of rotavation is controlled (secret!) Then you can plant your seeds or seedlings hardly disturbing the soil.

The Conversation authors (above) discuss the benefits of no-till farming; my Rotavator Organic WEALTh gives you those benefits, even as it helps multiply healthy foods and healthy incomes!

This time, we cultivate the Weeds as The Desired Species!@517

 

“In This Age Of The Internet & Climate Change, What Can IRRI Learn About Global Agriculture? Asking For A Friend!” – Frank A Hilario

I personally know IRRI has the “Riceworld Museum & Learning Center” because my son Paul Benjamin was once its Curator; years earlier, I had graduated from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in whose campus IRRI is located.

I was UPLB Freshman when IRRI was Rice Freshman in 1960 when it was established. I have been in and out of the campus since then, and as a writer & editor, today I want to know about IRRI’s scientific contributions to the rice world in the field of climate change.

Today, IRRI tells me in its website (IRRI, irri.org):

Climate Change & Sustainability

Rice production is both a victim and a contributor to climate change…

At IRRI we develop and adapt climate-responsive solutions, working with extension agents, national research institutions, and governments across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, to promote sustainable rice-based food systems.

First, we help rice farmers adjust to climate change. By leveraging the genetic diversity of the Rice Genebank, the world’s largest repository of rice varieties, we breed rice varieties that can survive unforeseen climate shocks and thrive in marginal environments. We also boost the mitigation of future climate crises by developing new cultivation practices and technologies that minimize greenhouse gas emissions, enhance input-use efficiency, and predict and respond to future climate threats. Finally, we work with governments to provide an evidence base so they can make informed decisions and set policies to meet their development agenda and their SDG contributions. (End of IRRI info sharing in this regard)

IRRI works institutionally “to promote sustainable rice-based food systems” – and thus, it works to breed rice varieties that can “survive unforeseen climate shocks and thrive in marginal environments.”

Good!

“[IRRI also boosts] the mitigation of future climate crises by developing new cultivation practices and technologies that minimize greenhouse gas emissions, enhance input-use efficiency, and predict and respond to future climate threats.”

Also Good!

But Not Good: IRRI mentions its research works on generating “cultivation practices and technologies that minimize greenhouse gas emissions” – but it omits mention of how many/much greenhouse gases (GHGs) are generated by rice chemical agriculture. Why? IRRI cannot mention what it does not work on, is why. And why not? Good question!

IRRI is 62 years old and should have realized at least in 2007 when Al Gore began pounding on our heads the threat of global warming brought about by climate change brought about by, among others, chemical agriculture.

IRRI’s work is “to promote sustainable rice-based food systems” – I say that that is quite inadequate! It should be “to promote regenerative rice-based food systems,” such as via organic farming. However, IRRI hardly talks about organic agriculture, and I found one reason why: “Study: Modern Rice Varieties May Not Be Suited For Organic Agriculture” (Rice Today, ricetoday.irri.org/).

If IRRI wants to be relevant in these climate-change times, it must breed rices suited to put a stop to GHGs from chemically enriched ricefields. Otherwise, IRRI’s research is all gas!@517

Why Does Your SMART Agriculture Ignore Climate Change? Consider My SHARP Agriculture – The Difference Is The Use Of Intelligence!

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being touted all over the world as the Savior of Mankind, specially in Agriculture. Differently, I surmise that saying, “AI will save the world” is actually saying, “Man will save himself from his own iniquities!”

SMART or SHARP Agriculture? I just blogged “’Smart Farming’ Is What Indian Consultant Deepak Talwar Advises, That We Filipinos Adopt 5G Technologies To Improve Our Agriculture” (19 Aug 2022, Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com/), where Mr Talwar says PH Agriculture can “create value for business owners and customers alike” using 5G.
(“Smart farming” image from Unsplash, unsplash.com)

Oh? Valtra.com says (“Smart Farming: A Brief History,” valtra.com):

Some say Smart Farming can trace its roots to the late 1990s when tractors first started using GPS [Global Positioning System] to map out farms and cropping maps.

Precision is equated to Intelligence. Scholarly Community Encyclopedia says (encyclopedia.pub/):

The “smart” concept applied in farming includes the employment of new digital and high-tech technology and the creation of a localized community in which these technologies have a meaning.

What if my agriculture is not high tech? Nonetheless, it must serve the poor. In “The Journey Of ICRISAT & William Dar. The End Is Another Beginning” (14 Dec 2014, iCRiSAT Watch, icrisatwatch.blogspot.com); I wrote:

"By the end of December 2014," Director General of ICRISAT William Dollente Dar says… (What ICRISAT Thinks, 12 December 2014, witblog.icrisat.org), "I will be completing my 15-year journey into the limitless and uncommon opportunities for an inclusive and sustainable development in the drylands – tackling the challenges of poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation, and fulfilling a dedication to serve poor rural communities of the world."

What about Big Data? Corinne Bernstein says (“Smart Farming,” TechTarget, techtarget.com):

Smart farming is a management concept focused on providing the agricultural industry with the infrastructure to leverage advanced technology – including big data, the cloud and the internet of things (IoT) – for tracking, monitoring, automating and analyzing operations. Also known as precision agriculture, smart farming is software-managed and sensor-monitored. Smart farming is growing in importance due to the combination of the expanding global population, the increasing demand for higher crop yield, the need to use natural resources efficiently, the rising use and sophistication of information and communication technology and the increasing need for climate-smart agriculture.

All that is what they call “Smart Agriculture.” I prefer my version, “SHARP Agriculture.”

Differently, SHARP Agriculture neither rejects nordepends on automation such as the internet of things (IoT) to carry out activities and functions.

Scientific – shown to be workable with the critical thinking of man while it obeys the natural laws.

Holistic – all things considered, causes and effects, plural.

Adaptable – not rigid, as long as it obeys the laws of Mother Nature.

Regenerative – always returns to Mother Nature what it borrows from her, the next time around. And zero greenhouse gases generated!

Pleasant to Peasants – must release the poor from poverty as they plant and culture for their families’ presents and futures.

I prefer to be SHARP than SMART!@517

“Smart Farming” Is What Indian Consultant Deepak Talwar Advises, That We Filipinos Adopt 5G Technologies To Improve Our Agriculture

I'm a very wide reader, a Filipino and an 82-year old agriculturist greatly interested in communication for village development in the 21^st century (CoViD21) – but today is the first time I encounter 5G being advised for adoption in agriculture in countries like our dear Philippines. Now, what is 5G?

Ericsson says “5G is the fifth generation of cellular networks” and is “up to 100 times faster than 4G” (ericsson.com). Well, we have 4G and 5G Internet connections right now near Metro Manila – but I don’t see “100 times faster.” (As to another kind of speed, my CoViD21 is faster than anybody’s: I blog almost every single day! Check out my Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.comwhere I now have almost 1K essays in 1K days.)

Now, now, Mr Talwar, where is “Climate Change” in your 5G advice? Where is “Smart Farming” if all you are avoiding is manual labor and ignoring the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that chemical agriculture (CA) keeps producing whose effects redound to the detriment of humans & the rest of the world?

Science must serve the people, and not the other way around!

Mr Talwar implies for the Philippines (“Smart Farming As A Service 5G In PH Agriculture: A Transformation In Waiting,” 12 Aug 2022, Inquirer.net, business.inquirer.net):
(5G image from Farming Paradise, farmingparadise.com)

… a slow-growth industry ravaged by natural disasters, urbanization and COVID-19 [can be transformed] it into a profitable, growing sector that creates value for business owners and customers alike.

Mr Talwar is saying we Filipinos must ration out irrigation water and schedule pesticide applications. Now, now, Mr Talwar, you are assuming that pesticide applications are necessary!.

No Sir, you are assuming, and therefore approving, the use of pesticides to combat pests and diseases of crops. That is chemical agriculture, and that is not smart farming at all!

Your 5G technologies cannot fight pests and diseases without pesticides. The farmer will have to resort to organic agriculture to defeat the pests and diseases – and thus reduce the generation of GHGs in agriculture. Mr Talwar, your 5Gs promote artificial intelligence but not natural intelligence, whereby the farmer allows the forces of nature to level things up – via organic agriculture.

Your 5G agriculture, Mr Talwar, allows “agribusinesses to make the quantum leap to smart farming systems designed to increase farming precision” – but not necessarily to increase farming net income, and necessarily to increase GHGs generated in farms. High-tech agriculture may translate to high income but not high ecological intelligence.

No matter what you claim, Mr Talwar with your 5G – edge computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), robotics – you minimize wastes & costs and maximize yields – but AI & IoT & all we are still biting the hand that feeds us! You squeeze Mother Nature dry with your robotics – and literally leave her high and dry!

I have no objections to any science if it serves the people – until then, Mr Talwar, your Smart Farming is neither for the farmers nor consumers – nor the Planet!@517

“For The Farmers, My Dreams Are Simple” – President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr: “Sustainable Livelihood, Food Security And Affordable Food For All”

BBM Sir, I admire your 3-layered optimism for Agriculture as the new President for our dear Philippines. Azer Parrocha says, “Marcos Bares 3 ‘Dreams’ For PH Agriculture Sector” (15 August 2022, PNA, pna.gov.ph) – “sustainable livelihoods for farmers, food security, and affordable food for all. And zero hunger.”

This is BBM’s original Pinoy statement in his vlog:

Simple lang naman ang pangarap ko. [Una], kailangan magkaroon ng kumikitang kabuhayan ang ating mga magsasaka ng sa ganon ay maengganyo ang susunod pang mga henerasyon na ipagpatuloy ang industriyang Ito. Pangalawa, magkaroon tayo ng seguridad sa pagkain na 'di umaasa hanggat maaari sa ibang bansa. At pangatlo, ang magkaroon ng murang pagkain para sa lahat. Ang pangarap ko ay wala nang gutóm na Pilipino.

(“My dream is really simple: First: Our farmers would have profitable livelihoods so that the next generation will continue to pursue this industry. Second: We would possess food security and as much as possible not depend on other countries. And third, that we would have food reasonably priced for all. My dream is for zero Filipinos to go hungry.” –  my translation)

Actually, BBM Sir, your presidential dream is not simple. Where will your Agriculture Head find the magic formula to make your 3 wishes come true!?

As an agriculturist (UP Los Baños '65) and full-blooded Ilocano (FBI), I would like to help you BBM Sir consider how “profitable livelihoods” can come about for our farmers. Like you have to remove bad habits of farming. Example: In the upper image, farmers are planting too-old seedlings – and throwing and injuring them! We now have transplanters (lower image from techandlifestylejournal.com/).

And the best way to reduce the cost of farming is to decrease to 0% chemical fertilizers and increase to 100% organic fertilizers. Remember, Sir, chemical fertilizers generate greenhouse gases (GHGs) that generate climate change.

Yes Sir, we can produce our own organic fertilizers. I also have my own rotavator formula, which has been proven with my brother-in-law Enso Casasos’ experience of 40 years.

This Ilocano has an inexpensive method of producing organic fertilizer automatically via the rotavator – I challenge you BBM Sir to sponsor techno demos of this, “My Rotavator Challenge” – at least 1 demo in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, and 1 demo in Batac, Ilocos Norte, your father’s hometown.

Nothing sophisticated, BBM Sir – priorly, we will modify the rotavator mechanically to run automatically and work its magic, cutting both weeds and soil to pieces and mixing them in each complete rotation of the blades. This is what I call Rotavator Organic WEALTh (Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health).

To see is to believe! BBM Sir, WEALTh will help bring richness to soils without importing fertilizers, grow healthy crops without spraying chemical pesticides, harvest healthy farm produce, earn much and honestly from farm labors – at the same time produce zero GHGs and help reduce climate change!

Our farmers out of poverty, Filipinos food-secure with healthy and affordable foods, and kinder climate change – Heaven on Earth!@517

Ma'am Leni, Angat Buhay, Remembering Adam & Eve: Here Is How The Females Can Show The Males How To Take Very Good Care Of Their Garden Of Eden!

The males of the species have wreaked havoc on this, our Garden of Eden that the Angel called “Climate Change” is telling us: “Get out! Get out!”

(“Garden of Eden” image from Adobe Stock, stock.adobe.com)

We have poisoned the soils of the Garden of Eden so much that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are generated & contribute much to climate change – and since we don’t want to stop poisoning the Garden, the Angel of Climate Change is telling us: “Out! Out!”

The intelligent response is shown in the lower image above: “We will not move on. We will MOVE FORWARD. Angat Buhay.” In this case, the Females have been thinking much better than the Males!
(“We will move” image from Facebook, facebook.com, “Leni” image frm Facebook, facebook.com)

We cannot live outside of the Garden of Eden – we have to learn to live in it. And so we have to change our modern agriculture to “Garden-of-Eden Agriculture” – we have to move forward and let the natural forces work!

I must blame the males, all those Adams, for the new sins in the Garden of Eden. And since the males have not been listening to me in the last one thousand days since August 2019:

Today, I am calling the attention of the females of the species.

Today, I have been reading that the women of Ifugao are the ones doing the weeding. And before and after weeding? The men have taught the women to apply chemicalfertilizer. This is the un/hidden Enemy of Agriculture today!

So what I want to do is teach the females everywhere how to easily do the weeding and at the same time produce for their farms and gardens organicfertilizer! Organic fertilizer is healthy for the crops that produce healthy foods – and zero GHGs.

I am going to teach the females how to run the rotavator or rototiller so that it creates automatically a layer of cut & mixed soils and weeds and lays all that combined material evenly all over the field!

That of course is unbelievable if you have not seen it. That is why I am inviting the camp of Ma'am Leni to finance quite a few actual field demonstrations in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao – and record them digitally for viewing and hearing anywhere in the Philippines anytime.

I have been trying to sell the idea of organic farming to President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jrbut I have not been successful. In any case, “Yes, I voted for Leni Robredo” (check out my 23 July 2022 essay, “’PH Activists Have Not Learned To Be Intelligent About Their Protests In The Last 100 Years!’ – Frank A Hilario, Blogger, Non-Conformist,” Towards A New Eden, towardsaneweden.blogspot.com/). I am now appealing to Ma'am Leni to help finance such field demonstrations – to help create a new Garden of Eden!

And yes. This time, it is Eve who will save the Garden of Eden from ruining itself once more!@517