SEARCA In Organic Fertilizer Research To Wipe Out PH’s 90% Garlic Import

November 2020 is the 6^th Organic Agriculture Month c/o the National Organic Agriculture Program of the Department of Agriculture, DA. Here is a ground-breaking Asean study on organic fertilizer applied to PH garlic.

Garlic has global economic promise. “The garlic market is virtually empty[1],” says Fresh Plaza: the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Italy etc. Thus, I say, export of garlic has a nice smell to it!  (garlic bags[2] image above from Northboundasia.com)

Unhappily, the Philippines today produces only 10% and imports 90% of its garlic needs. Towards 100% local production, a research study was conducted with participation of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture, SEARCA (ANN, 05 November 2020, “Innovation Needed To Boost The Country’s Garlic Production[3], Manila Bulletin). The study was on “Enhancing Garlic Production In Ilocos” and conducted by Wilhelmina Castañeda, Sylvia Igarta, and Jay-R Baligat, all of DA-Ilocos[4], with study areas in Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan (Leander C Domingo, 01 October 2020, “DA-Ilocos Project Aims To Boost Garlic Industry[5],” Manila Times). Results showed a huge average increase in net income from organic fertilizer, P104,800/ha, more than twice higher than the net from gibberellic acid as growth enhancer, P48,360/ha.

Ilocos Region was chosen for the sites of the study because it is PH’s largest garlic-producing region, contributing more than 65% of the total for the country. More to the point, the Ilocos has the “agro-climatic suitability,” according to the report. That is to say, the soils have the natural friability and fertility to begin with, and the climate is neither too hot nor too wet for onions.

SEARCA is “pushing for technology-based innovations in garlic production” to increase yields in the country as it pursues self-sufficiency, and on top of that, export. Self-sufficiency in garlic means you produce all the bulbs you need; self-reliance in food means you produce more than enough in other foods that you can buy what you do not produce economically, such as garlic. The researchers chose self-sufficiency.

SEARCA, through its Emerging for Innovation for Growth Department, is promoting technology-based innovation among local enterprises such as in garlic. Growth toward self-sufficiency. The study was made in partnership with the DA and Bureau of Agricultural Research.

The SEARCA report explained why the organic fertilizer worked so well: “A balanced blend of organic fertilizer provides nutrient sources for important beneficial microorganisms and earthworms living in the soil.” That is to say, the organic fertilizer helped the soil microorganisms (e.g., bacteria) and macroorganisms (e.g., earthworms) thrive, as they contributed further enrichment of the soil through their wastes and, later, through their decayed bodies. (organic fertilizer image[6] from GrowOrganic at YouTube)

With the positive results of the study, the Department of Agriculture in Region 1 expects to inspire national garlic production to supply 100% the needs of the Philippines. And beyond PH? Garlic for export!

Now then, with that good news on organic fertilizer, the 6^th Organic Agriculture Month is very much worth celebrating. Thank you, SEARCA!@517

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[1]https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9210965/overview-global-garlic-market/

[2]https://northboundasia.com/ilocos-norte-garlic-production-exceeds-local-demand/

[3]https://mb.com.ph/2020/11/05/innovation-needed-to-boost-the-countrys-garlic-production/#:~:text=Southeast%20Asian%20Regional%20Center%20for,for%20this%20particular%20farm%20commodity.

[4]https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/10/01/business/agribusiness/da-ilocos-project-aims-to-boost-garlic-industry/774409/

[5]https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/10/01/business/agribusiness/da-ilocos-project-aims-to-boost-garlic-industry/774409/

[6]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ3_8HV3xzo&list=UUcKbcTNOr-wl_k4IeRIeqbg&index=214

Fact-Checking – “Small Farms Leading The Way Toward Sustainable Farming.” What About Sustainable Farmers?

Fact-checking is now a battle cry in local and international media, especially applied on political statements or claims made in public anywhere in the world.

Legitimate or not, not everyone can be a good fact-checker. I am lucky, as I just found out that I am an excellent fact-checker, because I have a very good background on the subject matter covered in the article: “Small Farms Are Leading The Way Toward Sustainable Agriculture[1]” written by ANN (Author Not Named) that I saw being shared on Facebook today, 04 October 2020 (main image above). To that statement made in the title, my instant reply was, “I don’t think so.” (Sustainable Lives image[2] from Newquayorchard.co.uk)

Fact-check:

(1)  Age of article: The article is more than 1 year old, published 18 April 2019. No problem with being up-to-date, hopefully.

(2)  Credibility of publication: The article appears in Agriculture Monthly, an online magazine edited by Filipino Magsaysay awardee for journalism Zac Sarian. A-OK that!

(3)  Truth of claim as stated in the title itself: I have to verify this as to (a) meaning – what the author ANN meant by “sustainable agriculture” and (b) extent of content to prove the truth in the title: “Small Farms Leading The Way Toward Sustainable Agriculture.”

Now then, the first thing I notice is that the article is very, very short – only 218 words including title! In fact, this entry is written above the first paragraph: “1 MIN READ.” Single-spaced, including title, all that text can be accommodated in only 1 page! The length immediately tells me that the claim in the title is inadequately substantiated by the content – which is not a proper journalistic practice.

An example of a sustainable practice… is planting rice plants in nutrient-rich nurseries to save around 40 percent of water used compared to traditional production methods.

Okay, that’s sustainable.

Other small farms adapted a radical redesign that involves techniques and practices such as those that minimize the disruption of the soil’s structure and biodiversity.

I agree, minimum tillage is sustainable. And so is conserving the biodiversity in the farm.

But sustainability of farming must lead to sustainability of decent lives of farmers & their families! Here, the current National Practice of Agriculture fails.

Today, millions of Filipino farmers live under the threshold of poverty. Because those millions of rice growers have:

(1)   problems with capital – e.g., borrowing from usurers;

(2)   problems with crops – e.g., insisting on monocultures;

(3)   problems with costs – e.g., not being business-minded;

(4)   problems with technologies and systems – e.g., overcrowding rice transplants;

(5)   problems with chemical inputs – e.g., applying wastefully;

(6)   problems with postharvest handling of farm produce – e.g., losing grains in sun-drying;

(7)   problems with marketing – e.g., allowing merchants to dictate the price of their produce!

The farming of most Filipino farmers is notsustainable. And that is why they have to follow “The New Thinking for Agriculture” as expounded by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar and contribute to a national effort of inclusive development – in which they are included!@517

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[1]https://www.agriculture.com.ph/2019/04/18/small-farms-are-leading-the-way-toward-sustainable-agriculture/?fbclid=IwAR1AHidcZS79R7LfAalIXFeAE-MhOxp_agHwyAmJbuA4mcckCgtVwu3FmFM

[2]https://newquayorchard.co.uk/sustainablelives/

For God & Country – Old Age, Senior Moments & Today’s Digital Lessons

This is An Open Letter From Frank A Hilario To Linggoy Alcuaz. From 80 To 72 Yo, On Writing For God & Country.

This is all about our enjoying our writing while enjoining our countrymen to behave wisely:
in my case employing modern knowledge in the fight for national development via agriculture;
in your case, employing classic freedom in the fight for deep-seated democracy.
(image of cross-heart[1] from Pinterest)

Ah but Linggoy, you cannot have one without the other!

I write in pursuit of “The New Thinking for Agriculture” as propounded by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, and you write in pursuit of true & honest democracy.

Frank A Hilario:
I am an agriculturist, UPLB ’65. In agriculture, I see media old, as has been outed since 45 years ago, when I started to found, one after the other, the 3 publications of the Forest Research Institute from 1975 to 1981: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly popular color magazine Habitat.

Today, retired, I’m an indefatigable blogger in the field of agriculture, with at least 4,000 long essays of 1,000 words plus each, written since 2005. My latest blog where you are reading this is Brave New World PH– and I can see that you subscribe to it even if you didn’t know it exists!

Linggoy Alcuaz:
You are an indefatigable leader and voice in the field of popular democracy. I see your problem is less your audience appreciating you and more the process of your writing!

I am 80. I want to be remembered, with my 7-year old Lenovo laptop, as a modern media fighter for the emancipation of Filipino farming families from poverty into prosperity – and staying there forever and ever!

You are 72. You are “a staunch supporter of Democracy and Clean, Free and Honest Elections.”

Know what? You are not enjoying your writing, I can see that, even if you have a new Lenovo laptop. Now, I will assume that for writing you are using Word 2019; mine is Word 2016 – but you can learn from the older one!

You write:

Since I resumed my YTT column in OpinYon’s Flagship Edition on 7-13 September 2020, I have without exception exceeded my quota of 700 words.

You don’t know when to stop writing! Your word processor has a word counter at the bottom left – you never look at it. You should be the one cutting into continueds, or cutting out text, not somebody else, so that your mind remembers the part to be continued!

Linggoy, either you are forgetful, or you don’t know how to take good care of your docs. It’s not too late. If you intend to be writing columns well into your 80s and even 90s, as I do writing essays, you have to keep track of everything.

Now then, may I offer you an early Christmas gift? Email me your drafts and I will edit into continueds gratis et amore! Beginning now. (frankahilario@gmail.com)

Yes, our writings are to be continueds – For God & Country!@517

 

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[1]https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/361343570075961781/

Teenage Schoolers – How Abot TALA Can Become Abot KAYA, Can Afford!

This is for teenagers 12-18 years old who want an alternative school.

Last month, Jojo G Silvestre wrote “Joei Villarama: Advocate Of Self-Directed Learning” (18 October 2020, Tribune.net.ph[1]).

Is Self-Directed Learning right for your teenager?

This is a subject close to my heart. Know that I am a high school teacher, UP '65, Civil Service Professional. So, while Miss Joei thinks of those teenagers learning outside regular schools, I am thinking of teenagers learning inside higher educational institutions, HEIs, and state colleges & universities, SCUs. While retired, even at 80, I would love to teach those HEIs and SCUs teenagers to teach themselves!

Mr Silvestre writes:

Joei Villarama… is founder of Abot Tala, a co-learning hub for young people, ages 12 to 18, who are better suited to discover for themselves their gifts and talents, set goals and dream freely with the guidance of mentors.

“Abot Tala” in Tagalog (Filipino) can mean “Reach For The Star.” It is Your Star – so, learn to reach it yourself!

Abot Tala does not yet have a school compound of its own, and Miss Joei has been moving Heaven and Earth to raise money to establish that dream School of the Heart (my term). One way is donations. Mr Silvestre writes:

Today, Sunday, is the last day for bidding for 12 art pieces being auctioned online by Leon Gallery for the benefit of Abot Tala. Featured artists are Tessa Alindogan, Monica E Castillo, Arlene Villaver, Rellie Liwag and Jane.

Art for Heart.

Abot Tala is an alternative to school. Miss Joei says:

Abot Tala offers them (young people) the freedom to design and pursue their unique education path with the guidance of mentors who are their cheerleaders.

I note: “Abot Tala offers them the freedom to design and pursue their unique education path” – that is somewhat vague to parents and not attractive enough to teenagers. Today, I think I know one approach to convincing teenagers along with their parents to enthusiastically “enroll” at Abot Tala:

Give each teenager unlimited access to the Internet!

Then I’m sure teenagers and their parents will get excited about being part of Abot Tala. I imagine donations coming in as cash, computers and access to facilities. Financing the school rises from Purgatory to Heaven. Abot Tala becomes Abot Kaya, Can Afford!

Unlimited Internet means unlimited searches for each child to discover universes previously unknown, and along the way discover one’s hidden talent in athletics, dance, math, music, painting whatever.

From “Tala,” I’ll call this Internet approach
“Discover Your Star.”

Your star is your talent. Not only learners in independent schools like Abot Tala can discover their stars – also high schools in higher educational institutions, and state colleges & universities.

Let each schooler feel like a scholar searching one’s genius among the geniuses featured in the Internet, not the least but not limited to Wikipedia. Then, sooner or later, that teenager’s heart’s desire will appear as a bright Star.

The Star discovered can then be the guide for college studies – or pursuit of entrepreneurship.@517

 

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[1]https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2020/10/18/joei-villarama-advocate-of-self-directed-learning/?fbclid=IwAR2afOD5gpC0eCCpQT0OTFmq15_pqBhBsZCTWHntzg6sZioYiRcApncj3Vo

PH National Food Policy – Toward Satisfying Hunger For Food. What About Hunger For Prosperity?

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, being Chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger that handcrafted PH’s National Food Policy, NFP, which you launched 16 October 2020 at the Bureau of Soils & Water Management, BSWM, headquarters in Quezon City (18 October 2020, ANN, “Phl Launches Nat’l Food Policy, Capping World Food Day Celeb,” DA-AFID). And thank you for recognizing that “hunger is a multi-dimensional problem caused by a combination of inter-related factors, and thus collective action of everyone is crucial in addressing it effectively.”

(Physical hunger for food is a given. But not physiological and psychological hunger for prosperity, of which I am equally interested in promoting by media, if not more so. I will note here that I began blogging for PH farmer prosperity earnestly about 15 years ago – and thankfully, we now have Secretary of Agriculture William Dar and his “The New Thinking for Agriculture” with “8 Paradigms” as contributing to its enrichment.)

According to ANN:

The NFP has outlined six key result areas, namely: 1) review and rationalize existing policies, rules, and regulations related to zero hunger; 2) ensure available and affordable food; 3) secure nutrition adequacy; 4) secure food accessibility and safety; 5) ensure sustainable food systems, food resiliency, and stability; and 6) ensure information, education, awareness, and people participation. (image of prosperity food plate[1] from Nytimes.com)

I note that the NFP goes after both food quantity and quality, Q&Q, sufficient and nutritious. The food we eat is not only for our physiology but also for our psychology. For the benefit of everyone, our food systems must be sustainable.

Now, the #6 key result area is the one that attracts my attention greatly: “ensure information, education, awareness, and people participation.” And so:

Information –
I can see that we need all the Q&Q helps that the public and private media can extend to carry out the NFP in all its complexity.

Education –
The public and private educational institutions are also called upon to help cultivate the NFP. The adults must be taught, the children too.

Awareness –
Naturally, I look at the mass media to cultivate in the public mind the consciousness that we all need to contribute what we can for the fulfilment of the NFP.

People Participation–
This must be real. Since Martial Law, some leaders and followers have never stopped complaining that the poor farmers have always been neglected by the State. While that may be true, the poor farmers have not done what they could to:

Improve their farming in order to improve their bottom line and thereby improve their living. If they don’t know how, they have not been asking!

So I will add to the list of the Path to Prosperity, this one:

Via Extension –
Not simply Training, which is for those who have time to spare. By Extension, the farmers learn throughout their farming, from seed to sack, from planting to marketing. how to decrease costs and increase returns, so they can by themselves fill up their Plates of Prosperity!@517

 

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[1]https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/dining/recipes-for-happiness-and-prosperity.html

Maria Ressa’s Investigative Journalism Versus Frank H's Investing Journalism

Let me now investigate if multi-awardee Maria Ressa may be the Brave New Girl that I conceived expressed initially in the name of this 2020 blog, “A Brave New World PH[1]” (07 August 2020, blogspot.com)? Above, see superimposed image below right.

I, the University of the Philippines’ historically the one and only “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing” (awarded 2011), a self-styled journalist investing in village development since 45 years ago – printfrom 1975 and blog since 2005 – do I envy Maria Ressa for the world’s honors she has earned, such as TIME 100, “list of the world’s most influential people in 2019” and, in March 2020, the TIME’s list of the most influential women of the century[2]”? (Camille Elemia, 21 October 2020, “Maria Ressa In Prince Harry Interview: 'Duterte, Zuckerberg On Same Page'”).

No. I Frank A Hilario at 80 envy not Maria Ressa at 57, because the journalistic honors she has received, well-deserved as they are, are for the glory of her people (Rappler), not the glory of her people (Filipinos).

No. She writes Anti while I write Pro.

Anti: Maria Ressa writes against much of Rodrigo Duterte’s actuations and accomplishments as President of the Philippines; and against Mark Zuckerberg for his Facebook’s countermoves against what it perceives as public bad, not public good.

Pro: I write for the Filipino farmers, for their liberation from poverty into leading happy & sustainable village lives. For that, I subscribe 100% to the “The New Thinking for Agriculture” being propagated by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar for the prosperity of all farmers.

It is not that Maria Ressa does not care about her people, but she cares much more about being Anti than Pro!     

As a creative writer, I started as an Anti. In 1960 or 1961, when I was Sophomore at the University of the Philippines’ College of Agriculture, now UP Los Baños, the US Peace Corps Volunteers came to Los Baños for language training: Bisaya, Ilocano, Tagalog, whatever. I wrote in the student paper Aggie Green & Gold that we did not need the Volunteers at all! Even older than Maria Ressa, my thinking has been fiercely independent for 60 years.

Miss Camille says (cited above):

In a #Time100Talks discussion, Rappler’s Maria Ressa said Filipinos are fighting impunity in tech platforms amid the weaponization of online spaces against critics of the Duterte administration.

I am not worried about such weaponization because Facebook is only my steppingstone, not my platform.

The US Declaration of Independence on 04 July 1776 starts with these words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident,
That all men are created equal
That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights
That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Now then, let all men be informed that:

Maria Ressa’s pursuit of happiness is to keep on writing about the public bad c/o President Rodrigo Duterte?

Frank A Hilario’s pursuit of happiness is to keep on writing about the public good c/o Secretary of Agriculture William Dar!@517

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[1]https://bravenewworldph.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-brave-new-world-ph.html

[2]https://www.rappler.com/world/global-affairs/time-100-talks-maria-ressa-prince-harry-duterte-zuckerberg-same-page?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3uJ-ioTLaLyscZF3hyFoJQzGiXFLDH5MdpWem3odYcBk6_vhuwIedqFaw

PH Media & DA Officials – Who Are The Suplados?

James De Sousa says, 
“One of the media’s primary roles 
in our world is to inform[1].” 
(above images[2] from Medium.com)

Last year, after William Dar was appointed Secretary of Agriculture by President Rodrigo Duterte, if I remember right,, Mr Dar and his team at the Department of Agriculture, DA, visited the media offices of Inquirer and Manila Times, requesting for active media support for inclusive aggie development in the Philippines.

Good reception. Pictures taken of the media visits, reports written, published online.

The End.

No dedicated news. No part-by-part media reports of what the DA is up under the new leadership. No serious reporting about “The New Thinking for Agriculture” preached by Mr Dar with its “8 Paradigms.” No media-initiated interviews with any of the new officials of the DA, not even with Mr Dar.

With all the lockdowns and Covid-19 scares, we cannot expect the media people out in the countryside going after stories:

Still, the media must inform the people.
So, why not inform with Science for Development?
“Science with a human face” – ICRISAT.

Those 5 words in quotes above made up the slogan the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, adopted with Mr Dar as Director General 2000-2014. It was for ICRISAT based in India; today I mean it for PH media: PH media informing the Filipinos about agricultural knowledge with a human face.

If the media people cannot go out, they can interview Mr Dar for instance about:

Where is Ani & Kita coming from
and where is it going?

Question: Why have the media not been doing something like that?!

Because media people have not been taught in any schools of journalism about inclusive development– where the media are included in helping science move from lab to field, theory to practice.

Just because they are not directly involved, media do not see that media are not exempt from agriculture and what is happening out there, lockdown or not.

And yet all the media gleefullypick up the story when a farmer leader or group speaks out against something or other in agriculture! Such as low buying price of rice – and blaming it on government.

PH media do not have to know much about agriculture to be able to write on it intelligently and productively. They can always ask questions, including silly ones – the interviewee won’t laugh.

If PH media cannot visit the cities, towns and villages in the Philippines near or far from Metro Manila, they can always interview DA officials who are or who have been there. Easy – digitally!

It is not that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar is not approachable – I know him to be not suplado, not standoffish, not cold, not unsociable.

On second thought, the media are the ones who may be suplados! They are not friendly enough to approach Mr Dar and ask questions. If they have doubts, they can arrange for a virtual multi-interview anytime. If they don’t understand the subject matter? I say, keep asking questions. Otherwise, they are suplados!@517

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[1]https://kindofculturedgentlemen.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/the-role-of-media-in-society/
[2]https://medium.com/@kashafmurtza655/role-of-media-in-society-760db2844ae3