Davao As Cacao Capital Of PH – Bohol As Chocolate Capital Of Asia!

If you want to settle the dispute between which province should be declared “Cacao Capital of the Philippines,” I say you are being short-sighted. The Genius Rule is: To solve a problem, change the problem! So, look at my title again: “Davao As Cacao Capital Of PH – Bohol As Chocolate Capital Of Asia!”

Given that, Davao can claim all the modern cacaocredits it wants – and Bohol can claim all the historical chocolate credits it has! For instance, where else in Asia can you find the Chocolate Hills except Bohol!? Ha, ha. The upper image[1] is from Garden Café Tagbilaran, Bohol; the lower image is captioned: “The province of Bohol has several cacao trees growing in the backyards of small farmers.” So, Chocolate Hills, cacao backyards: Beat that!

Patricia Bianca S Taculao says (03 July 2020, “Bohol’s Chocolate Princess Revives Heirloom Cacao Planted In Backyards[2],” Agriculture.com.ph):

The province of Bohol, located in the Central Visayas Region, is known for its natural wonder, which is also a favorite tourist destination: the Chocolate Hills. It got its name from the color of the hills during the summer (months), when the lush, green grass on them turns brown. Those who are unaware of this circumstance often ask, “Where is the chocolate?” not knowing that the answer can be found in the backyards of the locals.

Also because of the shape – chocolate drops.

Dalareich Polot is a chocolate maker based in the region. Ms Patricia says Ms Polot says:

Cacao is part of the culture of Bohol. With so much Spanish influence spread across Bohol, it has become the norm for Boholanos to have one to three cacao trees either in the back or front of their houses.

Spanish influence? The word “cocoa” is the Spanish “cacao;” the cacao tree is a native of Mexico[3] (Wikipedia); now you know how the cacao reached the Philippines – via the galleon trade.

Can you dispute history? Ms Polot believes there are more than 10,000 “historical cacao trees” in each town in Bohol. Most of these are of the variety “Criollo,” a word whose definition betrays its origin: “indigenous to or characteristic of a Spanish-American country[4]” (American Heritage Dictionary).

In 2014, Ms Polot enjoyed a scholarship in Ghent University in Belgium to study cacao and chocolate. She believed so much in the Criollo that in 2018 “she launched a program to revive cacao trees in Bohol to help small farmers earn an income from them.” She called the project, “Adopt a Cacao Tree and Preserve Bohol’s Cacao Heritage.”

Cacao Heritage. Ms Polot is Chair of the Bohol Cacao Council. She says, “I’m spearheading the activities of the cacao farmers and at the same time learning from them. We bought cacao from these small farmers and empowered them.”

Cocoa is a heritage act in Bohol. Ms Polot says, “My mom learned how to make tablea from my grandmother.”

“Tablea” is found neither in the English dictionary nor English Wikipedia. The origin must be Filipino. It must be Bohol!@517

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[1]https://www.gardencafetagbilaran.com/bohol-tourist-attractions/

[2]https://www.agriculture.com.ph/2020/07/03/bohols-chocolate-princess-revives-heirloom-cacaos-planted-in-backyards/

[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_bean

[4]https://www.thefreedictionary.com/criollo

Clustering White Garlic – When You Are Good, You Might As Well Be #1! Many Of “You”

 

“Ilocos Norte: Garlic Capital of PH[1]” – You can easily look at it as Provincial Crop Dominance, while I look at it as The Natural Virtue Of Farm Clustering. The first emphasizes success in cultivating the crop, the second emphasizes success in grouping the growers.

The value of farm clustering is emphasized by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar as part of the OneDA Approach to the survival, and beyond that, the triumph of PH Agriculture as a major contributor to national development (inclusive of the poor). Emphasis on the Crop favors business for the few; emphasis on the Cluster favors business for the many. I choose the many.

The new PH Agriculture must be inclusive business for the many!

I wrote about farm clustering first day this year: 01 January 2021, “Whispering Hope Clustering – Interventions And Assistances Provided By PH DA[2],” Brave New World). There, I quote Mr Dar as saying, “It is important to convince farmers and their respective (farmer) cooperatives and associations or FCAs to collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and (assistances) provided by the DA and other government agencies.”

With farm clusters, DA assists more of producers who are more; you produce more and more uniformly – and you receive more aids and assistances from the DA. What more do you want?!

Ilocos Norte is “The Garlic Capital of the Philippines,” as according to a report by Leilanie Adriano(06 March 2021, “Ilocos Norte Claims 'Garlic Capital' Of PH Tag,” PNA.gov.ph). Above, the upper image shows UPLB crop scientist Lilian Pateñadisplaying garlic plantlets, tissue culture being the process that produced the planting materials successfully grown by Ilocos Norte garlic farmers. Tissue culture guarantees that your succeeding crop performs exactly like the previous crop – dictated by the Law of Heredity.
(lower image[3] from The Manila Times)

Ms Leilanie says mostly the Ilocos Norte towns of Bacarra, Burgos, Pasuquin and Pinili, including Batac City, are devoting around 1,880 hectares to white garlic production. Ilocos Norte remains the country’s #1 white garlic grower, with an average production of 4,161 metric tons, which is 55.7% of the national produce. Not planned, but this is white garlic clustering.

Some sort of clustering is already practiced in Benguet for highland vegetables. I am now thinking of other PH crops in other provinces that may be good for farm clustering in a few towns; here are some personal suggestions for a farm cluster in a single province:

abaca in Davao Oriental,
cacao in Bohol (already there but needs improvement),
coconut groves devoted to virgin coconut oil in Laguna,
pinakbet vegetables in Pangasinan, and
rambutan in Palawan.

The high points of farm clustering are:

Economics – you mechanize and save on labor while increasing production;
Enrichment – you make more people richer by visibly cooperating;
Environmental – you practice sustainable agriculture over a wide area;
Evolution – your technology is applied in many towns and may in fact improve over time.

Clearly, Ilocos Norte white garlic shows that farm clustering works for everyone!@517

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[1]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132812?fbclid=IwAR1PD3RerT4Q5lGPN60vT71o7svjdbWXYgYWhqrGvABP2g9gbOOF60ldcrY

[2]https://bravenewworldph.blogspot.com/2021/01/whispering-hope-clustering.html

[3]https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/11/12/business/agribusiness/native-garlic-makes-a-comeback/795134/

Christianity Not Only Brought To The Philippines Culture – Also Agriculture!

Negative. The Rappler essay by Nicolas Faller Jr (NFJ), published 16 March 2021, “No, We Shouldn’t Celebrate 500 Years Of Christianity In Our Country[1]” is only contrarian, not convincing. All claim, no corroboration. Clearly, NFJ neither amasses his content nor argues his contention.

So now I will argue to the contrary: “Yes, We Should Celebrate 500 Years Of Christianity In Our Country!” I do not know which school NFJ graduated from, but I am an alumnus of UP Los Baños and, for God’s sake, I got a perfect grade of 1 (Excellent) from our  UP Diliman professor in Western Thought, Mr Bituin. Now, NFJ gets from me a grade of 5 (Failed) on his essay. To justify the 5, since I am an agriculturist, I will concentrate on what the Spaniards did for PH Agriculture.

In the “History Of The Philippines[2],” Wikipedia says:

Outside the tertiary institutions, the efforts of missionaries were in no way limited to religious instruction but also geared towards promoting social and economic advancement of the islands… They also introduced advances in rice agriculture, brought from America maize and cocoa and developed the farming of indigo, coffee and sugar cane.

Now then, where would NFJ get his cup after cup of coffee if we Filipinos did not welcome Christianity brought by the Spaniards to this country?!

One of Spain's objectives in (colonizing) the Philippines was the conversion of the local population to Roman Catholicism. The work of conversion was facilitated by the disunity and insignificance of other organized religions, except for Islam, which was still predominant in the southwest. The pageantry of the church had a wide appeal, reinforced by the incorporation of indigenous social customs into religious observances.

Before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our peoples were disunited (a polite term). There were religions, plural – and nationally insignificant because of their quantity and quality. Roman Catholicism unified the warring tribes and civilized them, while using indigenous customs.

What I dislike was this:

Among the most significant changes under Spanish rule was that the indigenous idea of communal use and ownership of land was replaced with the concept of private ownership and the conferring of titles on members of the principalía.

Objecting to communal ownership of lands, the Spanish conquerors introduced private ownership. With private land ownership came titles of the upper class (principalía). I must say here I prefer the communal ownership of lands, because with modern technologies and systems, such ownership is necessary to bring about economic & social efficiencies.

Of course, the family of our National Hero Jose Rizal suffered from heavy taxes exacted by the Spanish clergy who owned or controlled lands in Calamba and Los Baños, but this was not the dictate of Christianity but rather the dictate of greed, despite the admonition of God in his Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”

Isn’t it amazing that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar has been advocating farm clustering or consolidation as a methodological solution to individual and inefficient operations of farmlands?!@517

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[1]https://www.rappler.com/voices/imho/opinion-no-we-should-not-celebrate-500-years-christianity-our-country?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR16lzlOO2zJJj3RPd5quwcAZs1UYxSwcn6QaQTmi9y_HaVwl8IIDpM6WOU#Echobox=1615877113

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines

P9,000,000 Earned From Pork With PRDP Assistance By Women & Workers In Cadiz City

In 2000, the community-based farm workers association Caridad Hog Raisers Association (CHRA) in Hacienda Caridad in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, started as backyard raisers of swine for fattening. In 2020, despite setbacks in the intervening years, the association generated sales of P9 million!

Surprise. That is from a report of April Grace Padilla, “Beating The Odds, Rising Grander: Caridad Swine Raisers Opt To Upscale PRDP Livelihood Enterprise In Cadiz[1]” (15 March 2021, PRDP.da.gov.ph).

Such million-peso success has been generated by Workers, Women and Will, not necessarily in that order. In 2013, super-typhoon Yolandaimmensely damaged the breeding pens. The swine raisers persevered. In 2017, the PRDP came into the picture with financial assistance totaling P563,000, the fund going into putting up new pens and completing 2 production cycles a year. Wilma Dignos, CHRA Project Manager, says:

We only started as 30 members and we gradually grew to 51 members after three years since our implementation. The first two cycles in 2017 had been a big help in sustaining our daily needs and in supporting the education of our children. In fact, we gave as high as P6,000 dividend for each member during our first year (of) operation (with PRDP assistance).

In 2018 came another challenge – the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the country, which resulted in decreased business by CHRA. Says Ms Wilma:

The traders bought (meat at) a really low price. This is when our group decided to open up a meat shop in order to (market) our own produce,

Wanting to ensure that quality products as well as services were provided to buyers, CHRA held a customer service orientation among its meat shop staff. Says Ms Wilma:

This posted a favorable outcome as (CHRA was) able to gain regular customers. Fortunately, (these) regulars (now) frequent our shop because of the quality meat we sell. We also made sure to equip our staff with strategies in delivering the best service among our customers through an orientation.

With the opening of the meat shop, CHRA got back on track in the business. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Yet business increased! CHRA saw this as “another challenge for them to increase the number of sows in order to supply the demands (in) their meat shop.” Ms Wilma says:

It is truthfully challenging to continue our operations in the midst of the pandemic. We (came) short of supply of the fatteners so we opted to buy from other backyard raisers in our neighboring towns for the (supply in) our meat shop,

Now then, CHRA is buying from other swine raisers in the area. They are increasing their association’s own business – as well as that of backyard raisers other than members of CHRA.

Supplying the local hospital used as Covid-19 quarantine facility, CHRA generated P9,000,000 (as mentioned above), with P7,000,000 being paid to backyard raisers from whom the hogs were bought for the meat.

Millions from pork. Some choice cuts the Cadiz sugarcane workers and women are producing & marketing!@517

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[1]http://prdp.da.gov.ph/beating-the-odds-rising-grander-caridad-swine-raisers-opt-to-upscale-prdp-livelihood-enterprise-in-cadiz/

Glenn B Gregorio, UN Food Systems Champion 2021 – The FAO? ASA KA PA

We have a Champion! Via Facebook post, it was announced 10 March 2021 that National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines Academician Glenn B Gregorio has been selected as one of the new UN Food Systems Champions to be meeting during the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.

Charissa Luci-Atienza has that pertinent report (12  March 2021, “Filipino Rice Scientist Named As UN Food Systems Champion[1],” Manila Bulletin). The Summit may be held this September, venue not announced.

I say Mr Gregorio deserves the selection, being rich in local and international experiences in basic & applied sciences. According to Ms Charissa, he has received several awards, including locally, Outstanding Young Scientist in the Field of Genetics (2004), and William Dar-Crop Science Society of the Philippines Achievement Award in Research Management(2014); internationally, Honorary Foreign Scientist Award at the Rural Development Administration of Korea(2002-2005), and Ho Chi Minh Medal for Having Great Contribution to the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam(2012),

The Summit will seek “to align stakeholders around a common understanding and narrative of a food system framework as a foundation for concerted action, making food and food systems widespread issues for advocacy and action to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development) Agenda.” A food system is “made up of the environment, people, institutions and processes by which agricultural products are produced, processed and brought to consumers.”

Malnutrition is what drives the Summit. FAO said, “Addressing malnutrition requires integrated action and complementary interventions in agriculture and the food system, in natural resource management, in public health and education, and in broader policy domains.”

World Food Programme Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said, “Prioritizing nutrition today is an investment in our collective global future (that) must involve food, agriculture, health and education systems.”

Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres“stressed that food systems are closely linked to climate change as the latter is making it harder to feed a growing population. If we are to sustainably feed the world’s population in the future, we need to see action today that prepares farmers around the world for the impacts of climate change.”

ASA KA PA (see masthead of my blog above): With all that, see the contrasting high concern of FAO on food systems, and lack of concern on food producers? Farmers have always been losers when it comes to economic returns in food systems. So? Millions of them have been leading poor lives. Please, the farmers deserve what they deserve!

The UN Food Systems Summit… aims to raise awareness of food systems’ centrality to the entire sustainable development agenda, and the urgency of transforming food systems, particularly in the wake of a global pandemic.

Yet shows absence of concern on millions of food producers who deserve much, much more. To me, ignoring the plight of these farmers is unpardonable on the part of the FAO. I hope Mr Gregorio will bring this matter to the attention of the Food Systems Summit this September!@517

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[1]https://mb.com.ph/2021/03/12/filipino-rice-scientist-named-as-un-food-systems-champion/?fbclid=IwAR3Knh-5wW_mKctnbKk87xvfJzqfR09DQeeWjIZ1WFKYlMzdNRfJ2aEAzcI

”And God Gave You Filipinos Infectious Joy!” – Pope Francis

Filipinos, if you read the full text of the homily of Pope Francis during the Mass at 10 AM, Sunday, 14 March 2021, at the Vatican for the 500^th year of Christianity in the Philippines, exuberantly you will rejoice and be glad in it! 
(both images[1] from Rappler)

New to me, Pope Francis said:

If hearing the Gospel and practicing our faith don’t enlarge our hearts and make us grasp the immensity of God’s love – maybe because we prefer a glum, sorrowful, and self-absorbed religiosity – then this is a sign that we need to stop and listen once more to the preaching of the Good News.

Note what Pope Francis says: “Hearing the Gospel and practicing our faith.” Hearing Mass is not enough; Reading the Bible is not enough – Practicing our faith completes it!

God “gave” his Son. Precisely because he loves us so much, God gives himself; he offers us his life. Those who love always go out of themselves. Don’t forget this: those who love go out of themselves. Love always offers itself, gives itself, expends itself.

If you love with reservation, that is not love!

The more we love, the more we become capable of giving. That is also the key to understanding our life. It is wonderful to meet people who love one another and share their lives in love… It is not only what we can make or earn that matters; in the end, it is the love we are able to give.

“The more we love, the more we become capable of giving.” Practice makes perfect!

Dear brothers and sisters, five hundred years have passed since the Christian message first arrived in the Philippines. You received the joy of the Gospel: the good news that God so loved us that he gave his Son for us. And this joy is evident in your people. We see it in your eyes, on your faces, in your songs and in your prayers. In the joy with which you bring your faith to other lands… It is part of your genes, a blessed “infectiousness” that I urge you to preserve. (Keep) bringing the faith, the good news you received 500 years ago, to others. I want to thank you, then, for the joy you bring to the whole world and to our Christian communities. I think, as I mentioned, of the many beautiful experiences in families here in Rome – but also throughout the world – where your discreet and hardworking presence (has become) a testimony of faith.

500 years have passed since Christianity was brought to us Filipinos. What did we receive? “The Joy of the Gospel.” And we infect people all over the world with that joy!

On this very important anniversary for God’s holy people in the Philippines, I also want to urge you to persevere in the work of evangelization – not proselytism, which is something else. The Christian proclamation that you have received needs constantly to be brought to others.

Filipinos, evangelizing, let us persevere in the hard work, not harsh words!@517

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[1]https://www.rappler.com/nation/full-text-pope-francis-homily-500th-year-christianity-philippines

Berly Fernandez-Tatoy – Wizard Of Community Science, Filipino

Berly Fernandez-Tatoy deserves to be declared a National Scientist, that is my opinion. Here is Ms Berly’s remarkable story, shared by Mayang Davide on Facebook, as a multi-researcher of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 10 (North Mindanao), dedicating her professional life to reinventing science as a servant of the farmers, by the farmers, for the farmers.

Searching for answers and solutions to the challenges that plague particularly small Filipino farmers, uncommon Ms Berly has produced outstanding results in 4 collective areas of investigative agriculture with the community as partners in research, in what is called Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CPAR):

(1)   Vegetables:9 community-proven organic pesticides & fertilizers for 7 vegetables

(2)   Rice: 4 Next Generation rice lines identified with community

(3)   Potato:Community production of disease-free Granola potato seeds

(4)   Coconut-Based Farming: Community growing of coconut-based vegetables with goat.

Vegetables:
Via CPAR, Ms Berly has taught communities the production of organic pesticides and fertilizers. She has encouraged diversified cropping with cabbage, carrots, eggplant, pole sitao, cucumber, tomato & sweet pepper. She has promoted community gardens in partnerships with high schools in Northern Mindanao and DA’s Farmer Field Schools.

Rice:
Also via CPAR, Ms Berly has produced NextGen rice varieties, 4 identified by community as outstanding: NSIC RC 216, NSIC RC 238, NSIC RC 300, NSIC RC 308 for lowland irrigated and adverse rice ecosystems: rainfed and saline conditions. They are now PhilRice-recommended.

Potato:
In North Mindanao, the seed-borne disease bacterial wilt used to restrict potato to an average yield of 7.5 tons/ha. Under the concept of CPAR, Ms Berly studied the behavior of the market-driven potato variety Granola at the community level, and came up with the “Seed Plot Technique.” This seed system used available local resources like bamboo, used sacks combined with bio-fumigation technology (sunflower) to defeat the bacterial enemy. This system has eliminated farmer dependence on imported seed pieces. Bacterial infection is now down to zero, and average yield has increased more than 3 times, to 25 tons/ha. From the Bureau of Agricultural Research, this CPAR group of farmers has received several awards, being among the best CPAR organizations not only in Northern Mindanao but also in the country.

Ms Betty has also encouraged community production of food products: potato chips, pastries, and polvoron (short bread). All of the above has led to the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the potato industry in Northern Mindanao.

Coconut-Based Farming
Again, via CPAR, Ms Berly has promoted the growing of vegetables, as well as the raising of goats, under the coconut trees. Vegetables with coconuts have greatly multiplied farmer income, increasing from P39,000 with coconut monocropping to P236,000 with goat integration, a six-fold increase! This can be seen indirectly in very noticeable improved living conditions of the farmers.

Today, the CPAR farmers’ organization is among active producers and distributors of vegetables, providing the produce to local markets in nearby Balingasag town and also the Agora market in Cagayan de Oro City.

That is all what then-ICRISAT Director General William Dar described in 5 words: “Science with a human face.”@517