“We Feed The Planet Philippines” – Never Heard!

This is a lesson in publicity – or failing in that, anonymity.

There is a Slow Food Youth Network Philippines but I didnot know that – and I am a very wide reader, spending many hours on the Internet every single day, blogging daily!

47 years ago, I was a copywriter for PR genius Tony Zorilla in his Makati firm Pacifica Publicity Bureau under Creative Director Nonoy Gallardo, who taught us much. (And I never stopped writing.) One good lesson now is: Come up with something unforgettable that many people will associate with your product.

Today, in the Philippines, Chooks-to-Gois very much memorable as a ready-to-eat chicken. The name itself is as if a slogan: “chicken to go.”

Today also, I’m looking at an international campaign emanating from Turin, Italy: “Terra Madre Salone Del Gusto.” 1^stLesson: Not a memorable name, sorry. 2^nd Lesson: There is noEnglish translation! Who can remember Italian names?!

My literal translation: “Mother Earth Salon of Gusto.” My free translation as a copywriter: “Mother Earth of Good Taste.” That could have attracted a million earthmen with good taste!

Browsing, I learn that “Terra Madre Salone Del Gusto” populates the world as “Slow Food Network” with no explanation! (Hence “Snail of Approval,” above image) So, is this a movement for earthmen of good taste or people who love food grown slowly, naturally? Mysteriously, it’s not explained!

Yes, there is the “Slow Food Youth Network Philippines” (SFYNP). This news I get is that the SFYNP conducted its first-ever “We Feed the Planet” event to celebrate Terra Madre 21-22 November 2020 “on the Facebook page of the Slow Food Youth Network Philippines.” No explanations. The celebration was virtual, not physical.

The Slow Foodwebsite says (07 October 2020):

We Feed the Planet Philippines is a union of young farmers, youth food advocates, chefs, gastronomes and individuals that promote a sustainable lifestyle through good, fair and clean food. They do this at the local level and aim to encourage everyone to reinforce Slow Food principles in the midst of this global pandemic.
(lower image[1] from Slow Food)

Never heard!

And what are those principles? Here are the “Slow Food Principles[2]” (Slow Food Southbay):

(1)   Sustainability– “recognizing the interdependence of people with one another and with our environment; caring for the land and protecting biodiversity… promoting pure food that is local, seasonal and organically grown.” (That is why I put up there Chooks-to-Go – the chickens are wholesome, raised without antibiotics, without growth-accelerating hormones applied.)

(2)   Cultural Diversity – “recognizing food as a language that expresses cultural diversity.”

(3)   Pleasure and Quality in Everyday Life – “respecting and supporting artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food.”

(4)   Inclusiveness– “dedicating ourselves to local cooperation and global collaboration.”

(5)   Authenticity and Integrity – “insuring our values are embodied by all staff, board members and chapter leaders, manifesting these values in all of our events, projects and publications.”

An excellent list! And what projects have been or are being carried out to any and/or all of the above? Nothing said! Sad.@517

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[1]https://www.slowfood.com/sfyn-at-terra-madre-whats-up/

[2]https://slowfoodsouthbay.org/about-us/slow-food-principles/

William Dar Shows You Can Change Horses In Midstream – And Now The Horses Are Complaining?

Let me be very clear at the outset: I am notsold to the use of chemical fertilizers to grow crops, but you have the right to decide for yourself over organic fertilizers.

Personally I know that my alma mater, University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA), now UP Los Baños, has not changed fertilizer recommendations since I was Freshman in 1959. So I graduated in 1965, haha, 2 years late – I was minding a girl more seriously than my studies. Then, I fell out of love while UP Los Baños stayed faithful to the chemical fertilizers with or without mentioning any organic fertilizer during classes.

UPCA was born in 1908. In other words, urea is an American prescription for Philippine agriculture that is 113 years old. Am I anti-American? No! Why do you think I have been blogging thousands of essays written in American English since 2005!

So I’m not surprised that PH Agriculture is fertilized by the chemical formula urea; so I’m not surprised either to learn that today, farmers are perhaps spending at least P1,800,000,000 (P1.8 Billion) yearly on urea.

But I’m surprised that a motley group of groups: seed growers, fertilizers, irrigators, fisheries, chicken, livestock, farmers, and millers, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), according to a Department of Agriculture (DA) report[1], “(earlier) accused DA of overpricing” urea (Iris Gonzales, 03 July 2020, “FIAP Backs DA’s Free Fertilizer Distribution Program,” PhilStar).

SINAG, you forgot, when you point a finger at someone, 3 fingers are pointing at you.

Nonetheless, Ms Iris says President Michael Ardieta of the Fertilizer Industry Association of the Philippines (FIAP) “believes the department’s (DA’s) recent and ongoing centralized fertilizer bidding are ‘transparent and above-board’.”

Ardieta said the P1,000 per bag maximum bid set by DA “is fair and reflective of the average national retail price of urea in the country then, considering that it is delivered to municipalities and the definitely longer payment terms (that) the DA’s payment process demand.

When the DA centralized fertilizer bidding, many non/merchants lost their “earnings.”

Ted Cordero explains (24 June 2020, “DA’s Centralized Procurement Influenced Drop In Fertilizer Prices, Says Official,” GMA News). Why because, says DA Assistant Secretary & spokesman Noel Reyes, at the regional offices, different prices were winning: here P1,100, there P1,300, and elsewhere P1,500. With centralized bidding, the price went down to P1,000/bag. “That is the first time it happened,” Mr Dar said.

In 1864: “Don’t change horses in midstream” – US President Abraham Lincoln. In 2021: When Mr Dar changed horses, here’s my estimate of savings: roughly, each farmer at 2 bags for inbred rice or 3 bags for hybrid rice; for the 41,470 rice farmers who received free urea, the government spent from P4 million to P20 million less!

Computing farther, now then, from urea alone, considering only 1 million rice farmers, by centralized bidding, the DA can save the PH government from P100,000,000 (P100 million) to P500,000,000 (P500 million)! Yan ang tunay na SINAG – that’s a fabulous RING OF LIGHT!@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/gallery/meeting-with-sinag-members/

Internet of Thoughts Agriculture (IoTA), With Science, Coops & Loans Driving Farm Management

 

I’m talking about Digitally Abled Agriculturevia Google searches for advices, choices, concerns, experiences, instructions, options, philosophies, procedures, and theories in farming. Farmers incessantly learning from an inexhaustible online library of knowledge.

SMART JUAN. Yes, it operates with The Internet-Ready 5 Ws of Agriculture: Who, What, Where, When & Why.
(upper image[1] from PNA.gov.ph;
lower image[2] from ATI.da.gov.ph)

This is a follow-up to my SMART JUAN proposal for digitally informed agriculture contained in 2 essays, both published in this blog, TIT for TAT: (1) “‘Smart Juan’ – The Digital Renaissance Of ‘Juan Tamad’ Into An All-Knowing Farmer[3],” 15-08-2021; and (2) “What Agriculture Can Do To Help Control Climate Change[4],” 16-08-2021.

A Knowledge Basefor PH Agriculture, SMART JUAN means: “Stored Matter Adapted To Rural Terrain Translated For Johns Utilizing Agricultural Notes, Notions, Novelties In Science.” (“Johns” is English plural of Filipino moniker “Juan,” from “Juan De La Cruz.”)

Yes, I am recommending that the Department of Agriculture (DA) under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar generate a DA Program called “SMART JUAN” as a digital library of agriculture as described here. The Internet of Thoughts Agriculture (IoTA).

The name is original, the thought not. In 2003, Director General William Dar of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) submitted a concept he called “Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OpAPA),” proposing that Philippine agriculture offices generate an online library. As a PhilRice consultant, recruited by PhilRice Executive Director Leo Sebastian, in reaction I internalized & externalized & submitted a digital book I called The Geography Of Knowledge (TGoK), 198 pages, dated 2003 – I still have a complete pdf copy of it. Its latest incarnation is what I now call SMART JUAN.

I’m thinking of a special DA Internet program involving PH's Top Ten state colleges & universities (SCUs) in the Philippines, with UP Los Baños as the program’s headquarters – emphasis on the “head,” as UPLB is #1 when it comes to SCUs science in the Philippines.

Additionally, the UPLB campus is physically & intellectually enriched with several Philippine institutions: Ecosystems Research & Development Bureau (ERDB); Forest Products Research & Industries Development Commission (FORPRIDECOM); National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH); and Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic & Natural Resources Research & Development (PCAARRD). Plus: international institutions: Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

I superimposed the logo of Nagkaisa Multipurpose Cooperative in my hometown of Asingan, Pangasinan, to indicate knowledge as I had been for a few years a member of the Nagkaisa board, and to drive the point home that coops should be the main conduit for the Internet of Helps & Financing (IoHF). The IoHF will help the farmers with loans and farm management. The Agricultural Credit & Policy Council (ACPC) should be much involved in this, via coopbanks: Farm management supervision must be required for loans.

Uniquely then, the whole program IoTA will handhold the Filipino farmers.@517

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[1]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078457

[2]https://ati.da.gov.ph/ati-3/content/digital-farmers-program

[3]https://titfortatteachingindependentthinking.blogspot.com/2021/08/smart-juan-digital-renaissance-of-juan.html

[4]https://titfortatteachingindependentthinking.blogspot.com/2021/08/what-agriculture-can-do-to-help-control.html

What Agriculture Can Do To Help Control Climate Change

Rappler has much of the bad news today – and none of what we can do to survive or surmount climate change. Because either Rappler loves bad news – or doesn’t much understand climate change.

Rappler’s Bad News:
Last Thursday, 12 August 2021, Pia Ranada came out with her “Devastating Floods, Heat, Droughts To Worsen In PH For Next 30 Years – UN Report.” Ms Pia emphasizes:

Hitting 1.5ºC warming will bring “extreme events unprecedented in the observational record” in different parts of the world, says the report. Humans have spewed so much greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that catastrophic floods, rains, heatwaves, and drought will keep worsening in the Philippines for the next 30 years, no matter what steps we take today to slash emissions.
(upper image from Rappler)

TIT for TAT “Better” News:
This writer warrior says, “Know your enemies!” The US Natural Resources Defense Council says the 5 major greenhouse gases are: carbon dioxide (CO₂) contributing 76%; methane (CH₄) 16%; nitrous oxide (N₂O) 06%; and fluorinated gases (FGs) 02%
(pie-chart image[1] from Nrdc.org, 2021)

What do those numbers imply to cockeyed-optimist me? That climate change is controllable!

NASA says (“Global Climate Change[2]):

CO₂ is released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities such as deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil fuels. This is the most important long-lived "forcing" of climate change.

Yet, NASA also says, “On a molecule-for-molecule basis, methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.” And CH₄comes from “natural sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock.”

Methane coming from “especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management” – why, agriculture is guilty beyond reasonable doubt!

Since trees are known as the gas guzzlers, to reduce the CO₂ in the atmosphere, we must among other things plant more trees in the towns and cities.
(climate changing image[3] from TeePublic)

Now then – we must educate all farmers to help reduce drastically the greenhouse gases going up from those fields being cultivated.

To help reduce the CH₄ and N₂O gases adding to climate change, we must decrease the application of chemical fertilizers – and we must increase the use of organic materials.

And how do we teach our farmers to shift to non-chemical farming? Slowly at their own pace, fast at our own speed in creating a Knowledge Bank, the one I have called SMART JUAN, which is acronym for “Stored Matter Adapted To Rural Terrain Translated For Johns Utilizing Agricultural Notes, Notions, Novelties In Science,” of which I previously wrote (15 August 2021, “’Smart Juan’ – The Digital Renaissance Of ‘Juan Tamad’ Into An All-Knowing Farmer[4],” TIT for TAT).

Now then, as much as we can control Agriculture, we can control Climate Change!

Believing that, I insist: For the Philippines to control her own climate, SMART JUAN must be constructed, so lessons on greenhouse gases can be learned nationwide – Fast!@517

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[1]https://www.nrdc.org/stories/greenhouse-effect-101

[2]https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

[3]https://www.teepublic.com/poster-and-art/4003144-the-climate-is-changing-t-shirt-why-arent-we-earth

[4]https://titfortatteachingindependentthinking.blogspot.com/2021/08/smart-juan-digital-renaissance-of-juan.html

“Smart Juan” – The Digital Renaissance Of “Juan Tamad” Into An All-Knowing Farmer

From the name identifier of a Filipino, from “Juan De La Cruz” has come a derogatory nickname: “Juan Tamad” (Lazy Juan, Lazy One). Today, I am reinventing the national ID into “Smart Juan” using the cellphone in his farming!

All sciences and all experiences in agriculture should be in the mind. Or, which is the equivalent, accessible via and readable in the ordinary cellphone.
(image of “Wisdom[1]” from Pixabay.com;
image of cellphone-field[2] from Jack Matthew)

Today, what do we need to grow in our forests & farms? Wisdom! Now is the time for all good books to come to the aid of our country! 

To read more books would result in Wisdom? In Bewilderment if you’re not careful.

I was reading Jowelle Ann Cruz’ news report, “Aboitiz Group, DA Partner To Digitalize PH Agriculture[3]” (04 August 2021, Megabites), on that date virtually launching “Byaheng Digiskarte ni Ani at Kita” – loosely translated, “digital journeys for harvests and earnings” (above, text image superimposed):

Recognizing the value of innovation and technology to advance business and communities especially amid the pandemic, the Aboitiz Group in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) launched “Byaheng Digiskarte ni Ani at Kita” or BiDA Kita. BiDA Kita is a mentoring program designed to help agri-enterprises become digital and it is aligned with the key strategy of One DA Reform Agenda, which is Technology, Innovation and Digital Agriculture.

“Designed to help agri-enterprises become digital” – why not “Designed to help Juan De La Cruz, the farmer, become Smart Juan who is adept at using the cellphone anywhere as his partner in his farming?!”

But there is a problem: How can the cellphone help a non-high school farmer google for aggie information? And there is an even bigger and prior problem: There is no Knowledge Bank easy for farmers to use and turn them all into Smart Juans.

Precisely! That’s why I am proposing the digital construct I call SMART JUAN, which is acronym for: Stored Matter Adapted To Rural Terrain Translated For Johns Utilizing  Agricultural Notes, Notions, Novelties In Science.

As a Knowledge Bank, Smart Juan will comprise the latest science, thinking and experiences in crops & livestock, including harvesting, processing and marketing in the Philippines and in other Southeast Asian countries.

(Some mentoring required. If the farmer does not understand, there’s the Municipal Agriculturist.)

How do you make Smart Juan, a Knowledge Bank, a source of wisdom? Put in Options.

How does it work? Take rice. There are selections for varieties: heirloom, hybrid, inbred.  

Farmer types into his cellphone (or personal computer): “rice Asingan” then presses/clicks Go/Enter. (With “rice Asingan,” the farmer is restricting his search to “rice good for the town of Asingan in Pangasinan.”) Smart Juan asks him to click any of the entries:

Heirloom Rice – (varieties listed)
Hybrid Rice – (varieties listed)
Inbred Rice. – (varieties listed)

Farmer clicks the mouse or presses the screen on the item s/he is interested in or wants to know more about. The beginning of A Journey Of Wisdom In Agriculture!@517

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[1]https://pixabay.com/photos/wisdom-books-education-knowledge-3071110/

[2]https://jackmathew.medium.com/how-mobile-technology-is-energizing-farming-operations-e97e75da0b7

[3]https://www.megabites.com.ph/aboitiz-group-da-partner-to-digitalize-ph-agriculture/

Coconut Is A Lazy Man’s Crop – Time To Wake Up The Farmer!

August is PH “National Coconut Month” – looking at/for the national good of coconut farmers and their families, have we been/are we being holistic?

(image of “The Philippines’ Money-Making Tree[1]” from Fareasternagriculture.com)
(image of “Grass is always greener[2]” from Pinterest)

Let’s see! On Monday, 03 August 2021, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) kicked off this year’s celebration; the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) likewise mentioned it. Now, how do you celebrate when you are confused as to the duration of the observance: Is it “National Coconut Week[3]” (according to the PCA itself), or “National Coconut Month[4]” (according to the ATI)? In fact, in another announcement, the PCA says it’s “Month[5]!”

As I rewrite this, 1611 Friday, the conflicting website entries by the PCA itself are still there. I hope that this is a minor lapse in reportage; I am sorrier to see that the PCA has not brought the coconut farmers from rags to riches, or at least to noticeably richer lives.

Madelaine B Miraflorsays, “Coconut Farmers Are Poorest Agri People[6]” (26 October 2020, Manila Bulletin), and I believe that assessment. From what I know as an agriculturist and a wide reader:

What coconut farmers don’t practice, to their downright disadvantage, is farming systems. Now: If the student has not learned, the teacher has not taught!

In 1985, I edited the book Focus On The Small Farmer[7] published by the Farming Systems & Soil Resources Institute (FSSRI) of UP Los Baños (138 pages) when Elpidio L Rosario was FSSRI Director. It was the proceedings of a seminar-workshop on coconut-based farming systems held in Cebu. I said in my Editor's Introduction:

(During the workshop), it was pointed out that, ultimately, it is the famer's choice that prevails when it comes to crops. However, that should not negate the duty of the researcher-developer-extensionist to provide the farmer adequate and comprehensive information on which to base a farm decision.

I like what Mr Rosario told those attending the farming systems workshop:

As we deliberate in this particular workshop, let's not forget that in practice … the perspective is the FS (farming systems) approach. What I'm trying to say is that let's not get carried away by the technologies we discuss. It is not enough that we share what are the these special technology packages; equally important is that we put emphasis to the FS perspective as to how these technologies are developed and eventually utilized.

You have to be holistic.

Look at the two images again; why is it that we do not see that “the grass is always greener underneath a coconut tree”? We fail to perceive the rich opportunities under the trees – such as growing banana, coffee, cacao, ginger, passion fruit, pineapple, and a variety of vegetables.

If you are in Metro Manila, the nearest intercropped coconut areas can be found in Batangas and Cavite. When tourists visit them, as they often do, they are rewarded physically – while the farm owners are rewarded financially.@517

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[1]https://www.fareasternagriculture.com/crops/agriculture/the-philippines-money-making-tree

[2]https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/367254544602732994/

[3]https://pca.gov.ph/

[4]https://ati.da.gov.ph/ati-main/news/08052020-1529/national-coconut-month-strengthens-commodity-promotion-new-normal

[5]https://pca.gov.ph/index.php/2-uncategorised/312-2020-national-coconut-month-opening

[6]https://mb.com.ph/2020/10/25/coconut-farmers-are-poorest-agri-people/

[7]https://amagazinecalledlove.blogspot.com/2010/01/frank-hilario-focus-on-small-farmer.html

William Dar Redefines The Roles Of HEIs In These Times Of Covid Trouble!

 

Setting aside Covid-19 of which I know nothing about, I say, yes, we are in the midst of an unprecedented Man-Made Crises in food production, processing & marketing – with the smallest producers hit the worst. Now then, we should be looking for Man-Made Solutions!

Here I am invoking hope via the images above: UP Los Baños “Oblation” photograph by me dated 08-09-2018; “Prospects” image[1] from Manila Times, 25-03-2021. “Don’t Lose Hope” Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, here he is invoking help: “Agri Chief Calls On HEIs To Help Gov't In Economic Recovery Efforts” in a press release 11 August 2021 by the Department of Agriculture (DA), where he is head.

Mr Dar was inspiring the higher education institutions (HEIs) “to take an active part in implementing the government's action plans” nationally in “addressing the challenges faced by the Philippine agriculture sector.” This was during the virtual forum on “Viewpoints Of The Forerunners: Future Of Agriculture And Food Systems,” conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) 10 August 2021.

Mr Dar was hoping that:

This forum will define the way forward in terms of what is the kind of agriculture that we want to see in this current generation and in the future.

Brave words those! The following list of what to do from Mr Dar is a list for a courageous program of action:

HEIs should proactively engage in creating a quality workforce, driving innovation, increasing employability, upskilling existing workforces, collaborating between education and business, and feeding the country into a knowledge-based economy.

Mr Dar was saying HEIs should in agriculture proactively:

1. produce more high-quality workforce to serve the government;

2.drive innovation, that is, provide the inspiration for and source of new & improved technologies & systems;

3. produce graduates that have high employability;

4. upskill existing employees;

5. collaborate with business concerns;

6. “feed the country into a knowledge-based economy.”

Mr Dar singled out UP Los Baños thus:

While… UPLB is considered as one of the top Philippine universities in terms of research productivity in science, engineering, and health, as reported by the Institutes for Research, Innovation and Scholarship or IRIS, it should step forward in driving agricultural innovation systems in rural areas.

I note: UPLB is not yet driving innovation in the countryside!

I am an alumnus, BSA Ag Education, UP '65. I am a self-taught digital worker, writer, warrior – wide reader. Since 2005, I have blogged thousands of essays in agriculture. The innovation Mr Dar mentions that I am particularly interested in is “a knowledge-based economy.”

He singles out UP Los Baños and says, “It should step forward in driving agricultural innovation systems in rural areas.”

He leaves the matter at hand with an embarrassing question for UPLB officials and alumni:

“Have we measured the degree of influence of UPLB in the transformation of the municipality of Los Baños or the province of Laguna?”

For the answer, go back to the paragraph in italics above beginning thus: “HEIs should proactively engage…”

UPLB, Let Us Begin!@517

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[1]https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/03/25/news/national/agricultural-prospects-tackled-in-times-forum/855122