Happy Leap Day! Yes, We Can & Must Cultivate Kindness – Frank A Hilario

29 February 2020. “Leap Of Kindness Day,” says the above message from Rockport Fulton[1]. Me, yes I’m doing something kind for my country the Philippines starting today. I’m making a Leap of Faith and starting a digital popular magazine. 

This is not my first time to start and edit a publication – I founded and edited the 3 publications of the Forest Research Institute 1975-1981: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly popular color magazine Habitat. During The Age Of Dinosaurs (Typewriters).

Already, I am an old hand with digital works. I began self-learning digital writing, editing and desktop publishing on Innocents Day, 1985. In 2007, as Editor In Chief I made world-class or ISI the 25-year old Philippine Journal of Crop Science owned by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines based at UP Los Baños.

I have desktop-published many books; the one I love best is the coffee-table book of ACPC: The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable, 150 pages. I wrote the text; 50% of the photographs are mine.

Today, the magazine I’m thinking of, Ammom, Philippines, is dedicated to the Inclusive & Sustainable Development of my country, via Agriculture, following the precepts of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie in his “New Thinking for Agriculture” with its embedded “The Eight Paradigms” from which we are to derive our initiatives in programs and projects for the good of the Filipino people, especially the poor farmers and fishers.

“Inclusive Development” means the poor farmers and fishers are recipients of the values along the value chain, minus usurers and merchants. “Sustainable Development” means that the results of technologies and systems employed by society show technical feasibility, economical viability, environmental soundness, and social acceptability[2].

Why a magazine? Here is a list:

1. Opportunity for thousands more readers.

2. We can publish original, thought-provoking ideas.

3. Readers can go back to an article and be convinced.

4. Cultural values can be explored more.

5. Continuity.

6. Art is best appreciated, because you can easily go back to the paper or page.

7. For cultivating habits, including checking facts.

8. For promoting campaigns of any kind.

9. For celebrations, including the scientific and intellectual.

10. For interviews – and therefore cultivating loyal readers.

11. For nurturing cultural values.

12. Magazines “provide the reader with in-depth and concise information, in a portable and readable form” – Donna Halper, Professor of political communication, media historian, author, former reporter[3].

And Susanna Schrobsdorff, an executive editor for TIME, mentions the “symbolic role of the magazine’s cover[4],” the Person of the Year, in Influence. Copying, I will have in Ammom Pilipinas my own Citizen Of The Year, COTY, in Kindness. I got the idea from the Facebook sharing of my son Jomar just as I finalize this; his source is blogger Ursula, who says, “Kind people are the smartest of all.[5]” She says Richard Davidson “explains that kindness requires an ability to think not just of yourself, but of others as well.” That’s smart!@517

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[1] http://members.rockport-fulton.org/events/details/leap-of-kindness-day-46957

[2] http://www.fao.org/3/ai388e/AI388E05.htm

[3] https://www.quora.com/Why-is-a-magazine-very-important

[4] https://www.gwhatchet.com/2019/10/23/time-magazine-executive-editor-talks-publications-role-in-politics-culture/

[5] https://www.creativehealthyfamily.com/goodness-takes-intelligence-why-kind-people-are-the-smartest-of-all/

William Dar Inspires The New PH Agriculture Symbol – The New Madonna & Child!

Saw this one today, 27 February 2020, on Facebook: “Nurturing Ani At Kita” it says on the bulletin board. This is derived from the Department of Agriculture, DA’s slogan “Masaganang Ani At Mataas Na Kita” (Bountiful Harvests And Bounteous Income, my translation). Here are early 2 Facebook comments:

Robert Domoguen: “Nurturing… and sustainable development. Great theme, Sir.

Ravindra Joshi: “The focus is crystal clear and targets bulls-eyed. Philippine Agriculture is now starting to make great (strides) under Secretary Dr William Dar’s leadership. Key is everyone needs to be fully (engaged) and be passionate. Congratulations to the DA Team.”

With/out meaning to, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has proclaimed a new symbol for the emergence of a vibrant PH Agriculture under his headship at the Department of Agriculture, DA: “Nurturing Ani At Kita” – literally, Nurturing Yield & Income. This comes from the slogan for Manong Willie’s ““New Thinking for Agriculture” in which are embedded “The Eight Paradigms” that require (1) modernization, (2) industrialization, (3) exports, (4) farm consolidation, (5) infrastructure, (6) budgets & investments, (7) legislative support, and (8) roadmap development.

Yes Sir! Personally, for the new PH Agriculture, I look at the feminine figures above as, together, making a new, modern Maternal & Caring Mother & Child,MC² , indeed signifying abundant harvest & abundant life, with love of family nurturing farm nurturing plenty.

Dios ti agngina, Manong Willie, for inspiring your country! God will repay much!

Above the image, the Facebook note says: “Nurturing Ani at Kita for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: The key message at the DA Mancom Meeting in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte!” I see Gross Domestic Prosperity, GDP², inclusive of the poor farmers, inclusive of the environment, sustainable for all.

I Ilocano can see the Management Committee meeting in Laoag City is symbolic: Manong Willie is Ilocano. The mother and child figures do not necessarily have Ilocano features, but I can see the Ilocano-ness in the determination in their eyes! The Ilocanos are known for their frugality, flexibility, and grit even or especially in adverse environments. And what adverse environments does PH Agriculture have right now?!

Why are Ani and Kita shown as females? Because the Filipinos have a matriarchal society! I say:

In these islands and nowhere else in the world, the females are more equal than the males! And we Filipino males bow to that.

Also note that Ani and Kita are relatively young ones – just like our national hero Jose Rizal had in mind when he wrote a poem when he was 18 and a student at the University of Santo Tomas; the last line of the first stanza of his “A La Juventud Filipina” (To The Youth Of The Philippines, my translation) goes: “bella esperanza de la patria mía!” (beautiful hope of the fatherland, my translation). Mario Guariña calls the whole poem “The Poetry Of Patriotism[1].” Now I say “Nurturing Ani at Kita” is the world’s shortest poetry of agricultural development.

Now I see in PH Agriculture The Beautiful Hope of the Fatherland!@517

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[1] https://opinion.inquirer.net/75728/jose-rizal-the-poetry-of-patriotism

Agriculture Today Is The Biggest Media Challenge – How Can Journalists Cultivate Fertile Minds?

I see the new PH Agriculture under the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie as the biggest challenge to Philippine journalism – many-layered, complicated. Simplifying: If farming is growing food, journalism is growing ideas in a fertile mind!

I thank God I’m running 80. Now, how could I have been blogging about PH Agriculture every single day since the middle of last year when I am essentially a work-at-homer? “There is no unfertile soil with a fertile mind.”

How do I cultivate my mind to stay fertile?
Easy – I read. And read. And read.
So I can be Good, Better, Best!

(Above, superimposed image of some books to read/review in my bedroom-workroom.)

In this digital age, as a journalist you must always collect enough background materials; save your files, then read them. Read, not memorize. (In Microsoft Word, turn on Track Changes – click Review, Track Changes – and write down your thoughts as you read. You go back to them when you begin to write your article.)

Guaranteed: Just reading will make that unfertile mind of yours a very fertile soil.

Actually, Salvador Cariaga of Philippine Organic Farms, the one who is sharing (on Facebook, above) about unfertile soils and fertile minds, is speaking about producing food and fighting poverty[1]. (Main image from same source)

Mr Cariaga’s group is into urban agriculture. They are into growing food and managing garbage at the same time – 2 noble ideas, enriching: garbage becomes organic fertilizer; environment becomes sound; our bodies become healthy.

There’s more. There is a MUD Farm in Cebu – Mactan Urban Demo Farm[2]:

It's a school without walls and classroom without ceiling. Sky is the limit. With God nothing is impossible. ¶ Even if you live in (a) concrete jungle, you can still grow your own food. You won't need a lot of space. Our MUD Farm is just 300 square meters, but it has pig farm, goat farm, chicken farm, fish farm, worm farm, and all the vegetables that a family can eat.

Urban. Unbelievable? You have to believe.

Now, what about our poor farmers in the rural areas? Unfortunately, MUD Farm ignores them:

We believe that we do not have to be poor. Our children don't have to be hungry. We live in a rich country. We can bloom where we are born and grow where we are planted. There is no unfertile soil with a fertile mind. There is no barren land, only (a) bare mind. MUD Farm is designed to inspire those who live in urban areas to grow their own food, the organic way.

Yes, Mr Cariaga misses his own point – “There is no unfertile soil with a fertile mind.” Unlike him, I will now also and equally urge those who live in rural areas to grow their own food the organic way.

And journalists? Your mind is barren only if you do not grow ideas in it. And the best thing to do to grow ideas is? Read, read, read. To be Good, Better, Best!@517

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[1] https://www.facebook.com/groups/philippineorganicfarms/about/

[2] https://www.facebook.com/UrbanDemofarn/posts/1009174225771459

In Onions, There’s Strength, In P Millions! – How To Make That Ideal Real? Do The IMOD

IMOD. William Dar/Manong Willie as head of the Department of Agriculture, DA, avidly leads his “New Thinking for Agriculture” where an embedded ideal is Inclusive Market-Oriented Development, IMOD. If you want farmers to rise from poverty and stay up there, you must do the IMOD. 

IMOD as the ideal for local & national growth was developed at ICRISAT, based in India, when Manong Willie was Director General, from January 2000 to December 2014, 15 years – IMOD as ideal became real. So, if you want your farmers to be blessed with “Masaganang Ani, Mataas na Kita” (Bounteous Harvest, Bountiful Income, my translation), the current mantra of the DA, you must do the IMOD. With IMOD, the development is real – distributed to everyone, especially the poor farmers.

IMOD as ideal: “Find the ideal in something not ideal” – Robert Denning[1]. As a farmer, is it ideal to think rich? You have to think rich; you also have think real.

Now, let’s consider Eva Visperas’ 09 January 2020 article – “If You Want To Get Rich, Plant Onions[2]” with her teaser:

Onion farmers in Bayambang, Pangasinan are now “millionaires” because of the price spike, as red onions, with a farmgate price of P120 a kilo, are sold in the market at P200, Artemio Buezon, Municipal Agriculturist (says) this has been going on for a month and is expected to extend up to next month.

“If you want to get rich, plant onions” – you know, that reflects the DA’s slogan Bounteous Harvest, Bountiful Income.

Ms Eva’s title style and run of story is not unique; it is old journalism. It is unique only in that Ms Eva promises:

“If you want to get rich, plant onions.”

She is promising millions. No Ma’am, it’s not that simple. Some PH journalists, male and female, make it that simple. In Manong Willie’s Bounteous Harvest, Bountiful Income – there is a caveat: You must make sure IMOD is working for the farmers. Not permanently displayed, but the caveat is there; to bring out the ideal, you must deal with the real.

In Bayambang, Pangasinan, where Ms Eva reports from, there are 1,000 onion farmers! In other words, when some farmers saw that other farmers were getting rich planting onions, they became onion farmers too. Because they were only looking at the rich harvests and richer incomes.

When you multiply the growers by the hundreds, what happens to the supply – and the price?

You know what? “If you want to get rich, plant onions” is also working in favor of the merchants!

The merchants are the ones dictating the price and, sooner or later, the individualism of the growing-rich farmers will work against them.

I remember Manong Willie recommending that farmers work with cooperatives to safeguard their concerns, most especially fair prices and sustainable incomes.

If you want your village to get rich, it must follow IMOD via your cooperative(s).

There is no report of any cooperative working for the Bayambang onion farmers – this is dangerous to their health!@517

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[1] http://www.picturequotes.com/find-the-ideal-in-something-not-ideal-quote-152083

[2]https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/01/09/1983356/if-you-want-get-rich-plant-onions

Rx For PH Agriculture – Go Native, Go Nature! Go Na!

For PH Agriculture, nobody is asking for my advice, so I’m giving it!

Go Native, Go Nature – Go Na!
And:
Yes to Export – No to Import!

Here are 2 major losses in PH Agriculture today – mango to “kurikong” and pig to African Swine Fever, ASF.

Mango: I can’t find data for export losses, but it has been reported that “kurikong” can cause 70 to 100% loss in yield[1] – that translates to your loss in export. Here is indirect data: Gabriel Cardinoza reports in Inquirer.net (17 March 2018) that Lito Arenas, former President of the Federation of Mango Growers & Handlers Association of Pangasinan, and others visited Guangzhou City in China and “were surprised there were no Philippine mangoes being sold there.” That translates to zero export.

Pig: “There are opportunity losses for the hog industry estimated at about P1 billion ($19.5 million) a month,” Noel Reyes, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, DA, is quoted as saying[2]. Huge!

For swine, go native!

In March 2016, the book I edited was published by the National Swine & Poultry Research & Development Center, NSPRDC, of the Bureau of Animal Industry, which is under the DA. It’s all Philippine Native Animals. The NSPRDC is specializing on native breeds of cattle, chicken, duck, goat, horse, and pig. Center Chief Rene Santiago says with native stocks, animal raisers can produce quantity and quality meats that are “good for both producers and consumers” (Prologue, page 18).

Today, in PH swine industry, even the disease of pigs is imported: African Swine Fever. So: The solution is indigenous – grow any of those native lines of pigs originating from Abra, Benguet, Kalinga (above image), Marinduque, Mt Province, and Quezon. UPLB Emeritus Professor Angel Lambio says they are “resilient to stresses and resistant to pests and diseases” (Foreword, page 24). Also, the meats of natives are healthful and have distinctive desirable tastes. Excellent for export. Stop importing swine breeds: Go export, Go Native!

For mango, Go Nature!

For mango, I said in a previous essay[3] that we have first to resolve the “kurikong” menace by preventing the infestation of cecid flies. We must look for the system whereby mangoes are grown with at least one other crop, which must be native, so that the balance of harmful and beneficial organisms is maintained.

On the mango image above (from Pinoy Negosyo[4]), I superimposed the question, “What’s missing here?” The orchard is all mangoes. Monoculture. Do you know who loves monocultures, other than farmers or gardeners? Insects! They have so much food that they naturally multiply – into an infestation.

So, the problem with the infestation by cecid flies or the “kurikong” headache is man-made. Minimum predators, maximum pests. You get what you deserve!

The solution is either multiple cropping, or intercropping, or trap cropping. Grow other fruits or vegetables. Mother Nature will then balance the populations of predators and pests for you. My middle name is Awareness; this is a free lesson not from Frank A Hilario but from Science.@517

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[1] https://business.mb.com.ph/2020/02/22/infestation-threatens-phs-mango-production/

[2] https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/10/26/1963442/philippine-hog-industry-losing-20-million-monthly-asf

[3] https://ithewizardofos.blogspot.com/2020/02/to-resolve-ph-mango-kurikong-menace.html

[4] https://www.pinoynegosyo.net/business/mango-fruit-tree-business-735.html

Redesigning PH Agriculture – Science-Wise, Ilocano-Wiser!

You are looking at The Bridge to Prosperity found in Asingan, Pangasinan – Ilocano-wise. 

How do you like it: That your Secretary of Agriculture, William Dar/Manong Willie, is an agriculturist and Ilocano? That your science writer, Frank A Hilario, is an agriculturist and Ilocano? That the Ilocanos are known to be industrious and frugal? I love it! Except:

We Ilocanos are not frugal in farming. We Ilocanos have to be taught what we already know!

To do that, for my hometown of Asingan, Pangasinan, I have been thinking of an agri-tourism program with our Nagkaisa Multipurpose Cooperative’s 4.2 hectares of land down the Sinapog Bridge (beautiful scene above). Under the bridge, Nagkaisa has authority over those hectares. The other day, I discussed with Nagkaisa Chair Roger Daranciang my proposal for a “Farmer-Friendly Agriculture, Ilocano-Wise” techno-demo program involving Asingan’s 21 barangays.

When you find the formula for prosperity, please multiply it!

Note the name of the program: “Farmer-Friendly Agriculture” – if your agriculture is not a farmer’s friend, it is a farmer’s fiend.

Note that in the image above, at the right of The Bridge to Prosperity, you can see this enumeration:

Scientific
Productive
Economical
Healthy
Biological
Acceptable
Enriching.

Those 7 adjectives I derive from my decades of in-field and off-field professional learning of agriculture, including the System of Rice Intensification, SRI, originated by Fr Henri de Laulanie, SJ, who was assigned in Madagascar and described as a “visionary realist[1].”

Yes, our new PH Agriculture must be visionary and realistic!

Visionary: You dream of a coming common prosperity for all who pass by the bridge of life.

Realistic: Your feet are planted firmly on the ground, as well as on the bridge. Such prosperity will be brought about by following the precepts of the 7 virtues of FFA.

Scientific means that its claims are accurate. For instance, square planting with single seedlings at the corners gives maximum space for each seedling to grow its maximum number of tillers.

Productive means since it grows the maximum number of tillers, each hill produces maximum yield.

Economical means the farmer spends the least amount of money in seeds, cultivation, weed control, pest control, irrigation, harvesting, drying and selling his palay.

Healthy means the rice grains produced are free of residues of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides.

Ecological means FFA is engaged in a mixture of crop species to insure a natural balance of insects and other organisms that can cause infestation or disease, so there is no need for pesticides.

Acceptable means the community approves of the system of growing your crop because it does not harm the environment in any way.

Enriching means the farmers will become richer and richer. How? We will follow the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT’s strategy of Inclusive Market-Oriented Development, IMOD, adopted when Manong Willie was ICRISAT Director General. Via IMOD, the cooperative assists farmers in producing, processing and marketing their produce, to optimize expenses and maximize incomes. Consistently.

If you make the farmers richer, you will make the whole country happier!@517

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[1] http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/aboutsri/origin/index.html

News On New PH Agriculture – William Dar Optimist, Rene Ofreneo Pessimist!

Rene E Ofreneo writes “Dar’s ‘Leveling Up’ Vision: Will It Work?” in the 20 February 2020 issue of Business Mirror, a total of 1,032 words including title[1]. And it’s not pleasant. I am The Wizard Of Os, yes? I can see Manong Rene:

Sees the Obstacles
Sees Not the Opportunities
Sees Not the Options
Sees Not the Outputs
Sees Not the Outcomes!

How did my favorite British wit Oscar Wilde put it again?

Between the optimist and the pessimist
The difference is droll.
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist the hole!

With that column at the Business Mirror, it turns out Manong Willie is the Optimist and Manong Rene is the Pessimist!

When William Dar/Manong Willie became PH Secretary of Agriculture, he came out with his “New Thinking for Agriculture” with “The Eight Paradigms” to give it flesh – all for “leveling up” PH agriculture.

Manong Rene says:

(William) Dar blames the terrible collapse of agriculture to the failure of the average Filipino small farmer “to access low cost finance for inputs”, “limited links to the value chain and retail markets”, and “no access to better inputs and modern technologies”.

Not quite, Manong Rene. I should know the thinking of Manong Willie since I was an international consulting writer for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India, when he was the Director General – I wrote for ICRISAT from January 2007 to December 2014. The ICRISAT slogan was “Science with a human face.” In terms of science background, Manong Willie has a PhD in Horticulture from UP Los Baños. In terms of science management in the Philippines, he was Director of the Bureau of Agricultural Research, and Director General of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic & Natural Resources Research & Development. He was DG of ICRISAT from January 2000 to December 2014, or 15 years.

Manong Willie is bringing science to the people for the people.

Manong Rene, if you did not know, led by Manong Willie, our Department of Agriculture, DA, has adopted the slogan “Masaganang Ani At Mataas Na Kita” (Plenteous Harvest, Bounteous Income, my translation). Roughly, DA’s much harvest along with much income translates to ICRISAT’s science with a human face. If anything, now the DA identifies 100% with the poor – the DA head was born poor, and his family could not afford to send him to high school. It was an uncle who saved him from ignorance – education should always lead us out of ignorance.

Manong Willie looks at continuing farmer poverty as a failure in the paradigm of inclusive growth, which is that of the World Bank (and therefore our economic planners), instead of inclusive market-oriented development of ICRISAT (and therefore that of our Manong Willie).

Between inclusive growth and inclusive development, the difference is gross: In Growth we continue to have the poor; in Market-Oriented Development, the poor properly share in the values added along the value chain from seed to spoon. If Manong Rene does not know that, poor Manong Rene!@517

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[1] https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/02/20/dars-leveling-up-vision-will-it-work/?fbclid=IwAR1Y2qGyogPVSgFrNDkNTak4Ybz8chakBnxhtJqZ9sZIzIAqWuhQ6LUPBlg

KAYA As New PH Agriculture Youth Program – This Is A Job For Superboys!

Are we in the Digital Age or not? Towards the end of last month, Roi Anthoni Lomotan tells us that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie discussed the Department of Agriculture, DA’s program to attract the youth to engage themselves in the business of farming. Indeed, the DA has 3 programs for them: Agribusiness Incubation; Kapital Access for Young Agripreneurs, KAYA; and the AgrinegosyoLoan Program – setting aside P2.5 Billion meant to be cash grants.

Now, the news Mr Lomotan reported happened last month yet, during a forum held at the Negros Oriental Convention Center on 28 January 2020 (PIA[1]); his report is dated 11 February 2020, or 2 weeks late! In these digital times, I can only explain this news delay as lack of interest. Kaya; kaya lang, hindi kinaya. Has the ability, but sorry, did not bother.

From his Facebook page, I learn that Mr Lomotan is a young man. The above tells me that the youth have notsensed by themselves the Opportunitiesin Agriculture and only seen the Obstacles, and so I am not surprised that they have not ventured into agribusiness of one kind or another.

Yes, Mr Lomotan says:

The country’s agriculture chief explained that the department is trying to imitate (Silicon) Valley’s way of nurturing innovative individuals by providing a cash grant (each) amounting to P500,000 to individuals who can present ideas or proposals that can boost the advancement of (the) agribusiness industry under its agribusiness incubation program.

We learn that thatP500,000 is a grant; it is free. KAYA and Agrinegosyo are 2 credit programs with zero interest rates and payable in 5 years. Under KAYA, anyone 18 to 30 years old can apply for as much as P500,000 to start an agribusiness. Aside from the loan, s/he will receive “mentoring support from schools, universities, or successful agripreneurs.” Under Agrinegosyo, s/he can borrow between P300,000 and P15 million! These loan programs are implemented by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, an agency of the DA, as well as other partner lending institutions.

Now, Mr Lomotan says:

A report from DA’s website said that individuals who want to apply for KAYA must submit an extensive business proposal for review and assessment from the department.

On the surface, I note: “extensive business proposal.” HINDI KAYA! Not able. This senior citizen, at 79, himself sees the above as an Obstacle: Why because a young wo/man cannot be reasonably expected to prepare an “extensive business proposal.”

Ah, but Mr Lomotan says, “(The youth) will also receive mentoring support from schools, universities, or successful entrepreneurs.” So, I suppose the mentoring starts immediately – when a young fellow has a vague idea of an agribusiness venture, s/he informs a KAYA cooperating school, university or agripreneur, and they discuss and work on it until that business proposal is done.

And so this senior must salute our country’s DA in also attending to the minds and abilities of the Filipino youth in advancing PH agriculture at this juncture in our history as a nation.@517

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[1] https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1034359?fbclid=IwAR3Bo3iM8oi105wKTX3vNImEbNtUrNrKu-nNxllvoB5MbF-XhvGYFtXMJ0E