Jose Rizal, The Unknown Hero Of Integrated Development Program In Agriculture, Ecology & Public Health

Today is 30 December, the date of the Spanish execution by firing squad of PH’s now national Hero Jose Rizal – I celebrate Rizal’s life, not his death. If Filipino farmers had trained under “Agriculturist Rizal” in the 19^th century, the Philippines would now be #1 in Asia in Conservation or Regenerative Agriculture! (image from Flicker, flickr.com)

I am reading my friend Rudy A Fernandez’s 16-year old writeup, “Little Known Facts On Rizal As An Agriculturist” (19 June 2008, PhilStar, philstar.com), and I am seeing the very first Filipino conservation agriculturist – and facets of our national Hero Jose Rizal unknown to millions of Filipinos.

Rizal was exiled to Dapitan, Zamboanga in 1896. From then on, he led his life – such as he turned himself into a farmer with conservation as paramount in his mind – unlike our farmers today who have only profits in mind. Rizal’s profits were mostly knowledge – earning the most from crops by cultivating them the healthiest & most profitable ways combined.

He had obtained a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from the Ateneo Municipal (now Ateneo University), so I wonder how much Ateneo’s “Agriculture” at that time differ from UP Los Baños’ ”Agriculture”, with which I graduated. UP Los Baños’ agriculture does not teach conservation that much – only in passing! I’m not surprised. What universities of agriculture all over the world teach is Chemical Agriculture.

In many of the countries today, farmers apply chemical fertilizers to supply the food their crops do not get from the field, and chemical pesticides to protect their crops from pests.

Rizal was a multi-faceted man. He practiced development communication, gathering vital information and sharing them with farmers so they could improve their productivity. At one time, he sold abaca fiber in Manila to study its prices.

Rizal also held a degree in Land Surveying, which helped him understand agricultural land use.

These are among the lesser-known facets of Rizal’s brief but accomplished life that makes his example relevant even today.

Jose Protasio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba (now a city) in Laguna on 19 June 1861. (Nota Bene: I rearranged from the well-known “Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado” because the family was known as “Mercado” before it changed its last name to “Rizal” legally.)

During the early part of his Dapitan exile, Rizal acquired land from the Spanish government for his farm activities. Not satisfied with that small farm, he bought 16 hectares more from various owners; that’s 17 ha more or less.

In just half a year, he had planted 5,000 pineapples and 1,400 coffee and 200 cacao trees. Later, he purchased more land, which he planted with corn and abaca.

I go back – “Under modern judgment, what (Rizal) did in Dapitan turned out to be practical expressions of integrated development programs in agriculture, ecology, and public health,” Mr Fernandez notes in his PhilStar article.

Now then, what happened to Rizal’s experiences in Dapitan?! Asking as a friend! As knowledge eye-opening as they were/are, we must know much more of them!@517

My Favorite Foreign Body ICRISAT Is Launching A Mutual Campaign For Regenerative Agriculture – What About My Favorite Local Organism Philippine Department Of Agriculture?

Welcome news: “Government Of Odisha And ICRISAT Launch A Compendium Of Regenerative Agriculture” (Facebook, published 15 Nov 2024, pressroom.icrisat.org). Hooray for Regenerative Agriculture!

First things first:

Who am I when it comes to Regenerative Agriculture?
Saturday, 28 December 2024; I googled for
"Frank A Hilario" "regenerative agriculture"
and got 2,450 results!

Repetitious, consistent. That tells me I am the “21^st Century Journalist-Wolf Singularly Crying In The Wilderness for Regenerative Agriculture”!

Singularly crying for Regenerative Agriculture (RA)? No Sir, no ma’am! I am not the one and only – there’s Robert Rodale, American; there’s Charles Massy, Australian – but they are not in media.

I am in fact a self-annointed preacher for RA since 2019, 6 years now. See my article, “Appreciating Organic Farming,” 03 Oct 2019, Agriculture, agriculture.com.ph.

“Regenerative Agriculture Can Reverse Climate Change!” – Rodale Institute (rodaleinstitute.org), American Organic Farmer. “We Can Do It By Thinking Intelligently, First” – Frank A Hilario, Filipino Agriculturist.

The current news is, by Jemima Mandapati (icrisat, oar.icrisat.org):

A ‘Compendium of Regenerative Agriculture’ developed by ICRISAT in partnership with the Government of Odisha was launched on 10 November 2024 during the International Symposium on “Shree Anna (Global Millets) and Forgotten Foods” held in Bhubaneshwar.

This resource, a product of ICRISAT’s innovation project on carbon credits supported by the Department of Agriculture and Farmer's Empowerment, Government of Odisha, aligns with the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology and serves as a roadmap for sustainable agricultural transformation.

Dr Padhee said:

This compendium, developed through our partnership with ICRISAT, is an essential tool for scaling regenerative agriculture practices tailored to the local context, especially for key crops such as millets, pulses, and oilseeds. This initiative will support extension agencies, farmers, and policy planners in fostering sustainable agricultural practices at scale.

The news said:

The publication highlights five key principles of regenerative agriculture: minimizing soil disturbance, maximizing crop diversity, maintaining soil cover, keeping living roots year-round, and integrating livestock. … By providing a holistic view of these practices, the compendium underscores the importance of moving beyond traditional farming techniques to cultivate healthier ecosystems.

“The Government of Odisha's commitment to regenerative agriculture is a decisive step toward a resilient and sustainable future – one that nurtures farmers' livelihoods, restores ecosystems, and strengthens communities,” said Dr Stanford Blade, Director General-Interim and Deputy Director General-Research, ICRISAT.

Over 400 participants, including representatives from FAO, WFP, CGIAR, ICAR, and Farmer Producer Organizations, attended the event in Odisha.

The whole point of all of the above is that Regenerative Agriculture is “one that nurtures farmers’ livelihoods, restores ecosystems, and strengthens communities.” What more could you ask for?!

But we have problems with RA, and these are (22 March 2022, “The Pros And Cons Of Regenerative Agriculture,” AMTEC Group, amtec-group.com):

(1) Time-consuming

(2) Difficult to do on a large scale

(3) Takes careful planning and organisation.

My reply to all the three negatives from the AMTEC Group is this: Those are not inherent to Regenerative Agriculture. Those can all be taken care of by good management!@517

FORIners, Happy Golden Anniversary to our beloved FORI, now the ERDB! & To Dr Filiberto S Pollisco, Founding Director Of FORI , You Proved To Be A Guardian Angel 3 Times!

This is Frank A Hilario’s official sharing, via Facebook, on the 50^th founding of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), now the Ecosystem Research & Development Bureau (ERDB), in College, Laguna – starring Dr Filiberto Saavadra Pollisco, Founding Director of FORI, FORI was born on the 18^th of December, 50 years ago.

Pete Bueno recruited me as Information Officer early 1975.– many thanks, Pete! After that, I slowly and determinedly fathered the 3 FORI publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. There was drama with those publications, if only you knew!

Canopy – monthly newsletter. In the absence of writers of FORI, first I wrote almost all the contents! How did I do it? Many times, I rewrote the Introduction and/or Discussions of technical papers of FORI people, with them as authors.

Sylvatrop – quarterly forestry research journal. The contents had to be unpublished reports of forestry researches. As the first issue was being planned, a paper from the University of Ibadan was submitted by Professor Ephraim Enabor of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.

Objection to the inclusion of the Enabor paper by the FORI Asst Director, Martin Reyes, who with pride wanted all papers in the maiden issue of Sylvatrop to be authored by those affiliated with FORI. I did not agree, but did not say so loudly – instead, I went to see Dr Pollisco personally, and argued that if we published Enabor’s paper in the maiden issue of Sylvatrop, it will add prestige to our journal, because Enabor was already a published author. Dr Pollisco said, “Publish.” When Mr Reyes learned of it, he called me to his office and, banging his fist on his table, shouted at me: “Why did you do this to me?!” Meaning I went over his head. I said nothing except, “Sorry.”

Sylvatrop – I published the Enabor paper in the maiden issue of Sylvatrop. (Mr Reyes, I understand, suffered a heart attack later, related or not related to his objection to Enabor and my going over his authority as Chair, Board of Editors of Sylvatrop.) Question – “In the first place, how did Enabor learn of Sylvatrop being published?”” Via Canopy – we distributed free copies to libraries in forest-related universities & offices in the Philippines as well as abroad, where in one issue we announced that Sylvatrop was welcoming papers from FORI and FORI outsiders.

Habitat – Which I patterned after the US National Geographic. A lady, Sharon Codamon, submitted an article that fit the requirements of Habitat. However, a FORI lady with a PhD to her name, objected, saying in so many words that Ms Sharon’s paper was not up-to-standards. I disagreed without telling her, and again went to Dr Pollisco for advice, and he said, “Publish.” And so the paper was published in the first issue of Habitat.

Thank you Dr Pollisco. You were a beacon of light and guardian angel in the publications of FORI!!!@517