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