In PH, After The Successful “People Power Revolution” Of February 1986, We Need A “Science Power Revolution”!

A million people walking the long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) that February week in 1986 which ended with the flight of the entire Ferdinand Marcos (FM) family out of the Philippines and terminated the Marcos dictatorship – we may need that EDSA March again, but this time to drive out poverty and inequality in these islands and terminate the dictatorship of Chemical Agriculture (CA).

Are you listening?

This time, we need a Science Power Revolution! (SPR). For what? To solve the problem of Farmer Poverty and at the same time to combat Climate Change! So, I was only a participant in the People Power Revolution of EDSA; this time, I am the instigator for and rabble rouser of an anti-poverty movement.

And the weapons for this modern science revolution have been circulating around the world since time immemorial – they are collectively called “Regenerative Agriculture” (RA). (image from brynmawr.edu)

The 13 RA weapons are:

(1) Cover Cropping, (2) Crop Rotation, (3) Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry), (4) Green Manuring, (5) Intercropping, (6) Multiple Cropping, (7) No-Till Farming, (8) Organic Fertilization, (9) Ratooning, (10) Rotational Grazing, (11) “Three Sisters” Planting, (12) Trap Cropping, and (13) Trash Mulching.

These RA practices are perfect for poor farmers and poor soils! Their advantages are as follows:

1.    They do not require expensive fertilizers. No fertilizer is necessary for 12 of the practices. But if the farmer wishes, S/He can apply organic fertilizers that which S/He can prepare personally.

2.    None of the practices is complicated. A demo of all the methods in one location can be recorded in electronic media for everyone, available via the Internet anytime of day or night anywhere in the Philippines.

3.    Capital for farming is not a problem – given the simplicity of the farming techniques espoused and materials used.

4.    An electronic library of the steps for each practice, including anticipated results, and answers to anticipated questions, can be constructed and made available anywhere in the Philippines – free!

No, there is no such library in the world, electronic or otherwise – and no book either. None yet. (I writer may be encouraged to author that book myself – I just need a little funding.)

How will the Science Power Revolution solve the problem of poverty? Basic economics:

Each and everyone of the RA practices requires Minimal Inputs and generates Maximal Outputs. The farmer is a winner.

Note – The common characteristics of the RA practices listed above are as follows:

1.    No chemical fertilizers necessary, absolutely! No chemical pesticides required either. Therefore, no greenhouse gases generated. And therefore, zero contribution of farming to Climate Change.

2.    Many of the farm practices in the above list are already familiar to old farmers, so that unfamiliarity should not be a hindrance to adoption. Also,

3.    the Department of Agriculture can promote the RA practices indirectly via farmer cooperatives and Municipal Agriculturists in location.

The 13 RA practices can then turn into Weapons of War against both Farmer Poverty and Climate Change!@517