In My Dear Philippines, There Is No Shortage Of Food – Only Shortage Of Thinking About Filipino Farming And Farmers!

Perspective: How high is the PH Secretary of Agriculture perched on his pedestal that he cannot see down there?

Francis Tiu Laurel Jr: “There is no shortage of food.”
Juan De La Cruz: “Yes, but there is shortage of money to buy food!”

Or, how limited is Sec Laurel Jr’s view that he cannot see far from where he sits?

Top image is the one shared on Facebook by friend Francisco Ramos on April 1 – April Fools’ Day. Who is/are the fool/s here?

There Is No Shortage Of Food. No, but there is shortage of money to buy  food! Perspective. (bottom image from The New Humanitarian, thenewhumanitarian.org)

Sec Laurel Jr  does not know that there are about 3 million Filipino farmers who are poor?

Now, how do we make farmers rich or, at least, not poor?

As an agriculture graduate (UPLB 1965), this is what I know about PH Agriculture – Farmers are using Chemical Agriculture (CA) as their mode of production. CA is very expensive; thus, 1 bag of urea (nitrogen fertilizer) costs P1,700. Following DA guidelines, a farmer applies a minimum 6 bags per hectare; that’s P10,200. Where is the poor farmer going to get that much money? From the local dealer, Chinese or Filipino: He borrows “Five-Six” – borrows 5 and pays back 6 – 20%. So, add that 20% to P10,200 – that’s what the farmer pays within 2 or 3 months. No wonder we have millions of poor farmers!

So, how do you solve the problem of poverty of Filipino farmers?

(1) Arithmetic – One way is to subsidize the farmers’ fertilizer costs. (Never mind if the rest of the richer Filipino taxpayers get a little poorer!)

(2) Change “Chemical Agriculture” to “Regenerative Agriculture” (RA) – There are 13 methods of RA that the farmer can choose from to reduce his expenses from thousands of pesos to only hundreds! The RA methods 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.

Yes, I know it’s not that easy shifting from the way of chemicals to natural ways, but it has to be done. Or the poverty of farmers will stay. And Climate Change will continue to wreak havoc not only on our farms but also in our communities and in our houses.

Yes, there is an added benefit when we shift from CA to RA – Climate Change will weaken. Remember: From chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides come the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that accumulate high up in the Earth’s atmosphere, and the whole Earth becomes a Greenhouse keeping the heat down here – yes, it’s the GHGs that heat up the Earth, as they prevent Earth’s heat from dissipating into the unknown but instead reflect them back to Earth!

I am asking the highly seated PH Sec of Agriculture to reflect on all of the above!@517

Encouraging Writers Instead Of Critics! Encouraging Different Thinking Instead Of Monopoly Thinking. Instead, Why The 1st UPLB Makiling National Writers Workshop On Art & Cultural Criticism – Not Creative Writing?

UP Los Baños starting the writers early? Yes, but on literary criticism, not creativity!

This is surprising to me, an 85-year old writer of my own free will, an alumnus of UPLB (BSA major in Ag Edu, 1965; Civil Service Professional, 1964) – and self-taught writer, editor, desktop publisher, and blogger.

I wonder: “Isn’t UP Los Baños asking too much from the young would-be writers?” Or, do they want the younger generation to find fault with the current generation, especially in government?

The news says on Facebook:

The Department of Humanities of the College of Arts and Sciences, UP Los Baños, in partnership with the Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (UPLB OICA), is inviting young scholars to apply for fellowship to the first MAKILING NATIONAL WRITERS WORKSHOP ON ART AND CULTURAL CRITICISM.

No, not “National Writers Workshop On The Art Of Writing.” UPLB is more interested in your criticism, less on your talent for writing!

The first national workshop from Laguna province, the Makiling Workshop is open to young writers, at least 21 years of age, interested in the practice of art and cultural criticism.

Very dangerous! I must say.

Instead of exploring the minds of students for social criticism, UPLB should be exploring the multiple intelligences (MI) of their students even as they themselves explore theirs!

From the mind of Harvard psychology professor Howard Gardner, these 10 MI:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”),
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH,
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”),
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”),
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”),
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”),
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”),
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”),
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”), and
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

Why did I add “Creative Intelligence” to Gardner’s list? Because that’s where I’m smart!

“Where am I smart?” could/should be the first area of discovery of any student anywhere. If teachers are looking to encourage their students, they should help them look for their innate intelligences.

And you know what? That day is coming up! National Today writes about “National Encourage A Young Writer Day” – that day is April 10, Thursday, 1 week from now.

Allow the students, would-be writers and not, to explore their own innate individual intelligence and write about it first. Who would not be excited to do that?!

The Naturalist-leaning student would be trying to understand living things.

The Bodily-Kinesthetic student would be trying to improve her/his body moves as if in preparation for an athletic meet.

The Linguistic student would discover how s/he is good in expressing her/himself.

The Logical-Mathematical student would re-discover her/his love for quantifying things and arguing about them.

The Intrapersonal student would go on and discover her/his talent by oneself.

The Interpersonal student would go on and discover that s/he is good at talking to people and working with them.

Etcetera.

UPLB College of Arts and Sciences, what is there to lose? Your innocence!@517

 

A New SEARCA Director Has Been Appointed – Mercedita A Sombilla –Expect Now Policy Shifts From “Business As Usual” To Fast-Tracking “Transformational Development.” I say, “You’re Welcome, Ma’am!”

Exciting news from SEARCA! Leah Lyn Domingo writes about it: “Eminent Economist Appointed 12th SEARCA Director, First Woman To Lead The Center,” 01 April 2025, SEARCA, searca.org): Mercedita A. Sombilla. No joke! I take note of the sex, but I take more note of this:

As (formerly) Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Agriculture and a long-standing policy advocate at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), where she also served as Undersecretary, Dr Sombilla has long championed policy reforms aimed at strengthening agricultural productivity, food security, and rural development.

I especially note her interests in (1) “agricultural productivity,” (2) “food security,” and (3) “rural development” – all along “fast-tracking transformational development.” Can’t wait!

Those new foci of SEARCA make me glad, as my own origins are in the ricelands of Asingan, Pangasinan, not known for either (1), (2) or (3).

If the SEARCA heads and scientists will soon focus on those 3 concerns, with Dr Sombilla’s leadership, Southeast Asia should become a center for agricultural development.

Says Ms Leah: “Her appointment follows a distinguished career marked by thought leadership and significant contributions to agricultural economics, public policy, and regional development.”

A remarkable lady, this gentleman says.

Ms Leah says more on Dr Sombilla:

“Her research(es) on the complexities of agricultural production, marketing, trade, and prices have informed major initiatives on agricultural transformation across Southeast Asia and South Asia, with expertise that bridges macroeconomic insight, climate-smart agriculture, and grassroots empowerment.”

I an agriculturist of UP Los Baños (1965); with my personal standards for public service, am impressed more and more by Dr Sombilla.

“Her research (initiatives) on the complexities of agricultural production, marketing, trade, and prices (have) informed major initiatives on agricultural transformation across Southeast Asia and South Asia, with expertise that bridges macroeconomic insight, climate-smart agriculture, and grassroots empowerment.” A remarkable lady of science! I say.

Not that I have been looking for a special lady of science, but I have been interested in “climate-smart agriculture” – now I say:

“If we do not outsmart Climate Change, it will outsmart us all!”

Ms Leah says:

“She underscored ‘the need to shift from business-as-usual development to transformational development’ and forward-looking policies that fast-track modernization, drive innovation, strengthen capacity-building, and nurture inclusivity in Southeast Asia.”

Dr Sombilla notes the need for SEARCA to transform itself somehow (into) a knowledge center of Southeast Asia. Ms Leah quotes her as saying:

"Let's make SEARCA the go-to center for policy actions and a champion for knowledge and innovation that empower agricultural stakeholders in the region now and in the future."

Wow! Now I’m thinking Dr Sombilla creating a knowledge base that I shall call here “SEARCA InfoLink”  – initially, an Internet library of what SEARCA people have come up with in terms of published papers and articles – with proper and adequate quick-search index entries.

Online, this SEARCA knowledge base will feature search entries for data & info from out there in the Internet world – the faster, the better!@517