Interestingly, Inquirer.Opinion has written an editorial about “Championing Nutrition For Kids And Barriers To Productivity.” No, Inquirer does not insinuate that nutrition in the family and productivity of the father are directly related; I am the one saying that if the farmer is not championing nutrition for his children, he is also not championing productivity for his farm.

Are most Filipino farmers come-what-may farmers, and that explains low productivity in the farms? I believe not – they just don’t know how. “Dida ammo ti pammalpalatpatanda gapu’t awan met mangibaga kaniada!” (“They don’t know technical and/or practical ways by which they can overcome their problems of production and profit because nobody is telling them!”) No, not any of those involved in the Department of Agriculture (DA), because the DA is less interested in farmers who are profit-oriented, and more interested in production-oriented farmers. Yields, yields, yields – not gains, gains, gains!

Says the Inquirer further:

“If the government truly wants to attain economic development, it must first help the poorest to overcome barriers to productivity. And breaking generational poverty begins with ensuring that poor Filipino children get the necessary nutritional support to help in their mental and physical development so they can grow to be productive members of society.”

I agree with the Inquirer there, and now I must insist that farming must stop practicing Chemical Agriculture (CA) and start practicing Regenerative Agriculture (RA). With RA, they will gain in their farming much more, as the fertilizers and pesticides in CA are very expensive – there are no chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides involved in RA.

In RA, the simple rule is, as I see it:

Very Low Costs equals Very High Returns: VLC = VHR.

Am I sure about VLC = VHR? Yes, I have been writing about low-cost farming in the last 5; see my article “Appreciating Organic Farming” (Agriculture Magazine, 03 Oct 2019). I say, “RA food is good food!”@517

 

From a Facebook post from Inquirer “Opinion” (Editorial: “Championing Nutrition For Kids”

“If the government truly wants to attain economic development, it must first help the poorest to overcome barriers to productivity. And breaking generational poverty begins with ensuring that poor Filipino children get the necessary nutritional support to help in their mental and physical development so they can grow to be productive members of society.”

Inquirer equates, by insinuation, and I agree, that barriers to productivity among the poor farmer families must be overcome: poverty and poor nutrition.

“Hunger and malnutrition among Filipino children continue to be prevalent, not so much due to a lack of an institutional framework, but more because of inconsistent implementation of programs meant to address the problem.

Above:

“If the government truly wants to attain economic development, it must first help the poorest overcome barriers to productivity. And breaking generational poverty begins with ensuring that poor Filipino children get the necessary nutritional support to help in their mental and physical development so they can grow to be productive members of society.”