Daniel Padilla of Esquire Philippines writes that the reason my country remains Asia’s top rice importer (image from youtube.com) – it lacks what other rice-exporting countries have: “lots of land and river deltas suitable for farming.”
Mr Padilla is
quoting from “Why Does the Philippines Import Rice?” an IRRI book published 2004
and edited by David Dawe, Piedad F. Moya,
and Cheryll B. Casiwan. (esquiremag.ph) Their answer: “Geography.” What? “The Philippines
imports rice because it is a nation of islands without any major river deltas
like those in Thailand and Vietnam.”
I’m a pure-blooded
Filipino, farmer’s son and UP Los Baños graduate, and I emphatically do not
agree with such conclusion. I believe the Philippines imports rice because our
farmers are poor farmers – because of technology!
Yes, we Filipinos
grow rice almost exactly like Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar –
following steps more-or-less approved by IRRI – following Chemical Agriculture (CA). The lesson
that my country refuses to learn is that the Philippines should change its rice
culture from the expensive CA to the inexpensive but even-more-productive Regenerative Agriculture (RA).
Under RA, there
are no expensive chemicals or pesticides used – and yet yields are quite high. That’s
because the rice and other crops grow as they would in a field naturally
enriched by allowing crop refuse and weeds to contribute their natural richness
to the soil.
No, the reason why
the Filipinos import rice is not because of corruption, incompetence, bad
politicians, or laziness. It is because of poor thinking!
I now dare IRRI to
disprove the claim, via the results of its own experiments, that any of the
following 13 practices of RA is productive and richly-rewarding to the farmer:
(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.
If our farmers
practiced RA, they would produce rice more than our domestic needs, even for
export. And: as a side-effect of RA, little or no greenhouse gases that gather
up there and contribute to Climate Change!
Mr Padilla writes:
“Is there any way to lessen dependence on imports
without further raising prices and harming poor consumers?” the book asks. “One
possibility is reduced population growth, but this debate centers on issues
larger than rice self-sufficiency. The best way to sustainably increase
production is to invest in agricultural research and transportation
infrastructure, thereby providing farmers with more and better options in both
production and marketing.
“However, the fundamental factors behind Philippine
rice imports – relatively small amounts of land and a lack of large river
deltas – can’t be changed. In trying to achieve self-sufficiency, the
Philippines is fighting a battle against nature that its exporting neighbors
are spared.”
This Filipino begs
to disagree! It’s not lack of large river deltas – it’s poor technology! I dare
IRRI and UPLB experts to conduct experiment with RA, and I’m sure they’ll
change their minds!@517
No comments:
Post a Comment