PH DA Serves Farmers Best – If Farmers Serve Themselves First By Clustering

On Facebook, I see the Department of Agriculture, DA, under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, is all over the Philippines offering all kinds of assistances to farmers.

In the DA press release (above), Manong Willie is saying, “Farm clustering needed to level up agri sector.” That makes much sense. In his “New Thinking For Agriculture,” one of the supporting 8 paradigms is #4, “Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms.”

Before this, I had no idea about "farm clustering" until late May when I read SEARCA Policy Paper 2020-2, “Agricultural Clusters Approach To Enhance Competitiveness Of Smallholder Farms In Southeast Asia” (see my 31 May 2020 essay “Beyond Survival Into Sustainability Of Farmers’ Rewards – Clustering In Agriculture 2020[1],” THiNK Journalism). So now Filipino farmers have a new lesson:

If you want to be helped big, first make yourself big!
In unity, there is a strength, farmers should also know.

Manong Willie is saying:

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will vigorously push for farm clustering and consolidation, being one of the key strategies to level up the Philippine agriculture sector. Cooperatives and associations must collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and (assistances) provided by the DA and other government agencies.

The Secretary of Agriculture is saying that farmer “cooperatives and associations must collectivize.” I am a founding member of the Nagkaisa Multi-Purpose Cooperative of my hometown Asingan in Pangasinan, so I know coops are on the roadmap to collective power. But I have always had a problem with farmer associations, as I know a great many of them are dictated upon by their leaders or a certain group within. Dictatorship on the proletariat.

Yes, farmers have to wake up to the need for economies of scale. Manong Willie says:

It is easier and more cost-efficient and effective for the DA to deal with organized farmers through their FCAs than individual farmers, as we provide them appropriate training and cutting-edge technologies, including farm inputs like seeds and fertilizers, and farm equipment and machinery.

FCAs is acronym for Farmers Cooperatives and Associations, which are the subject of the Secretary of Agriculture’s Administrative Order 09 dated 18 September 2019[2].

Thereafter, we will urge (the FCAs) to scale up by clustering and consolidating their farms to attain economies of scale.

Without any economies of scale, there will be no Mataas na Ani at Masaganang Kita, bounteous harvests and bountiful incomes.

Under farm clustering & consolidation, FCC, Manong Willie says:

We will offer clustered and consolidated farms (much) incentives on top of the regular technical and marketing (assistances) under our major commodity programs. Incentives will come in the form of farm machineries such as tractors, harvesters, mechanical dryers, and processing equipment and related infrastructure.

The DA will implement FCC for other commodities: banana, coconut, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables and high-value crops.

Now I’m thinking of reviving my 2014 policy proposal for Super Coops I submitted to Senator Cynthia Villar[3], now to be imbued with the DA 2020 super powers called Farm Clustering & Consolidation!@517

 

---

[1]https://ithinkjournalism.blogspot.com/2020/05/beyond-survival-into-sustainability-of.html
[2]https://www.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ao09_s2019.pdf
[3]http://nagkaisa.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-super-coops-of-2014.html

Frontiers Is The World’s Super Publisher. It Is Also Super Slow!

PH agriculture needs researches done to generate new or improved technologies or systems of production, processing, even marketing. However, before they become publicly useful, the research results will have to be published, making technical publications so necessary.

Frontiers is a super publisher with 79 international journals (see my essay, “Calling For Open Science Revolution[1]!” (30 May 2020, THiNK Journalism). But it is super slow when publishing!

In the Facebook image above, it will take forever before the research manuscripts are ready for publishing.

It breaks my heart that Frontiers needs 90 days to review a paper, then decide whether to publish it or not!

If I were the Editor In Chief of a journal, the simultaneous review of 10 manuscripts would have taken just 10 days, authors’ revisions another 5 days, and the issue would have come off the press on the 20^th day, via print-on-demand publishing.

Gearoid O Faolean, Yasmin Dahesh & Marieke Heineke explain the 90-day Frontiers’ review process; I count 8 steps:

(1)   Submission of manuscript.

You register an account at Frontiers and submit your manuscript online, with supporting materials.

(2)   Initial Validation.

Frontiers does a range of checks, including confirming that your study had ethical approval and copyright permissions.

(3)   Editor appointed.

A handling editor is appointed. For any concerns about your paper, s/he contacts the editorial office.

(4)   Reviewers appointed.

If the editor thinks your paper is ready for review, reviewers are invited.

(5)   Feedback to author

The reviewers read and give feedback to you as author.

(6)   Interactive review

In a Frontiers’ online review forum, you, reviewers and editors collaborate to improve the manuscript.

(7)   Author response

You are then prompted to address all or any specific comments raised.

(8)   Final checks

In the ‘Final Validation’ stage, your paper is reviewed to see if the standards have been met, including absence of conflicts of interest. Your manuscript is then accepted.

Frank A Hilario, Editor:

Assigning 3 days each of the 8 steps listed, the review period should only be 24 days!

I now suspect how the Frontiers staff handle the papers – they print out everything and do their review on paper! My clue is this line:

(After approval), our colleagues in the production team will start typesetting your manuscript.

Typesetting means the manuscript will be worked upon again & again: typed, proofread, text-formatted, page-layouted, copyread, then sent to press. My God, I suppose the originals of those manuscripts were submitted as soft copies, and therefore should have been reviewed and edited onscreen and not on paper, after which desktop publishing, DTP, is done, via software, no retyping necessary, and then off to press.

What all that tells me is the Frontiers has not maximized the powers of the Digital Age! I am the Editor In Chief who himself did the DTP with the Philippine Journal of Crop Science, each issue taking about 30 days, and made it ISI. (See superimposed image above.)

(Frontiers, need a DTP demonstration by an Editor In Chief? Email me: frankahilario@gmail.com. No initial charge.)@517

---

[1]https://ithinkjournalism.blogspot.com/2020/05/calling-for-open-science-revolution.html

 

Bongbong Marcos Supports Agriculture, Not Bad! Ngem Masapulna Ti Nalaing Nga Editor

Following the link in the Facebook sharing image above, it seems Senator Bongbong has not dug deeper into agriculture. I can also see that he needs a good communicator as a consultant, preferably someone who knows agriculture. Not only writing his lines but editing him. And it can be a work from home, WFH, arrangement. 

Why am I saying all that? This text from his YouTube presentation tells me!

BBM Vlog #113: Food Security l Bongbong Marcos[1]:

Ang katiyakang may sapat na pagkain ang mga mamayan ay napakahalaga sa gitna ng anumang sakuna. Huwag nating isapalaran ito bagkus ay bigyan ng sapat na ayuda ang sektor ng agrikultura. Huwag nating panghinayangan ang mga gagastusin dahil ito rin naman ang pundasyon ng isang matatag na ekonomiya – ang masigla at nakakakain na manggagawang Pilipino. Lagi nating tatandaan na ang trabaho ng gobyerno ay tumulong sa mamamyan at hindi ang kumita.

So, did you notice the mistake? Look at the above image again; it says, “Food Security Sa Panahon Ng Krisis.” (My translation – “Food Security In A Time Of Crisis.”) So why is the word used “sakuna” (meaning “accident”) and not “krisis” (meaning “crisis”)? Editorial carelessness. Masapul mo ti nalaing nga editor, Apo Bongbong. (editing image from Jyssica Schwartz[2])

Here is my free Ilocano translation:

No umanay a kanen ti pagilian ti pagsasaritaan, napateg daytoy no adda krisis. Saan nga mabalin nga baybay-an daytoy no di ket suportarantayo iti agrikultura. Saan tayo nga agleddaang ti gastos gapu ta daytoy ti paggappuan ti natibker nga ekonomiya – nasaranta ken adda kanen dagiti trabahador nga Pilipino. Saan nga liplipatan nga iti trabaho iti gobierno ket tumulong kadagiti umili nga saan nga agtubo.

And here is my free English translation:

The certainty that there is enough food for the citizens is very important in the midst of any crisis. Let us not play games with this, instead give adequate support to the agricultural sector. Let us not regret any expenses because this is the foundation of a stable economy – a vibrant Filipino workforce with sufficient food. Let us remember always that the duty of the government is to support the people and not to earn money.

Actually, there are 2 other mistakes in the Tagalog text: mamayan and mamamyan. Should be mamamayan, citizens. Really now, I’m volunteering to be a WFH editor for Bongbong! (PM me for my email address.) After all, he may not have noticed this, but I have been writing favorably about his father Ferdinand “FM” Marcos – see for instance my latest essay, “Ferdinand “FM” Marcos – He Was Good And Bad; When He Was Good, He Was The Best![3]” (25 May 2020, i THiNK Journalism). 

So, Bongbong is promising to give adequate support to the agricultural sector. With more new or improved laws as necessary. Well, that is right down my alley! I have been blogging – unbelievable at it may seem – at least 300 essays since Ilocano William Dar/Manong Willie became Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2020. 

Ania ti maibagayo, Apo Bongbong?@517

 

---

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=vK1CXivoans&fbclid=IwAR210ikZ5PjJLA8wYiNxBf1txBC9PCygEO9zTGIn6pWEMZr6uU3eyLjvo_I

[2]https://jyssicaschwartz.com/2017/07/25/how-to-have-a-great-editorauthor-relationship/

[3]https://ithinkjournalism.blogspot.com/2020/05/ferdinand-fm-marcos-he-was-good-and-bad.html

Calling For A Digital Revolution In Learning! From Arts To Za

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto (left of image) and City Congressman Roman Romulo who is chair of the City Committee on Basic Education, want to digitize K-12 education in Pasig. 

Learning from the lockdown/pandemic, Mayor Sotto has officially announced that about 140,000 personal computers, PCs, will be distributed to students from Kinder to Senior High School (tablets) and to teachers (laptops). This is the latest from Sakto News written by Haya Benitez[1]; original in Tagalog; from which I’m translating freely.

Mayor Sotto is dead serious about this. And so is City Congressman Romulo (right of image), who says Pasig is now allocating P1 billion for the digitization project.

Aside from the digital gadgets, Mayor Sotto says his administration is now readying the setting up of Internet connections in all the city barangays for August 24.

City Counselor Corazon Raymundo, chair of the Committee on Education, says the Department of Education, DepEd, will be preparing the teaching modules for different subjects such as the worksheets and assignments.

Lady & gentlemen, all of that has given me a revolutionary idea; I hereby propose that:

Du30 commands all PH government
offices to go digital in operations!

Slowly but surely. Digital is extremely flexible – if the one handling it is extremely flexible in thinking. Flexible thinking here means able to shift from critical thinking to creative thinking at a moment’s notice.

Steve Jobs essentially invented the personal computer, PC, as we know it; then he invented the iPhone, and the digital industry has never been the same again (image from DigitalTonto[2]). Revolution!

You will now excuse me if I shift my focus to only the Department of Agriculture, DA, because I am the son of a farmer, an agriculturist, and a science writer.

I want all kinds of education, extension, immersion, learning, training, to occur digitally, whether basic, advanced, theoretical, or philosophical. If you can see, hear, or imagine it, it can be digitized!

So, what’s the difference between digitization of Education and digitization of Agriculture? Absolutely none!

Now, with digitization, it is time to correct the wrong notion of learning. What should be taught at any level is not what is there to learn but how to learn what one does not know, or has forgotten!

If education goes digital, can we sustain it? Oh yes, it’s many times cheaper than classroom education!

Oh yes, digital we can go from Agriculture to Zoology, from Arts to Zinnias, from Arroz caldo to Za (slang for pizza[3]).

For Agriculture, Super Coops will be completely digitized to handle all Farm Management services for all farmer members, from Cultivation to Commercialization of food products, including exports. With digitization, government and private interests will help fund the Super Coops and manage resources and equipment necessary for farm operations, from planting to harvesting to marketing. Digitization of Super Coops will help supply farmer members with technologies & systems. With pre-arranged market-to-consumer arrangements, digitization will cancel out middlemen and farmers can escape poverty once and for all!

Smart Education? Smart Agriculture!@517

---

[1]https://saktonews.com/news/140000-estudyante-sa-pasig-bibigyan-ng-tablet-kapag-online-ang-klase-sa-agosto-

[2]https://www.digitaltonto.com/2019/the-digital-revolution-is-ending-heres-what-you-need-to-do-now/

[3]https://www.thefreedictionary.com/za

Choosing For One’s Health: GMO Or Organic Farm Foods?

GMO Vs Organic Farming – Which is the healthier choice? 

GMO farming is a choice; so is organic farming. Now, how good are the GMO people in presenting which one produces the healthier food: GMO or organic?

The GMO proselytizers will have to try harder.

In his “Why GMO And Gene-Edited Biofortified Crops Weaken Case For Organic Agriculture[1]” in Genetic Literacy Project (29 May 2020):

Steven Cerier is actually misleadingthe reader.
The real issue is healthy vs unhealthy farm produce.

Thus, Mr Cerier says:

Organic food sales rose by 125.1% between 2009 and 2018… One of the major reasons for this stellar expansion is the misconception, propagated by the industry itself, that organic foods are healthier and more nutritious than conventionally grown foods.

To counter that claim, Mr Cerier says:

(Genetic engineering) is yielding a new lineup of GMO and gene-edited crops with nutrient content organic growers simply can’t replicate.

Now, note that Mr Cerier is equating “healthier” with “more or higher nutrient contents.” Something wrong!

Because Mr Cerier does not deny that in conventional/GMO farming, “Exposure to these (low-level pesticide-derived) toxins has been linked to brain and central nervous system disruption, infertility, cancer, and even changes to our DNA.”

Mr Cerier just quotes and leaves that alone!

He insists that the “literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventionally grown food.” He may be right when we are talking only of “more nutrients” – but we are talking here of more toxins in your GMO food because of chemical pesticides! (Food Wars image from YouTube[2])

He then quotes from the report of a study conducted by Stanford University in 2012:

Analyzing the data, the researchers found little significant difference in health benefits between organic and conventional foods. No consistent differences were seen in the vitamin content of organic products, and only one nutrient – phosphorus – was significantly higher in organic versus conventionally grown produce (and the researchers note that because few people have phosphorous deficiency, this has little clinical significance).

There is more to quote – but enough! The report talks only of differences in the contents of nutrients such as vitamins and phosphorus – and gingerly dismisses the pesticide residues in GMO foods.

While organic foods have fewer synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and are free of hormones and antibiotics, they don’t appear to have a nutritional advantage over their conventional counterparts.

What – organic foods have pesticides in them? Those are not organically grown!

There was no difference in protein or fat content between organic and conventional milk, though evidence from a limited number of studies suggested that organic milk may contain significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

I will simply repeat what I have been saying above:

It is not how much higher the nutrient contents of GMO foods are – it is that they are raised with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and of course the chemical fertilizers produce nitrates that pollute the waters and the pesticides that are sprayed pollute the foods we eat.

It’s time to unpollute our minds!@517

---

[1]https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2020/05/29/viewpoint-arrival-of-gmo-gene-edited-biofortified-crops-weakens-case-for-organic-agriculture/?fbclid=IwAR1hnoeLOIRaQHbwlcNVcAkftm4x-9IUv1DfsLxpaTsfp6-qWymcRYXOJD4

[2]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6si9c5hvSHE

UP College Of Education Student Council Blames The State, Not The Teachers. So, Let’s Slam The State!?

Above, “Do Not Blame The Teachers!” is the “Official Statement Regarding Senator Imee Marcos’ Insensitive Pronouncements Towards Teachers.” The UP Student Council is shouting:

Do not blame the Teachers for the failures of the State.
Do not blame the Teachers for the failures of the System.

The University of the Philippines Diliman College of Education Student Council vehemently condemns the insensitive pronouncements made by incumbent Senator Imee Marcos towards teachers during a Senate hearing on basic education in time of COVID-19 last 27 May 2020. The panel discussed possible learning continuity strategies that can be used to ensure quality education even in these trying times.

I will note only that the above quote is logical and not emotional.

The next paragraph is loaded:

According to the daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, students are falling behind in terms of life skills due to the difficulty of finding "truly committed" teachers. In addition, the Senator whose educational credentials are falsified also claimed that most of those who enter education did not have education as their first choice, and only chose the said path because it is the cheapest one available.

Nobody in that UP student council knows logical fallacies?! They argue but improperly; they resort to name-calling, thus: “daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.” What’s FM got to do with today’s education? Irrelevant & immaterial! (FM & Imee image from PhilStar.com[1])

“Students are falling behind in terms of life skills due to the difficulty of finding ‘truly committed’ teachers” – that is correct. Go find committed teachers!

“The Senator whose educational credentials are falsified” is again name-calling. Those who composed the UP College of Education Student Council’s statement did not properly discuss the statement they issued!

“(Senator Marcos) also claimed that most of those who enter education did not have education as their first choice, and only chose the said path because it is the cheapest one available.”

Miss Imee is absolutely correct! This is a teacher speaking.

(Senator) Marcos (should) use her position in the government to craft laws that would ensure better working conditions and professional support for teachers.

Finally, the UP Student Council is talking sense!

“The Council abhors these impetuous statements that belittle one of the professions that hones the future of the nation” – the UP Student Council conveniently forgets that Ms Imee is speaking in the halls of Congress during a session, and any negative statement should be welcome so that it can be countered or dealt with, with proper legislation.

The Council also disagrees that the lack of commitment among teachers is to blame for the students' supposed lowly competence when it comes to life skills such as leadership and resourcefulness.

I agree with Ms Imee – if teachers were committed, they would find ways and means to teach leadership and resourcefulness even starting in Grade One! Let me repeat – this is a teacher speaking, Civil Service Professional level, passing the very first Teacher’s Exam in 1964.

The teachers are to blame – mostly!@517

---

[1]https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/11/22/1645937/ramos-imee-marcos-no-baby-during-martial-law

When You Use YouTube, You Think You’re Done? You’re Finished!

Targeting YouTube? According to Statista, there were 1,680,000,000 (1.68 billion) YouTube users in 2019[1]. That’s the size of your maximum audience. You cannot ask for anything more.

Careful now. If you are thinking of using YouTube for your presentation, whatever it is, stop! And let’s talk awhile. Warning: If your idol is a talk-show host, bad example.

Today, Sunday, 31 May 2020 in Manila, I saw the above Facebook sharing of Miagao-Farmers (in Iloilo Province); I visited their YouTube presentation, and I found that it leaves much to be desired. Needs improvement.

The above image is my screen capture of the Navallasca-Abendan Farmers Advocacy, NAFA, the sponsor of the YouTube presentation titled “Ultimate Intercropping Guide (Gabay Sa Pag Tabi-Tabi Ng Mga Tanim).”

I visited that YouTube site because I was intrigued by the words “Ultimate Intercropping Guide.” (Because I believe Intercropping should now replace our current Monocropping.) When you say ultimate, you must mean the supreme, paramount achievement in that field. As a wide reader and science writer careful with my use of words, I am extremely familiar with hyperbole, which I thought this one was.

Yes, NAFA’s claim is exaggerated beyond doubt.

Note in the above image, I stopped watching at 6:35 of the 21:42 minutes-seconds presentation. That is because of the following reasons:

(1) The speaker did not compare what he was advocating with other intercropping guides to be able to conclude sincerely that this is the Ultimate!

(2) It was mostly fast talk and hand gestures that did not illustrate or explain further what was being said.

(3) The image of intercropping appears only after 5 minutes of talking & gesturing. It should have been the very first.

(4) The whole talk & show was poorly prepared. Visible evidence: the sad-looking, sagging tarpaulin or printed cloth behind the speaker.

(5) Too many “Ahs” by the speaker – meaning, he did not practice his talk.

(6) There were no guiding slides or images as the talk progressed.

(7) It was not necessary to show the face all the time,, but it showed up to the time I stopped watching. And the half-body occupied almost half of the screen.

Because of the nature of the presentation – being a Guide – there should have been an outline shown and stopping or talking points given for explanations or elucidations, from beginning of field preparation to planting the first crop, then the next crop etcetera, until the end, that is, harvesting much, much.

Does it look like I’m singling out a rural presenter to imply that the urban presenter is much better? No! Urban presenters are just as bad! Even the professionals have not mastered how to use PowerPoint to make their points powerful! And I’m referring to all of them.

(I hereby challenge NAFA to write down its “Ultimate Guide” – and I am volunteering as their author’s editor – no charge! frankahilario@gmail.com)

The Digital Age is for all of us to sell ideas and benefit many others. But first, we must be good at telling, not only at selling!@517

---

[1]https://www.statista.com/topics/2019/youtube/