Readers react on urgent call to save agriculture

We received a number of comments on our recent column about agriculture. We feature two, the first of which comes from Leo Santos from Pandi, Bulacan. Please read on.

“First, thank you for writing about agriculture in your column. It is refreshing to read something that is very important to this country, yet, only a minority recognizes its value.

“I am into new media technologies, but a weekend farmer after having to use our idle farm properties in Bulacan when my father passed away. Either do this or have informal settlers occupy it. So agri I went, even if I thought I was bound to fail.

“But thank God, it has been doing well in spite of me not being totally hands on. I’ve come to love farming after all. Especially when I make a decent profit once a year for planting rice and selling livestock from a small piggery.

“I’ve also noticed that, one, it is very clear that there are very few from the younger generations taking agri and rural jobs. Most are drawn to urban opportunities.

“I employ seasonal workforce, but there are no takers in our municipality so I have to resort to getting them from farther municipalities north where they are also becoming scarce every year.

“Another situation that I observed is that rural municipalities that are close to the nation’s capital are fast becoming housing development communities which are pushing the owners of farm lands to no longer make them agriculturally viable because the new dwellers complain or petition for farm’s closure (if the farm is for livestock) or experience theft or destruction (if it is an open vegetable plantation or granary as it battles for resources like water or even sometimes road access).

“If our government and lawmakers do not see these details, I can pretty much surmise that in less than 15 years, about 30 to 50 percent of what used to be farmlands will no longer exist. Even if there are interventions such as the 3TS farming syllabus developed by Dr. Frank Gorrez, PhD in your article dated Oct. 11, it might already be too late (assuming that even if it gets sponsored two to three years from now).

“How the government plans mass housing projects is absolutely non-sustainable and environmentally horrible. Truly, it lacks vision and long-term planning.

“If I may suggest that you also write, and I just got this idea from the recent ASEAN Agri Summit held at the SMX and hosted by presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, Mr. Joey Concepcion III, is to add a business and technology module or component to make farming or agribusiness ‘sexy’ in the K-12 educational programs across the country.

“Adding technology-based programs in farming by introducing software apps that empower soon-to-be agri-preneurs and farmers with the knowledge, farming technologies, and marketing will increase success and adoption.

“Upgrading skills and supplying manpower resources, funding and equipment is definitely a good idea, but there are more programs that can be added by cross-pollinating best practices in agricultural research and technology such as using blockchain or even artificial intelligence using machine learning to determine diseases (TensorFlow), management and care (news.psu.edu/story/513236/2018/04/02/research/penn-state-developed-plant-disease-app-recognized-google).

“We also need to learn from countries where agricultural practices are technology-driven like the USA, Australia, India and Israel (www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ3192n9KVU).

“Close cooperation between farmers, agro industries and technological research are keys to success and food security.”

On rice importation

Our second reader, Rafael E. Rueda Jr., sent his reactions to my recent column on rice importation. Please read on:

“The real solution to our rice importation is a rice self-sufficiency program.

1. Ban the conversion of all agricultural land, then look for other possible farm lands in other parts of the Philippines, particularly Mindanao.

2. Provide sufficient irrigation, especially for rain-fed farm lands which can be supplied by waterways and rain-catch basins, and aquifer water should not be touched due to ecological hazards. With a complete irrigation system, at least twice-a-year palay (unhusk rice) harvest is possible.

3. More vigorous research and development on the quality of palay to resist negative impact of climate change and higher quantity of palay per hectare of not less than 200 cavans.

4. Better method of farming such as organic farming using non-chemical fertilizers, so with non-chemical pesticides, to maintain the fertility of the soil and prevent harmful pollutants.

5. Good farm management with easy financing scheme for a balance of better farmers’ income and fair cost of rice for the general public.

6. The use of the reliable carabao which is non-pollutive, easy to care with plentiful of milk, rather than the highly pollutive farm tractor emitting air, sound and soil pollution.

7. A widened concrete farm-to-market road which can be used as palay drying place during harvest time.

8. Warehouses should be able to keep palay dry the whole year.

9. DA should monitor and keep up-to-date records of all yearly palay harvest to insure better control and allocation for the consumers at all times.

10. The government should encourage the farmers’ children to take up agriculture courses with incentives for them to carry on farming activities.

“As supplemental, all land uses shall expand vertically to maximize the increasingly-limited land of the Philippines as the National Building Code encourages high-rise buildings with a minimum-height of three stories.

“For better food security, urban gardening (fruit trees and vegetables) shall supplement rural farming.

“However, even during the previous administration, concerned officials prefer rice importation instead of a rice self-sufficiency program as there is ‘more income’ in rice importation than in rice self-sufficiency.”

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.