For PH Agriculture To Triumph Over Adversities, It Must Be Team Philippines!

Top half cover shown above, Team ICRISAT Champions The Poor is the title of my first book published in 2007 by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT; when PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie was Director General, DG, of ICRISAT. Why am I bringing it up? 

To give you a concrete idea how good a leader William Dar is.

William Dar was DG of ICRISAT from beginning of 2000 to end of 2014, that is, 15 years. That alone will tell you how excellent a DG he was – ICRISAT is based in India, and if I know the Indians, they are hard to please. In any case, when I became international consulting writer of ICRISAT in early 2007, based in Manila, Manong Willie had already
brought ICRISAT from summa cum maude (Ilocano slang for dead last) to #1 among the 15 international agricultural research centers composing the CGIAR group, which included the venerable IRRI.

Manong Willie is our #1 Team Captain when it comes to agriculture!

When President Rodrigo Duterte swore him in as Secretary of Agriculture on Monday, 05 August 2019, he was more than ready and more than eager. He says, "I knew very well the challenges that confronted the country’s farming and fisheries industry." He was more ready for PH Agriculture than he was when he became DG of ICRISAT – for his country, he brought in his "New Thinking for Agriculture."

In his column, he says that in his first 100 days, he set for himself 15 priority areas (shortened list here):

1. Rice Tariffication Law;
2. Crop Diversification Strategy;
3. Pantawid Magsasaka Program (cash gifts for farmers);
4. Entrepreneurship of small farmers and fishers;
5. Climate change and disaster risk reduction programs;
6. Assist the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in strengthening its agriculture and fishery program;
7. Introduce the “New Thinking for Agriculture” as the revised Department of Agriculture’s vision and mission to attain a food-secure Philippines teeming with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk;
8. Sustain a massive information and communication campaign;
9. Review DA programs and projects toward increasing productivity, competitiveness and income of farmers and fisherfolk;
10. Reshape and reprogram the budget of DA for 2020;
11. Partnership with state colleges and universities (SCUs) and the private sector, particularly in contract-growing and marketing;
12. Strengthen the organizational structure of DA;
13. Conduct a “Food Summit” with key stakeholders;
14. Coordinate/collaborate with the Department of Trade and Industry; and
15. Review restrictive and constrictive policies on agriculture, fishery, agribusiness, credit, among others.

He is only beginning!

Of course, he champions the poor. He himself came from a poor family in Ilocos Sur who could not afford to send him to high school. (His uncle did.)

Will PH Agriculture be #1 in the Asean within the next thousand days? That depends on the Team Captain – and The Team.

The public servants.
The business sector.
The people's organizations.
The farmers.

It must be a team effort.

It must be Team Philippines to win for The Philippines!@517