Nagkaisa Facebook sharing: October Cooperatives Month. “Cooperatives – Amidst the Pandemic, Stand for Resiliency, Strive For Sustainability.” Brave New Words!
I have been a board member of the Nagkaisa Multipurpose Cooperative of my hometown Asingan in Pangasinan. I am a BS Agriculture graduate, UP '65, and I believe I know enough of least-cost agriculture to make a success of a Nagkaisa tourism farm project, with a total area of 2 ha located where the Sinapog bypass bridge passes, the project I have called “The Bridge To Prosperity” (see my 22 February 2020 essay, “Redesigning PH Agriculture – Science-Wise, Ilocano-Wiser![1],” THiNK Journalism).
I believe in the leadership of Roger Daranciang as Chair of Nagkaisa. Also, I believe in the national leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, whom I came to know when he was still Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India. After reading my blogposts, he made me an international consulting writer, work from home, WFH. How successful was my WFH? ICRISAT published 7 books I wrote on ICRISAT between 2007 and 2014.
So I have one foot at the door of the Department of Agriculture, DA, headed by Mr Dar, and Nagkaisa could tap DA funds for cooperatives.
October is Cooperatives Month all over the world. There are a thousand successful coops; there are a million unsuccessful ones.
Your Question: “What is the powerful role of cooperatives in agriculture?”
My Answer:Bringing about Economies of Scale for every member’s welfare, be it a yearly order of bath soap or a bulky purchase of fertilizer and pesticide. And avoiding quick loans of money from friendly usurers.
I still prefer the theme of the Cooperatives’ Month celebration in 2017, this:
“Cooperatives – Empowering The Poor And The Vulnerable
Towards Job Creation And Poverty Eradication.”
Yes, in the countryside and among farmers and fishers, there are many who live below the poverty level. So, how do we eradicate poverty via coops?
To reduce poverty, I will give you 2 ways by which our Sinapog Bridge To Prosperity can help farmers minimize costs and maximize returns if they follow the Sinapog Farm Model:
(1) Minimum Inputs. I have invented a technique I will now call systematic organic mulch. The rotavator blades create all over the field a layer of finely-cut & well-mixed weeds and soil that becomes natural organic fertilizer almost immediately. My brother in-law Inso in my hometown Asingan has been using such technique successfully since 1965, much outyielding his farm neighbors!
(2) Maximum crops. For the Sinapog tourism farm, of which I shall be Project Leader, I plan to intercrop vegetables with rice and/or corn.
How will the anticipated success of our Sinapog tourism farm help the other farmer members of Nagkaisa, not to mention other farmers in Asingan and neighboring towns who can easily visit the Sinapog farm? Aside from farmers watching, I will write a detailed book and what we do to make Sinapog successful. All the farmers have to do is Follow The Leader!@517
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