so have the Agriculturists themselves!
(ignore image[1] from Get Drawings.com)
I am super-glad to read of the bill that Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin is sponsoring, of which Charissa Luci-Atienza reports (07 February 2019, “House Leader Pushes Passage Of Magna Carta Of Agricultural Development Workers To Address Underemployment[2],” Manila Bulletin). Yes, we have so many unemployed Agriculturists! (See my essay 07 October 2020, “PH Aggie Education In Trouble! Graduates Of UP Los Baños & Other SCUs – No Jobs & No Pity?[3]” Brave New World PH).
The problem is the lack of jobs for Agriculturists. So, in terms of law, I’m thinking of another Magna Carta calling for the creation of vacancies throughout the country in the form of Agricultural Advisers, Aggie_Advisers, with offices based in municipalities and under the direct supervision of the Department of Agriculture, DA. Aggie_Advisers to serve the farmers anytime.
The Aggie_Advisers will everyday be talking to farmers and visiting fields to see what progress is being made and what problems there may be that they can give technical advice on.
1. Crops – single cropping or multiple cropping?
2. Seeds– which to plant, treatment necessary, sources?
3. Land preparation – minimum/maximum tillage, rotavator vs disc plow, weed treatment?
4. Planting – broadcasting/direct-planting/transplanting, seedbed preparation, distance between seedlings, number of seedlings per hill?
5. Fertilizer – what fertilizer/s to use, organic/inorganic fertilizers, amounts & frequency of application?
6. Pest management – chemical vs natural methods?
7. Irrigation – flooding vs alternate wet & dry?
8. Harvesting – manual or mechanical?
9. Drying – roadside or mechanical drying?
10. Warehousing – household or cooperative?
11. Marketing – personal or group?
In each item in the list above, the choice of the average Filipino farmer has been automatic, and not very intelligent – and this is where the Aggie_Advisers come in. Thus:
Why not intercropping or multiple cropping? The answer depends on the location of the farm and history of crops in the area.
Are you going to plant inbred or hybrid? If you follow instructions, you will get a much higher yield from a hybrid than an inbred.
In land preparation, have you considered the use of the rotavator vs the disc plow?
In transplanting, why do you use old seedlings (1 month) when you can transplant young seedlings (2 weeks)? The older ones suffer transplanting stress, which reduces yield.
Organic or inorganic fertilizers – why or why not?
Will you use chemical pest control or natural – why or why not?
How can you save time, money and effort in irrigating your field?
Consider that there are losses when you use manual vs mechanical harvesting.
Consider also that there are losses when you use the sun vs a mechanical dryer.
Warehousing – You don’t have to sell your harvest during harvest time when the buying price is low.
Marketing – You need a group to do the marketing for you to enjoy fully the rewards of your labor.
I don’t think that when farmers begin enjoying the services of such Agie_Advisers, they will go back to their old uneconomic, poverty-maintaining methods!@517
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