Looking for
a bright sign beyond the bad news, I found it in Laya, Baclayon, Bohol, where my
good friend Nestor Maniebo Pestelos must
be in anguish; here he shares on Facebook the 2 images above and this:
The most tragic event in our place in Laya:
Typhoon Odette completely destroyed the 25-year old family-owned Balay Kahayag, a training and retreat
center which also served as low-cost venue for activities of NGOs, faith-based
organizations, and academic institutions. It served for 18 months as Bohol’s
only drug rehab center. Now it’s gone.
“Now it’s gone.” Super Typhoon Odette completely
demolished the structure but left a message, “Balay Kahayag” – translation, House of Light. The message I read here
is: “Do not lose the light!”
“Typhoon
Odette (Rai) destroys homes, uproots trees, and topples power lines just a week
before Christmas” – Acor Arceo (19
December 2021, “After Leaving Trail Of Destruction, Typhoon Odette Exits PAR[1],” Rappler.com). How much agony there must have been during and
after Odette in Bohol, Cebu and other places in the Philippines ravaged by
Odette? I can only surmise.
More than commiserating, I am positively thinking
regenerative thoughts. We cannot regenerate those lives lost, domiciles
destroyed, and buildings blasted, but we can regenerate the Earth, literally! Let
us now call on RegINA, Queen Mother Earth
(look above)!
As an agriculturist, I believe the dimensions of Odette’s destruction
are the dimensions of our sins against Queen Mother Earth, in not following her Laws.
And so Climate Change keeps worsening.
In agriculture, the first thing we disturb is the soil –
now, therefore, we must learn to disturb it only in a way that we help it
regenerate itself – we give back to the soil what we have taken from it:
Natural Wealth, which is Inter/National Wealth!
How? Here is some science:
Agroforestry. Grow
trees with food crops simultaneously in same field or farm; practice no or minimum
tillage – do not apply chemical
fertilizer or chemical pesticide.
Nature Farming. Derived
from Mokichi Okada’s philosophy of
Agriculture sans the use of any chemical fertilizer and/or pesticide, “(with the)
underlying philosophy that views the life-sustaining powers of the soil as
integral to the workings of the universe
Organic Farming.
Preparation and application of non-chemical fertilizer(s) to grow crops,
including non-chemical pesticide(s).
System of Rice
Intensification (SRI). Minimal
soil disturbance, equidistant planting of rice. I believe SRI can be modified
for other farm crops.
Trash farming. Rotavate
shallowly, so that blades cut & mix weeds and crop leftovers all over the field
as organic mulch.
Whichever
you choose to contribute to combat climate change, be sure to choose this: No
more Chemical Agriculture!
Zero chemical agriculture means no added greenhouse gases
emitted from the manufacture, storage & transport of chemical fertilizers
and pesticides.
If
we stopped completely chemical agriculture today, next year we would see, I
would say, gentler winds and softer rains.@517
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