How Do You Make Urban Agriculture Successful: Science? Advocacy? Citizens? NOTA!

Everyone seems to be talking about Urban Agriculture, UA, but only SEARCA Policy Paper 2020-3 has been revealing to me, with its long title, “Policy Imperatives To Promote Urban Agriculture In Response To COVID-19 Pandemic Among Local Government Units In The Philippines,” a long line of authors: Rico C Ancog, Glenn B Gregorio, Arlene B Arcillas, Erlinda C Creencia, Victorino E Aquitania, Gerald Glenn F Panganiban, and Garry A Hidalgo; but a content of only 8 pages. Short and sweet.

How do you push urban agriculture? Do you talk about rapid urbanization and increasing urban population? Do you talk about the intricate link between food on people’s plates, food systems, food security, or nutrition, or safety? Stop! None of the above. NOTA.

Revelation: Searca Policy Paper 2020-3 says if you want sustainability of your urban agriculture, your highly significant move is to move the whole local government unit, LGU:

Sustainability of the urban agriculture strategy is highly determined by financial and political legitimacy. Formal recognition and support for urban agriculture is beneficial for both urban farmers and the city. Overall, implementation depends on the measures of financial, physical, social, and human capital that the local government could invest in, commit, and sustain.

So, to push urban agriculture, first you push your LGU!

Local government units are in a strategic position to perform a catalytic role in promoting urban agriculture by providing opportunities that will make it a habit among its constituents. And this can be operationalized by mainstreaming UA in its land-use plan and climate change adaptation formulation process.

So, turning urban agriculture into success turns out to be more exciting as you mainstream UA in the local land-use plan and incorporate it in the climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation processes – no, climate change adaptation is not enough.

The quantity and quality of food surely depends on the condition of agricultural food systems. As consumers’ awareness about the intricate link between the food on their plate and the status of the entire agricultural food system increases, the more they become active participants in interventions related to food security, nutrition, and safety.

And these are the duties of the LGU: make citizens ever aware of the condition of the national and the local food systems, and their necessary contributions to food security, nutrition, and safety. It is the LGU that moves mountains – it is the citizens who are the mountains!

In urban agriculture, you have the visible problem and the invisible promise:

Agricultural production in an urban context is challenged by the limited availability of land, competing land uses, and localizing sources of farm inputs. Urban agriculture, however, has great potential to create and use alternative technologies to make agricultural production in urban areas sustainable.

Alternative technologies. That is to say, where rural agriculture is characterized by obedience to already established systems of production of food, urban agriculture must be characterized by innovation – which elevates UA from merely working with the hands to working with the mind first of all.

I love urban agriculture already!@517

 

What Keeps PH Farmers Poor? Here Are 11 Of Their Bad Habits!

Here’s Frank A Hilario’s List Of 11 Farmer Bad Habits:

Whats 1.   Borrowing from usurers.

During the rice planting season, farmers borrow cash from usurers, with a 5-6 arrangement, borrow 5 and pay back 6, in 3-4 months time. Easy cash, so farmers resort to “friendly” lenders. They borrow thousands of pesos to buy seeds and/or chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Whats 2.   Unnecessary labor in soil preparation

The primary reason for puddling the soil is to defeat the weeds. There is a much better, more intelligent way to defeat the weeds – and why do you destroy the soil structure by plowing and puddling?

Instead, the field can be cultivated by a rotavator so that the weeds and soil are cut to fine pieces and mixed together in the same single rotating motion. Since this is repeated all over the field, the result is an organic mulch that will add its richness to the next crop.

Whats 3.   Transplanting old seedlings.

PH farmers are used to transplanting 1-month old seedlings, which are 2 weeks too old! 2-week old seedlings are easier to transplant and easily recover from the transplanting shock.

Whats 4.   Too many seedlings per hill.

PH farmers transplant 2 or more seedlings per hill, which then compete against each other for nutrients. Not only that. In a crowded hill, there is hardly any tiller grown by each seedling transplanted. It is the tillers that bear the rice panicles –but very few tillers will grow in a crowded place.

Whats 5.   Farmers practice calendared spraying.

Even when there is no sign of any infestation (pest) or infection (disease), farmers spray their insecticide or antifungal chemical as recommended by their sources, mostly technicians or sellers. Waste of time, waste of money.

Whats 6.   Wasted rice grains during threshing.

Some rice farmers insist on using the thresher, not the combine harvester. There is unnecessary waste in threshing and hardly any in using the combine harvester.

Whats 7.   Wasted grains in drying.

Farmers dry their palay on roads and are careless or lazy in gathering all the grains they spread on the concrete.

Whats 8.   Farmers sell to traders.

The bulk buyers offer the lowest price during harvest time, and the farmer cannot refuse because of his debts – the buyer is the usurer.

Whats 9.   Farmer leaders don’t fight for farmers.

The farmer associations do not usually fight in favor of the farmers – their leaders have their own agendas.  

Whats 10.    Farmers splurge after selling harvests.

One of the baddest habits of farmers – they spend thousands overnight, calling on their friends and family to a feast. With the drinks comes so much on food, pulutan. Feeling rich today, being poor tomorrow.

Whats 11.    Farmers blame lack of land ownership for their poverty.

Farmer leaders, usually the activist kind, keep repeating in farmers’ ears that the government must grant land ownership to the poor farmers, or they will never exert more efforts for them to rise from poverty. Very convenient excuse.

Now, read all of the above 10 reasons!@517

Worried About PH Food Crisis? How About Brain Food Crisis?

Today’s (06 June 2020) long Inquirer.net opinion piece “Covid-19 Pandemic And The Looming Food Crisis[1]” contributed by retired UP Los Baños professor Teodoro C Mendoza, in 1567 words, frightens the reader twice with “pandemic” and “food crisis.” The opinion piece tackles food importation, and what we need to do to produce our own:

(1)   Grow our own food.

(2)   Shift to brown rice, or 50-50 white-brown rice.

(3)   Eat other food crops: sweet potato, cassava, gabi, banana.

(4)   Eat more vegetables and fruits.

Our good friend Ted Mendoza has lots of good ideas, but I don’t like it that he premises them with “a looming food crisis” – as if to emphasize that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has no actions-plans at all about that!

And yes, our friend is still dreaming, still proposing that the government grant land tenure to landless peasants, who then are expected to lovingly take care of their properties and make them profitable for their families.

Since our friend does not mention them, I will say that Ted Mendoza has notread Manong Willie’s “The New Thinking For Agriculture”  and the 8 paradigms that accompany it, where #4 says (my words), “Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms.” Instead of land reform, Ted Mendoza should be thinking of farmer reform, like notborrowing from usurers, notpracticing calendared spraying, and notselling to traders who dictate prices!

Instead of dreaming about poor peasants owning their tiny pieces of land, our friend should be dreaming about PH agriculture and (1) Modernization. (2) Industrialization. (3) Promotion of exports. (4) Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms. (5) Infrastructure development. (6) Higher budget & investment. (7) Legislative support. (8) Roadmap development. (brain images from Brainscape[2])

I don’t know why he mentions former Secretary of Agriculture Manny Piñol’s estimate of lost income for the farmers – that data is dated, sorry to say. What has Manong Willie said about rice imports? Our friend does not say.

About advanced purchase systems – the DA is already sponsoring those. About companies buying the rice for their employees, that is being taken care of. About money being infused in the rural economies, I cannot count how many billions now. And yes, Manong Willie knows about traders’ control of the price of rice.

Also already being taken care of is “guaranteed price for our farmers.” Manong Willie knows, including crop and farmer insurance.

Our friend also mentions one of his favorite topics: Organic Agriculture. I know he practices organic farming in his little farm near his residence in the town of Bay, Laguna. He says:

Restoring soil fertility is a slow and gradual process. Experiences show that three to five years are required to rehabilitate the soil.

I agree to restore the fertility of fields, but not wait 3 to 5 years to rehabilitate the soil. I am not using old, sloworganic farming technology. I have a rapid-fire idea; I call it the mulch technique – read about it here[3].

We need more enriching thinking about PH agriculture!@517

 

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[1]https://opinion.inquirer.net/130535/covid-19-pandemic-and-the-looming-food-crisis?fbclid=IwAR1VVuXNYRl4UQDMg1WCAp0MHnOO19AF7XnXeLoPjkRubxBhS91Ke1JM_kQ

[2]https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2016/08/better-learning-focused-vs-diffuse-thinking/

[3]https://ithinkjournalism.blogspot.com/2020/06/raised-beds-are-best-way-to-garden-no.html

Revolutionizing PH Agriculture And How We Write About It – Manong Willie & Frank H

At about 0240 hours today, Saturday, 06 June 2020, beginning to write this essay, I suddenly realized that we in the Philippines have been revolutionizing the thinking for agriculture in developing countries! Me, an Ilocano, I always say, “I have always been an original aboriginal!”

When he became Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, William Dar, who prefers to be called “Manong Willie” – terms of endearment in our Ilocano language – already had a mindmap of the New PH Agriculture he was going to lead as Chief of the Department of Agriculture, DA. He called it “The New Thinking For Agriculture” translated in concrete forms into “The 8 Paradigms,” which are (my shortcuts):

(1) Modernization.
(2) Industrialization.
(3) Promotion of exports.
(4) Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms
(5) Infrastructure development.
(6) Higher budget & investment.
(7) Legislative support.
(8) Roadmap development.

The items are not shown sequentially and not by importance – they are all important and necessary, working for the ultimate goal of a progressive agriculture for the Philippines, with the poor farmers having been elevated from poverty to prosperity, and sustainably so. The roadmap should see to that.

The Filipino farmer must modernize his crop, fish & livestock production, harvesting, processing, storing, and marketing. Small farms need to be consolidated in operations in order to enjoy economies of scale.

Philippine agriculture must lead to more industrialization. There must be more crop & livestock & fish products for exports.

Of course, all of the above calls for infrastructure development, which calls for higher budgets & investments from the private sector and legislative support in terms of policy and budget from Congress.

All for good, or better.

Another Ilocano, my personal contribution to The New PH Agriculture is now what I refer to as THiNK Journalism:

True +
Helpful +
inspiring +
Necessary +
Kind
Journalism.

I invented the term “THiNK Journalism” just this month of June, but I have been practicing it since at least when in 16 April 1975 I began working for the Forest Research Institute, FORI, as Information Officer and ending up as Editor In Chief (and founder) of all 3 major FORI publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop on tropical forestry, and quarterly popular color magazine Habitat.

As a blogger, I have uploaded at least 5,000 long essays, a minimum of 1,000 words each; that accounts for my 5-year old standing claim as “World's creative genius online, most prolific writer of non-fiction[1]” (see my blog, Creative Thinkering, Blogger.com).

As a science writer, I always try to look for what is True, but what I write must be Helpful and Inspiring and Necessary and Kind. If not Inspiring? For others to learn the lesson, I find a way to be Kind.

That means that even if it is True and I find it neither Helpful nor Inspiring nor Necessary, I do not write about it.

When I write about it, it means I now think that it is THiNK Journalism. All for good or better.@517

 

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[1]http://creativethinkering.blogspot.com

In Asian University Rankings, UP Is Up – In Science Serving The People, UP Is Down!

So what if the University of the Philippines, UP, rises 30 notches in Asian University rankings, as Aurora Quadra-Balibay says (03 June 2020, Good News Pilipinas[1])? That is self-serving! Not serving the people.

Do you know where UP got its higher rank? Ms Aurora says it comes from its high scores in Citation, 86.9 pt, and Industry Income, 39.4 pt. To me, an Editor In Chief of many an aggie technical journal since 1975, only the high Citation points have significance:

High Citation means, having been published in technical publications listed as ISI – the Good Housekeeping seal of approval of science publications – many UP scientists have been cited in other internationally respected journals.

Since UP is not publishing many ISI-listed journals, my guess is the high Citation score comes from many UP researchers publishing outside the Philippines – which is a shame!

Do you know why there are few ISI-listed UP journals? Many journals do not meet the 4 criteria for inclusion in the ISI list, especially 2 of those: (1) they do not come out regularly as scheduled, and (2) the papers published do not have much international impacts.

How come I know all those? From experience. In 2003, I was hired as Editor In Chief of the Philippine Journal of Crop Science, PJCS, based at UP Los Baños. The superimposed image above is from my very first PJCS issue. As a one-man band including being the layout artist, from being late 3 years. I made the PJCS up-to-date within 3 years, meaning I worked double-time. The next year, 2007, the PJCS became ISI.

Why am I telling you all that? To tell you that I know what I am saying when I criticize UP for not serving the people in the matter of science (knowledge). UP researchers conduct so many studies, but only a few studies reach the masses. Because only a few research studies are published, and so the rest cannot be laymanized for the citizens. In science, UP is neglecting the people!

What should UP do? UP should publish more high-quality journals and publish more of its scientists so that they contribute to the world’s knowledge and be recognized, and eventually, their findings will reach the people.

It’s not IQ; I know there is only 1 major & pervasive problem with UP journals:

UP editorial works are notdigital-based.
So everything is in s… l... o... w… motion.

As Editor In Chief and layout artist, for the PJCS I was 100% digital, so I was fast and perfect (well, almost).

To give you an idea of how slow UP is, with 10 papers to publish for 1 issue of a journal:

5 months – review of 10 papers
4 months – authors’ corrections and editors’ final editing of 10 papers
2 months – final corrections, text formatting and page layouting before going to press.

So, for an issue, UP needs almost 1 year to publish – that’s as fast as a turtle walks.

UP, nakakahiya!
This is a UP alumnus speaking.@517

 

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[1]https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/breaking-news-university-of-the-philippines-rises-30-notches-in-asian-university-rankings/?fbclid=IwAR10eF104EGaqH1xn3gFooM4F2LWo8j5eSI_WahHzqYsbufD9kGIh-iy7Gg

PH DA Serves Farmers Best – If Farmers Serve Themselves First By Clustering

On Facebook, I see the Department of Agriculture, DA, under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, is all over the Philippines offering all kinds of assistances to farmers.

In the DA press release (above), Manong Willie is saying, “Farm clustering needed to level up agri sector.” That makes much sense. In his “New Thinking For Agriculture,” one of the supporting 8 paradigms is #4, “Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms.”

Before this, I had no idea about "farm clustering" until late May when I read SEARCA Policy Paper 2020-2, “Agricultural Clusters Approach To Enhance Competitiveness Of Smallholder Farms In Southeast Asia” (see my 31 May 2020 essay “Beyond Survival Into Sustainability Of Farmers’ Rewards – Clustering In Agriculture 2020[1],” THiNK Journalism). So now Filipino farmers have a new lesson:

If you want to be helped big, first make yourself big!
In unity, there is a strength, farmers should also know.

Manong Willie is saying:

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will vigorously push for farm clustering and consolidation, being one of the key strategies to level up the Philippine agriculture sector. Cooperatives and associations must collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and (assistances) provided by the DA and other government agencies.

The Secretary of Agriculture is saying that farmer “cooperatives and associations must collectivize.” I am a founding member of the Nagkaisa Multi-Purpose Cooperative of my hometown Asingan in Pangasinan, so I know coops are on the roadmap to collective power. But I have always had a problem with farmer associations, as I know a great many of them are dictated upon by their leaders or a certain group within. Dictatorship on the proletariat.

Yes, farmers have to wake up to the need for economies of scale. Manong Willie says:

It is easier and more cost-efficient and effective for the DA to deal with organized farmers through their FCAs than individual farmers, as we provide them appropriate training and cutting-edge technologies, including farm inputs like seeds and fertilizers, and farm equipment and machinery.

FCAs is acronym for Farmers Cooperatives and Associations, which are the subject of the Secretary of Agriculture’s Administrative Order 09 dated 18 September 2019[2].

Thereafter, we will urge (the FCAs) to scale up by clustering and consolidating their farms to attain economies of scale.

Without any economies of scale, there will be no Mataas na Ani at Masaganang Kita, bounteous harvests and bountiful incomes.

Under farm clustering & consolidation, FCC, Manong Willie says:

We will offer clustered and consolidated farms (much) incentives on top of the regular technical and marketing (assistances) under our major commodity programs. Incentives will come in the form of farm machineries such as tractors, harvesters, mechanical dryers, and processing equipment and related infrastructure.

The DA will implement FCC for other commodities: banana, coconut, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables and high-value crops.

Now I’m thinking of reviving my 2014 policy proposal for Super Coops I submitted to Senator Cynthia Villar[3], now to be imbued with the DA 2020 super powers called Farm Clustering & Consolidation!@517

 

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[1]https://ithinkjournalism.blogspot.com/2020/05/beyond-survival-into-sustainability-of.html
[2]https://www.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ao09_s2019.pdf
[3]http://nagkaisa.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-super-coops-of-2014.html

Raised Beds Are The Best Way To Garden? No! This Is An Agriculturist Speaking

“9 Reasons Why Raised Beds Are The Best Way To Garden[1]” This was authored by Tome Mitrov of The Backyard Vegetable Garden (23 January 2020?). I will summarize each of the 9 first before I give you my piece of mind.

1.     Good aeration
A raised bed provides plants with a rich growing media with a loose structure and allows for good air circulation around the roots… It helps maintain a balance between the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that play different roles in enhancing soil fertility.

2.     Good drainage
The loose texture of the soil allows the water to seep into the bed, preventing quick runoff that will otherwise carry away the fertile topsoil.

3.     Root spread
Plant roots will find it easier to grow and spread in every direction when the soil is loose.

4.     Better weed control
You have the option of filling up the frames with compost and soil relatively free of weeds.

5.     Build on existing turf.
A raised bed can be constructed right on top of the existing grass without digging it up…  fill the frames with soil, grass clippings, cured farmyard manure, sand, and compost.

6.     Better pest control
A few of (the insects) may be deterred by the solid frames surrounding the bed.

7.     Extend the growing season
The raised bed will thaw much faster in spring than the frozen ground. So you can transplant vegetable seedlings earlier and give them a good head start.

8.     It is easier than trying to amend existing soil.
You even have the option of filling up different beds with various types of soil to suit the plants you intend to grow in them.

9.     Less risk of soil compaction.
If the width of the beds is kept at 3-4 feet, you can conduct gardening chores like fertilizing, weeding and harvesting without stepping on the bed.

Now it’s my turn to talk gardening.

Tropical or temperate, no, you don’t have to raise the garden bed. Your garden soil can have (1) good aeration, (2) good drainage, (3) good root spread, (4) better weed control, (5) the plot you have is good enough, (6) good pest control, (7) extended growing season; you don’t have to (8) amend and (9) compact the soil.

What do you do? Much less work!

Before you do anything on your intended garden plots, get a hand tractor with rotavator blades and run the machine over the area, being careful to cut only down to 2-3 inches of the topsoil. This will cut to pieces the soil along with the weeds, to create a layer of organic mulch all over the place. Rich, that’s the soil you want; soon enough, you will enjoy all those 9 benefits without laboriously raising the garden bed!

I’m speaking from experience.

Metro Manila: If any group will sponsor it, I can demonstrate the mulch technique within the Quezon Memorial Circle, a public place easy enough to drop by and watch the garden beds. frankahilario@gmail.com. Mine will be the pleasure!@517

 

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[1]https://seedtocrop.net/2020/01/reasons-why-raised-beds-are-the-best-way-to-garden/