Who Are The First Ones To Recommend Their Children To Not Become Farmers? Farmers!

This is the Philippines, ladies and gentlemen, farming country, and the male parent does notwant his son to become a farmer himself!

That is a major finding of UP Los Baños lady researcher Florencia G Palis in her study “Aging Filipino Rice Farmers and Their Aspirations for Their Children” (June 2020, Philippine Journal of Science, Science & Technology Information Institute).

Son of a farmer, that is notnews to me, but it’s still dismaying.

Miss Palis found the farmer fathers would rather have their children study and apply for jobs in the cities or work abroad. That was 65% of her respondents; only 35% wanted their children to be like them, farmers.

In her paper, Miss Palis said, as reported by Dhel Nazario, “Farmers Not Keen On Children Following In Their Footsteps – Study[1]” (23 July 2020, Manila Bulletin):

The risk associated with rice farming as a means of livelihood further discourages parent farmers to aspire for their children to be like them. The uncertaint(ies) in yield and income (are) real to them and they attribute (those) to unpredictable weather situations, unstable output price and input costs, and natural disasters like heavy rains, floods, and drought, including pest and disease infestations.

As a farmer’s son, and an Agriculturist, I can explain those uncertainties in yield and income.Most likely those farmers are still using their own varietal selections, so they cannot expect higher yields. Or when they transplant the rice seedlings, it’s helter-skelter – how do you expect good growth from the seedlings you did not value much by giving them improper distancing (should be 25 x 25 cm) and planting 2 or 3 seedlings per hill (should be only 1 single seedling per hill, following the technique called System of Rice Intensification, SRI)!

Aling Tasya said, “My waist and back are painful, especially during and after transplanting the rice seedlings. I need to bear these pains so that I can provide some food for my family.” Aling Tasya, if you did the SRI, you would have enjoyed your transplanting of rice! SRI would also double your yield, even treble it – ask your local farm technician about it!

Miss Palis also pointed out:

With high input costs, they are forced to borrow money from informal lenders who charge them high-interest rates, or traders who require them to sell their produce immediately at a low (price) after harvest.

Aling Tasya, what’s causing your poverty are those people taking advantage of people  when they need money!

Miss Palis says, “There is a need to pay attention to rural services for agricultural extension including hassle-free and practical mechanisms of providing capital to farmers.”

Don’t forget cooperatives!

Now, madam, if you have been browsing Facebook, during these months of lockdown, you will have known of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar’s “The New Thinking for Agriculture” – and the current national efforts, led by him, to help farmers financially and mechanically by providing farm machines.

These are the worst of times,
and these are the best of times!@517


[1]https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/23/farmers-not-keen-on-children-following-in-their-footsteps-study/?fbclid=IwAR0BvetY0buXJzzglTxT3tAmdVHRuSu4CeP1JxRAdvNhTC0R5tRuUXN1oA4


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knorr Of Big Business Unilever Thinks Big Business Regenerative Agriculture – My Tiny Country PH Also Should!

Image
“Knorr’s plan for 50 regenerative agriculture projects is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use by an estimated 30% while improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods.” That is regenerative agriculture (RA) news by Julian Cirineo (05 Nov 2021, “Unilever Wants To Rethink How Farms Work To Secure Food And Resources For The Future,” Rappler , rappler.com ). Note: 50 (not 5 only) RA projects to improve greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and water use by 30% – plus improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods. Note the last 7 words in the above paragraph. How can RA improve biodiversity? RA requires that the farmer practices multiculture (a few or many crops grown at the same time in the same place), where monoculture (such as rice-only or corn-only) is the practice – the biodiversity improves crop health because of the ensuing balance of nature, such as some organisms feed on other organisms that would otherwise become pests or cause diseases. RA is your
Read more

In Looking At The Crown Of Thorns, I Found The Clowns

Image
We could use a surprise sense of humor!  Yes, especially on the wide problematic fields of Agriculture. There was this news that some high PH government officials wanted to probe Vice President Leni Robredo for “competing against” PH agencies in providing much-needed assistances during this coronavirus lockdown, and Marigs Laririt shared a picture-story on Facebook quoting Ms Leni as saying, “I didn’t know it was competition. I didn’t see any competitors!” Ms Marigs says, “Ay, parang friends ko kung sumagot si Mam.” (Ay, with Mam, it’s just like my friends answering back.) That is a two-handed backslap, and you can imagine the lady laughing! She is the humor-monger; they are the clowns. Today is Friday, 03 April 2020 and in one account ( Wikipedia ), Friday the 3 rd of April was crucifixion of Jesus and his crowning of thorns [1] . (images: Crown of Thorns [2]  from St Anthony Messenger , 1 st clown [3]  from The Guardian , 2 nd clown [4]  from Shutterstock ) About the living clowns I
Read more

“Natural Farming” – Aggie Journalists, We Must Be Careful With The Terms We Use!

Image
Look at the contrasting images: Which one is correct in claiming what is being practiced is “natural farming”? Top Image: This one accompanies the Anonymous WWF-Philippines story, “Mindanao Farmers Start Off the Year with Natural Farming Systems Technology” published online December 2019 [1] . The World Wide Fund, WWF, is a very credible international source of knowledge on conservation, right? Not this time. Very clearly, you can see the white plastic mulch covering the furrows and bare soil in-between them. Mr or Ms Anonymous, the plastic mulch is not natural. The soil not covered in-between furrows is not natural. So much soil bare, not natural, allowing so much natural water wasted because it had evaporated from the unprotected, hot soil surface! That is not conservation; that is not natural. The term “natural” is used here very carelessly . Aggie journalists, wake up! How come I noticed all that immediately when I saw the photograph? Because I learned my organic farming more t
Read more