“I Have A New Dream, I Have A New Goal” – PH Agriculture & The Communication Of Science
Today, Saturday, 19 September 2020, on Facebook Father Corapi Catholic Channel shares, and I love the quote:
You are never too old
to set another goal.
Or to dream a new dream.
CS Lewis
Sharer of wisdom, Catholic. Source Protestant. I am Catholic. We Catholics don’t have a monopoly of wisdom!
Actually, less than 2 months ago, on 07 August 2020, I created this new blog of mine where you are reading this – Brave New World PH – with a logo of a girl walking surrounded by a bright future. I did borrow that BNW image from comicbook TV[1]). What stronger image for bravery than a girl? For the brave new Philippines.
Because, yes, if I do not dedicate the rest of my life to my country, it’s still mine but what good is my digital knowhow then? Talent shared is talent multiplied.
In agriculture in the Philippines, with the continuing lockdown up to 12 September 2021, there is very little or no freedom at all for government agencies, scientists & extensionists, as well as private companies & their field technicians, to interact with farmers. On top of that, there is very little or no stored farming knowledge that anyone can tap anytime to guide one’s actions – well, this has been a lack in the hundred years plus since the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture, now UP Los Baños, was founded in March 1908.
And, granting knowledge: If memory is to be relied on, whose memory should it be? Science must be recorded, accessible to all, not simply in someone’s memory.
On 28 August 1963, black civil rights leader Martin Luther King led the March on Washington and delivered the “I Have A Dream“ speech (that became) widely considered the greatest of the 20th century, noted for its power and resonance[2]” (Britannica). It was a “a call for equality and freedom.”
Believe it or not, that is exactly how I look at the situation of PH Agriculture right now: A call for equality in the access to knowledge and thereby power; it is also a call for freedom in movements to cultivate the soils of the Philippines for the prosperity of all in the villages.
My Strategy: Equality of access to complete sets of knowledge, ultimately by cellphone.
Lack of access to complete sets of science and practices are actually the primary reason why PH Agriculture is not competitive with that of any of the ASEAN countries. For instance, how do you explain the fact that Vietnamese and Filipino farmers are using the same technology sets in growing rice and yet the Vietnamese spend less and the Filipinos spend more per kilo of grains produced? The Vietnamese farmers must know more than the Filipino!
My Dream: Sustainable farming by all!
All farming must lead to sustainability – employing methods & materials that are feasible, economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially acceptable. The gross domestic prosperity must not only increase but must be inclusive, shared by all.@517
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