Beauty & Brains Farming

I say, beginning this 2021, we should start counting the value of the interventions and assistances provided by the DA to the agriculture and fisheries sectors. This follows from what Secretary of Agriculture William Dar says: (Firstly), it is important to convince farmers and their respective (farmer) cooperatives and associations or FCAs to collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and assistance provided by the DA and other government agencies. Thus, I hear the DA singing “Whispering Hope [1] ”  (lyrics by Bill Gaither): Soft as the voice of an angel, breathing a lesson unheard Hope with a gentle persuasion, whispers her comforting word. Let us now pay 100% attention as the “DA Introduces Modern Cluster Farmin g [2] ”  (ANN, 11 November 2020. NewsLine Philippines, Newsline.ph ; top image from same source): Davao City – Vegetable farmers in Baracatan, Toril, Davao City adopt precision agriculture technology to double their yield and improve quality of ...

Louise Maureen Simeon quotes Secretary of Agriculture William Dar as saying, “Fragmentation, Individualism Make Philippine Agriculture Uncompetitive [1] ” (08 October 2020, MSN.com ): First, our farmers remain individualistic, unorganized and thus are not linked directly to markets. Second, our farmlands are small and fragmented. Me! Not We. Yes, individualistic – the kind of Filipino farmers that PH journalists keep on cultivating! If Inadvertently . (“Me We” image [2]  from Reason ) “You there, as a farmer you too, U2 will succeed if you follow this farmer’s example.” Note that “U2" is the very successful Irish musical band. U2 is Irish, became and still is wildly successful, with Bono as lead singe r [3] ( Wikipedia ). The truth is that since 1976, when U2 was formed, no other band has succeeded like it has, including The Beatles. Why am I talking U2 here? There is another historical development that has been actually limiting farmer success – the #1 kind of story that s...

  The above image of PH National Hero Jose Rizal as  “The Happy Martyr” – my title – is from an original photograph [1] from Shutterstock.com that I painterized. You doubt Jose Protacio Rizal y Mercado was happy to offer his life – not simply his book – to his beloved Philippines? I learned that 13 years ago translating his valedictory “Adios, Patria Adorada” – here is the very first stanza [2] (30 December 2017, “Jose Rizal, UP Oblation & 3 Lessons For The Nationalist Communicator,” Creative Thinkering ): Adios, Beloved Country (Translation by Frank A Hilario, 2007) Adios, beloved country, EarthLove of the Sun, Pearl of the Sea Orient, Eden in ruins bad! I go give gladly my life shrunk and forsaken; And were it more brilliant, more fresh, more floral then, Would for you give I still, still I give for your good. Now you know your National Hero Jose Rizal better! The original was untitled; note that my title comes from the first line of the poem, which is the rule in...

How can hybrid rice liberate farmers from poverty? Earlier today, Monday, 28 December 2020, I blogged the essay “BigHAni – With Hybrid Vigor, Hybrid Rice Can Light Up The Whole Philippines [1] !” ( Brave New World PH ). The Christmas tree glowing in red & yellow (see image above, bottom left) was my metaphor for poverty emancipation of farming families – that emblazoned tree just happened to be shaped like my beloved Philippine archipelago seen from above. My BigHAni is acronym for Big Harvests Always Advancing to Appropriate Nets Indisputable. It’s hybrid rice. “How can hybrid rice liberate farmers from poverty?” As both a journalist and an agriculturist, that is my question today even as I look at the above main image [2] , which is the logo of the “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty” celebrated this year on 17 October with the leadership of the United Nations ( UN.org ). The 2020 theme is “Acting Together To Achieve Social And Environmental Justice For All.” Th...

Bighani – This Tagalog word means Charm. Synonyms: Seduction, Attraction, Beauty . My derivation, BigHAni , is acronym: Big Harvests Always Advancing to Appropriate Nets Indisputable . Meaning: High harvests, highly assured incomes. BigHAni: Again, calling the attention of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar as I truly am thinking of a rice self-sufficient Philippines within 2021. On Christmas Eve, I proposed, “With 2020 Out & Agriculture Secretary William Dar In, We Can Go After Self-Sufficiency In Rice In 202 1 [1] ! “ (24 December 2020, Brave New World PH ). Before BigHAni, I did not know that we Filipinos have a “public” hybrid rice variety – the Mestiso – in contradistinction to the many “private” or commercial hybrid rices. Mestiso was bred by the very public PhilRice? Actually, BigHAni is my personal proposal for a national program to attract more farmers to plant more hybrid rice varieties, for big harvests, for big gains. As a national program, BigHAni will distribu...

  Hybrid rices are known to be high yielders, producing grains much, much more than inbred rices. If the growing of hybrid rice is sustainable, let’s do it! Well, is it? Let’s see! First, here are 9 hybrid rice companies in the Philippines in my list so far: a)    Advanta Limited b)    Bayer CropScience c)    Bioseed Research Philippines d)    East West Seeds e)    Long Ping Hi-Tech f)     Metahelix Life Sciences g)    Pioneer Hi-Bred Philippines h)    SL Agritech i)     Syngenta Philippines. Among those, my question is: “Whose hybrid rice is sustainable in the growing?” (“Golden Rice” image [1] from Businessmirror.com.ph ) My “sustainable growing” is original. I refer to these 4 characteristics: 1)      Technically feasible – The hybrid rice variety grows exactly as specified by the company that has bred it. The yield is high as it produces many til...

Now I know why SL-8H, the favorite hybrid rice of mother SL Agritech Corp, is not selling much – because the mother actually stopped openly selling the offspring 7 years ago! Maybe the mother simply forgot about her child? It’s Christmas Day as I write this; isn’t this child a gift to the world? Above image: In the Philippines, SL Agritech Corp was selling the virtues of Super Hybrid Rice on the 11 th of April – and then it stopped after that single news item titled “Gov’t Welcomes Super Hybrid Ric e [1] . ” Year missing. You know what? I googled and found that that was 7 years ago yet! 2013. What happened? Wake up, SL Agritech! Already in 2013, you had good products: SL-12H, SL-8H, and SL-18H. Why did you discontinue your website SL Agritech Corporation at http://sl-agritech.com/ or simply abandon it? Me, I believe in inbred rice and hybrid rice. I guess SL Agritech abandoned its digital campaign for hybrid rice because nobody was buying online. I think that is because it did ...