To the above Question, if you don’t have an Answer, that’s the Answer!
Shared on Facebook, the press release from the PH Department of Agriculture, DA, was titled, “Dar Calls For Impactful Researches.” Above is Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie calling on the academic staff of UPLB celebrating 111 years of the College of Agriculture, UPCA, now UP Los Baños, to:
“Deliver results, not only research outputs.”
Research outputs. On Tuesday, 03 March 2020, at the opening exercises at the Seniors Social Garden Hall celebrating the birth of UPCA, Manong Willie advised academics of UPLB – himself being an alumnus, having obtained his PhD in Horticulture in 1980 – to “change their mindset and start focusing on developing impactful researches.” I writer will note here that he was talking to an old/new College of Agriculture & Food Science, CAFS, of UPLB. Mr Dar said:
You should not only be happy with the number of researches you have published but see to it that the research will have an impact on the lives of farmers and fisherfolk.
You do research for your degree, your office – but most of all you must do it for your country. Just the other week, the entire UP System was celebrating that it rose 17 ranks higher than in 2019 in the Times Higher Education, THE, list of academes in developing countries – but the THE ranking does not include a criterion on institutional impact(s) on the people’s lives in that country. (impact image from Aspire![1])
The THE ranking impacts on academic achievements, not people prosperity!
“Genius is in the idea. Impact, however, comes from action.” Simon Sinek.
“Don’t use social media to impress people; use it to impact people.” Dave Willis.
“The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment.” Tony Robbins.
In his keynote speech at the 111th anniversary, Mr Dar announced that the DA, through its research arm the Bureau of Agricultural Research, BAR, will provide additional research funding support to UPLB amounting to P485 Million starting this year. As of late, the BAR has released P388 Million for an ongoing UPLB project; the DA did not specify it, my guess is that it’s the “University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) – Agro-Industrial and Information Technology Park.”
More about funding: The University itself has received about P2.4 Billion (B) in research grants, in support of 700 projects, from 2000 to 2019. Now, I writer, an alumnus of UPLB myself, and a wide reader, have yet to come across a UPLB project that has impacted the lives of a thousand, if not a million Filipino farm families!
Impact, where are you?!
Specifically, Mr Dar pleaded for UPLB to help “in resolving various issues faced by the department such as the African Swine Fever, Fall Army Worm, and upscaling the coconut industry.” He also enjoined UPLB “to align their research programs with the eight paradigms of the ‘New Thinking for Agriculture’” he has been espousing since Day One of his secretaryship.
UPLB? Think!@517
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