Communitizing La Union Rice Farmers – In Union, There’s Strength!

There is the beginningof good news from the Department of Agriculture, DA, Region 1 based in San Fernando City, with Freddie Lazaro writing about a “100-Hectare Farm In La Union Readied For Community Hybrid Rice Farming Project[1]” (13 July 2020, Manila Bulletin). Communitizing (my word) 185 farmers belonging to farmer associations in Santa Maria, Santa Fe, and San Jose, Agoo, La Union is going to be a hard day’s night!

Mr Lazaro says:

The 100-hectare model farm was provided through consolidation by the DA Regional Field Office 1 (RFO1) while pushing forward the concept of farm clustering as a vital tool in leveling up agricultural productivity in the country.

Those 36 words I just quoted are already a mouthful: 100-ha model farm, consolidation, farm clustering, leveling up agricultural productivity… The perspective is that of DA RFO1; where is that of the Agoo farmers themselves?

Mr Lazaro says the farmers belong to associations – not my cup of tea. From my experience as a training consultant for the Department of Agrarian Reform’s project called “Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services,” ARCCESS (with UPLB professor Rene Rafael C Espino as Project Leader), I learned firsthand of the difference in the exercise of power of farmer groups:

To talk to a Farmer Cooperative, you have to talk to all or a majority of the members of the Board; to talk to a Farmer Association, you talk to the President - that’s how powerful he is.

Look at the above images again. “Farm size matters[2]” (from Grist) – not land ownership but economies of scale in operations. Circle of people[3] (from Pleaders), I imagine saying, “Cooperation matters.”

Now then, it’s not too late; I recommend that the DA RFO1 assist those farmer associations turn themselves into cooperatives, with members of the board comprising people of business, faith, civil society, as well as farmers. I am speaking as a long-time member of the board of Nagkaisa Multi-Purpose Cooperative of Asingan, Pangasinan. In a cooperative, power resides in the people; in an association, power resides in a person.

Also: Our farmers need a modified ARCCESS for community connectivity & support services. “Ken, kakabsat, nalipatanyonsa ti market – asinno ngay ti manayon nga gumatang bagasyo?” Also, brothers and sisters, you seem to have forgotten to arrange for contracted marketing for your rice? 100 ha times 70 cavans/ha minimum to be sold equals 7,000 cavans to dispose of during any harvest. What about warehousing? You have to contract for institutional buyers – otherwise, it will be a buyer’s market!

Ladies & gentlemen, grouping is only the beginning. I know you will succeed – in production. Please look beyond individual farmers’ earnings – you must look at entrepreneurship of farmers and, from season to season, a sustained rise in incomes and therefore in the quality of lives of families. For that to happen, Masaganang Ani at Malaking Kita ay kailangang tuloy-tuloy – Bounteous Harvest and Bountiful Income must be continuous.

DA RFO1, your farmer clustering idea is an excellent start. I’ll be watching you!@517

 

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[1]https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/13/100-hectare-farm-in-la-union-readied-for-community-hybrid-rice-farming-project/?fbclid=IwAR3I1N0F1xTWsu9XG-XAekvUeCfptjELxEZIwxVirDEh1B20EFm60XE_GWY

[2]https://grist.org/food/what-farm-cooperatives-can-do-for-the-food-system-and-farmers/

[3]https://blog.ipleaders.in/how-to-set-up-a-multi-state-cooperative-society/