Extension in Digital Form.
Less than 2 weeks ago, I wrote about my dream of a digital agriculture for my country involving UP Los Baños (19 September 2020, PH, Even Beyond The Du30 Terrestrial Lockdown To Sept 2021, UP Los Baños Needs Intellectual Release From The Silence Of Science!” Brave New World PH).
Yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, came the webinar with the theme “Recalibrating Extension And Advisory Services For The New Normal” sponsored by the Philippine Extension & Advisory Services Network, PhilEASNet. Surprise! The digital handout said:
Dealing with this (coronavirus) health crisis… must be balanced with the important task of EAS (extension and advisory services) – that is to provide farmers or farming communities with the right information, knowledge, skills, and technologies to efficiently produce food for the populace.
EAS takes care of the spread of information, knowledge, skills and technologies, yes – that takes care of Content. How do you take care of Form? That’s what I have been thinking of: Digital.
Everything must now be digital!
Digital Content in Digital Form = Digital Agriculture, the other DA.
Digital Content:
With that webinar, I can see that PhilEASNet already has the digital content and the digital extension of it mapped out. But not the form.
Digital Form:
The form I have in mind, since 17 years ago, is digital – in 2 languages: technical and popular. In response to now-Secretary of Agriculture William Dar when he was still Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, to his proposal Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture, OpAPA, in 2003 as an extension consultant at PhilRice, I wrote out a book on how to give flesh to OpAPA – I called it The Geography Of Knowledge, GK(GK is still intact; you can have a free pdf copy if you email me, frankahilario@gmail.com).
So you have a knowledge bank, a GK, and here is one entry in transplanting rice:
straight line – Ilocano, nalinteg a linya (with the explanation of why it should be straight). The language of the user is 50% of the GK.
Which is my expansion of this position of PhilEASNet, as the 3rd aim of the webinar was this:
Provide principles in rebranding and recalibrating extension strategies and services, especially using the digital platform, to cope with the new normal/reality. (image of digital men[1] from LYFE)
“Especially using the digital platform” – that was music to my ears!
Adding to my pleasure was that the current headquarters of PhilEASNet is at the College of Public Affairs and Development, UPLB, my alma mater.
Says PhilEASNet of itself:
PhilEASNet is a national organization of extension professionals and practitioners who serve as partner advocates in creating avenues for continuing development of a cadre of morally responsible, competent, dedicated and self-directed experts in pursuit of advancing the theory and practice of extension.
New, Digital Agriculture, the other DA, means:
Extension cadres spreading Knowledge – that’s EAS;
Knowledge in digital form in the user’s language – that’s GK.
Isn’t that a Match Made in Extension Heaven!@517
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