­2 Years Ago, Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar Was Talking About Climate-Smart Agriculture – Look Who Is Not Talking Now!

William Dar (left) was Secretary of Agriculture starting 2019; then PH Pres BBM (middle) replaced him with himself in 2022; then BBM appointed Francis Tiu Laurel Jr (right) in 2023. That is, in 4 years, there had been 2 primate changes at the Department of Agriculture (DA). Meanwhile, Climate Change remains unchallenged by the primate changes. By definition, a “primate” is a “thinking mammal” – was BBM wise with his 2 Primate Changes at the DA? Let’s find out.

Today, as the 1^st Primate of PH Agriculture, what is Sec Tiu Laurel Jr doing about the deadly dangers of Climate Change? None that I know of, and I surf the Internet everyday every now and then. You cannot dissolve a deadly threat by ignoring it!

At the PH Department of Agriculture, today nobody is talking about Climate Change – are the DA people smart by avoiding to talk about El Niño and La Niña, the deadly forms of Climate Change?

I therefore conclude: “Current Secretary of Agriculture Salvador Tiu Laurel Jr does not seem to understand Climate Change as it relates to Agriculture, so he is our prime target for Primate Change!”

Not surprisingly, I see the name of William Dar as Agri Sec 2 years ago talking about Climate Change in a 27 Feb 2022 article written by Jewel Labita: “DA Attributes P24B For Climate-Smart Agri And Food Systems In 2022” (Department of Agriculture, da.gov.ph):

Agriculture Secretary William Dar has reaffirmed the Philippine government’s commitment in increasing aggregate public investments in agricultural innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems in the next three years.

From 2022, “the next three years” – after BBM as Agri Sec (2022) and now Tiu Laurel Jr (2023), what has the PH DA done in terms of climate-smart agriculture? None that I can see! Climate Change will not change until we change it.

And so I wrote the other day, “People, We Need A Primate Change To Combat Climate Change In The PH Department Of Agriculture! We Need A Secretary With A Vision, Mission, Strategy!” (23 June 2024, Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com).

Sorry to say, but we needed yesterday a Primate Change for Climate Change at the Department of Agriculture! A primate who understands Climate Change and has lots of ideas of how farmers can vigorously help combat it – and, at the same time, tremendously improve their lives! We need a science-miracle worker.

Glad to say I see that our immediate hope for an intelligent Primate Change at the Department of Agriculture is to reappoint William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture.

How come I believe so much in William Dar as the wunderkind PH Secretary of Agriculture? Because I know he is a successful institutional & international leader – in fact, when he was Director-General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) 2000-2014, he brought ICRISAT from kulelat (dead last) to the top of the CGIAR list of 16 international research institutes in agriculture!

You can’t beat a winner!@517