“Regenerative Agriculture Shifts The Paradigm,” ebridge Says. “It Has Room For Agribiotech Crops,” I Frank A Hilario Say

With the news by ANN, “ISAAA Inc Announces New Chair of ISAAA Board of Trustees” (Author Not Named, 26 June 2024, Science Speaks, ISAAA, isaaa.org), who is William Dar, has become an eye-opener, twice for me, thus: (1) Prior to this, I did not know Mr Dar subscribed to agribiotechnology; (2) Thinking further than the objectors of “Golden Rice,” I see how this biotech rice can be grown with regenerative methods – and thus contribute to the fight against malnutrition and Climate Change. Here is Regenerative Agriculture regenerating the good!
(image, “Golden Rice” from freepik.com)

All these thoughts have come to me after Mr Dar sent me via Facebook, the link to the ISAAA article.

Now then, let’s see what ISAAA knows about its new Chair:

During [William Dar’s] term as the DA Secretary under President Joseph Estrada’s administration (1998-1999), the agricultural sector of the Philippines recorded a 9.6% growth, an achievement that has never been achieved until today. He also served as the DA Secretary during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte from August 2019 to June 2022, with the vision of a food-secure and resilient country with empowered farmers and fisherfolk.

(PH with a 9.6% growth in agriculture – I was sorry to see that our President Bongbong Marcos (BBM) replaced Mr Dar with himself as Agri Sec. It seemed to me, BBM was playing politics, not policy.)

Golden Rice belongs in Regenerative Agriculture (RA), and RA belongs in the fight against Climate Change. That’s the policy that I subscribe to.

ebridge says. “Regenerative Agriculture Shifts The Paradigm” (26 May 2022, ESUS Agri Ltd, esusagri.co.uk, source of image above) as Regenerative Agriculture “partner[s] with Nature” while Chemical Agriculture “compete/s with Nature.”

Again from ISAAA, Janine Cyren Escasura says, “ISAAA Report Calls For Transformative Biosciences And Communication” (15 May 2024, Science Speaks, ISAAA, isaaa.org). As an agriculturist engaged in Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, the name of the blog where you are reading this, that doubles my admiration for ISAAA.

More: Regenerative Agriculture is one of the current policies in the mind of Mr Dar. Thus he says (“Time To Scale Up Regenerative Agriculture, Part 1, (25 Jan 2024, Manila Times, manilatimes.net):

We should not waste time scaling up regenerative agriculture in the Philippines, given the numerous challenges local food producers face locally and globally.

We have to start shifting away from the “First Agricultural Revolution” that was characterized by expansion and exploitation, feeding people at the expense of forests, wildlife, water, and soil. This also led to the destabilization of our climate.

From all that, to put words into his mouth, Mr Dar is thinking, more or less:
It’s time for the “Second Agricultural Revolution” that must be characterized by exclusion and an ecological economy, feeding people while taking good care of forests, wildlife, water, and soil.

If Regenerative Agriculture is to become the hope of the future today, we must start now before Climate Change changes all of us not for the better but for the worse/worst!@517