Here’s How A Simple Rotavator Can Feed, Fortify & Replenish The World!?

To me, a self-generated information worker and technical editor on agriculture and forestry, the one-and-only “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing” (2011) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in the entire 100 years plus of UPLB (since 1909):

Climate Change is the #1 Enemy of Agriculture, bar none; and it is not easy to defeat – ergo, any proposed or suggested government program or private movement must address the issue of how Climate Change is solved or resolved.

Says the Editorial of the UN Sustainable Group – “Towards Sustainable Food Systems: How To Feed, Not Deplete The World“ (28 Sept 2023, unsdg.un.org):

“Game-Changers” is a new editorial series from the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) on key transitions that the UN Secretary-General has called for, to advance progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), catalyzing a more sustainable and equitable future. … The world needs renewed ambition and action to deliver these Goals at scale.

Urgently, to deliver the food. Says the UNSDG further:

“As the global population rises, the question of how we produce, trade and consume food in a sustainable manner has become increasingly urgent.”

Precisely!

“in a sustainable manner” – As an agriculturist (UP Los Baños 1965) and a self-taught environmentalist, I say that the 1^st major goal of food production should be that it is “eco-friendly.” Certainly, if eco-friendly, the food production would help improve and/or enhance the qualities of the environment that promote sustainability: water, soil, plants, microflora. In contrast, Chemical Agriculture (CA) is eco-fiendly – (1) CA destroys soil life; (2) CA is expensive and therefore anathema to the poor farmers; (3)  and CA produces greenhouse gases that accumulate in the upper atmosphere and produce Climate Change, the enemy of all.

The 2^nd major goal is that it should be “techno-friendly” – especially considering the technically illiterate farmers who number millions, plural. Like: The chemical fertilizer is “unfriendly” to farmers because they cannot do anything except accept or reject it! The same is true with the chemical pesticide.

3^rd major goal is that it should be “pocket-friendly” – again, especially for the poor farmers.

That is why I would like to teach what I shall refer to here as “Rotavator Agriculture” – it is a personal “secret” that I can cultivate any farm with any rotavator big or small – and increase the yield wonderfully! Not to mention decrease the cost magnificently. (Image from youtube.com)

Caption to the image above, from the UNSG: “As the global population rises, the question of how we produce, trade and consume food in a sustainable manner has become increasingly urgent.” Photo: © FAO/Miguel Schincario

Precisely!

My Filipino rotavator solution is inexpensive. There is no other equipment or material necessary except the rotavator – it’s the technique of using it that matters.

You can call me for a demonstration at your place, or in my hometown. Or you can contact Nagkaisa Multipurpose Cooperative which is based in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, and who will then contact me. (And yes, Nagkaisa will document everything for future reference.)

Reaching riches for the world!@517

A Teacher & Filipino In The Philippines, I thought US President Donald Trump Was Insane When He Abolished The US Govt Dept Of Education. Look Who Looks Insane Now!

On Thursday (20 March 2025), “Trump signed an executive order 'to begin eliminating' the Department of Education” was the news coming from the US mainland (Yahoo!News, sg.news.yahoo.com). I thought he was crazy, insane, gone loco. Until I read the news in its entirety and did my own teacher thinking.

I was enlightened when Mr Trump said:
"I want every parent in America to be empowered to send their child to public, private, charter, or faith-based school of their choice. The time for universal school choice has come.”

Mr Trump explained: “As we return education to the states, I will use every power I have to give parents this right.”

In an earlier news, “To Sign Executive Order To Abolish The Department Of Education” (19 March 2025, Fox News, foxnews.com), Diana Stancy, Louis Casiano, Patrick Ward, Edward Lawrence pointed out that “Trump (was) preparing to majorly revamp Department of Education as math, reading scores show stunning lows” (see image above, bottom).

Trump had claimed during the election campaign yet that the Educ Dept was full of "radicals, zealots and Marxists."

There is another major consideration. Harrison Fields, the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, told Fox News:

"Over the past four years, Democrats have allowed millions of illegal minors into the country, straining school resources and diverting focus from American students."

The Democrats are the enemies of American education?!

Linda McMahon, whom the US Senate voted to lead the agency on March 3, issued a memo… “outlining her support for the Trump administration's plans for the department” and that she would oversee a "new era of accountability" in the agency's final days.

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice joins 'Fox & Friends' to discuss President Donald Trump preparing plans to dismantle the Department of Education as the nation's report card shows continuing decline.

A White House fact sheet states that the move will "turn over education to families instead of bureaucracies. Trump and proponents of eliminating the department have long said the agency has failed American students.

"NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores reveal a national crisis — our children are falling behind," Harrison Fields, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News. "Over the past four years, Democrats have allowed millions of illegal minors into the country, straining school resources and diverting focus from American students."

Tara Suter says (20 March 2025, “Trump To Sign Order Thursday Dismantling Department Of Education,” Yahoo!News, sg.news.yahoo.com):

"Coupled with the rise of anti-American CRT and DEI indoctrination, (education) is harming our most vulnerable," he added. "President Trump's executive order to expand educational opportunities will empower parents, states, and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students."

A Filipino teacher, I ask: “Why would not an intelligent American President, noting ‘the rise of anti-American CRT and DEI indoctrination,’ employ its presidential power ‘to empower parents, states and communities to take control and improve (educational) outcoes for all students’”?

Done!@517

It’s Hard To Appreciate The Scenes If We Don’t Have Any Vision!

3 times I’ve been reading Inquirer’s Cielito F Habito’s 10 March 2025 column titled “Bridging A Divided Nation” (“No Free Lunch,” opinion.inquirer.net), and I see the major reason for divisiveness: Lack of Vision. (That’s what the image also implies.)

So we cannot all say, “Wen a!” (“Yes, well said!”) So we say, instead “Wenno?” (“What else can we do? What are our choices?”) And we stop there, literally. If not enough of us agree, we cannot solve our common problems!

I’m an Agriculturist (UPLB ’65), Ag Edu, WA 2.35; Civil Service Professional 1964, 80.6% – and a very wide reader, from Agriculture to Writing, turning even more active when the Internet came to the Philippines in 1991, or 34 years ago. I’m in the first place a son of a farmer, Dionisio Hilario, so I was born with dirt on my hands, you can say.

As a wide reader, I don’t agree with much of what is going on in my country today, not much of what our leaders are saying. “It’s easier to bring heaven and earth together than have two Filipinos agree on anything,” Mr Ciel quotes Spanish-time Filipino rebel General Antonio Luna as saying. I agree!

To bring Filipinos to agree on the big issues about PH agriculture, I am hereby advising, through our columnist Mr Habito, if he may, counseling our President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to re-appoint William Dollente Dar as Secretary of Agriculture because Mr Dar has the vital Vision that heads of the DA have commonly lacked since way back when!

Proof without proof? Be informed that it was Mr Dar as Director General (DG) of the nternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India who brought headed ICRISAT when it was struggling on its feet and was the kulelat (last placer) in the group of 15 research centers that were members of the CGIAR (Ccnsultative Group for International Agricultural Research). Within a few years from being DG, with the Vision that Mr Dar came up with for ICRISAT, “Science with a human face,” ICRISAT rose to be #1 in the CGIAR group of international agencies. Unprecedented! Achievement by a Filipino visionary!

How do I know all that? I was a Writer From Home (WFH) international worker for ICRISAT for years, from 2007 to 2014.

With agriculture in so much trouble as it is all over the world, as Vision, Mr Dar’s “Science with a farmer’s face” is as bright a scene as the morning sun!

Sorry but UP Los Baños is a hundred years away from thinking about it – if at all, UPLB keeps thinking about “Science with a scientist’s face” and not “Science with a farmer’s face.” Just read the papers they present at conventions and the papers they present for publication in scientific journals!

Why not “Science with a shining farmer’s face!”?

Aggie scientists should think about the expensive Chemical Agriculture package that they have been “selling” to farmers all these hundred years since UPLB was born in 1908.

UPLB, wake up!@517

 

Stop All Reforestation! Start Biodiversification Of Forestlands Emasculated By Men – Here, There & Everywhere!

In my dear tropical Philippines, as well as elsewhere in the world: Today, why “No!” to Reforestation and why “Yes!” to Rebiodiversification? 100% My original idea. (Read, 15 March 2025, “Eureka! Moment – ReFORESTation Is Not Enough; It Must Be ReBIODIVERSification. As We Cannot Live On Logs Alone!” Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com). “Eureka” is “an interjection used to celebrate a discovery or invention” (Wikipedia, wikipedia). In this case, this is my Eureka! Moment.

Because worldwide we have lost much more quality in biodiversity than quantity in forest intensity!

The above image is from Grace Catan, a psychology graduate student of Ateneo De Manila University. The Pulitzer Center says (pulitzercenter.org):

“Over 80 stories. Countless voices. One urgent mission.

“The Show Me Your Tree campaign Philippine edition… What started as a call to share personal tree stories grew into something far greater – a powerful movement of over 80 compelling narratives and breathtaking images that remind us just how vital trees are to our environment, our safety, and our future.”

The winner was Grace Catan, “whose heartfelt story emphasizes how trees are not just part of the environment but vital protectors of human well-being, urging us to safeguard them as fiercely as they protect us.”

Trees. In the Philippines, half a century ago, in 1972, I distinctly remember our dear Secretary of Agriculture & Natural Resoources (DENR) Arturo Tanco was already publicly decrying the biodiversity loss of our forest resources.

How do I know? In 1975, I became the Information Editor of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), based at UPLB campus, and went on to launch and become The Editor In Chief of the FORI monthly Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat.

I was with FORI until 1980. No Internet yet, so the gathering of data & information for publications was reading at the library, as well as asking questions from foresters in Los Baños and in Quezon City (DENR and Bureau of Forestry). And: In my journalistic location trips to gather information materials for Canopy and Habitat, I saw for myself the state of forest/ry in my country! Poor.

Despite the preventive labors of foresters of the Bureau of Forestry (now the Forest Management Bureau), the Philippines has lost and/or degraded hundreds of thousands of hectares of forestlands. Natural resources unrestored, wasted unnecessarily.

I am convinced that we Filipinos can prevent further such losses if we initially acknowledge the value of such forests in terms not only of trees good as logs but of biodiversity itself –

“Variety is the species of life!” I say.

To proceed from where we men left off, l recommend that we transform the Forest Management Bureau into the Forest Enrichment Bureau and stop all logging at once until further notice!

Licenses for logging in any and all areas of the archipelago will then be confiscated and the areas turned back to authentic forestlands.

Careful now!

Before undertaking that gargantuan task, I believe all of FMB should be reeducated when it comes to forest resources.@517

Eureka Moment – ReFORESTation Is Not Enough; It Must Be ReBIODIVERSification. As We Cannot Live On Logs Alone!

On 15 March 44 BC, a group of senators assassinated Emperor Julius Caesar during a Senate hearing at the Court of Pompei (Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org). With that, the “crown” itself lost its imperial power.

To keep my own Eureka Moment alive, let me categorically state: At about 9 AM today in the Philippines, Saturday, 15 March 2025, my Eureka Moment, I had the sudden deathly idea of “ReBIODIVERSification,” that which assassinates the longstanding imperial idea of “ReFORESTation”! (I hereby claim “Rebiodiversification” as my original concept of power to slay the dictatorship of “Reforestation.”)

Truth to tell, my first government job was as a writer for the Forest Research Institute (FORI) based on the campus of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) – Pete Bueno hired me as Information Editor, if I remember right – 50 years ago, 1975. FORI was and remains to be an integral part of the Department of Natural Resources of the Philippines, even as FORI has become Ecosystem Research & Development Bureau (ERDB).

Encouraged by the freedom of re/search that which Pete Bueno allowed me, from 1975 to 1980, I founded and became The Editor In Chief of all the publications of FORI that I myself originated: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat.

The information contained in the above paragraph should tell you that I became an off-the-cup forester, and since the Philippines already at that time was suffering from overlogging of forests, became an ardent supporter for reforestation.

That is all to say I have been espousing the need for reforestation in the Philippines in the last 50 years!

This was all before the coming of the Internet in the Philippines in 1991.

But this morning, I had an epiphany:

Reforestation is only a minor problem;
Rebiodiversification is the major problem!

The one to assassinate is Reforestation and the one to resuscitate is Biodiversity!

In Reforestation, your major objective is to return the major species of a forest as much and as soon as possible. This is, you hope, to return the mixed balance of natural plant and animal and species. Which will then tame the natural forces of floods and droughts.

Reforestation is not a bad idea!

But if it insists on being dictatorial, it must be assassinated!

Qualitatively and quantitatively more than Reforestation, we need Rebiodiversification.

Yes, we need more trees in those logged-over forests; but we need more than trees, we need more than logs for protection – We need such as fruit trees for their fruits, such as vines for our arts & crafts.

The undisturbed soil fertility of the forest is also a lesson for our disturbed soil fertility – of our agriculture!

Those are lessons that eluded our numberless doctors of philosophy in agriculture in the past 217 years, since the founding of UPCA on 06 March 1908 by American Thomasites in Agriculture led by Edward Bingham Copeland. They must remember with Aristotle: “The duty of a wise leader is to serve, not to rule.”@517

Primate Change For Climate Change – “Meet 53-Year Old Gauri Nayak From Karnataka – Who Dug Two Wells 60 Feet Deep Each In 6 Months By Working 6 Hours Daily To Irrigate The Plants In Her Field”

Do you have a better idea in fighting Climate Change? I am asking as a Filipino agriculturist & journalist loudly worried about the unnatural changes in climate wrought by the unnatural behaviors of man in farming.

With the news, India seems to be one of the first brave stands when it comes to fighting Climate Change – and 53-year old Gauri Nayak from Karnataka has shown what one person can do, if woman, to fight Climate Change.

Climate-related news from Gabe Whisnant & Andrew Stanton (12 March 2025, “EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action In US History,” Climate Change, epa.gov):

“Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a sweeping rollback of landmark environmental regulations on Wednesday, targeting rules on coal-fired power plant pollution, Climate Change policies, and electric vehicles.”

“Rollback” – back to the past bad practices!?

And all that does not bother/does not stop Gauri in her farming.

Instead of digging dirt about politicians who keep on ignoring Climate Change in her country India, 53-year old Gauri Nayak of Karnataka has dug in her property 2 wells in 6 months, both 60 feet deep. To store water when there is water – and have water when everywhere else is dry. That is all to be able to irrigate her plants in her field. 2 wells, 6 months of hard work, as it is all hand work!

I 86 years old salute 53-year old Ms Gauri for not giving up on her farming.

Well done, Ms Gauri! But instead of encouraging all women farmers in India (or in my own dear Philippines) to follow the footsteps of Ms Gauri, I am hereby urging the Department of Agriculture of India (and the same government department in my country the Philippines) to adopt climate-friendly Regenerative Agriculture (RA), the technologies being as follows:

(1) Cover Cropping,
(2) Crop Rotation,
(3) Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry),
(4) Green Manuring,
(5) Intercropping,
(6) Multiple Cropping,
(7) No-Till Farming,
(8) Organic Fertilization,
(9) Ratooning,
(10) Rotational Grazing,
(11) “Three Sisters” Planting,
(12) Trap Cropping, and
(13) Trash Mulching.

RA does not call for extreme (if effective) solutions like digging a hole or two, each 60 feet deep, where to store water for the dry months.

RA is all au naturel, all natural. In any of the 13 methods of RA, the farmer does not need any amount of chemical fertilizer or any amount of chemical pesticide. Nor does any of the crops need any irrigation. Each of the 13 RA methods takes care of pests and diseases by each own natural operations – like in farm preparation, any RA method encourages the natural decaying of vegetation and, therefore, the natural holding of soil moisture for the farmer’s crop, and therefore the natural starving and therefore dispatching of tiny organisms that depend on vegetation for living!

With any farmer who regenerates her/his field, s/he regenerates her slice of life in this planet!@517

 

Unorthodox Pope Francis – He Is Not Only For Us Roman Catholics, “But The Pope For All!” I Say That With My Whole Heart

Surprise and/or shock: Pope Francis turns out to be the Pope for everyone! It is as if the image above, photo taken almost 7 years ago, is a testament for this assertion: ”A beam of light hits Pope Francis’ cross on his return flight from Dublin, Aug. 26, 2018” (Collen Dulle, 13 March 2021, America (The Jesuit Review, americamagazine.org). A special heavenly? note for the one and only unorthodox pope!

Oh, but did Pope Francis really say all this and that? I now quote from Snopes (snopes.com):

“Eat whatever you want during Holy Week; the sacrifice is not in the stomach but in the heart.”

You watch eating some foods during these times. You also watch your doing good for others!

“People abstain from eating meat, but they do not talk to their siblings and/or relatives; they do not visit their parents and do not take care of their children.”

We Catholics extend meat abstinence to abstinence in talking to our siblings, relatives. We abstain from visiting our parents and do not help take care of our siblings’ children. We abstain from living as a family!

“They do not share their food with those who need it most; they distance their children from their father/mother and/or grandparents. They criticize the lives of others, mistreat their partner, etc.”

We do not share our food with those in need – we don’t care if some people are starving! And we do not exert efforts for our children to meet and learn to love their grandparents.

“Meat does not make you a bad person, just as a fish fillet will not make you a saint.”

But not sharing fish, or fish fillet, with those you see are in need of food makes you a devil!

“Children distance themselves from their father, mother and/or grandparents.”

This is the fault of parents. Children don’t visit at any time even if just to say hello and find out if the grandparents needed some help or other.

“We criticize the lives of others, mistreat our partners even.”

When we’re angry, and that is often, it’s very easy to criticize, to abuse our partners even.

“Better to seek a good relationship with God by doing good to others. Let us be less arrogant and more humble of heart.”

Oh yes, I can think of our Pope Francis saying all of the above to guide not only us Roman Catholics but others too if they wished.

Oh, there is a serious question of whether the above actually came from Pope Francis, by Jack Izzo (“Did Pope Francis actually say ‘Eat Whatever You Want For Easter'?” Snopes, snopes.com)

I say it would be best if he did say all those things!

“Eat whatever you want during Holy Week; the sacrifice is not in the stomach but in the heart."

So, most of all, share your love to anyone in sight as much as you can!

It is not sacrifice if what you share is love!@517

Women As Drivers Of Change Agricultural And Social – And Learning From This, I Wish The Men Learn From The Women!

How do you manage change? Peter Digiammarino says (28 April 2014, Intelliven, intelliven.com); old or not it’s still much relevant:

“Decide what kind of leader (you would like) to be:

Sergeant: “Follow me.”
Herder: “Get along.”
Teacher: “Come along.”
Icon: “Team carries leader.”
Hero: “Leader carries team.”
League: “Team of leaders.”

Note then that there are many kinds of leaders, and as the team members must be cooperative, so must the team leaders be cooperative with one another.

(And, I say, above all, there must be a national leader who is a visionary!)

What have our Filipinas done for our agriculture and economic development? Let’s see! Ms Ghio Ong says (”Phl, Canada To Strengthen Agri, Tourism Partnerships,” 20 Feb 2024, PhilStar, magzter.com): The meeting (and Rizal Park visit above) was designed to “help PH and Canada boost agriculture and tourism partnerships as they celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties.”

Nota bene: PH Ambassador to Canada is a woman, and we are talking here of “women as drivers of PH agriculture and economic development.”

“In the coming days, the Indo-Pacific Agricultural and Agri-Food Office will be inaugurated in Manila as part of the commemoration,” Ambassador Maria Andrelita Austria said. “The Philippines and Canada will boost agriculture and tourism partnerships as they celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties.”

Of the IndoPacific Agricultural and Agri-Food Office, Philippine Ambassador Austria said:

“(The office is) a sign of our long-term commitment in the Indo-Pacific, along with the importance we play upon Canada’s reputation as a stable and trusted supplier for agriculture, agri-food and seafood products” (Agriculture Canada, agriculture.canada.ca).

On her part and separately, Senator Imee Marcos, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and guest of honor at the Department’s National Women’s Month Celebration (NWMC) this year, called attention to the pivotal role of women in addressing both local and global food and agricultural crises.

The 2025 NWMC is anchored on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “vision of a new Philippines” with an all-inclusive plan on national development and transformation.

Meanwhile, in the DA chief’s message delivered by Undersecretary for Finance Nora Oliveros, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P Tiu Laurel Jr “encouraged the DA family to take on the challenge of surpassing its current capabilities and continuing to craft and implement gender-responsive initiatives.”

“Let us continue to champion gender equality, create more opportunities, and ensure that every woman in this sector has the tools and support (she needs) to thrive. As your DA Secretary, I promise that your contributions will always be recognized, valued, and celebrated. The future of agriculture in the Bagong Pilipinas is one where women stand equally, empowered, and at the forefront of progress,” the DA head said.

Following all of the above, I journalist for community development of vibrant villages say, women have to be properly involved as leaders and followers in the development of their country: followers surely, but team leaders also, as Sargeant, Herder, Icon, Hero, or Teacher – see above guide.

Women leaders, may your thrive increase!@517

Pope Francis’ Old 2019 Message Unfulfilled – “Help Protect Creation From Greed, Exploitation” And So Is “Laudato Si,” On Care For Our Common Home

Almost 6 years ago, from Carol Glatz (EarthBeat, 05 March 2025, ncronline.org): “Above photo: Pope Francis is pictured with Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo, Peru, during a procession at the start of the first session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican 7 Oct 2019.”

Ms Carol then reports: “Pope Francis asked Christians to help protect nature from human greed and exploitation during the Holy Year.” And, I say, beyond the Holy Year! It must be the whole year every single year!

“At the start of the Lenten season, the pope greeted Catholics in Brazil and praised the country's bishops for their continued support of the annual Fraternity Campaign, which is dedicated this year to "Fraternity and Integral Ecology." I Filipino Roman Catholic say:

Ecology is for Everyone. And, Ecology is for Everyday.

“He also expressed his hope that the church in Brazil will contribute to COP 30, the UN climate conference to be held Nov 10-21 in Belém, Brazil, "in the heart of the beloved Amazon."

I don’t know. Did that conference bring out and warn the whole world about the direct and unhealthful contributions of Chemical Agriculture (CA) to Climate Change?

“The church's efforts could help nations and international organizations effectively adopt and ‘commit themselves to practices that help overcome the climate crisis and preserve the marvelous work of creation, which God has entrusted to us and which we have a responsibility to pass on to future generations,’ the pope wrote.”

 “With their Fraternity Campaign, now in its 61st year, the bishops of Brazil are inviting all the faithful to follow a path of personal conversion during Lent that is based on the pope's 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home."

“That document and its follow-up, “Laudate Deum” ("Praise God") in 2023, Francis said, were meant to draw the whole world's attention to the urgency of changing its attitude toward and relationship with the environment.

“The ecological crisis is a call to a profound interior conversion," he wrote.

“The pope's message praised the bishops' conference for proposing a theme dedicated to integral ecology. "May we all, with the special help of God's grace during this Jubilee season, change our convictions and practices to give nature a rest from our greedy exploitations."

I say, if you want to overcome the climate crisis, stop Chemical Agriculture right now – and proceed to Regenerative Agriculture (RA)!

Pope Francis, please preach for Regenerative Agriculture now!

“Lent is a Christian observation starting on Ash Wednesday (March 05 in the Philippines).

“The pope said he hoped the campaign would once again "be a powerful aid to the people and communities of this beloved country" in their "concrete commitment to integral ecology."

In junking Chemical Agriculture and practicing Regenerative Agriculture instead, I say that that is a concrete commitment to integral ecology!

How about the women actively helping lead this movement? Then I can truly doubly wish you people, “Happy Women’s Day!”@517

How To Future-Proof UP Los Baños Responding To The Challenges Of The Times It Has Been Ignoring!

The Facebook post of Albert Geoffred B Peralta dated 03 March says:

“UPLB is set to celebrate its 112th Foundation Day anniversary on March 6. With the theme of ‘Future-Proof UPLB: Responding to the Challenges of the Times,’ UPLB will be commemorating this year’s anniversary with a series of programs and events.”

(Sorry! Actually, UPCA, now UPLB, was founded in 1908, which is 117 years ago; “112^th” is wrong.)

I began writing this early evening of March 06, Thursday. If invited, I could have been there to help celebrate, because I am an alumnus and I have an urgent message for my alma mater.

To “Future-Proof UPLB: Responding To The Challenges Of The Times” – so, what are the challenges of the times?

If you ask me, the 2 greatest challenges of the times in countries at peace are:

(1) Primate Change – our farmers must learn farming that enriches the earth even as they enrich themselves!

(2) Climate Change – Chemical fertilizers and pesticides produce greenhouse gases that produce the so-called “Greenhouse Effect” that produces Climate Change!

So, how can we improve directly the weather as well as the lives of poor farmers simultaneously? Via “Regenerative Agriculture” (RA). There are 13 RA practices that I know:

(1) Cover Cropping, (2) Crop Rotation, (3) Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry), (4) Green Manuring, (5) Intercropping, (6) Multiple Cropping, (7) No-Till Farming, (8) Organic Fertilization, (9) Ratooning, (10) Rotational Grazing, (11) “Three Sisters” Planting, (12) Trap Cropping, and (13) Trash Mulching.

Choose your pick! Each of the 13 RA practices is low cost and high returns – remember, no expensive fertilizers and expensive pesticides, so that the farmer can save at least PH 10,000 each farming season! 10K only covers the savings – how about the farm products that are healthy beyond reasonable doubt? Consumers would be competing to buy them!

Our American teachers in agriculture led by Edward Bingham Copeland were good, but they did not know or study the repercussions of applying farming chemicals on the environment as well as the health of the consumers. If you neglect the health of your consumers, you are merely a greedy farmer!

With proper documentation and computerized video aids for farmers (local languages) as well as for farmer cooperatives (both in English and local languages), the Filipino farmer anywhere can be taught according to the speed of his/her learning, no problem. And no memorization necessary – the video and printed materials will always be there for consultation by anyone anytime.

Necessarily, we will need financial assistance from the PH government as well as foreign funding agencies or banks. Note: I referred to the aid of farmer cooperatives – farmers can always consult with any of the officers of their cooperatives anytime day or night easily via the ubiquitous cellphone, which everybody seems to have these days.

At the same time, with the cellphone and the Internet, contact between me and UPLB at anytime is not a problem – this time, it is the student teaching the teacher what to teach!@517

Why Is The Philippines The #1 Importer Of Rice In The World? No, It’s Not Why You Think. We Are Looking At The Problem From The Wrong End!

“A country smaller than Maryland is responsible (for) feed(ing) a big part of Europe. In 2023, the Netherlands became the world’s #2 food exporter, earning $133 billion through advanced farming that uses 90% less water and no pesticides.” (image from sorrycan’tfindmysourceanymore). Get the hint?

“The Philippines has replaced China as the world’s top rice importer, a report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. According to the 2023 Grain: World Markets and Trade report, the Philippines will import 3.8 million metric tons (MT) of rice for trade year 2023 to 2024, while previous top importer China will only import around 3.5 MT (Adrian Parungao, “PH Replaces China As World’s Top Rice Importer,” 14 Sept 2023, globalnation.inquirer.net).

I repeat: PH imported 1 M metric tons more of rice in 2022-23 than behemoth Red China! We Filipinos must be doing something wrong!

I am reading the 2025 article by Leister Jensen Lim titled “Why Does The Philippines Import Rice? A Solution To The Rice Shortage” academia.edu):

“This study examines the reasons behind the Philippines' reliance on rice imports despite having sufficient domestic production capabilities (my emphasis)…

“Capabilities” – that is to say, we Filipinos can produce enough rice for ourselves if we study the matter carefully.

Why is the Philippines the #1 rice importer in the world? According to IRRI, the answer is quite simple. Says Paul John Caña, Editor In Chief of Esquire Magazine (03 July 2024, esquiremag.ph):

“In 2023, the Philippines was named the world’s top rice importer, overtaking global behemoth China. According to Statista, which based its information on reports by the US Department of Agriculture, the Philippines imported 3.8 million metric tons (MMT) of rice in the 2022-2023 marketing year, compared to China’s 2.8 MMT.”

What?! We Filipinos are the #1 importers of rice in the world – despite the fact that UP Los Baños and IRRI are located in these islands and right next to each other! What’s the matter – UPLB and IRRI are competing against each other in science they cannot serve the single country they are located in? No, they are not competing – what we Filipinos have been doing is serving for 100 years the wrong science called Chemical Agriculture (CA) instead of Regenerative Agriculture (RA)!

Read the enlarged text in the above image:

“A country smaller than Maryland is responsible {of feeding) a big part of Europe. In 2023, the Netherlands became the world’s #2 food exporter, earning $133 million through advanced farming that uses 90% less water and no pesticides.”

As a Filipino, the last 7 words in the above quote are what interest me greatly: 10% water, 00% pesticides! That to me describes Regenerative Agriculture (RA), that which is commonly ignored by my alma mater UP Los Baños and the nearby International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)! If there are two of you ignorant of something, welcome company!?

Time for UP Los Baños and IRRI to regenerate themselves in their common science!@517