09, The More The Merrier – 1-Ha Garden For 17,000 Households? It’s Faith!

Roman Catholic faith works! From Faithfuls to Farmers: “Tondo Parish Turns Soccer Field Into Vegetable Farm[1]” (Karl R Ocampo, 17 February 2021, Inquirer.net). Above is the soccer field at St John Bosco Parish in Tondo, Manila, all of 1 ha transformed into a giant garden, all vegetables. Now serving the 17,000 households in 17 barangays in that parish. Last January, P17,000 worth of vegetables were sold.
(“FaithWorks” image[2] from FaithWorks.org)

Now, the number “17” has a special meaning to me: I was born September 17. In numerology, “17 represents compassion, self-confidence, spiritual consciousness, and strength[3]” (Numerology Nation). That describes that Tondo parish in their gardening project!

Yes, it was started by the priests of St John Bosco. Parish head Fr Gaudencio Carandang says:

It all started with suffering. We were giving consistent relief to members of our community during the lockdown. They would knock on the parish’s doors and ask for food, and we could not turn them away. But as the pandemic stretched on, donations became fewer, and so did the relief (foods) that we could give. We had to think of something to feed them.

The Church serving the Church.

When the government imposed the lockdown, most of the parish residents, that is, the drivers and street peddlers, eventually lost their sources of income. Thinking about it some more, the parish priests decided to turn the idle soccer field into a busy vegetables field. Through the intercession of Fr Anton Pascual, Executive Director of Caritas Manila and President of Radio Veritas, a vegetable partnership was formed with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The die was cast.

The DAR provided the inputs: vegetable seeds, fertilizers, basic gardening tools. The parish residents provided the workputs, all volunteer labor. Mr Ocampo says, “Farmer-scientists from Cavite visited the site a few times a week to teach the residents how to properly till the soil and what implements to use on each crop.”

Scene: Volunteers, gardeners, masked and gloved men and women, young and old, enjoying themselves; housewife Sally Funtanares tending the bottlegourd (upo), Barangay Councilman Jun Valdez the chayote, and parish cook Len Molina the cabbage patch.

The soccer field is being used for free. The harvests are sold to the parish residents at low prices; after that, the profit is equally divided among the volunteer gardeners.

Last January, the parish community celebrated its “Pick, Harvest & Pay” festival co-organized with the DAR. Fr Carandang says, “The turnout was overwhelming. It was a success.“ Mr Ocampo says:

Booths lined one side of the field and residents presented recipes showcasing their crop. Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones, who attended the festival, said Tondo residents had inspired other local government units in Metro Manila to replicate garden (projects) in their respective areas.

With their own garden projects, Quezon City followed, and Caloocan, and Pasig.

I’m a Roman Catholic; I believe the DAR could save more stomachs, not to mention earn more indulgences, if it helped more parishioners like those in St John Bosco.@

---

[1]https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1396854/tondo-parish-turns-soccer-field-into-vegetable-farm?fbclid=IwAR1f1P3P8kSksIjGLnASLmnzFU5s6HQn5Qkodp9bOvkmBqHJJK8WwvcZUzA#ixzz6mmiJOoKK

[2]http://www.faith-works.org/

[3]https://numerologynation.com/angel-number-17/

08, The More The Merrier – Leni Robredo Says We Millions Must Contribute. What? Love!

Servant Leader: Leni Robredo, is a 134-page volume published by San Anselmo Press, Manila, December 2020. I have my copy, thanks! I say neither author, Ed Garcia, nor Editor, Danton Remoto, foresaw it, but here is my review in 5 words:

Ah, a book of love!

Ed Garcia’s name is on the cover, signifying authorship; actually, he wrote many of the chapters, yet he composed the book including 13 other writers: Aida Robredo, Bam Aquino, Chit Roces-Santos, Dean Mel Sta Maria, Doods M Santos, Fr Albert I Alejo SJ, Gay Ace Domingo, Gemino H Abad, Hazel Lavitoria, Jim Pascual Agustin, Leni Robredo, Philip Dy, and Tricia Robredo.

Browsing, I find that the most telling – pun intended – is Chapter X, titled “Leni Speaks,” specifically pages 92-93, which contain her entire online address to the graduates of 2020 delivered via Radyo Katipunan 87.9 FM, 08 May 2020. She speaks for herself best. It’s a total of 1055 words, author and title included. It’s Taglish. (For my free English translation, email frankahilario@gmail.com.)

The title of that message is Love expressed in 3 words and in Tagalog (Filipino):
Palabas At Pasulong.
(Outward & Forward, my translation)
It is a message of Love.
Not simply for graduates, but for all of us Filipinos, including farmers.

The 5^th paragraph of that speech spills it all out – and all in English:

This is where your real work as graduates begins. With imagining the future. You are asked to answer questions like: How do we make sure technology brings people closer, instead of driving us further apart because of the digital divide? If we can never go back to the old way of doing things, how do we make sure that the new world will be shaped more fairly, more equitably, in a way that bridges social gaps and dismantles the injustices of the past? How do we relate with one another in a post-Covid world?

I note specially: “How do we make sure that the new world will be shaped more fairly, more equitably, in a way that bridges social gaps and dismantles the injustices of the past?”

I understand Leni’s “Palabas At Pasulong” like this: We must get out of ourselves (Palabas) and into society and help it move forward (Pasulong). And that can happen only in an atmosphere of LOVE – inside and outside.

Outward and Forward. This, my dear graduates, is how I propose we approach the future. I do not know if you know or have read the works of novelist Arundhati Roy: We all are passing through the same portal going to the new world, that is what we are experiencing right now. He emphasizes and I quote: “We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”

Fight! And your only weapon is? Love.@517

01, Less Is More – How PhilRice Can Reduce A Rice Farmer’s Total Expenses By 51%!

This essay arose from several Facebook comments on my earlier essay “07, The More The Merrier – P1B From DA Supportive Of 10 Bataan Model Farms Leading PH Agriculture[1]” (21 February 2021, BrainScapes). This is my comment in that essay that readers mainly commented on:

I don’t know why, but 60-year old foreign-funded IRRI and 35-year-old PH-funded PhilRice have advocated neither high-value crops (HVCs) after rice nor fertigation, when these technologies are not that new.

Joy Duldulao said: “PhilRice advocates HVCs thru its Palayamanan and FutureRice programs.”

Eufemio Rascoreplied: “PhilRice should not limit itself to advocacy. Advocacy is for those who don’t have the resources. Show by example how the challenge of scaling up can be done in its own farms! Mainstream Palayamanan!”

Roberto Acosta said: “Joy Duldulao, maybe it’s high time to change the success measurement matrix of PhilRice – from increasing rice yield to increasing rice farmers' income and better lives for rice farming families.”

Excellent point, Mr Acosta! Meaning, PhilRice itself has been the one limiting its own vision. I Frank A Hilario say "PhilRice cares" is not good enough!

The best way to increase farmer income? Reduce expenses. Now, in a study by University of Southern Mindanao researchers, MTN Cabasan et al in 2019 reported these rice farming expenses (image above): 27% fertilizers and 24% pesticides[2], for a total of 51% (Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, Winter 2019, 37-42).

So, how can PhilRice easily increase the rice farmers’ income and better the lives of farming families? Reduce by half total farming expenses!

As an agriculturist, teacher and writer, I will now challenge PhilRice to fund 2 contrasting but comparative rice-growing systems carried out near each other in 2 ha at its headquarters in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, for 2 croppings. Thus:

PhilRice plot of 1 ha – Conventional rice growing
A trusted rice scientist will grow a rice variety of his/her choice. As usual, the soil will be plowed using the disc plow for cultivating the soil. Fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation water will be applied.

Frank A Hilario’s plot of 1 ha – Trash mulching
I will grow the same variety of rice in the plot somewhere near the PhilRice field above. I will use the rotavator (above, green image[3] from Wecan Global Philippines) to create a trash mulch all over the field, mixing weeds & crop refuse & soil together to make a rich layer of organic matter that begins to rot immediately. I will irrigate the field.

With my trash mulch, throughout the growing period, there will be zero fertilizers, zero pesticides applied – that will reduce the cost of growing rice by 51%! As the trash mulch decomposes, the soil will become rich and the rice will grow right and healthy. Right at the start, the trash mulch farmer is a winner – reducing cost of inputs by half! (Note: My brother-in-law Enso in my hometown of Asingan, Pangasinan has been using my trash farming technique for 55 years.) Will PhilRice accept my challenge?@517

---

[1]https://braincapes.blogspot.com/2021/02/07-more-merrier-p1b-from-da-supportive.html?fbclid=IwAR2GaIxDKQfT9SfWIO4iG5YI9x35dGHORDEFYqeHYrCMLlqKLpcd4zGigrw

[2]https://www.gjesm.net/article_33161_1ff99de68730a4e0a6826d1770a1c4f2.pdf

[3]https://www.tradekey.com/product-free/Rotavator-1649443.html

07, The More The Merrier – P1B From DA Supportive Of 10 Bataan Model Farms Leading PH Agriculture

Very optimistic – and excited – was Secretary of Agriculture William Dar after visiting 2 model 1-ha farms in the villages of Daang Bago and San Simon in the town of Dinalupihan, Bataan, Friday, 19 February 2021. He said in the DA news release “Bataan Model Farms Demonstrate Future Of Philippine Agriculture” (20 February 2021):

I am thrilled to have seen the progress of this rice-high-value crops diversification system evolving in the Municipality of Dinalupihan. We were here when the idea was being conceived in 2019 and now it has really started its journey, its development.

As an agriculturist and a communicator for development in the last 45 years, I know:

That it is all markedly historical for the Philippines. The cropping calls for rice in the wet season, and high-value crops (vegetables) in the dry season, with fertigation (fertilization via irrigation). And the technology-setup is replicated 10 times in the same municipality.

(I don’t know why, but 60-year old foreign-funded IRRI and 35-year-old PH-funded PhilRice have advocated neitherhigh-value crops after rice norfertigation, when these technologies are notthat new.)

The initiative is officially called the “1Bataan Agriculture Innovation and Technology Center (AITC).” About iBataan, ANN says[1] (“Bataan Standing Tall And Proud,” League Magazine) Bataan Governor Albert Garcia says, “That is the call for everyone to unite, to work together, to create a better province for everyone.”

So, it is 1Bataan that is bringing us the IATC farms, a Daang Bago (New Road) to a new PH Agriculture – with technology from Israel. Mr Dar says:

That’s the way it should be for new technologies to be properly introduced, tested, piloted and the learning and experience that we are getting from this important project will really lead and give Bataan the leadership in terms of crop diversification in this country.

This is a public-private partnership in the productive & profitable application of technologies:

The 1Bataan AITC, a Public-Private Partnership between the Provincial Government of Bataan and Agrilever Israel, envisions to help small farm holders achieve prosperity, attract the youth in agriculture, and allow the youth to lead in innovation and excellence. It also aims to create stimulating and well-paid jobs for professionals in the region, attract investors into the value chain, and stimulate cost-effective funding while mitigating lenders’ risks.

The 1Bataan AITC partnership is aimed at attracting not only youth to agriculture but also professionals, investors and moneylenders.

I am sure it will succeed.

Dinalupihan Mayor Angela Garcia said the AITC will be replicated in at least 100 hectares of clustered small rice farms in Bataan during the dry season period of October 2021 to March 2022. She noted that more Bataan farmers are now interested in planting high-value crops and fertigation.

Is the DA sincere in singing praise to the AITC in Bataan? Yes. This can be seen in the announcement by Mr Dar that the DA has allocated almost P1 billion in terms of farm inputs and farmer support projects for the province.

To good be the glory!@

---

[1]https://leaguemagazineonline.com/2019/01/bataan-standing-tall-and-proud/

06, The More The Merrier – PH DA Wants 800 Youths In Agribiz Mentorship Program

Forward the 800!

Meanwhile, I am seeing Double. As a cockeyed optimist, that’s what I am doing with the launching by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar of the “Mentoring and Attracting Youth in Agribusiness” (MAYA) Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

How is that? One:Youth learning agriculture as a business – happily. Two: Adults & Seniors learning agriculture as a way of life – unhappily. How? Seeing is dis/believing!

The news release from the DA says, “Thousands Apply For Youth Agribiz Mentorship Program[1]” (11 February 2021, DA.gov.ph). On 09 February 2021, MAYA had announced the opening of 800 youth scholarships. Immediately, “The online system was deluged with interested individuals, exceeding by four-fold the required number of interns.” Wanted: 800 MAYA scholars. Responded: 3,000 applicants.
(upper image[2] from DA website)

The young would-be farmers connect!

Already, the 800 are winners: Each MAYA scholar is entitled to a monthly allowance of P20,000 (US$400). And that allowance is only a start.

MAYA is accepting and will be mentoring Filipinos 20-30 years old, graduate of any 4- or 5-year degree course, preferably in agriculture, fisheries, and agribusiness. Says Director Vivencio Mamaril, who is head of the Bureau of Agricultural Research, the DA agency in-charge:

MAYA will be conducted through experiential learning, or a learner-centric methodology, that allows the interns to put into immediate use the knowledge and skills that they’ve learned in a relevant fashion.

In short: Now you know it; now you do it!

That is to say, it’s not the books, it’s not the looks – it’s the application. You don’t learn by knowing: you learn by doing.

This is a 6-month internship program, 24 weeks actual. The 800 will be deployed to different DA national (Office of the Secretary) and regional field offices.

After that, what? They may either opt for an agri-fishery business or pursue a career in the DA or any government agency.

For the business, the MAYA scholar may apply for a zero-interest loan with the DA’s Agricultural and Credit Policy Council (ACPC). With a proper proposal, naturally.

That’s the future. We go back to the present: If farming is not a business, what business have our current farmers doing it!?

Why does farming in the Philippines remain a bad business proposition? Because farmers don’t treat it as a business! Instead, they treat it as a way of life – wasteful fertilizing as a way of life, wasteful spraying against pests as a way of life, wasteful transplanting as a way of life, usurious 5-6 loans as a way of life, low farmgate prices as a way of life.

Ipinanganak tayong mahirap, brod! Anak ng magsasaka. Kaya. (We were born poor, brother! Son of a farmer. So.)

If farming is not a business, what business have farmers doing it!?

The problem with the old farmers is that they look at farming as a way of life, not as a way of bettering a life! Now, they will have to learn from the youth.

So? Forward the 800!@517

---

[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/thousands-apply-for-youth-agribiz-mentorship-program/

[2]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-acpc-unveil-two-loan-programs-for-the-youth/

05, The More The Merrier – PH 17 Provinces Lead Agriculture & Fisheries Extension System

Yes, under PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, the Department of Agriculture(DA) will have 17 provinces leading the DA program “Province-Led Agriculture & Fisheries Extension System” (PAFES) nationwide, when in full initial blast, 1 lead province in each of the 17 regions of the Philippines, and here they are, from North to South:

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Ilocos Region (Region 1)
Cagayan Valley (Region 2)
Central Luzon (Region 3)
National Capital Region (NCR)
Calabarzon (Region 4-A)
Mimaropa (Region 4-B)
Bicol Region (Region 5)
Western Visayas (Region 6)
Central Visayas (Region 7)
Eastern Visayas (Region 8)
Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9)
Northern Mindanao (Region 10)
Davao Region (Region 11)
Soccsksargen (Region 12)
Caraga (Region 13)
Bangsamoro (BARMM)

But isn’t that too many leads – you know, “Too many cooks spoil the broth”?

No. The variations in the cooking will be minimal. Science works if you follow the rules – and it will be the same science from Region 1 (Ilocos) to Region 13 (Caraga). (Bangsamoro would/should know what is good for the Muslims.)
(upper image from DA website, lower image[1]from Facebook page of ATI)

Previously, there was this news release, “DA To Pursue Systematic, Strategic Approaches To Further ‘Grow’ (Agriculture & Fisheries Sectors)[2]” (23 December 2020). That is, to “fuel the transformation of the agriculture and fishery (sectors to help propel the Philippines) into a modernized and industrialized economic powerhouse.”

Mr Dar said in his memo to all top DA officials and key technical staff:

We shall depart from our usual approach of just targeting individual farms or groups without producing significant outcomes from interventions. We must be purpose-driven, ensuring that our programs and projects are of value, not only to recipients but more significantly to the whole society in real terms.

The last sentence is of extra-significant value I will repeat:

“We must be… ensuring that our programs and projects are of value… to the whole society in real terms.”

That is why I say: Stop the pursuit of Solo Success Stories! They are anathema to whole-Philippines progress.

The news release said:

At the core of this strategy is farm clustering and consolidation, dubbed as “Bayanihan Agri-Cluster” or BAC that aims to converge and integrate government interventions such as provision of loans, farm mechanization, free seeds and fertilizers, and market support.

Yes, the DA will be providing farmers’ access to loans and farm machines – the seeds, fertilizers, and market support will be free.

The news release also said:

The establishment of “agri-industrial business corridors” or ABCs will also be actively pursued in 2021. These hubs will serve as processing and marketing centers of agriculture and fishery products in identified production areas. All set to groundbreak is the ABC at New Clark Green City.

Mr Dar said, “The ABCs will house agri-business and multi-purpose facilities that will be key to managing and integrating the food supply chain, as well as introducing innovative agricultural (technologies) to farmers.”

The ABCs are designed to serve the whole alphabet of services to Philippine agriculture and fisheries!@517

---

[1]https://www.facebook.com/atirtc12/photos/2804726853101167

[2]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-to-pursue-systematic-strategic-approaches-to-further-grow-agri-fishery-sector/

04, The More The Merrier – Mixed Topics To Write Into 1 Coherent Story

To write one solid, smooth-reading, 1000-word essay on several unrelated topics, I will now directly use my writing inspiration The More The Merrier (TM²) on somebody else’s multiple topics.

Let me apply TM²  to the problem of PhilStar Global columnist Cito Beltranin his published column of 12 February 2021 titled “Pigs, LTO, Hospitals, Etc[1]” (PhilStar.com). His piece is all of 991 words, including title and author. His lament is the very first sentence of his column:

“So many topics, so little space!”

I will now write an essay using TM², which I invented Sunday, Valentine’s Day. (Which reminds me; The More The Merrier is my Valentine’s gift to columnists, communicators, editorialists, preachers, speakers, and writers of any kind. TM² enables you to say more with less. Proof: This whole essay is only 517 words, almost 2x smaller than Mr Beltran’s.)

The image I show above, self-titled “The More The Merrier,” is sexual in orientation, so why did I choose it? Because it’s a perfect illustration of The More, The Merrier– several little messages but only 1 main message, repeated throughout: Love. The slogan of its source, LB111, is “Moving Beyond Monogamy.” Now, I have moved it beyond a sexist to a pregnant view!
(above image[2]” from Lab111.nl, which I elongated a little)

So, here’s how I would have written “Pigs, LTO, Hospitals, Etc.” if I were the columnist – TM² is using a single concept that ties up everything; this time, that concept is management:

1.   Managing African swine fever;

2.   Managing the LTO;

3.   Managing vaccination of foreigners; and

4.   Managing public hospitals.

Managing The African Swine Fever (ASF)
Under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is moving heaven and earth and public funds for soft loans for swine husbandry, or wifery – because you have to devote much of your time to grow pigs and, yes, you have to love them. Filipinos or Filipinas know and have always been willing to take the risk of piggery; same risk as pregnancy, I suppose. Noted: The DA is trying to contain the ASF, partnering with the private sector and local government units everywhere.

Managing The Land Transportation Office (LTO)
Legislators are zeroing in on the LTO regarding motor vehicle-related issues, particularly the Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVIC) controversy. Mr Beltran says, “I myself want to put a stop to the PMVIC program, but let us be clear about one thing, this program was hatched by the Department of Transportation and NOT the LTO.”

Managing Vaccination Of Foreigners
What is the plan of the Department of Health (DoH) for the COVID vaccination of foreigners, primarily permanent residents or those stuck in the Philippines? Mr Beltran says, “I was told that foreign embassies have no plan or can’t undertake such an operation, which leaves several hundred foreign spouses of Filipinos/Filipinas worried that they have been left out.” DoH!

I’m done. See? You can manage to write on unrelated topics, uniting them with a single idea! It’s called creativity.@BS

---

[1]https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2021/02/12/2077131/pigs-lto-hospitals-etc/amp/

[2]https://www.lab111.nl/tmtm/