The above image? Very Romantic – and Very Wrong!
There, you are looking at a picture of what's wrong with PH Agriculture.
Why?
Before I answer that question, let me tell you what's wrong up there, in policy making, inside the National Economic & Development Authority, NEDA itself. By virtue of being President, Rodrigo Duterte is the Chair of NEDA; now, in 2016, also December, Mr Duterte came up with Executive Order, EO #5 containing "AmBisyon Natin 2040" as the one archipelagic dream. That was a good pun but not a good plan – because EO #5 is flawed, fatally flawed.
Yes. Upon reading EO #5, immediately I saw that major error, so I wrote a long essay "AmBisyon Natin 2040? Needs Improvement" (06 December 2016, Alternative Journalism, blogspot.com); unseen, that EO had 2 conflicting Visions – and both were poorly stated, to state it mildly. Vision 1 was 69 words, too long; Vision 2 was 35 words, still too long. A Vision should be a maximum of 7 words, and Memorable.
To go back to the image above – That photograph shows the universal practice of rice farming in the whole Philippine archipelago: transplanting seedlings that are old, very old; when transplanted, their roots will break; and therefore their growth will be set back unnecessarily; and therefore, they will give only minimum, not maximum yields. This is an agriculturist speaking.
Why cannot our farmers transplant 2-week old seedlings as do the farmers of Zarraga Integrated Diversified Organic Farmers Association, ZIDOFA, in the province of Iloilo? Plant singly & squarely. Then their transplants will suffer very little from the transplanting, and will produce more tillers and much higher yields. Ask Joby Arandela, Chair of ZIDOFA.
Want to Prioritize Agriculture? Then, come up with a Big Vision!
That Big Vision we need should do justice to the Small Farmers – get them out of Poverty and not only keep them out but elevate their lives and keep that state sustainable.
Which is a huge challenge to a government that talks first and think later.
My Big Vision for PH Agriculture is stated in exactly 3 words:
Prosperous, Sustainable Lives!
Get the hell, get the poor farmers out of poverty! and help them build for their families lifestyles that are (1) technically feasible, (2) economically viable, (3) environmentally sound, and (4) socially acceptable – give them 4, not just 1. Appropriate Technology is necessary; Financial Practicability is essential; Environmental Conservation is required; and Social Desirability is obligatory. Not just Inclusive Growth, which NEDA desires; it must be Inclusive Development, which my favorite international agricultural agency ICRISAT subscribes to. Growth is merely incremental and sectoral; Development is distributive and national.
Development cannot be any better than that. In Growth, to borrow from Henry David Thoreau, millions lead lives of quiet desperation; in Development:
Families lead lives of quiet inspiration. Why, that's Heaven!
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