Rotavator Agriculture (Rot_A) @

MANILA: Climate change is a disaster waiting to happen, but Philippine agriculture has so far shown resistance to global warming. Two things convince me that this is so: One,  the Department of Agriculture (DA) has not adapted to the reality of climate change, except in words. It has no dedicated climate change program – in fact, the whole DA should be restructured to face this universal threat. It is now well into 2016. In 2014, the DA was reported that by 2015, the DA will "transform the entire DA budget into an adaptation budget," that it would be "making climate change considerations in all plans, budgets, programs so that climate change is mainstreamed by all offices under the DA," said DA Climate Change Office Director Alicia Ilaga (Pia Ranada, 08 April 2014,  Rappler,  rappler.com ). I have not read or heard of a DA Action Plan on Climate Change; I surf the Web many times a day and today, I visited the DA website, www.da.gov.ph, a few t...

MANILA: Salem, Massachusetts says, "You control climate change. Turn down. Switch off. Recycle. Walk. Change" ( nps.gov ). Nice, but not good enough. I heard "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle" in the mid-197s yet, or 40 plus years ago, but nothing's changed except the climate! But yes, you control climate change. Today, Friday, 22 April 2016, is Earth Day, and the theme is "Trees for the Earth." Not trees, I say, if you want to make a huge difference in the life of this warming world. There is something you can do right now that is literally earth-shaking, but allow me first to explain. It has nothing to do with carbon dioxide, which has been demonized by climate change experts. So it has nothing to do with trees or forests, which are carbon sinks. No carbon footprint. Here is a clue. Arcadia Biosciences says, "Agriculture  is the second largest industrial contributor to global greenhouse gases (GHGs). It’s ahead of the entire transport...

MANILA:  Once:   Forewarned is forearmed.  A senior editor at IRRI, Leah Barona-Cruz, wrote last week a news-advisory: "Joint action from ASEAN, other rice-growing countries, key to managing looming food crisis" (14 April 2016,  Rice Today,  ricetoday.irri.org ). She said: (We) may be confronted with a global food crisis similar to the 2007-08 crisis as a result of the current El Niño episode. It is imperative that tight cooperation be secured (now) among the biggest rice-producing and -consuming nations to stem or manage the crisis should such emerge. Ms Leah quoted Director General of IRRI Matthew Morell as saying, "Regional cooperation is essential to manage a food crisis." So, IRRI is now calling for Asia to unite "for maximum impact" – Asean countries Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; Asean+3 countries China, Japan and South Korea; and India. ...

MANILA: I believe that climate change is here, and that it is natural but more so anthropogenic or man-caused, through the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from man's activities, such as running engines, vehicles and factories, as well as his destroying carbon sinks: forests and farms. More so the farmers' activities, as I will show you in a little while. The experts are convinced that it is carbon dioxide that is the villain in climate change. The US EPA says (EPA,  epa.gov ): Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. In 2014, CO2 accounted for about 80.9% of all US greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Carbon dioxide is naturally present in the atmosphere as part of the Earth's carbon cycle (the natural circulation of carbon among the atmosphere, oceans, soil, plants, and animals). Human activities are altering the carbon cycle – both by adding more CO2 to the atmosphere and by influencing the abil...

MANILA: Look at the image above (from Sarah Palmer, gettyimages): Where do raindrops go? With a little prayer, they will go into the proper places. Read on! First, let me tell you this is the 4th in a series; you should have read the other 3 first before this: 1, "BIAG,  The New Agriculture " (11 April 2016, BIAG,  blogspot.com ). 2, "BIAG: Do You Begin With Seed, Soil Or Water?" (12 April 2016, BIAG,  blogspot.com ). 3, "BIAG Economics: Brand-New Intellectualization of Agriculture" (14 April 2016, BIAG,  blogspot.com ). So now you know; the heart of the matter as far as  The New Agriculture  of Life is concerned: "Seed, Soil or Water?" The answer is "Water." BIAG, bio-inclusive agriculture.  BIAG,  life  in Ilocano. BIAG is water farming. I equate it with water, because without water, there is no life. In BIAG, water is the first and last resource. As an acronym, I will show you WATER is this: Wet Adapt...

MANILA: The photograph above that I took, and which I have posterized here, shows a banana clump devastated by something; it is a symbol of Philippine agriculture today: a crop half alive & half dead. We will have to help it regrow to a healthy & productive life. Especially considering climate change. This is the 3rd essay in a series, in which I am offering BIAG as a new paradigm in Philippine agriculture; to appreciate BIAG fully, you should have read the other 2 essays first before this one: 1, "BIAG,  The New Agriculture " (11 April 2016, BIAG,  blogspot.com ). 2, "BIAG: Do You Begin With Seed, Soil Or Water?" (12 April 2016, BIAG,  blogspot.com ). Like I said earlier,  biag  is  life  in Ilocano, which I am. Now I can tell you: BIAG is the acronym for  bio-inclusive agriculture , which means that all forms of life in, on and above the soil in the farm or field are included as contributors to this new & i...

MANILA: You want to measure monetarily how important Philippine agriculture is? On 11 April 2016, President of Inanglupa Movement William Dar said the budget of the Department of Agriculture should be tripled next year (Louise Maureen Simeon,  Philippine Star,  m.philstar.com ). "We would like to more than triple the existing budget, (that will be) a good start," he said. "If there's  P 96 billion today, why not  P 300 billion to start 2017?" He is thinking of the Philippines being competitive locally and internationally. "We should develop more of the high-value crops, new hybrids, new varieties so that we can be competitive with the rest of the world." In its  Hunger Project,  Rappler asks, "PH agriculture: Why is it important?" (Fritzie Rodriguez, 07 March 2014,  rappler.com ). My own outright answer is: Because nothing is right! Even with rice, our staple food, we can't do anything right. Now, look at the above...

MANILA: I continue redefining agriculture from yesterday's essay ("BIAG,  The New Agriculture ," 11 April 2016,  BIAG,  blogspot.com ) where I said " The New Agriculture  must enrich the poor." I ask you now: Because of Noynoy Aquino's (NEDA's) war cry of "inclusive growth" early in his presidency, how many poor farmers have become rich? Zero, zilch, nada. BIAG, The New Agriculture  of Life. If you didn't know, I am an Ilocano and  biag  is the Ilocano word that means  life.  Time to change the life of the farmer from bad to better.  Naimbag a biag kaniana met a!  (A good life for him too!) The photograph above, here posterized, I took 26 February 2016 at the village of Pao Sur in La Union, across the mountain from the City of San Fernando; the setup is that of a contract growing of trellised bitter melon or bitter gourd ( parya  in Ilocano,  ampalaya  in Tagalog,  Momordica charantia ), seeds...