Rotavator Agriculture (Rot_A) @

MANILA: Global warming. Look at the image above; this is the Bad Earth. You and I feel the heat, and you can't help it. The rice farmers feel the devastating effects of the drought, and they think they can't help it. They can, but they don't know how – nobody is teaching them. Not the Department of Agriculture (DA). Well, I don’t know why the DA isn't teaching the farmers what can be done to make a Good Earth. To make a Bad Earth like that, it's easy: just neglect it. (Image from Keith Bacongco, 08 April 2016,  ucanews.com ) The clue is this: It's May, and in the Philippines we expect the rains this month. And when the rain comes, we must harvest the rainwater. Then we will see the Good Earth. Not today. It's too late for the crop that could have been harvested this month or last. Because the farmers whom we failed to teach did not anticipate the devastating effect of the drought. On record, as early as May 2014, the weather burea...

MANILA: Raissa Robles I believe does not believe in Mar Roxas, to say the least, but I thank her for the photograph above ( raissarobles.com  dated 2014). Thank you Raissa for the photo – it's a perfect image with which I wish to say, "Mar Roxas has been happily carrying the burden of agriculture since at least August 2014." But before that, let me quote Raissa on a positive as well as a negative note: On the face of it, Mar Roxas has the intellectual credentials to run a complex government in the 21st century. He is Wharton-educated. He was once an investment banker who put together successful deals... But let's face it. Mar Roxas is not exciting. The majority who are poor cannot relate to him, perhaps because he lacks a believable narrative for them. Thank you Raissa for saying Mar Roxas has the intellectual credentials to be President! Mar Roxas is not exciting. No Raissa, he isn't. He isn't grandstanding. He isn't lying t...

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...