GREEN REVOLUTION Trends in Today's Agriculture: 6 Scenarios

 GREEN REVOLUTION

Trends in Today's Agriculture: 6 Scenarios 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Part 1 - Green Revolution in our Postmodern Era 

Part 2 - Green Revolution at the Grassroots - Sustainable Productivity: 

             Key to Profitable Agriculture and Balanced Environment

Part 3 - Agro-Ecology Models with Emphasis in the Ilocos Region

Part 4 - Village Biotechnology - Green Revolution OF, FOR and BY the People

Part 5 - Non-cash farming technology: Foundation of farmstead and natural agriculture

Part 6 - Discovering the taste and potentials of the less popular fruits of the Philippines

 

A country lass displays local harvest of tomato against a backdrop painting of local fruits, a scenario that attests to the current trend in Natural and Indigenous Farming.

Part 1 - Green Revolution in our Postmodern Era 

Never in the history of agriculture, or the history of man for that matter, had we experienced five simultaneous and overlapping farming movements that constitute the Green Revolution in our Postmodern era:

• Stem Cell Farming (SCF), the latest.
• Farming of GMO plants and animals
• Single Cell Protein (SCP) farming
• Hydroponics and aeroponics
• Natural and Indigenous Farming

Here are ten scenarios on the current trend of agriculture:

1. Stem cell farming will ignite rage and ethico-moral controversy. What with the wild thought of human stem cell hamburger!

2. GMO farming has stirred worldwide controversy since its early stage. Worldwide, countries and organizations are calling for its restriction, if not total ban.

3. Genetic engineering has given rise to a new and most destructive form of pollution to the living world - Genetic Pollution, which is destroying the integrity of natural gene pools of plants, animals, and microorganisms.

4. Genetic pollution spreads through pollination in plants and mating in animals, albeit induced mutation. GM plants can pollute whole fields. The mechanism is true to animals, consequently populations. There is no way of stop genetic pollution once it has set in, unlike conventional pollution.

5. Farming the sea will continue with harmful ecological consequences. Like deforestation on land, marine vegetation, from mangrove to seaweeds and sea grasses will greatly suffer, even as the cultivation of seaweeds like Eucheuma and Calerpa, is now a lucrative industry.

6. Fish farming of marine and freshwater species has expanded into off shore floating cages and plantation-size fish pens. Wild species in captivity proved to be successful in groupers, mullets, and lately, the salmon which has virtually lost its homing instinct through genetic manipulation.

7. Hydroponics (soiless farming) and aeroponics (farming on multi-storey buildings) continue to "bring agriculture into the city," as more and more people move into urban centers.

8. Home gardening and backyard orchards are back with the objectives of recycling, self-sufficiency and sanitation, not to mention aesthetic beauty. This trend goes hand in hand with the revival of traditional societies, as people are tired living in the city.

9. People are becoming conscious of their health by avoiding chemically grown plants and animals, aware of the harmful effects of chemical residues, "Frankenfood" (GMOs), toxic metals and antibiotic residues, among others.

10. Wild food plants like Amaranthus, Portulaca, Corchorus and Mollogo have found their way to the dining table and market. So with many native varieties of fruits and vegetables on one hand, and native breeds of animals and poultry, on the other.

 

Aeroponics, farming in the city

                      Acknowledgement: Internet Photos; Living with Nature AVRotor

Part 2 - Green Revolution at the Grassroots

Sustainable Productivity: Key to Profitable Agriculture

and Balanced Environment

Dr Abe V Rotor

[avrotor.blogspot.com]

I learned these practical farming techniques from old folks at home, and from successful farmers, here and abroad, which inspired me to look into their scientific explanation in college.

Death of large scale agriculture in agrarian societies 

1. East-to-west orientation Arrange the rows of plants on an east-to-west orientation. This allows better and longer sunlight exposure which enhances photosynthesis. There is less overshadowing among plants compared to north-to-south, or any direction, especially when inter-cropping is practiced. You can increase crop yield to as high as 10 percent by this technique lone.

Have a compass at hand, and remember that an-east-to-west orientation of rows does not only increase yield of your regular crop, but allows you to practice layered or storey cropping as well - thus, enabling you to increase the effective area of your farm. Incidence to pest and diseases is greatly reduced by this practice. Crop quality is likewise improved such as sweetness and size.

There's one drawback though. When it comes to sloping terrain, it is advisable to observe the rules of contour farming that minimizes soil erosion and conserves soil moisture. Consult your nearest agriculturist. Learn from local farm models.

2. Inter-cropping and alternate cropping. In peanut-and-corn alternate planting, peanut is a nitrogen fixer and provides nitrate fertilizer to its companion crop - corn. Corn on the other hand, is a heavy nitrogen feeder. When planted alone and repeatedly, the tendency is that the soil becomes depleted of nitrogen. Peanut benefits from irrigation given to the corn, and gains protection from excessive wind and dryness from its taller companion. And to the farmer, having two crops is like doubling the effective area of his farm, not to mention the maximum use of space in double cropping, which also benefit the animals with corn fodder and peanut "hay."

Massive erosion leads to irreversible low productivity  

Here are some common combination of crops.

• tomato and pechay
• sugarcane with mungbeans
• coconut and coffee or cacao
• coconut and lansones
• stringbeans (pole sitao) and rice
• papaya and pineapple
• peanut, corn and sweet potato
• pigeon pea (kadios) and rice
• grape on hedge and cabbage or cauliflower

3. Non-cash technology principle. Don't spend, save on farm input and labor cost through practical means. Here are proven practices.

• Follow recommended use of the land, the crops to plant, cropping system to follow. Consult local agriculturists, successful farmers.
• Go with the seasons and be part of community farming - when to prepare the seedbed, plant, irrigate, harvest. Off-season planting is expensive and risky, and is done only for special reasons.   

Wastes clog rivers and irrigation canals, destroy soil fertility and deposit toxic chemicals.

• Fallowing. Give your farm a break. Nature takes a rest usually in summer. You can hear the land breath, the cracks harbor aestivating frogs, fish, crustaceans, snails and other organisms. Break the life cycle of pest and disease organisms. Give yourself too, a break.
• Plow after the first heavy rain to turn over the weeds, converting them into organic fertilizer, and keeping their population down.
• Plant native varieties, they are sturdier and simpler to take care. Less fertilizer, less pesticide, if needed. There is a growing market for native crops and animals. People are avoiding pesticide and antibiotic residues, more so, genetically modified crops such as Bt Corn.
• Avoid hybrids as much as possible. They are heavy soil nutrient feeders. They are genetically unstable, you cannot make your own binhi (planting material) out of your harvest.

4. Practical Postharvest technology. Avoid crop loss in all stages - from planting to harvesting to manufacturing. At all cost avoid wastage. It defeats your goal and objective. And remember there are millions of people around the world whio have little to eat.

• Harvest on time and promptly
• Know the shelf life of your harvest. For perishables, sell or process immediately.
• Use proper tools and equipment
• Have your harvest properly dried, packaged and stored, specially if you plan to keep it for some time. Keep it away from the elements and pests.
• Consider quality, not only quantity.

5. Processing increases value added. Why don't you do the processing yourself, rather than sell your harvest directly. Milled rice rather than palay. You can go for second processing - or manufacturing - rice flour. puto (rice bread), suman, bibingka (rice cake), rice wine (tapoy). , Promote local industry, generate employment for the family and locality.

6. Use by-products efficiently. Farm wastes are converted into many useful products.

• Rice hull and sugarcane bagasse for fuel.
• Corn stover, rice hay for livestock feeds.
• Rice and corn bran for poultry and piggery feeds.
• Crop residues, and weeds for composting.
• Banana leaves, rice hay for mushroom growing
• Tobacco stalk for pest control (spray or dust)
• Coconut shell for charcoal (activated carbon)
• Rice hay for mulching (bed cover of garlic, onions, other crops)
• Manure as organic fertilizer and composting

7. Multi-commodity or diversified farming. Grow two, three or more crops, with animals and fish, and other commodities.

• Palay-isdaan (rice and tilapia, hito, dalag, gurami)
• Sorjan farming - alternate upland and lowland culture. Field is divided into strip, alternately elevated and depressed.
• Piggery and biogas digester for biofuel. Biofuel to run your own generator.
• Poultry on range, feedlot for cattle, fishpond, field and vegetable crops.
• Agro-tourism. Combine farming with ecology. Make farming attractive to tourists, specially children. Let them experience planting, harvesting, catching fish or butterflies. Have you farm suitable for camping.

Farming is as old as civilization, and for thousands of years has been the mainstay of economy and well-being of man and his society. Farming is the root of festivities and rituals. It keeps the family working, playing and living as a unit. It in turn, sustains communities Farming is food security, it gives the sense of independence and self-sufficiency.

Practical farming is the answer to many problems we encounter today such as

• High cost of production
• Pollution from farm chemicals
• Loss of farm productivity
• Decreasing profitability
• Harmful residues in crops and animals
• Loss of soil fertility, soil loss due to erosion 

Community Gardening, San Juan,

 Metro Manila

• Idle farms, abandonment of farms
• Desertification - farm land to wasteland
• Unemployment and underemployment
• High dependence on mechanization and expensive input
• Technology transfer gap

These and other practices flourish in many farms all over the world. Let's preserve them, they are the fallback to today's modern agriculture.

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This article is dedicated to the memory of my professors, Dr Eduardo Quisumbing, Dr Deogracias Villadolid, Dr Rufino Gapuz, Dr Juan Aquino, Prof Francisco Claridad, Prof Leopoldo Karganilla, Prof Emiliano Roldan, Dr Nemesio Mendiola, Dr Juan Torres, Dr Fernando de Peralta, et al, advocates of natural farming and acclaimed leaders of the so-called Old School of Agriculture. 

Part 3 - Agro-Ecology Models with Emphasis in the Ilocos Region

                                                       Dr Abe V Rotor  

1. Coastal Greening
Coconut and orchard trees, with cover crops 

 Mainly coconut planting on multiple rows, quincunx, mixed with halophytic 

       (salt-loving and salt-resistant) trees

·     Mangroves (3 genera) along intertidal zone and estuary

·     Serves as windbreak, buffer against tidal wave; filters salty breeze and sand

            and dust storm

·     Source of food, feed, fuel, local industry

·     Stabilizes shifting sand dunes, establishes foothold for other plants 

2. Roadside and Highway Greening with Acacia, Gmelina, mahogany, other forest trees

·       Provides aesthetics and shade

·       Ripraps road shoulders

·       Serves as windbreak and natural sun visor

·       Extends life of infrastructure

·       Source of wood, fuel, food, feeds 

3. Backyard Green Revolution
Vegetables (leafy, root, fruit and seed vegetables)

        Direct source of fresh food

·       Integrates cleanliness, sanitation, recycling, savings, exercise, family unity, 

            and the like

·       Bahay Kubo model (all vegetables)

·       Herbal-ornamental-vegetable combination

·       Orchard Model

·       Homelot (semi commercial, combination of crops, animals and/or fish)

4. Riverbank Greening
Kamachile, aroma, mimosa, ipil-ipil (Trees with deep and spreading roots)

        Provides natural riprap, shade and natural fertilizer

·       Prevents cutbank erosion, traps sand, silt and clay, thus extends life of river

·       Improves biological life of river, increase catch, enhances biodiversity

·       Source of firewood, food and feeds

5. Fence Greening
Mainly orchard trees

        Serves as “borrowed landscape”, adds aesthetics to home and surroundings

·       Provides shade, creates favorable mini-climate for the home and community

·       Source of food, medicine, feeds, other materials

·       Serves as windbreak, noise buffer, improves air quality

·       Serves as local wildlife sanctuary

6. Mudflat Reclamation
Mangrove species (Rhizophora Ceriops, Brugiera, Avecinia)  Mangrove arrests shifting mudflat, helps delta formation
· Mangrove forest stabilizes intertidal zone, serves as buffer against tidal wave 

      and tsunami 
· Improves water navigation
· Creates marine sanctuary 
· Source of timber, firewood and other materials
· Supplies valuable detritus (organic fertilizer), natural food of marine life

7. Watershed Rehabilitation
Mainly forest trees with orchard trees,
simulated tropical rainforest (multi-storey)

· Reforestation restores green cover that enhances the integrity

  of watershed
· Minimizes erosion and siltation, restores natural soil fertility 
· Protects waterfalls, springs, rivers and lakes, 
· Increases stored water supply (ground water and aquifers)
· Source of timber, firewood, other materials
· Creates/restores wildlife sanctuary, increases biodiversity
· Prevents forest and brush fire

8. Woodland Hedgerow

 

Two models of woodland hedgerows 

Mixed orchard and forest trees with shrubs (2- or 3-storey) 

· European model of hedge forest, broad strip of woodland/forest separating fields
· Serves as wildlife sanctuary
· Sanctuary of biological agents that control pest
· Conserves water, prevents erosion and siltation
· Increases organic matter supply, reduces oxidation of organic matter
· Source of firewood, timber, other materials
· Serves as recreation area, adds aesthetics
· Creates mini-climate, serves as buffer zone

Fruits with Economic Potential in the Ilocos Region

Of the 200 kinds of fruits in the Philippines, 40 to 50 species are grown to some extent for their edible fruits and other uses.The rest are still found in the wild, or if already domesticated are not given significant attention.

Convergence 8 encourages in the propagation/production of indigenous fruit trees. Evaluation of these species is based on these characteristics.
· Nutritional value
· Domestic and export potential
· Diversity of Uses
· Potentials for primary and secondary processing
· High yield and good income
· Potential for creating new employment
· Ecological significance
· Medicinal and industrial uses as well

Here is a list of potential fruits in the Ilocos Region in local names. 

Coconut Balimbing Kamias Mango Cashew Chico Duhat Cacao Guava Atis Guyabano Suha Nangka Rimas Kamansi Caramay Santol Siniguelas Tamarind Camuyao Tiessa Mabolo  Makopa Caimito Kamachile Bignay Sapote Anonang Battocanag Tampoy Manzanitas Avocado Coffee Achuete Tea Betel nut Pomegranate

Firewood Farming (Green Energy)·For more than a third of the world’s population, the real energy crisis is a daily scramble to find wood to cook meals. In the Third World 90 percent of the people depend on firewood. 

· Firewood scarcity is most acute in arid and semi arid regions, but is now felt in logged over areas and growing urban centers. Price of firewood has increased as much as the price of fossil fuels.

· In the sixties and seventies the Philippines introduced giant ipil-ipil, but monocropping resulted in fatal insect infestation. There is a need of systematic management in the culture of wood crops.

· Here is a list of firewood crops known to be adapted in the Ilocos region. Many of these are also valuable for timber and construction materials.
Acacia (Samanea saman and Acacia auriculiformis)
Agoho (Casuarina equisitifolia)
Madre de cacao or kakawate (Gliricidia sepium)
Talisay (Terminalia catappa)
Katuray (Sesbania grandiflora)
Mangroves (Rhizophora, Brugiera, Avicennia)
Bamboo (Bambusa spp.)
Gmelina (G. arborea)
Alagao (Trema odorata)
Eucalyptus (E. globulus, E. grandis)
Bitaog (Callophyllum innophylum)
Kamachile (Pithecolobium dulce)
Golden shower (Cassia fistula)
Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucacephala or L. glauca)
Aratiles (Muntingia calabura)
Duhat (Syzygium cumini)
Albizia or kariskis (A. lebbekoides)
Aroma or candaroma (Acacia farnesiana)
Firetree (Delonix regia)There are many others that include kapok, mulberry, alokong, ilang-ilang, and lanute. Firewood also comes from shrubs like pandakaki or busbusilac, pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and other plant residues (e.g. dried coconut palm, tobacco stalk). All over the world, there are 1,200 firewood species listed, with 700 given top ranking.

Greening with Malunggay and Kakawate through Stem Cuttings       

Malunggay is the most nutritious local vegetable (leaves and fruits)
Kakawate is the most versatile wood crop (renewable firewood, construction material for dwelling and fence)

· Easy to propagate through stem cuttings
· Same soil (well-drained) and climatic requirements (onset of the rainy season)
· Procedure is basically the same. 

References

Hillyland Farming Systems in the Philippines
Farm systems and Soil Resources Institute, UPLB 1986

KABASAKA: A program to increase income of rainfed rice farmers, PCARRD, 1979

The Philippines Recommends: Corn, Mango, Pineapple, Grapes, Coffee, Cacao, Ginger, Mungo, Water Impounding, Agroforestry, Bamboo, Production of Fast Growing Hardwoods, Irrigation Management, PCARRD (1970-80)

Success Stories of Farmer-Managed Coconut-Based Farming Systems
(Vols. 1 & 2) PCARRD, 1991; Measuring the Economic Viability of Agricultural Technologies, PCARRD 1991; Technology Transfer for Sustainable Development; DOST-PCARRD-PCAMRD 1989

Firewood Crops – Shrub and Tree Species for Energy Production
National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC 1980

Promising Fruits of the Philippines – R.E. Carbonel (UPLB)

Technology! (Copra Dryer, Banana Rejects for Cattle, Multi-purpose Farm Pond, Ipil-ipil Meal, Coco Timber, Corn and Ipil-ipil Farming, Backyard Fattening of Cattle, Rice-fish Culture), PCARRD (1970-1990)

Extension Bulletin of Food and Fertilizer Technology Center ASPAC (100 volumes of varied topics) 1960 to 2000

Plants of the Philippines (1971) – UP Diliman; Useful Plants of the Philippines (3 volumes, original 1938)) by William H. Brown

Saemaul Undong (New Community Movement in South Korea) FFTC 1970

Note: Convergence 8 Program was presented in a briefing with Congressman Salacnib Baterina, Ist District of Ilocos Sur some years ago. I am posting the outline of the proposed program after it was recently presented in a lecture in the academe. It may also serve as reference for development planners. ~

Part 4 - Village Biotechnology -

Green Revolution OF, FOR and BY the People

Dr Abe V Rotor

"Many village industries bowed out to companies that now control the production of commercial and imported brands, such as patis, suka, puto, nata, bihon, to name a few. The proliferation of many products and the inability of local products to keep up with the growing sophisticated market have further brought the doom of these originally village products. Definitely under such circumstances the small players under the business parameter of economies of scale*** find themselves at the losing end. Bigness is name of the game. Can we regain the lost village-based biotechnology industries?"

 My father, a gentleman farmer, was a brewer. He inherited the trade from my grandfather and from previous generations. I still use today the good earthen jars in producing the same products – basi, the traditional Ilocos wine, and its by-product, natural vinegar - using the same indigenous formula. (PHOTOS)

  

The making of basi and vinegar, as well as a dozen other products of sugarcane, like panocha, pulitiput, kalamay, sinambong, and kinalti, is a traditional cottage industry in the Ilocos region which is traced back to the Pre-Hispanic era when hundreds of small independent brewers like my father lived comfortably on this once flourishing industry.

Things appeared simple then. But time has changed. We know that sugarcane has long been planted with rice, legumes and vegetables, but it sounds like new in modern parlance with terms like crop rotation or crop diversification. Making of wine, vinegar and confectionary products are under agro-industry. Because the process generates profit, we call this value-added advantage. So with the tax that is now slap manufactured products. To determine the business viability of a business we determine its internal rate of return (IIR) and its return on investment (ROI). Brewing today is agro-processing and an agribusiness. And my father would be called not just a proprietor, but a business partner since family members and relatives share in the operation of the business. Possibly his title today would be general manager or CEO.

Things in my father’s time had become outdated, shifting away from traditional to modern. But it is not only a matter of terminology; it is change in business structure and system.

Big business is name of the game

Like many other village industries, the local breweries bowed out to companies that now control the production of commercial and imported brands. The proliferation of many products and the inability of local products to keep up with the growing sophisticated market have further brought their doom. Definitely under such circumstances the small players under the business parameter of economics of scale find themselves at the losing end. Bigness is name of the game.

Monopolies and cartels now control much of the economy here and in other countries. Transnational companies have grown into giants, that one big company far outweighs the economy of a small country. Total business assets of North Carolina is more than that of Argentina, which is one of the biggest countries of the world in terms of land area and population.

Today agribusiness and biotechnology are corporate terms that are difficult to translate on the village level and by small entrepreneurs.

All these fit well into the present capitalistic system that is greatly under the influence of IMF-WB on borrower-countries, and terms of trade agreements imposed by GATT-WTO on its members, many of which reluctantly signed the its ratification. Under the capitalistic system there has been a shift of countryside industries into the hands of corporations, national and transnational. Take these examples.

Coffee PHOTO is raised by millions of small farmers all over the world, but it is monopolized by such giant companies like Nestle and Consolidated Foods. Cacao is likewise a small farmer’s crop, but controlled by similar multinationals. So with tea, the world’s second most popular beverage.

Unfortunately this inequity in the sharing of the benefits of these industries is exacerbated by the absence of a strong and effective mass-based program that emphasizes countryside development through livelihood and employment opportunities. Multi-national monopolies thrive on such business climate and biased laws and program in their favor.

We import rice, corn, sugar, fruits, meat and poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables in both fresh and processed products, when in the sixties and seventies we were exporters of the same products. We were then second or third in ranking after Japan in terms of economic development.

“Small business is beautiful” (PHOTO: EC Schumacher, author) 

There must be something wrong somewhere. But while we diagnose our country’s ills, we should make references to our own successes, and even come to a point of looking on models within our reach and capability to imitate. There are “unsung heroes” in practically all fields from business, agriculture, manufacturing to folk medicine and leadership. Perhaps for us who belong to the older generation, it is good to feel whenever we recall old times when life was better – and better lived.

Biopiracy and technopiracy

Ampalaya (Momordica charantia) is a source of medicinal substances registered iunder exclusive brand names by drug companies here and abroad.

“The biggest piracy that is taking place today is not at sea and on the rich. It is stealing people’s resources – from herbal medicine to indigenous technology – stolen by rich countries and big corporations. Biopiracy and technopiracy constitute the greatest violation to human rights and social justice in that the people are not only deprived of their means of livelihood; they are forced to become dependent on those who robbed them.”

(Biopiracy is a situation where indigenous knowledge of nature, originating with indigenous peoples, is used by others for profit, without permission from and with little or no compensation or recognition to the indigenous people themselves.Informal or “underground” economy.  Internet)

Informal or “underground” economy is the lifeblood of rural communities. They are the seat of tradition, rituals, barter and other informal transactions. They link the farm and the kitchen and the local market. They are versions of agro-processing and agribusiness on the scale of proprietorship and family business. They strengthen family and community ties.

It is for this reason that the NACIDA – National Cottage Industry Development Authority – was organized. And truly, it brought economic prosperity to thousands of entrepreneurs and families in the fifties to sixties.

South Korea for one in the late sixties, saw our PRRM and NACIDA models and improved on them with their SAEMAUL UNDONG development program which ultimately brought tremendous progress in its war-torn countryside. In Tanzania, one can glimpse some similarities of our program with LAEDZA BATANI (Wake up, it’s time to get moving) rural development program. The Philippines stood as an international model, recognized by the WB and ADB, for our countryside development program – cottage industries, farmers’ associations, electric cooperatives, rice and corn production program, which made us agricultural exporters. So with our biotechnology in farm waste utilization through composting with the use of Trichoderma inoculation, and in natural rice farming by growing Azolla in lieu of urea and ammonium nitrate. Another area of biotechnology is in the retting of maguey fiber, which is a work of decomposing bacteria.

The Saemaul Undong, also known as the New Village Movement, Saemaul Movement or Saema'eul Movement, was a political initiative launched on April 22, 1970 by South Korean president Park Chung-hee to modernize the rural South Korean economy. The movement is being revived today as a model for developing countries such as Cambodia, 2015 (photo)

Today there are many opportunities of biotechnology that can be tapped and packaged for small and medium size businesses and organized groups of entrepreneurs and farmers. These opportunities also pose a big challenge to the academe and to enterprising researchers in government and private institutions.

Important organisms for biotechnology

• Spirulina (blue-green alga or Eubacterium) - high protein, elixir.

• Chlorella (green alga) – vegetable, oxygen generator

• Pleurotus and Volvariella (fungi, mushroom) – anti-cancer food.

• Azolla-Anabaena (eubacterium with fern)– natural fertilizer

• Porphyra, red seaweed, high-value food (“food of the gods”)

• Hormophysa (brown alga) – antibiotics

• Eucheuma (red alga) – source of carageenan, food conditioner

• Gracillaria (brown alga) – source of agar, alginate

• Sargassum (brown alga) – fertilizer and fodder

• Saccharomyces (fungus, yeast) – fermentation

• Aspergillus (fungus) – medicine, fermentation

• Penicillium (fungus) – antibiotics

. Caulerpa (green alga) – salad 

• Leuconostoc (bacterium) – nata de coco, fermentation of vegetables

• Acetobacter (bacterium) – acetic acid manufacture

• Rhizobium (bacterium) – Nitrogen fixer for soil fertility

• Nostoc (BGA or Eubacterium) – bio-fertilizer

• Ganoderma (tree fungus) – food supplement, reducer

• Halobacterium and Halococcus (bacteria)- bagoong and patis making

• Lactobacillus (bacterium) lactic fermentation, yogurt making

• Candida (yeast) – source of lysine, vitamins, lipids and inveratse

• Torulopsis (yeast) – leavening of puto and banana cake

• Trichoderma (fungus) – innoculant to accelerate composting time.

Before I go proceed allow me to present a background of biotechnology in relation with the history of agriculture.

Three Green Revolutions

The First Green Revolution took place when man turned hunter to farmer, which also marked the birth of human settlement, in the Fertile Crescent, (PHOTO) between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where the present war in Iraq is taking place.

The Second Green Revolution is characterized by the improvement of farming techniques and the expansion of agricultural frontiers, resulting in the conversion of millions of hectares of land into agriculture all over the world. This era lasted for some three hundred years, and marched with the advent of modern science and technology, which gave rise to Industrial Revolution. Its momentum however, was interrupted by two world wars.

Then in the second part of the last century, a Third Green Revolution was born. With the strides of science and technology, agricultural production tremendously increased. Economic prosperity followed specially among post-colonial nations - the Third World - which took the cudgels of self rule, earning respect in the international community, and gaining the status of Newly Industrialized Nations (NICs) one after another.

Towards the end of the last century, the age of biotechnology and genetic engineering arrived. Here the conventions of agriculture have been radically changed. For example, desirable traits are transferred through gene splicing so that trans-generic – even trans-kingdom – trait combinations are now possible. Bt Corn, a genetically modified corn that carries the caterpillar-repelling gene of a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, exemplifies such case. Penicillin-producing microorganisms are not only screened from among naturally existing species and strains; they are genetically engineered with super genes from other organisms known for their superior production efficiency.

Biotechnology for people and environment

The need for food and other commodities is ever increasing. Together with conventional agriculture, biotechnology will be contributing significantly to the production of food, medicine, raw materials for the industry, and in keeping a balanced ecology. This indeed will offer relief to the following scenarios:

1. World’s population increases from today’s 8 billion to 10 billion in 10 years.

2. Agricultural frontiers have virtually reached dead end.

3. Farmlands continue to shrink, giving way to settlements and industry,
while facing the onslaught of erosion and desertification

4. Pollution is getting worse in air, land and water. (Photos: right, garbage clandestinely exported by Canada to the Philippines)

 

5. Global warming is not only a threat; it is a real issue to deal with.

These scenarios seem to revive the Apocalyptic Malthusian theory, which haunts many poor countries - and even industrialized countries where population density is high. We are faced with the problem on how to cope up with a crisis brought about by the population-technology-environment tandem that has started showing its fangs at the close of the 20th century.

Now we talk in terms of quality life, health and longevity, adequate food supply and proper nutrition - other human development indices (HDI), notwithstanding.
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As scientists open the new avenue of genetic engineering to produce genetically modified organisms for food, medicine and industry, entrepreneurs are shaping up a different kind of Green Revolution on the old country road – the employment of veritable, beneficial microorganisms to answer the basic needs of the vast majority of the world’s population.

Green Revolution for the masses

This Green Revolution has to be addressed to the masses. The thrust in biotechnology development must have a strong social objective. This must include the integration of the mass-based enterprises with research and development (R&D). Like the defunct NACIDA, a program for today should be cottage-based, not only corporate-based. Genetic engineering should be explored not for scientific reasons or for profit motives alone, but purposely for social objectives that could spur socio-economic growth on the countryside, and the improvement the lives of millions of people.

Alternative Food

These lowly organisms will be farmed like conventional crops. In fact, today mushroom growing is among the high-tech agricultural industries, from spawn culture to canning.

Spirulina, a cyanobacterium, has been grown for food since ancient times by the Aztecs in Mexico and in early civilizations in the Middle East. Its culture is being revived on estuaries and lakes, and even in small scale, in tanks and ponds. Today the product is sold as “vegetablet.”

Seaweeds, on the other hand, are being grown extensively and involving many species, from Caulerpa to Nori. (PHOTO below)  Seaweed farming has caught worldwide attention in this last two decades, not only because it offers a good source of food, but also industrial products like carageenan and agar.

Environmental Rehabilitation

In the remote case that a nuclear explosion occurs, how possible is it to produce food and other needs in the bomb shelters deep underground? Fiction as it may seem, the lowly microorganisms have an important role. For one, mushrooms do not need sunlight to grow. Take it from the mushroom-growing termites. Another potential crop is Chlorella. While it produces fresh biomass as food it is also an excellent oxygen generator, oxygen being the by-product of photosynthesis. But where will Chlorella get light? Unlike higher plants, this green alga can make use of light and heat energy from an artificial source like fluorescent lamp.

Sewage treatment with the use of algae is now common in the outskirts of big cities like New York and Tokyo. From the air the open sewer is a series of reservoirs through which the sewage is treated until the spent material is released. The sludge is converted into organic fertilizer and soil conditioner, while the water is safely released into the natural environment such as a lake or river.

Marine seaweeds are known to grow in clean water. Their culture necessitates maintenance of the marine environment. Surprisingly seaweeds help in maintaining a clean environment, since they trap particles and detritus, and increase dissolved Oxygen and reduce dissolved CO2 level in water.

Bacteria being decomposers return organic substances to nature. So with algae and fungi. Fermentation is in fact, a process of converting organic materials into inorganic forms for the use of the next generation of organisms. In the process, man makes use of the intermediate products like ethyl alcohol, acetic acid, nata de coco, lactic acid, and the like.

Speaking of sustainable agriculture, take it from Nature’s biofertilizers like Nostoc and other Eubacteria. These BGAs form green matting on rice fields. Farmers in India and China gather this biomass, and use it as natural fertilizer. Another is Rhizobium, a bacterium that fixes atmospheric Nitrogen into NO3, the form of N plants directly absorb and utilize. Its fungal counterpart, Mycorrhiza, converts Nitrogen in the same way, except that this microorganism thrives in the roots of orchard and forest trees.

Let me cite the success of growing Azolla-Anabaena (PHOTO) on ricefields in Asian countries. This is another biofertilizer, and discriminating consumers are willing to pay premium price for rice grown without chemical fertilizer - only with organic and bio-fertilizers. At one time a good friend, medical doctor and gentleman farmer, Dr. P. Parra, invited me to see his Azolla farm in Iloilo. What I saw was a model of natural farming, employing biotechnology in his integrated farm –

• Azolla for rice,
• Biogas from piggery,

• Rhizobia (photo) inoculation for peanuts and mungbeans,
• Trichoderma for composting.
• Food processing (fruit wine and vinegar)

His market for his natural farm products are people as far as Manila who are conscious of their health, and willing to pay the premium price for naturally grown food.

Genetic Engineering

It is true that man has succeeded in splicing the DNA, in like manner that he harnessed the atom through fission. Genetic engineering is a kind of accelerated and guided evolution, and while it helps man screen and develop new breeds and varieties, it has yet to offer the answer to the declining productivity of farms and agriculture, in general, particularly in developing countries. Besides, genetically engineered products have yet to earn a respectable place in the market and household.

Genetic engineering of beneficial organisms is the subject of research institutions all over the world. I had a chance to visit the Biotechnology Center in Taipei and saw various experiments conducted by Chinese scientists particularly on antibiotics production. But biotechnology has also its danger. One example is the case of the “suicide seeds”. These are hybrid seeds which carry a trigger enzyme which destroys the embryo soon after harvest so that the farmers will be forced to buy again seeds for the next cropping. It is similar to self-destruct diskettes, or implanted viruses in computers. This is how Monsanto, the inventor of suicide seeds, is creating an empire built at the expense of millions of poor farmers over the world.

Medicine and Natural Food

As resistance of pests and pathogens continue to increase and become immune to drugs, man is corollarily searching for more potent and safe kinds and formulations. He has resorted to looking into the vast medicinal potentials of these lowly organisms, as well as their value as natural food. Here are some popular examples.

1. Nori or gamet (Porphyra, a red alga) – elixir,
claimed to be more potent than Viagra (PHOTO)

2. Edible seaweeds - rich in iodine, vegetable substitute.
There is no known poisonous seaweed.

3. Seaweeds as source of natural antibiotics, much safer than conventional antibiotics.

4. Mushrooms have anti-cancer properties.(PHOTO: author with wild mushroom from the field)

6. Cyanobacteria prolongs life, restores youthfulness.

7. Yeast is a health food

8. Yogurt is bacteria-fermented milk, health drink.

9. Carica and Momordica extracts for medicine and health food

10. Organically grown food (without the use of chemical pesticide and fertilizer)

Dr. Domingo Tapiador (PHOTO), a retired UN expert on agriculture and fisheries, helped initiate the introduction of Spirulina in the country. He showed me the capsule preparation produced in Japan. “Why can’t we grow Spirulina locally?” he asked.

 

Today a year after, there are successful pilot projects. Spirulina is not only good as human food but feeds as well. Prior to obtaining his doctorate degree, Professor Johnny Ching of De la Salle University found out that Spirulina added to the feed ration of bangus improves growth rate. (MS Biology, UST). Similar studies point out to the beneficial effects of Spirulina on the daily weight gain in poultry and livestock. Earlier studies also discovered Azolla, an aquatic fern with a blue-green alga symbiont – Anabaena, as a valuable feed supplement to farm animals.

These lowly groups of organisms which cannot even qualify as plants, but instead protists with which protozoa are their kin, biologically speaking that is, are after all “giants.”

They hold the promise in providing food, medicine, clean environment, and as a whole, a better quality of human life for the people today and the coming generations.~
 ---------------

*The 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2021) highlights the remarkably high severity and numbers of people in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 55 countries/territories, driven by persistent conflict, pre-existing and COVID-19-related economic shocks, and weather extremes. The number identified in the 2021 edition is the highest in the report’s five-year existence. The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises (which includes WFP), an international alliance working to address the root causes of extreme hunger.

** The theme for International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2021 is “Building Forward Together: Ending Persistent Poverty, Respecting all People and our Planet”. How many people live below the international poverty line?
736 million people lived below the international poverty line of US $ 1.90 a day in 2015. In 2018, almost 8 per cent of the world’s workers and their families lived on less than US$1.90 per person per day. Most people living below the poverty line belong to two regions: Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

*** In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to size, output, or scale of operation, with cost per unit of output generally decreasing with increasing scale as fixed costs are spread out over more units of output.

Part 5 - Non-cash farming technology: 

Foundation of farmstead and natural agriculture

“It is technology farmers do not have to pay cash for a non- cash input.” This definition actually refers to good basic farm practices which small farmers can carry out themselves - first, to save on production cost; second, to improve production efficiency; and third to institutionalize farming into farmstead, and as a way of life. 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

Multi-storey cropping; integrated contour farming

Non- cash technology, however, should not be regarded as alternative to cash input per se, but can be a substitute to some costly items. What is significant in the concept is that good farm practices can maximize the value of cash input.

The best examples are found right in all fundamental steps of good farming. Good seeds generally produce more yields under any condition. These means farmers must practice seed selection, and plant only certified seeds. Grains produced from poor seeds are not only few; they produce low milling recovery due to admixtures of different grain shape, size and maturity.

The labor-intensive characteristic of typical farms in Asia ideally provides for greater attention to enhance proper farm management. After all, the progressive farmer is one who prepares is land more thoroughly, manages his nursery better, water his field more cleanly and has better water control, mainly through his effort and those of his large family.

Non-cash technology extends further from mere saving on direct expenses. It is also based on innovative approaches. A rice-garlic combination has these components; the garlic crop “rides” on the remaining soil moisture and on the tillage of early rice crop; and rice straw is used to mulch garlic in order to reduce water loss and weed population.

Other popular examples of non-cash inputs are:

• Use early maturing varieties to allow a second or third cropping.
• Make use of solar energy in drying palay, corn and other farm products.
• Follow precise timing of land preparation to turn up weeds to dry up. Plow them under to be decomposed to save on herbicide and laborious weeding
• Prepare rows parallel to East-West direction to allow more solar exposure to enhance growth and yield.
• Practice green manuring in place of or supplement to, commercial fertilizers.
• Recycle farm residues like corn stovers, rice straw and peanut hay for livestock, and farm wastes for organic fertilizer.
• Practice intercropping to reduce the spread and occurrence of pests and diseases, and to maximize the utilization of an input like fertilizer.
• 
  



Rice hay for mulching seedbeds and plots. Don't burn farm wastes,
compost them instead into valuable organic fertilizer.

The revival of non-cash technology is generally recognized as a Third World innovation. It may lack the glamour and sophistication of modern agriculture, but it holds the key in solving many problems of small farms.~ 

Integrated home garden; integrated homestead models

Acknowledgement: Internet illustrations

               

Part 6 - Discovering the taste and potentials

of the less popular fruits of the Philippines

 Dr Abe V Rotor

Scan a fruit stand in Manila and enjoy a variety of taste, travelogue and history.

Lanzones from Paete, marang from South Cotabato, pomelo from Davao, manggang kalabao from Zambales, strawberry from Baguio, durian from Maguindanao, dalangita from Cavite, pakwan from Candaba – but wait. 

But these are only samples of the country’s rich variety of fruits. What we may not readily find in the market are the less popular fruits, fruits that are even better, not to mention their rarity of their taste, than the major ones.

Here is a list of the minor fruits of the Philippines, often referred to as “promising fruits” because of their great potential in agriculture and industry, for both domestic and foreign markets.

1. Atis (Anona squamosa)

It is also called sugar apple for its very sweet taste. The fruit when mature is light green or yellowish, the ridges becoming wide apart, and in some cases split. Atis is a typical example of collective fruit, each seed covered by fleshy carpel which we each. The seeds are small and kids playfully spit them out like a blow gun.

2. Avocado (Persia americana)

It originated from Mexico where it is a very popular. In fact it is Mexico’s national fruit. It was introduced into the country by the Spaniards in the 17th century. Today avocado is found in most part of the country and cultivated in the backyard.

3. Balimbing (Averrhoa carambola)
4. Kamias (Averrhoa balimbi)
5. Caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito) PHOTO, Internet

6. Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)
7. Chico (Manikara zapota syn., Achras zapota)
8. Duhat (Syzygium cumini)
9. Duruian (Durio zibethinus)
10. Grapes (Vitis vinifera)

11. Guava (Psidium guajava)
12. Guyabano (Anona muricata)
13. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
14. Lanzones (Lansium domesticum)
15. Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)

16. Pili (Canarium ovatum)
17. Rambutan (Nephalium appaceum)
18. Rimas (Artocarpus altilis)
19. Kamansi (A. camansi)
20. Santol (Sandoricum koetjape)

21. Sineguelas (Spondias purpurea)
22. Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis)
23. Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
24. Tiessa (Poteria campechiana syn Locuma nervosa)

Other noteworthy fruits

25. Bago (Gnetum gnenum)
26. Bignay (Antidesma bunuis) PHOTO, Internet
27. Biriba (Rollina deliciosa syn R. orthopetala)
28. Chico-Mamey ( Pouteria sapota syn., Calocarpum sapota)
29. Datiles (Muntingia calabura)
30. Kalumpit (Terminalia microcarpa)

31. Kamachili (Pithecolobium dulce)
32. Kayam (Inocarpus eduluis)
33. Mabolo ( Diospyrus blancoi)
34. Makopa (Syzygium samarangense)
35. Manzanitas (Ziziphus jujuba)

36. Marang (Artocarpus pdoratoissima)
37. Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis)
38. Granadilla (Punica granatum)
39. Tampoy
40. Sapote 

References: The Promising Fruits of the Philippines by Dr. Roberto E. Coronel; The Living with Nature Handbook by AV Rotor