SELANGOR, MALAYSIA-BLOCK chain is the technology behind crypto currency. These are one of the emerging technologies most baby boomers were afraid of because they fear it will eat them up alive. As experts in the science community have said, borrowing the words of Dr. Gomez an Academician and member of the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines (NAST) “If one technology dies, another one emerges”.

Kaya nalalapit na ilunsad sa lungsod na ito ang isang coin, crypto currency gaya ng Bitcoin at Etherium na bukod sa nakikita ang kahalagahan sa hinaharap ng sistemang pinansyal ng daigdig ay maaring ibaba hanggang sa pinakamababang antas ng lipunan.

We are now at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIRe), Nano Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things by which the Block Chain Technology is based are one of those innovations perceived by some to be the gradual end of the current financial system which is not transparent and centralize.

Ang nasabing coin ay matatag, transparent at inaasahang magagamit sa grass root at ang kanilang kinuhang Brand Ambassador dito sa Kuala Lumpur ay si Bb. Natalya Bronzova, isang Artist, iskultor, Pintor at Journalsit bukod sa isa ring Beauty Queen buhat sa bansang Russia. Siya rin ang nagtatag ng “Russian Ball” sa Pilipinas at dito sa Malaysia, siya ang kinikilalang “Crypto Queen”. Inaasahan ang paglulunsad ng nasabing coin sa malapit na hinaharap sa Pilipinas bagaman kilala na ito sa ibang panig ng daigdig. /// Abdul malik Bin Ismail, +639333816694, abdulmalikbinismail6875@gmail.com

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DA BAR

 

 

*CPAR on SSNM bears success for yellow corn farmers*

Corn is one of the important crops produced in the Philippines. In
Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, producing yellow corn is one of the main
sources of livelihood among its farmers. However, one of the challenges
experienced by the Sablayan corn farmers is low corn productivity.

Around 70 percent of the farmers are producing below the national corn
production average of 3-4 metric tons (mt) per hectare. Due to lack
technical know-how and capital, some farmers are still following the
recommended management practices and the amount of fertilizers to be
applied. However, this changed when a research intervention, a
science-based approach in growing corn was introduced to them in 2017
through the project, “Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR)
on Yellow Corn Using Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM)”.

SSNM is an approach that advocates the use of available organic nutrient
sources (e.g. crop residues and manures) and inorganic fertilizers to meet
the nutrient demand of a high-yielding crop. This means feeding crops with
nutrients as and only when needed. It employs tools to estimate the optimum
amount that organic nutrient sources can contribute to crop nutrition so
that only the deficit in nutrient need is satisfied with inorganic
fertilizer.

Funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), project aimed to
increase corn production from 5-8 mt per hectare, enhance the use of
biofertilizer and organic matter for corn, and introduce the SSNM to the
farmer-cooperators and other stakeholders are the objectives of the
project. Implemented in Brgys. San Vicente and Tagumpay in Sablayan, Occ.
Mindoro, 20 farmers, 10 from each barangay were identified as CPAR
farmer-cooperators.

During project implementation, farmers were taught on the rudiments of SSNM
and guided by using the Quick Guide for Fertilizing Hybrid Yellow Corn.
They were also trained on best management practices, including recommended
planting distance; fertilizer application schedule, which is based on SSNM
rate; pest and disease control, and harvesting.

“When you combined these protocols or best practices, one can be assured of
a good harvest” said by Jose Paquidongan, CPAR farmer-cooperator from Brgy.
Tagumpay.

Prior to becoming a full-time farmer, Paquidongan, 59, used to be an
employee of a multi-national hybrid seed company promoting the use of
various hybrid seeds across the country. Sometime in the 90s, his Manila
office sent him, on a short mission, to Occ. Mindoro to explore the island
and introduce hybrid seeds. Never did he realize that destiny has its own
calling.

In 2003, Paquidongan resigned from his job and went back to Mindoro to push
his luck and decided to settle down and follow the course of his destiny.
Backed by experience as a seed grower, Paquidongan became a full-time rice
and corn seed grower in Sablayan, and later formed a farmers’ cooperative.
In 2011, the local government of Mindoro recognized him as one of the most
outstanding farmers in the region.

Being a farmer and a seed grower, Paquidongan continued to till the
family-owned five-hactare farm planted with rice and corn, and eventually
became a full-pledge farmer*. “Tatlumpung-taon na akong nagsasaka ng mais
dito sa aming lugar at isa mga alalahanin ng mga magsasaka ay ang mababang
produksyon ng mais,*” said Paquidongan.

On the average, the municipality produces four metric tons of yellow corn
per hectare. “*At sa aking karanasan bilang isang *seed grower*, kaya pang
tumaas ang produksyon, marahil tamang teknolohiya ang kailangan”, *he said.
Maximizing the full potential of the island was his vision then.

According to Paquidongan, sometime in 2016, the DA-MIMAROPA and the
provincial government conducted a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
seminar in search of a farmer-partner who would qualify as
farmer-cooperator of the BAR-funded project on CPAR-SSNM. In 2017,
Paquidongan, along with the other 19 farmers became partners of the project.

*“Simula ng nagabayan ng *SSNM *sa tamang *planting schedule*, *nutrient
management*, rekomendadong *planting distance*, *soil analysis* at ang *CPAR
technology*, masasabi kung tumaas ang aming ani,”* Paquidongan revealed. He
furtherd that his first harvest reached 6.7 mt per hectare by applying the
SSNM technology. His current production has now reached 7.9 mt  per hectare
giving him and his family an added income of roughly PhP 14,000 per
cropping. “*Hindi lang ako ang umani ng ganon, ang iba sa aming mga
kasamahan, halos ganon din ang produksiyon,” *he added. *### (Patrick
Raymund A. Lesaca/DA-BAR)*

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CPAR on water saving technology showcases positive returns *

The Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) 2 spearheaded
the conduct of a grand field day of a “Community-based Participatory Action
Research (CPAR) project on Water Management of Rice-based Cropping System
in Lucban Small Water Impounding Irrigation System” in Benito Soliven,
Isabela on 16 April 2019.

The project, which aimed to increase productivity of rice by introducing
cropping patterns and improving the existing water management system,
showcased various technologies during the field day.

In the CPAR model farms, three interventions were established to improve
water management based on Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). This served
as water saving technology for the introduced cropping patterns, hybrid
rice – hybrid rice – mungbean for the upstream part of the CPAR site, and
hybrid rice – watermelon in the tail end.

With reports from the project team and farmers on AWD, fertilizer
management, crop diversification, as well as product development and
marketing, the CPAR project showed success in its implementation. In fact,
prior to CPAR, farmers in Brgy. Lucban average a monthly income of around
Php 900 for inbred rice, with high cost of production. When CPAR was
introduced, their income increased to more than Php10,000 monthly.

Joseph Justo, a CPAR farmer-cooperator, mentioned how grateful he is for
the evident change not only in his life but in his co-farmers’ lives
because of the intervention of CPAR. Justo presented his experience in the
CPAR program and how his living conditions improved. “*Dati, isang beses
lang kami mag-ani sa isang taon. Ngayon, nakakadalawang harvest na kami sa
bigas, tapos mayroon pa kaming ibang tanim na pinagkukunan din ng kita
namin. Nagkaroon na rin kami ng kaalaman kung paano namin magagamit ng
maayos ang patubig, hindi na kami nahihirapan sa tubig. Salamat sa CPAR
talaga*,” he shared.

Among the highlights of the program included the turnover of the CPAR
project to the LGU of Benito Soliven as part of the sustainability measures
of CPAR. Hon. Robert Lungan, municipal mayor of Benito Soliven has full
support in the CPAR project, appreciative of how CPAR turned the lives of
the farmers around in Benito Soliven. “*We will make sure CPAR flourishes
at magdadagdag pa tayo ng mas maraming magsasakang makikinabang dito*,”
Mayor Lungan mentioned.

Representatives from DA-RFO 2, local government units, Agricultural Credit
Policy Council, Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, Regional
Agriculture and Fishery Council, also presented their own respective
programs that will benefit the farmers, such as product enhancement and
market linkage assistance programs, and loan and calamity programs.

With results of the project showing a 50-97 percent increase in production
and income, CPAR continues to be an effective means of community
transformation. *### (Daryl Lou A. Battad/DA-BAR)*

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