In PH Agriculture, Moving Forward To Entrepreneurship, We Have Only Just Begun – William Dar

Newly confirmed Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has "My Wish List Under The New Thinking" 1st of 2 parts, in his column in the Manila Times, 19 December 2019[1]. He says, "This wish list applies not only for the New Year... but beyond."

To cut short his column of 1,000 words, I see and say the great many items in Manong Willie's wish column are commonly appreciable if we only thought of one word: Entrepreneurship. (entrepreneurship image from PNG Guru[2]).

Now then, here is my list from his list:

(1) Farmers must learn to be entrepreneurs, especially the young.

(2)The private sector must be more entrepreneurial in developing and discovering markets for agricultural products.

(3)The State Colleges & Universities, SCUs, must conduct their R&D pushing for entrepreneurship in the countryside – especially for young farmers.

(4)Community corporations must be formed, in pursuit of entrepreneurship from wholesale to retail.

(5)The DA old and new team captains must push for entrepreneurship in a modernized and industrialized agriculture sector, to make the Philippines globally competitive.

Manong Willie says his "New Thinking for Agriculture" was not born out of a Eureka moment but, "rather, it was a product of analysis on what should be done to move the country's agriculture sector forward."

Move... forward. "And when I say move forward, that means the agriculture sector must achieve a higher level of competitiveness or a modernized and industrialized state teeming with wealthy farmers and fisherfolk."

We must have wealthy farmers and fishers; therefore, we must modernize and industrialize agriculture and fisheries.

Manong Willie says, "The drive to modernize the country's agriculture sector should not stem from government or the DA alone – the private sector must also actively take part in the collective action." The action must be in any of these "critical drivers in modernizing the country's agriculture sector — technology and mechanization, credit and enterprise development."

Not to forget the SCUs, with whose R&D should "actively push agripreneurship in the countryside because (the) SCUs are where much of the young blood for agriculture can come from."

To Manong Willie, the youth are extra special:

The ranks of the youth is also where new agripreneurs can be created, and since they are also tech-savvy and receptive to technology, they could also act as infomediaries for technology application.

Yes Sir! New or improved knowledge from adult and even senior scientists moved to the digital world to the youth, entrepreneurs and intrepid souls, thereby to "contribute to rural transformation or inclusive growth."

When Manong Willie says "inclusive growth," he means "inclusive development," which was the ultimate aim of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India, when he was outstanding Director General of long standing, from start of January 2000 to end of December 2014. In ICRISAT's inclusive development, the poor farmers are not simply recipients of goodness but participants in the common undertaking – today moving towards "a modernized and industrialized state teeming with wealthy farmers and fisherfolk."@517

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[1] https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/12/19/opinion/columnists/topanalysis/my-wish-list-under-the-new-thinking/665647/

[2]https://www.pngguru.com/free-transparent-background-png-clipart-ytjqy