THiNK Journalism

29 February 2020. “Leap Of Kindness Day,” says the above message from Rockport Fulton [1] . Me, yes I’m doing something kind for my country the Philippines starting today. I’m making a Leap of Faith and starting a digital popular magazine.  This is not my first time to start and edit a publication – I founded and edited the 3 publications of the Forest Research Institute 1975-1981: monthly newsletter Canopy , quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop , and quarterly popular color magazine Habitat. During The Age Of Dinosaurs (Typewriters). Already, I am an old hand with digital works. I began self-learning digital writing, editing and desktop publishing on Innocents Day, 1985. In 2007, as Editor In Chief I made world-class or ISI the 25-year old Philippine Journal of Crop Science owned by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines based at UP Los Baños. I have desktop-published many books; the one I love best is the coffee-table book of ACPC: The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable , 150 pages.

Saw this one today, 27 February 2020, on Facebook: “Nurturing Ani At Kita” it says on the bulletin board. This is derived from the Department of Agriculture, DA’s slogan “Masaganang Ani At Mataas Na Kita” ( Bountiful Harvests And Bounteous Income , my translation). Here are early 2 Facebook comments: Robert Domoguen: “Nurturing… and sustainable development. Great theme, Sir. Ravindra Joshi: “The focus is crystal clear and targets bulls-eyed. Philippine Agriculture is now starting to make great (strides) under Secretary Dr William Dar’s leadership. Key is everyone needs to be fully (engaged) and be passionate. Congratulations to the DA Team.” With/out meaning to, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has proclaimed a new symbol for the emergence of a vibrant PH Agriculture under his headship at the Department of Agriculture, DA: “Nurturing Ani At Kita” – literally, Nurturing Yield & Income . This comes from the slogan for Manong Willie’s ““New Thinking for Agricultur

I see the new PH Agriculture under the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie as the biggest challenge to Philippine journalism – many-layered, complicated. Simplifying: If farming is growing food, journalism is growing ideas in a fertile mind! I thank God I’m running 80. Now, how could I have been blogging about PH Agriculture every single day since the middle of last year when I am essentially a work-at-homer? “There is no unfertile soil with a fertile mind.” How do I cultivate my mind to stay fertile? Easy – I read. And read. And read. So I can be Good, Better, Best! (Above, superimposed image of some books to read/review in my bedroom-workroom.) In this digital age, as a journalist you must always collect enough background materials; save your files, then read them. Read, not memorize. (In Microsoft Word , turn on Track Changes – click Review, Track Changes – and write down your thoughts as you read. You go back to them when you begin to write your arti

IMOD. William Dar/Manong Willie as head of the Department of Agriculture, DA, avidly leads his “New Thinking for Agriculture” where an embedded ideal is Inclusive Market-Oriented Development, IMOD. If you want farmers to rise from poverty and stay up there, you must do the IMOD.  IMOD as the ideal for local & national growth was developed at ICRISAT, based in India, when Manong Willie was Director General, from January 2000 to December 2014, 15 years – IMOD as ideal became real. So, if you want your farmers to be blessed with “Masaganang Ani, Mataas na Kita” ( Bounteous Harvest, Bountiful Income , my translation), the current mantra of the DA , you must do the IMOD. With IMOD, the development is real – distributed to everyone, especially the poor farmers. IMOD as ideal: “Find the ideal in something not ideal” – Robert Denning [1] . As a farmer, is it ideal to think rich? You have to think rich; you also have think real. Now, let’s consider Eva Visperas’ 09 January 2020 article – “

For PH Agriculture, nobody is asking for my advice, so I’m giving it! Go Native, Go Nature – Go Na! And: Yes to Export – No to Import! Here are 2 major losses in PH Agriculture today – mango to “kurikong” and pig to African Swine Fever, ASF. Mango: I can’t find data for export losses, but it has been reported that “kurikong” can cause 70 to 100% loss in yield [1] – that translates to your loss in export. Here is indirect data: Gabriel Cardinoza reports in Inquirer.net (17 March 2018) that Lito Arenas, former President of the Federation of Mango Growers & Handlers Association of Pangasinan, and others visited Guangzhou City in China and “were surprised there were no Philippine mangoes being sold there.” That translates to zero export. Pig: “There are opportunity losses for the hog industry estimated at about P 1 billion ($19.5 million) a month,” Noel Reyes, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, DA, is quoted as saying [2] . Huge! For swine, go native! In March 2016, the bo

Sometimes, we do not know how to take good care of the one we love, whether family, or friend – or fruit! One reported problematic fruit is mango, Mangifera indica ; one reported problematic province is Pangasinan, where I was born, and whose mango I believe is the sweetest in the Philippines. The unripe fruits are being infested on the trees by the cecid fly , which looks like a mosquito, and which causes those galls or swelling tissues on the skin, those black splotches on the green. (Main image from ABS-CBN News [1] ) In Quezon City, concerned with the gall problem, locally called kurikong , during the First Luzon Mango Congress held 20 February 2020 at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, according to the press release “DA To Help Mango Farmers Solve ‘Kurikong,’ Increase Production And Exports” from the Department of Agriculture, DA, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie said: Together, let us harness the power of science and technology to pro-actively get rid of

Note the crosses behind the exotic pig: Death to the swine industry!? I am looking at what Jasper Y Arcalas of Business Mirror sees: “PHL Winning Battle Vs Swine Fever But May Lose The War [1] ” (20 February 2020). He means we may defeat the ASF, simultaneously bring down with it the swine industry. (Main image above accompanies his article) I will now look at the situation as the Wizard of Os. This: Applying my 5 Os, using Mr Arcalas’ eyes, I see: Mr Arcalas’ Obstacles – ASF spreading, killing thousands of pigs. Swine raisers and pork dealers taking advantage of a bad situation for their own good. Everywhere. Mr Arcalas’ Opportunities – Save the uninfected; contain the spread of ASF. Mr Arcalas’ Options – Business as usual if successful; goodbye swine industry if unsuccessful. Mr Arcalas’ Outputs – Healthy pigs or uninfected saved. Some money collected from government for all pigs depopulated. Mr Arcalas’ Outcomes – If national campaign against ASF is successful: Swine industry b

You are looking at The Bridge to Prosperity  found in Asingan, Pangasinan – Ilocano-wise.  How do you like it: That your Secretary of Agriculture, William Dar/Manong Willie, is an agriculturist and Ilocano? That your science writer, Frank A Hilario, is an agriculturist and Ilocano? That the Ilocanos are known to be industrious and frugal? I love it! Except: We Ilocanos are not frugal in farming. We Ilocanos have to be taught what we already know! To do that, for my hometown of Asingan, Pangasinan, I have been thinking of an agri-tourism program with our Nagkaisa Multipurpose Cooperative’s 4.2 hectares of land down the Sinapog Bridge (beautiful scene above). Under the bridge, Nagkaisa has authority over those hectares. The other day, I discussed with Nagkaisa Chair Roger Daranciang my proposal for a “Farmer-Friendly Agriculture, Ilocano-Wise” techno-demo program involving Asingan’s 21 barangays. When you find the formula for prosperity, please multiply it! Note the name of the program: