THiNK Journalism

PH Agriculture today, Wednesday, 05 August 2020, the 122-year old Department of Agriculture, DA, celebrates the 1-year old Secretary of Agriculture William Dar. Above, below the left superimposed image, the headline says, “P2.6 Billion Released For Farmers, SMEs [1] ” ( Metro News Central ). Released by Mr Dar, that is a small part of the huge amounts of DA assistances to the Filipino farmers. The Filipino head is serving the Filipino farmers, not the least by seeking Du30’s support for the budgets, plural, to cultivate the cultivators of the soil. And I celebrate as a cultivator of the mind. It was Mr Dar who inspired me much to cultivate the minds of the Filipino aggie scientists to cultivate the minds of the Filipino farmers to become much more productive. We first had a meeting of the minds literally in the digital world when at that time, 2003, he was stil Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, h is proposal c

I love the farm clustering idea as a roundup to William Dar’s 1 st Year as Secretary of Agriculture today, 05 August 2020. (cluster image from Clusters 2.0 [1] ) Beyond the simplistic logo of the Department of Agriculture, DA, these times we need multiplicity not only of food choices but also of ready resources! All of PH Agriculture should be ready for all that clustering. So now I will campaign for more Cluster Success Stories . After all, it’s the community that is all-important, not the single standouts. Regarding the so many billions and millions of pesos being offered by the DA to the Filipino farmers to not only to survive but thrive during and especially after all these coronavirus lockdowns, the Filipino farmers as a whole must know now that they will be held hugely accountable. Beggars cannot be choosers! My advice: Practice The New 7 Arts (Rs) of War Against PH Farmer Poverty – via Strategic Clustering. (1)    Responsibility. Each region must be respons

“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast [1] ”  – this is the first line of the play “The Mourning Bride” by British playwright & poet William Congreve, 1697 ( Wikipedia ). We have lost the music. With a universal problem like the coronavirus, how do you solve a problem like Maria? Sing of the hills & apples! Ha. Here is where The Song is The Soul of The Soil! 55 years ago – I was 24, single & a new graduate of the University of the Philippines’ College of Agriculture – when along with the rest of the world I celebrated the coming of “The Sound Of Music” with Julie Andrews as lead star, released 02 March 1965 [2]  ( The Hollywood Reporter ). (images from Hits Movies [3]   and OSF [4] ) But I did not know then what I know now, what I realize now. First, let us look at the Prelude to The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews dancefully singing The hills are alive with the sound of music With songs they have sung for a thousand years The hills fill my heart with th

Note, I said Agripreneurships – plural. In her Manila Times item of 01 August 2020, “Officials Bat For Agripreneurship [1] ” Eireene Jairee Gomez says: To cope with the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on the country’s agriculture sector, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria “Joey” Concepcion 3rd and Agriculture Secretary William Dar pushed for agripreneurship under a new-normal setting. I will now make a fine distinction between private-oriented entrepreneurship , as Mr Concepcion has it, and farmer-oriented entrepreneurship, as Mr Dar has it. Mr Concepcion says, “The opportunity for many who have lost their jobs is to move into agri – whether you are in rural areas or whether you are at home, you can start your own agribusiness.” I’m concerned more with PH farmers as entrepreneurs trying to escape penury. An inveterate blogger since January 2007, of mice, men & minds, here I cannot separate inclusive market-oriented development , IMOD,

Nobody is saying it, so I become Nobody: Today and all throughout 2020, Digital is the best way to go in Agriculture! On Facebook, Noel Punzalan shared on 29 July 2020, “Ex-MILF Rebels Undergo 16-Week Training On Organic Farming[1]” (PNA), of farmers of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MILF – and I thought 16 weeks was way, way too long . Immediately I saw the people and purpose were perfect for a digital learning, for ATI first and farmers next!  (digital screen image from eLearning Industry [2] ) [1] https://elearningindustry.com/convert-instructor-led-training-to-digital-learning In the main image above, a former MILF combatant fighting people turns into a warrior fighting hunger and poverty by signing his name for inclusion as a trainee for vegetable organic farming in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Orientation Day . He is among a batch of 25 MILF farmers to be trained at the MILF main base in Sultan Kudarat from August to September. “(Instead) of rice and co

If you don’t mind, I do! Unfashionable, these little stories are just starters. That image is my photograph, taken 2010 – will these God little stories of mine scare, scar, sear or save you? Ever the original aboriginal Ilocano, I am collecting-writing “God, No Jokes” stories to celebrate my 80 th birthday, __ September 2020. You will know the exact date when I offer free the complete  soft copy (pdf) with as many stories as i hope to live: 120. I have been inspired by my old fellow Ilocano Jun AV Revilla sharing jokes on Facebook, told by others even from many years back. The difference is this: He has a good memory; he is a copywriter – he copies jokes. I am an original; I am a jokewriter, and I joke you not! Even the word jokewriter I just invented right now. So here are some God, No Jokes Stories , all my originals, all off Facebook: Manny Pacquiao: Heinous Crimes He Knows? Manny Pacquiao: On a Facebook sharing linked to PhilStar picture-story of 29 July 2020: “Hindi po