At about 0240 hours today, Saturday, 06 June 2020, beginning to write this essay, I suddenly realized that we in the Philippines have been revolutionizing the thinking for agriculture in developing countries! Me, an Ilocano, I always say, “I have always been an original aboriginal!”
When he became Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, William Dar, who prefers to be called “Manong Willie” – terms of endearment in our Ilocano language – already had a mindmap of the New PH Agriculture he was going to lead as Chief of the Department of Agriculture, DA. He called it “The New Thinking For Agriculture” translated in concrete forms into “The 8 Paradigms,” which are (my shortcuts):
(1) Modernization.
(2) Industrialization.
(3) Promotion of exports.
(4) Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms
(5) Infrastructure development.
(6) Higher budget & investment.
(7) Legislative support.
(8) Roadmap development.
The items are not shown sequentially and not by importance – they are all important and necessary, working for the ultimate goal of a progressive agriculture for the Philippines, with the poor farmers having been elevated from poverty to prosperity, and sustainably so. The roadmap should see to that.
The Filipino farmer must modernize his crop, fish & livestock production, harvesting, processing, storing, and marketing. Small farms need to be consolidated in operations in order to enjoy economies of scale.
Philippine agriculture must lead to more industrialization. There must be more crop & livestock & fish products for exports.
Of course, all of the above calls for infrastructure development, which calls for higher budgets & investments from the private sector and legislative support in terms of policy and budget from Congress.
All for good, or better.
Another Ilocano, my personal contribution to The New PH Agriculture is now what I refer to as THiNK Journalism:
True +
Helpful +
inspiring +
Necessary +
Kind
Journalism.
I invented the term “THiNK Journalism” just this month of June, but I have been practicing it since at least when in 16 April 1975 I began working for the Forest Research Institute, FORI, as Information Officer and ending up as Editor In Chief (and founder) of all 3 major FORI publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop on tropical forestry, and quarterly popular color magazine Habitat.
As a blogger, I have uploaded at least 5,000 long essays, a minimum of 1,000 words each; that accounts for my 5-year old standing claim as “World's creative genius online, most prolific writer of non-fiction[1]” (see my blog, Creative Thinkering, Blogger.com).
As a science writer, I always try to look for what is True, but what I write must be Helpful and Inspiring and Necessary and Kind. If not Inspiring? For others to learn the lesson, I find a way to be Kind.
That means that even if it is True and I find it neither Helpful nor Inspiring nor Necessary, I do not write about it.
When I write about it, it means I now think that it is THiNK Journalism. All for good or better.@517revised03May2022
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