I have been reading the commencement address of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar at the 69th Annual Commencement Exercises of Central Luzon State University (CLSU) held on 09 July 2021 in the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija. On this occasion, Mr Dar was conferred a Doctor of Humanities title (Honoris Causa).
(top image)
As ex-officio head of the Department of Agriculture (DA), among other things, Mr Dar said uniquely (with my little editing):
The challenges of development in a nation such as ours are deep, difficult, and persistent. They will continue for as long as we draw breath: poverty, technological backwardness, and shameful waste.
That’s why we at the DA (wish to) tap those excelling in the field of agri-research, such as CLSU, to pursue research for development instead of research and development. It is a quest for learning and truth. And I emphasize this change in the (concept) that we at the DA now embrace as it captures the need for a New Thinking.
I repeat the most significant part of the 1,100-word untitled speech:
“To tap those excelling in the field of agri-research, such as CLSU, to pursue research fordevelopment instead of research anddevelopment” (my italics). Those words in quotes are saying:
“Go R4D, Stop R&D!” Mr Dar thereby brings the dawn of a new day in the history of research!
(above, my sunrise image, 26-09-2010, shading old images)
“R4D” means results immediately applicable in the field. Inadvertently thereby, Mr Dar is waking up the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in India, of which he was Director General from January 2000 to December 2014: ICRISAT still in the Gray Day of R&D, not yet in the Bright Morning of R4D!
(ICRISAT image[1] from ICRISAT.org)
Let me give you a personal example of R4D, my proposal to grow hybrid/inbred rice in a project I shall now call “Automatic Surface Field Fertilizer (ASF2) For Growing Hybrid/Inbred Rices.” To formulate the ASF2:
Carefully, run the rotavator or rototiller across the whole field so that the blades cut into the soil down 2-3 inches only, not deeper. In this way, the vegetative cover (crop leftover and/or weeds) is cut to pieces along with the soil; as the blades rotate, the pieces of soil and vegetation are automatically mixed and laid on the surface of the field as mulch – your automatic natural fertilizer.
Comparatively, ASF2 cultivation is very much simpler than ecological farming, organic farming, or natural farming. With financial assistance from the DA, and with Flarino Flauta as my Co-Proponent – Facebook says he is former Manager of Philnatural Ecology Farming Corporation – we will introduce ASF2 at 3 campuses: Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in the North, CLSU in Central Luzon, and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Southern Tagalog. Other aggie campuses may be added later. (A project proposal is coming up!)
To R4D be Science Glory!@517
Comments
Post a Comment