On Securing Agriculture

Gone is the generation when agriculturists were just hunters and gatherers. Nature provided them food and shelter. Gone also is the generation when agriculturists just concentrated mainly on the procedures of producing volumes of harvests the conventional way. Now? – The generation of agriculturists producing volumes of harvests aided with non-conventional technologies vis-à-vis an immense budget because of the effects not only of climate change but also of greed.

In securing enough food amid climate change, agriculture is urged to focus on both adaptation and mitigation measures.

Agriculture is currently banking on the development of resilient crop varieties that are either drought or flood tolerant and identifying heat and disease tolerant breeds of livestock and poultry including the development of vaccines against diseases. Perking up the digestibility of feeds and fortification of nutritional ingredients to minimize enteric gas emission and waste management is also highly in progress. And not to forget the high finances on water harvesting technologies. These situations are now leading to an expensive but must-be conservation and protection of natural and indigenous animal and plant genetic resources. Adding up works of science that either “has or without a human face” like gene reworks that sometimes slip away from science protocols either to cushion negative effects of climate change and further increase the extent of food production despite hot issues or speculations on the long term consequences or just to merely satisfy selfish desires.

Agriculture now runs and manipulates nature to provide food for the human race. However, there are several reasons that regardless of a huge surplus of food production, food insecurity is still a vast problem having over a billion people around the world going hungry each day. There are the distribution of food within a country being a political issue, land deals wherein rich governments and corporations are buying up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies, an industrial development model based on large-scale, export-orientated agriculture tied to international competition, self interest and stock market which when a reorientation towards more localized, smaller scale and sustainable agriculture will allow a situation of an always available food on the plate and the undermining of commercial seed varieties of local seed systems. These are just a few of the numerous reasons agriculture is flossing up with.

Food security though is an intricate topic, standing at the crossroads of various disciplines agriculture being the central concern.

THE REST OF MY LIFE

(Unknown)

I - Part of my life brings tears of regret
    And part of my life I would rather forget
    Part of my life I can never recall
    But the rest of my life, I'll atone for it all.

Ref: Yes, part of my life to false idols I bowed
       And part of my life I just followed the crowd
       Yes, part of my life is a story of sin
       But the rest of my life, I will honor God's name.

II - Freely I drank from life's glittering cup
      So deep, in my shame I could hardly look up
      Broken and spent to the Saviour I cried
      Now the rest of my life, we will walk side by side.

Ref:

III - Too many years I squandered in sin
        And too many years, I was bitter within
       Tears of regret is the price I must pay
       But the rest of my life, God can have His own way.

Ref:

AT MID AGE

October 14 ^{t h}  simply celebrated my 39^th birthday (hehehe)  with an icecream toss that foamed to coke floats, etc… One year more would be the age when I will begin life at!??? Haha..

Anyway, I realized that I’m now at what most call the “middle age.” It is the age of crisis of all sorts that I still cannot comprehend and for which of course I don’t want to entertain. I heard lots of stories about mid-life or mid-age for which the word “crisis” commonly tagged along so that mostly were disasters! My life though is full of disasters ever since I knew how to distinguish colors, recite my alphabets and count my fingers! (wehehehey…)

I found myself currently working in a place with about 90% who are at present in their golden and yellow diamond years. In less than 7 years from now almost all of them would be retiring from work.  Daily, I would always hear varieties of stories from them like the simple household chores, children and grandchildren, great achievements, the color of the hair, the softness of the skin, PMS, the need to wear eyeglasses, forgetfulness, rheumatism, blood pressure and all sorts of ailments. This includes stories about non-sense things that would sometimes unpredictably break into irritations and “war” inside the workplace.

Sometimes I do wonder if right now I can sense some of the common ailments that most of them and most people feel upon reaching 40. Or I may just be ignoring the truths of those senses. Well, my hair is still black. I can still run as fast as I can. I can still laugh at the top of my lungs. I can still go mountain climbing. My teeth are still intact and complete. I don’t frequently complain of joint aches, etc.. I still don’t need eyeglasses and I’m not yet a “walking pharmacy.” (lol)…

Of course I won’t deny that I do observe changes in my body. How about my memory? Do I frequently forget simple things that I do? Maybe. Is my skin still tight? It’s beginning to sag. I now also wear a “salbabida” haha… I hope I won’t look like a squash after a decade…I now grow freckles and little black spots on my face, hands and legs. My cheekbones are beginning to pop out…iiiiwwww!

And, of course we are just mortal beings so that at 39 or 40, the body has naturally completed the needed turns that it must have undergone and thus has to start another turn for another physical progress. It is a fact that physiologically and biochemically, the body deteriorates in age prompting it to feel several ailments that sometimes shove others to become either nerds or absurd.

Nobody in this planet has ever yet found the fountain of youth except for Benjamin Button!

THE GAME OF THE DEVIL

Today, May 10, 2010, was the chosen date for all qualified Filipino voters to participate in the devil’s game and the day to decide whom the final owners of seats would be to run the house of sworn statements made to be broken. 

Promises and allusions have already been publicized since December 2009 like ending poverty. Who could really end poverty? Tunay na mahirap. Who is really a true mahirap? A true friend. Is there really a true friend when playing the devil’s game? Many jobs will be opened. Questionable? Is it so easy? In reality, kailangan pa ang basbas ng ninong o ninang (na politiko) eh before you get a job. If you don’t have that what they call, “The Evil’s Plus Factor!”  it is very difficult to land a deserving job or get promoted in the government even if your credentials speak so well. A true servant. Yes, a true servant of greed, fame, deceit and gory.

At this very hour, as casting of votes are going on, treacheries and some more treacheries are rising above the scale, and lives, be they innocents or partakers, are expected to be sacrificed in the name of the game. And yes, this is the devil’s game!

I did take my part in the game this morning putting my trust to those imps I know though are lesser evils.

WHY DO THE POOR GET POORER AND THE RICH GET RICHER?

Many times when I get locked into an underprivileged situation, I usually drop down to a seat and ask the same question to the air around me. I was born in a poor family in a poor province in a poor Philippines so I know very much how it is to be so materially poor.

Watching or thinking about the rich-poor gap here in our very dear Philippines, I generally arrive to several answers some of course are just hypothetical. However, one reality is that when you go to the poor and do actually listen to them talk, they talk about money, money, money, that they want money or that they do not have money, and for some they want this and that new gadget/s, new thing/s, and getting rich overnight. But the problem is: They refuse to work hard! If they want work, they want one that promises big returns of a small investment. Because of that money that they direly want to get hold of, they invest in gamble games. Jueteng, lotto, cockfighting, and little casinos to name a few are hotcakes on the streets promising them lumps of money. If not, they pounce on numerous loans without wise plans of ventures treading them more heavily into debts.

 Both the poor and the rich are given an EQUAL PRIVILEGE of spending 24 hours a day with what they like. But what do you observe? If not talking about money, the poor people can afford to just sit down the whole afternoon busy doing nothing but tsismis or playing tong-its. On the other hand, if you listen to the rich people talk, they talk about work and so much work to be done, ideas and other opportunities for work.

These situations are just among the few answers to the question above but if these lifestyles were slowly corrected then would contribute a lot to the closing of the burgeoning gap between the rich and the poor - Lifestyle Discipline – and it still requires hard work.

EASY VS DIFFICULT

--> -->

(Lifted from the Feature Articles Section of the ADZ UNLIMITED an Ads Paper from the column: Thoughts to Ponder by Virgie Milan, March 2010. page 7).

Easy is to get a place in someone’s address book; Difficult is to get a place in someone’s heart.

Easy is to judge the mistakes of someone; Difficult is to recognize your own mistakes.

Easy is to talk without thinking; Difficult is to refrain the tongue.

Easy is to hurt someone who loves us; Difficult is to heal the wound.

Easy is to forgive others; Difficult is to ask forgiveness.

Easy is to set rules; Difficult is to follow them.

Easy is to dream every night; Difficult is to fight for a dream.

Easy is to show victory; Difficult is to assume defeat with dignity.

Easy is to admire a full moon; Difficult is to see the other side.

Easy is to stumble with a stone; Difficult is to get up.

Easy is to enjoy life everyday; Difficult is to give its real value.

Easy is to promise something to someone; Difficult is to fulfill that promise.

Easy is to say we love; Difficult is to show it everyday.

Easy is to criticize others; Difficult is to improve oneself.

Easy is to make mistakes; Difficult is to learn from them.

Easy is to weep for a lost love; Difficult is to take care of it so you won’t lose it.

Easy is to think about improving; Difficult is to stop thinking about it and putting it into action.

Easy is to receive; Difficult is to give.

Easy is to keep friendship with words; Difficult is to keep it with meanings.

-->-->

MOST BEAUTIFUL ADVICE

(Lifted from the Feature Articles Section of the ADZ UNLIMITED an Ads Paper from the column: Thoughts to Ponder by Virgie Milan, March 2010. page 7).

An angel says, ‘Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.’

Here are right steps to take:

1. Pray.
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say NO to projects that won’t fit into your time schedules or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many).
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in your garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut!). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the kid in you every day.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good, ‘thank you Jesus.’
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people. They probably need it the most.
32. Sit on your ego.
33. Talk less, listen more. (That’s why we have two ears and one mouth! Italics mine.)
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

MY PRESIDENT

“Mama, whom will you vote soon as our president?” my daughter seriously asked me about a month ago. Not yet certain that time of whom I would really vote I just answered her, *“Candidate A”. “Why?’ she asked again. “Because I believe in his capabilities.” I replied. “How about you? Who is your bet?” I asked her back. *“Candidate C” she said. “Why?” I also asked her. “I don’t like your candidate even if he says he is the answer to all our problems. You see I memorized those songs about him but I don’t like him,” then she sang one of the popular infomercial songs to prove she really knows the song. “I would ask you rather to vote *Candidate C,” she continued to tell me. “Why he? Did someone tell you that you support *Candidate C?” I questioned her but she said she just wanted the person and no one ever had told her to like that candidate. She was not able to explain fully why she wanted *Candidate C to become the next Philippine president.

My daughter is now eight years old and just like many others of her age or even younger, who are still years behind the voting age in our country, they know how to gauge the capabilities of those popular people who are running for political seats. They have their own reasons influenced mostly outside their homes. If not for a lot of TV infomercials, they are influenced by what their schoolmates tell them, their elders in the community and some discussions that they hear around them. Children could pick up a lot of information through their own ways in what we adults consider as still their small worlds. I never told my daughter whom to vote as president neither my husband. I don’t even know whom my husband would soon vote. I was just somewhat speechless when my daughter suddenly asked me that question. She has her own very reasons why she opts for her candidate.

Yesterday, I asked again my daughter of her president. She still sticks to her *Candidate C .

*Actual names during the conversation are withheld on this site.

DR. MALUNGGGAY

Just like the camote and sayote (in Benguet and Mt. Province), many would say that malunggay is a poor man’s food. This raison d’ etre may be because it is just boiled for a few minutes with a dash of salt and presto! it is a viand. Or, maybe because it is easily grown and is commonly seen in the tropic belts so that meat eaters and people who depend too much on highly processed food consider it so. However, it is very much savored in countries mostly in Asia.

I haven’t met Dr. Malunggay in my childhood days because it does not thrive in cool places. (I grew up in the cold mountains where vegetation is different from those in the low lying areas). I now live in the Ilocos Regions, so I had to teach my taste buds tang vegeplants in hot areas at the start. I finally got inloved however, with Dr. Malunggay.

When I did my MS Graduate Study, Dr. Malunggay was my frequent companion in our dormitory kitchen. I remember very well that while cleaning and separating the small oval leaves from the petiolets, sorts of stories would quickly spring up about it from my kitchen mates. My kitchen buddies before aside from Filipinos were from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar and they have their own names for Dr. Malunggay. They have their own way also of preparing it. It was then that my brain subconsciously committed to my memory its Scientific Name, Moringa oleifera Lam. so we could understand each other when entertainingly asked of what to cook for dinner on such a day. All what I knew of the plant’s name before was just a malunggay tree called horse radish tree in English.

It was in that kitchen also that I learned that the Cebuanos call the plant kamunggay when Ilocanos call it marunggay. I learned also that the Tagalogs and Visayans do not eat the pods while both the leaves and pods are a delight in the Ilocano dish. The Tagalogs usually associate the leaves for tinola, a menu of chicken and unripe papaya. The Visayans cook it with much water, a pinch of salt and a little of ginger and call it bulanglang. Some prepare it with squash and coconut milk especially in the Southern Tagalog Region.

Aside from malunggay leaves however, I often saw my foreign kitchen comrades particularly those from Laos and Thailand relishing tender shoots of a certain wild vine of the cucumber family found growing a lot in the vicinity of our University. Wow, I also found it so yummy! So, I also gathered shoots of this weed with the malunggay leaves, camote tops and spinach freely growing at the side and back areas of our dormitory.

As much claimed today, Dr. Malunggay is so wealthy of minerals needed in the human body .It is now available in drugstores in capsule forms for the reasons, one: is to help curb malnourishment in the Philippines, a program of the DOH, two: to add claimed minerals to health of people who do not consider greens on their plates.

And, given a time I would go back and thank again those leaves that lusciously grew around our dorm! It helped me not only in my budget during those times (hahahaha) but also in maintaining my health aglow! Besides, I was able to influence some of my meat-eating buddies to include those weeds on their diets (hahaha again!) even if they amusingly called me "Miss Damo." wahahaha!

NAN KAWEW

Nan kawew ay kanan da id Sagada
Ay ma-inom nan danum nan aboboa na
Carnivorous plant ay kanan di syentista
Tay lamok ya baban-eg ay insekto et kanena.

Mailiwak is kaungungak
Tay no umey kami id Maney
Et siya enak anapen no maewewak
Mang-ep-ep is ewew enggana sumaa kami.

Laton baw ta idwani
Maadal amin di mulmula ay naklasi
Et siya ennak nangamoan mampay
Ay nan kawew et dandani maamas obpay.

Ilaen tako pud ay kakailyan id Ganduyan
Ta adi tako pud baybay-an
Nan nayda mula ay kakaisuna
Ay tumubtubo isnan entako lota.

Aywanan tako daida, tay ilan yo pud nan alumani
Agsop, nging-iyaw, sengang ya kitkit-il
Ay esa pay ngen ammon di uungung-a
Amin datona no is kawakgatana?

A Doctor’s Price

Because of an inflamed pharynx and larynx caused by many things to enumerate during the Christmas and Yuletide holidays (hehe, really?!!), I lost my voice again to a sore throat. Unknowingly I also had my pharynx infected causing some choking sensations when I swallowed. I tolerated this condition for 5 days so that on the 6^th day when the pain was on its worst, I went to the District Hospital in our place for check-up. I went early in the morning thinking that there would be many patients on the waiting when I would leave a little bit later. Well, an early bird really catches an early worm. I was the second patient on line that morning (although we were only five patients that time until I left the hospital). The annoying intern student nurses were the ones who filled the OPD-ER. They were the ones assigned to get some information from patients before they are finally ushered to the doctor’s station. I waited until 8:00 when the Cashier’s Office would be opened and when the Doctor on duty would arrive.

A few minutes past 8:00, a lady doctor arrived who was somewhat suplada. Then the ball started to roll. The first patient was called into her room and know what? - was out just after one minute. Then my turn came. I entered the room and without waiting for me to sit down, she asked me what was my problem. I told her of my throat trouble then she asked me to open my mouth. She just made a quick look without using any light. I wonder what she glanced at! Did she have bionic eyes? What I expected of a doctor when diagnosing a throat illness is a thorough detail. She then immediately, wrote her prescription on her list, gave it to me and told me not to drink cold water. That was it. I was out by just around one minute and a few more seconds than the first patient. And she proved she was really suplada! I didn’t know what those pills she prescribed me because I didn’t buy them anyway. CONSULTATION FEE: P30.00

With great dismay, I hailed a jeepney ride to the city while grumbling to myself of how stupid I am to be trusting yet this hospital and why did I not go directly to the city (around 30 minutes ride from that district hospital) and see an EENT specialist! I made my time useless that morning. Anyhow, I went directly to a private hospital in the city and looked for a specialist on EENT. I found one and patiently hanged around for my turn as he had many patients waiting.

The doctor was smiling when I entered his room. He asked me many details of what I ate and what I did recently. He brought out his pen light and a spatula and looked into my throat. He pulled my tongue a little bit and asked me to squeak out a high-pitched tone. He even knew I was choking which I really did. He told me to have a complete voice rest for 3-5 days and if I wanted to say something, I should write it on a sheet of paper. Wow! What a punishment! He told me things to do and things not to do if I wanted to have a complete recovery. He even asked me to have a chest x-ray since as he said, frequent sore throats are sometimes associated with abnormalities in the lungs. He prescribed me antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-colds and should go back to see him after 5 days. CONSULTATION FEE: P300.00