Agriculture technology and climate change Ernesto Ordoñez Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 05, 2009
LAST NOV. 4, IN A FRONT PAGE Inquirer article entitled, “RP not set for climate change,” Ronnel Domingo reported: “Philippine agencies have a low capacity to adapt to climate change, according to a self-assessment workshop conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).”
One finding is that while nine national service agencies generally “have the capacity to adapt to climate change, this is neither planned nor implemented.” The Department of Agriculture (DA) is one of these agencies.
Time to move
Climate change is upon us. This was demonstrated recently and dramatically by “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.” The damage to agriculture has been estimated at over P20 billion.
According to the “Training Manual on Gender and Climate Change,” there can be four key response clusters in climate change: mitigation, adaptation, technology, and financing. DA has already moved quickly on mitigation, adaptation and financing. This is seen by the subsidies DA is now giving to farmers for their production inputs.
To address the expected food shortages, DA has announced increased importation of rice, poultry, and swine. However, in its attempt to please consumers, DA should not forget the farmers, who are also our nation’s largest consumers.
Over-importation at the wrong time, a practice which the Alyansa Agrikultura opposed in its common agri-fishery agenda approved as early as 2003, will not only destroy agricultural livelihood. It will also prevent farmers from producing more food and actually decrease food production.
The farmer will say: “Why should I plant again? If prices drop because of oversupply from excessive importation, I will only lose money. I might as well stop producing!”
Technology emphasis
But what needs more attention now is a significant emphasis on new technologies, which is often forgotten because of the attention given to mitigation, adaptation, and financing. One example is System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
With climate becoming more unpredictable, rice farmers must be able to cope with extreme weather events and untimely wet or dry spells. Climate change increases the risks and actual costs of farming, and farmers must learn to adapt.
An adaptation method has been tried successfully in India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam and some 30 other rice-growing countries. SRI was developed in the 1980s by Jesuit agriculturist Fr. Henri de Laulanie. With simple changes in rice growing practices, SRI reduces water and seed costs; avoids chemical fertilizers (a major carbon source); reduces methane (a greenhouse gas) emissions; makes rice plants sturdier and more resilient against floods or droughts; and most significantly, increases yields.
In the Philippines, the main SRI advocate is Robert Verzola, interestingly an Information Technology (IT) expert, a former associate editor of the UP Collegian, and an author who has published two books on non-agricultural matters.
But having studied and seen SRI’s success in many farms since 2000, and sadly observing its very limited technology transfer, specially during this time of climate change, Verzola now spends a significant amount of his time propagating SRI.
Other advocates who have seen SRI are Noe Ysulat, Agricultural Training Institute Region 12 superintendent, Engr. Carlos Salazar, National Irrigation Administration head, Dr. Zosimo dela Rosa of the Visayas State University, and many NGOs.
Hybrid rice developer Dr. Yuan Long-ping of China has also spoken highly of SRI.
In 2007, the DA finally started supporting the training activities of the NGO consortium “SRI Pilipinas” with a P875,000 grant. With this limited fund, SRI Pilipinas conducted one-day training programs for more than a thousand rice farmers in 50 provinces. SRI Pilipinas coordinator Verzola says their next goal is to conduct town-by-town training.
His group will send free SRI primers to farmers who text their mailing address to 0929-856-1930.
Conclusion
SRI is only one of the many technologies that we must sponsor and spread in the agricultural area that appears to be getting too little attention in this time of climate change. Mitigation, adaptation, and financing are always mentioned, but technology may well be the best long-run solution to address our current circumstances.
DA must research, identify, and propagate the new but proven technology appropriate to the climate change we face today.
It is with this perspective that the Alyansa is holding a whole day conference on Nov. 11 involving all the major agricultural sectors it represents. It will submit its findings to the climate change commission created by law last Oct. 23 and headed by Presidential Adviser Heherson Alvarez.
This commission should give due importance to agriculture, as well as the critical element of technology, in addition to the standard responses of mitigation, adaptation and financing. It is only then that we can successfully address the great challenge of climate change.
(The author is chair of Agriwatch, former secretary for presidential flagship programs and projects, and former undersecretary for agriculture, and trade and industry. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail agriwatchphil@yahoo.com or telefax [02] 8522112)
