Our politics is stultifying, and our agriculture is stalling. We need to move science fast forward.
I'm not minding our politics anymore; I wrote about the SONA but my own SoNA (see my essay, "Duterte's Genius Must Be The Filipino's Genius," 26 July 2017, Frank A Hilario, blogspot.co.id), as in: "SoNA, So Nice Accomplishments. SoNA, So Neat Achievements. SoNA, So Nifty Attainments. SoNA, So Noteworthy Availments. SoNA, So Nothing to Applaud – I'm speaking in the case of Management." That is because, "Mr Duterte is not known for his genius in management." Or, which is the same, there are too many geniuses in politics already, especially in Congress!
Partisan politics is getting in the way of progress. So I'm getting out of there expeditiously; now I want to pursue Science more vigorously intellectually because it's detached from politics, unbiased; I'm thinking now of the Science of Agriculture because I am thinking of the millions of poor farmers; and because I have just come out with my own theory of moving knowledge from Science to the People (see image above; see also my earlier 4,000-word longessay that explains it in full, "Frank Hilario's Infusion Of Innovations Is Touché," 28 July 2017, Frank A Hilario, blogspot.com) – people specifically emphasizing this time the cultivators of the soil.
As a background, the image you're seeing here is a full-face relationship view of the basics of my Theory of the Infusion of Innovations (above image). Ideally, it is Science that moves the Knowledge to the Journal in the form of a Paperwhich then publishes it, which then moves to or attracts the Media to produce News & Views, which then moves Knowledge to the People in terms of Data, or Info, or Fun, or Games. The theory is Infusion of Innovations; the process that carries out the Infusion is Knowledge Sharing. Fundamentally, deliberate knowledge sharing is what is lacking in Everett Rogers Theory of the Diffusion of Innovations, as I noted in the earlier essay.
Not aware of my new Knowledge Sharing model, it just happens that in his latest column in the Manila Times, long-time International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT former Director General William Dar discusses "community watersheds"– where of course it is a community of people and the watershedis the science of it. And yes, Mr Dar mentions knowledge sharing; I note that the pieces of knowledge he mentions include profitabilityand sustainability– that is to say, you must make sure that the farmers are earninghigher incomes and keep on earning such.
When he says "watershed," Mr Dar is referring first of all to a place that is actually mixing knowledge of agriculture and forestry. In his ICRISAT experience, this refers to the Adarsha watershed in the village of Kothapally in the State of Telangana in India, the country where ICRISAT is based. The Adarsha watershed is cultivated; there are a great many trees, water-capturing ponds, and planting places. When Mr Dar says "farmer-centric community watersheds," I know he is emphasizing the farmers, the people. In my Infusion of Innovations model, the people are the ultimate recipient of the sharing of knowledge. I know because I have been writing about the science of agriculture pursued by ICRISAT since 2007, when I became an international consulting writer.
I must emphasize the sharing because in the matter of the dissemination of technology or knowledge, the current model is Everett Rogers'Theory of the Diffusion of Innovations, where there is no mention of any knowledge sharing. If at all, by inference, to Rogers, knowledge sharing is consciously direct to the People, as Rogers consciously ignores the roles of the science Journal (technical) and of Media (popular) in spreading knowledge. To Rogers, the Journal and Media are not connected in a common endeavor of sharing science.
In the farmer-centric community watershed approach that Mr Dar mentions in his Manila Timescolumn, his model must be the Adarsha watershed. Importantly, in the Adarsha village, the farming families first rejected the science brought to them by ICRISAT & Partners, until the scientists began to understand what the people thought were what they needed versus what the scientists thought the people needed – and that is what Mr Dar means by "farmer-centric"– you do not tell them what to do but instead help them find the way to understand their problems and empower themselves to solve them with what they know, which is theirfolk wisdom, augmented by what you know, which is yourscience.
Naturally, I'm focused on the Science of Agriculture because that is my educational background. Even as a self-proclaimed science writer, I have continued to learn Agriculture after graduation from the University of the Philippines in 1965.
It was in the village of Adarsha where ICRISAT first learned to be farmer-centric, and one happy result was the community watershed that Mr Dar is talking about, when he was still head of that international institute. My earliest essay on Adarsha was "Water Lessons Of Adarsha. Learning Began With What Scientists Didn't Know," 02 November 2007, iCRiSAT Watch, blogspot.com). The scientists have to learn too.
One of the vital practical lessons of ICRISAT's Adarsha experience is that the farmers must learn about and construct a system that includes structures for harvesting rainwater and recharging the groundwater. Other structures are check dams, percolation tanks, gabion, grassed waterways and diversion drains as may be necessary in the farmers' particular community.
That's what I'm saying, Science initially coming from ICRISAT and ultimately reaching the People as Data & Info, what the farmers did not know of or did not realize they knew, which Mr Dar refers to as local knowledge.
Let me now emphasize what I shall call now the Science of the Water – this is not only important but necessary farmer knowledge, because with all the fertilizers and pesticides his money can buy, the farmer cannot simply buy waterfor his crops! Or, to recognize the Age of the Information Superhighway, the farmer cannot simply order for water by surfing the Web and order online! No email water either. For purposes of irrigation water in dry places, the farmer needs the other farmers – he himself must be community-centric.
On top of all that, for the sake of the farmers in the Philippines, Mr Dar is recommending that first, the National Irrigation Administration, NIA be returned to the aegis of the Department of Agriculture, DA so that the irrigation systems throughout the country can be well-coordinated via NIA with the DA as overseer, and second, the new DA budget for the water structures and services be increased as much as 10 times.
Well-functioning irrigation and watershed systems in place, not to mention crop varieties that are climate smart, are Agriculture's adaptation responses to drought that may be brought about by climate change.
Still, Mr Dar points out, there is a need for generation of more knowledge by Science (Research), including on watershed management, soil degradation & restoration. Further, Education in Agriculture should be improved, Extension strengthened, and Information Systems constructed and supported by the national government.
Specifically, Mr Dar recommends an initial allotment by the DA of P500 million to improve soil resources throughout the country, including for soil laboratories as well as the retraining of technicians and field persons.
Farmer-centric community: There must be partnership in the community being served, Mr Dar says, with the Department of Agriculture and local governments, and there must be a feedback system. "Monitoring and evaluation," he says, should be "an institutionalized practice to ensure adequate feedbacking and immediate action on issues that arise."
That would be the backflow of Knowledge in my Theory of the Infusion of Innovations. The forward flow is Verified Knowledge; the backflow is Questioned Knowledge, or a question not previously asked. Science does not have all the answers; it doesn't even have all the questions! None of us can escape the need to know more, or better. In other words, we all should be learning. @
30 July 2017. Total word count excluding this line: 1340