Research for calamities and revival

The heavy monsoon rains and Typhoon Helen that swept through the country in recent weeks have caused significant damage to both lives and property.

The difficult task to regain what was lost begins and good research can provide much-needed help, especially in the battered agriculture sector.

The coordinating agency for agriculture research is the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala should be commended for doubling the BAR budget from P350 million to P700 million upon his assumption into office. The BAR budget for this year is P740 million, while the proposed budget for next year is P800 million.

While already increased, we believe that this budget is still not enough considering the many challenges in the agriculture sector.

Addressing calamities

Two weeks ago, we wrote about the massive infestation of coconut scale insects (CSI) that threatened the coconut industry in Batangas. Just as floods are a bane to urban dwellers, the killing of coconut trees by CSI is no less a calamity to coconut farmers who stand to lose their livelihood.

The DA and the UPLB Volunteers to Combat Coconut Scale Insects came together to stop the calamity from spreading and they relied on research.

Prior to this partnership, research of CSI was neither known nor used. With this research, the calamity is now being controlled and the revival of the coconut industry in Batangas is underway.

Research can thus do three things: (1) prevent the harm from occurring; (2) minimize the bad effects if the harm has already occurred; and (3) restore, revive and even accelerate the progress that occurred before the harm took place.

Fortunately, Alcala is pursuing the commendable action of allocating more DA resources to the rural areas. BAR Director Nick Eleazar is properly positioned to implement Alcala’s directive effectively. He is an excellent agriculturist and an outstanding manager.

After getting his agriculture undergraduate degree from UPLB, he obtained a master’s degree in management from Cranfield University in England and a doctorate in rural development from the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija.

He also got ISO 9000 accreditation for BAR to help ensure the effective delivery of research services. He believed that the BAR should address existing and potential problems, rather than be confined to basic research.

Key areas

The budget of BAR can go to three key recipients in the rural areas. The first is the DA laboratories, especially those engaged in tissue culture. For example, farmers can plant climate change-resistant crop varieties. In partnership with the government, the farmers can propagate and spread these varieties to many other farmers.

The second is the DA Crop Protection Centers. Farmers cannot only learn the best methods of stopping the harm from existing pests and diseases, they can also prevent this damage from starting. In the case of the CSIs, the use of heavy chemical fertilizers for the cash intercrops killed the beneficial insects, which could have prevented CSI infestation. Research would have shown that organic intercropping is better than chemical-based agriculture.

The third is the DA Research Stations. This is where appropriate post-harvest facilities and health and wellness applications of agriculture products can be studied. For example, Dr. Estella Carnigal Tano did research on oregano that resulted in the production of health products such as oregano tea, soup and wine.

Recommendation

Given the great potential of agriculture research, we recommend that the budget for 2013 be increased further.

If our country’s poverty is the problem, more extensive use of agriculture research is certainly one of the solutions.

(The author is chairman of Agriwatch. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax (02) 8522112.)