The Wizard Of Os @

Is the world innovative enough such as the GII would like us to believe? There is a Technical Meeting and High-Level Conference – meaning, closed doors – on the Global Innovation Index, GII, going on at the Philippine International Convention Center, 18-19 February 2020 [1] . Heads of national agencies expected to participate are those of the Departments of Agriculture, Information & Communications Technology, Science & Technology, Trade & Industry, the Commission on Higher Education, CHEd, and National Economic & Development Authority, NEDA. Meanwhile, I am reading the Facebook sharing (above) of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie. Intriguing, yes. But first, about the GII and its relevance to the economy. Louella Desiderio says, “Philippines Jumps 19 Places In Global Innovation Index” ( Philippine Star [2] ). Ms Louella says the GII, which is co-published by Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organization, “measures ...

Beautiful! The above beautiful image is a beautiful source of lessons in climate change, which is an important consideration for the New PH Agriculture with Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie.  There are 4 things wrong with it: (1)    Too much water. (2)    Seedlings too old . (3)    Root systems of seedlings injuriously cut . (4)    Farmer will apply nitrogen fertilizer unnecessarily . Water When you transplant rice, a damp soil is enough, not flooded like that. You are wasting water. So what? You are contributing to climate change! Seedlings When you transplant seedlings that old , you have had standing water in your seedbed far longer than you should. Think of how many million farmers are doing this, and you will appreciate how this wrong seedbed practice affects the climate. And why are such rice seedlings too old to transplant? They are no longer young and therefore no longer h...

Right now, in my bedroom-writeroom, I have about 400 books big & little. I pick up a red book of 250 pages, Laugh Again by Charles R Swindoll, radio evangelist . I am Roman Catholic, but I read all kinds. My handwritten note says I first read it 09 September 2013, again 04 January 2020, and then 25 January 2020. Again today, 17 February 2020.  On page 11, in Introduction, Mr Swindoll writes: This is a book about joy. It’s about relaxing more, releasing the tension, and refusing to let circumstances dominate our attitudes. I myself need to be reminded to re-sound joy every single time, every time. (Image above is Windows 10’s own joyful creation) I want to give thanks to God for the presences and essences of significant others in my life, my children near and far – as near as home and as far as Toronto and New York. I want to give thanks to God for the presence and essence of my wife. For my presence and essence too. In my creative life, I have bee...

From Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has come out an order: "Solve banana's 'Panama disease' and boost exports." His directive came out on Valentine’s Day; it is a command to the Department of Agriculture, DA, and a plea to others, he having noted that: Despite… the lingering “Panama disease” or Fusarium wilt, fresh banana remains as the country's major farm export. ¶ In fact, it earned for the country US$1.77 billion, from January to November 2019, making it the top farm export item, and US$1.38 billion in 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Since Cavendish banana for export mostly comes from Mindanao, there must be hundreds of thousands of hectares of banana farms big and small in that island. In 2010, there were almost 500,000 hectares devoted to banana in the whole Philippines, according to the Food & Fertilizer Technology Center [1] . He also said: What more, if we could solve the decades-ol...

First, some perspective on the African Swine Fever, ASF, plaguing the backyard hog raising industry in the Philippines today. PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie spoke of it as guest speaker on the first day of the 2nd International Farmers Summit 2020 held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City 12-14 February 2020.  The summit actually featured the poultry and livestock industries. The leaders Manong Willie mentioned in his talk were, for the hog industry: Rosendo So, Chester Tan, Edwin Chen, Eugenio Mende; and for the poultry sector: Bong Inciong and Georgie San Diego. Manong Willie assumed office on 05 August 2019. Now, he told his audience what he had been asking himself (with a little editing): Bakit po, Diyos, nung nagsimula ako noong Agusto 5 ay ang daming bumagsak dito sa Pilipinas na problema sa sector ng agrikultura? Sana tulungan po ninyo itong bansang minamahal namin, para maka-move forward na rin kami at talagang ipu-push po nami...

Question: What other options in our basket do we have today in PH swine raising in the midst of the deadly African Swine Fever, ASF?  Answer: PH Swine! In my morning essay today, Valentine’s Day 2020, “Considering The Deadly ASF Of PH Swine, William Dar’s Lovely Basket Of Options [1] ,” considering the ASF, I point out that the Department of Agriculture, DA, under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, has considered first, enlarging the poultry industry and then, introducing rabbit raising as alternative to the devastated backyard hog industry. But, as Robert Baden-Powell encourages us, “Never say die till you are dead.” My creative mind always tells me that. So! I have come out with pork instead of pork, meaning, native pork replacing exotic pork. (Above, to my earlier composite image, I have added the pig icon from IMGBIN [2] .) Let us consider 2 aspects: Resistance and Irresistibility. Native Resistant To Disease Native livestock experts...

Title and icons (basket [1] , rabbit [2] , chicken [3] , people making choices [4] & bleeding heart [5] ): What’s the message? Load up your basket and take heart with the options you have. I told you, PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie is himself a Wizard Of Os ! (See my “Creative Partnership For PH Agriculture Inclusive Development – And Creative Journalism [6] .”) How is that? From his 15-year tenure as Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India, and with me as international consulting writer of ICRISAT, I saw Manong Willie was first and last into partnerships public and private, rich and poor. I said in that essay, “You work out the partnerships and you transform Obstacles into much-desired Opportunities, Options, Outputs and Outcomes good for the whole country!” With the continuing ASF devastation, today I imagine Manong Willie’s first option: “There are lives after ...