“GMO CORN IS TRANSFORMING FARMER’S LIVES IN THE PHILIPPINES “

ARTICLE ANALYSIS

GMO Corn Transforming Farmer’s Lives in the Philippines. This article

analysis centers on how GMO corn , Bt corn transforms the farmer’s lives in the
Philippines as Edwin Paraluman speaks with audience sharing his story on how Bt
corn change his life this is an Opportunity introduce the new technology aiming to
help the poor corn farmers in the corn borer problem.
”GMO” (genetically modified organism) is the common term
consumers and popular media used to describe a plant, animal, or microorganism
that has it’s genetic material (DNA) change using technology. GMO corn is created
to resist insect and pest or tolerate herbicides .Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn is a
GMO corn that produces proteins that are toxic to certain insect pest but not
humans, pets live stocks or other animals. Edwin Praluman was a Pioneer in
planting Bt corn in the Philippines , as he shared his story with an audience at last
November’s United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, said growing Bt crops
change his life. He had been planting corn with his parent s since childhood and
continued the practice since he started his own family.as a famer he’s always been
afraid that one day he would wake up to find his corn field destroyed by the corn
borer. The Corn Borer is one of the most damaging pest in corn and in the
Philippines it does not respect any season. He said his endless worries and
precaution did very little to curtail the huge losses arising from the corn borer
problem. There was a time that he stopped planting corn and shifted to plant
vegetables. His endless worries and fear came to end when he learned there was a
technology that could deal with the corn borer in the Philippines Edwin Paraluman,
he is the first farmer to embrace this new technology and plant the genetically
modified pest resistant Bt corn and his joy knew no bounds. In
December 2003, Bt corn was commercialized and faced concerns and claims it
that would cause health problems as the alleged effect and there are people that
saying this would make people sick. he refuted this claims and testified that it is not
true because he already proven it and he noted that he’s been eating the Bt corn for
the past 14 years and he is still alive and healthy. He’s been planting this corn for the
past 14 years and there’s not been any diverse effect on their health.
Agriculture and farming across different period of time, era traditional
Farmers only relied on their Agricultural philosophies relating to their religion,
tradition and cultural beliefs in farming. In ancient times farmers are doing ritual’s,
offerings and prayers any forms of act that that shows worship to their respective
agricultural saints and dietes to avoid natural disasters and pests ,destructions that
would harm their crops and to be able to have a bountiful harvest. In the present
time there is no need to do such rituals and offerings because today we are so
advanced in terms of technology, thus Bt technology was created. Adopting Bt
technology has made the Philippines self-sufficient in corn production Paraluman
said. Bt corn in the Philippines was designed to be resistant to the Asiatic Corn Borer
(ACB), Ostrinia Furnacalis (Guenee), one of the Nation’s most destructive corn pest.
The crop also presents practical and ecologically sustainable solution for poor corn
farmers everywhere to increase their yields and decrease pesticide use, thus
improving their health and livelihoods, alleviating poverty. Biotechnology has been
helping the Filipino farmers and other Bt products.
Bt corn can be considered as the product of modern agricultural philosophy in
today’s time as we improve through technological advancements. With this new
technology created as the sustainable solution for poor corn farmer’s alleviating
poverty also as it would help our country a lot and become progressive and we can
no longer worry for our food security.
GMO corn truly change farmers lives in the Philippines as it is a
practical and ecologically sustainable solution for the poor corn farmers from corn
borer the most destructive corn pest. We need modern technology for agriculture so
that we can plant and harvest more on less land Edwin Paraluman said last in the
article. He is the first farmer in the Philippines who embrace the new technology and
plant the genetically modified pest resistant Bt corn and proves effective as he
speaks with an audience about his experience as a corn farmer and how afraid he
was because of the corn borer pest, until he knew pest resistant Bt corn caused so
much change in his life and now he is going around telling other farmer that this
technology is very good. And he refuted claims that genetically modified crops
cause health problems he proven it because he said it’s been past 14 years since
he’s been planting and eating Bt corn and yet he is still alive and healthy and there’s
not been any adverse effect in their health. Adopting Bt corn help’s the nation’s corn
production and no longer imports corn.

Reference: Isaac,N.
(2019,January25).GMO corn Transforming Farmer’s lives in the
Philippines.AllianceforScience.https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2019/01/
gmo-corn-transforming-farmers-lives-philippines/
 FILIPINO FARMERS – A DYING BREED?
ARTICLE ANALYSIS

Filipino farmers a dying breed, The article centers on the decreasing

number of Filipino farmers with more and more people opting a city life and we might
reach a critical shortage of farmers it concerned how low the education level of
Filipino farmers makes them receptive to the new faming technologies that can boost
yields in the face of growing loss from volatile weather causing Filipino farmers’ to
suffer as the Philippines is one of the countries that most visited by typhoons every
year a total of 20 . The Philippine Government is concerned that this trend could
exacerbate food insecurity in an import-dependent country already struggling to meet
the current food demand and how the government gives a little attention and budget
to the Filipino farmers.
Filipino farmers are very important in our country’s food security as
they are the one who plant, cultivate and produce to the food we eat every day from
rice, vegetables and fruits we eat. In the Agriculturalism according to sage
shennong, a folk hero who was portrayed in Chinese literature as “working in the
fields, along with everyone else when any decision had to reached.” They
encouraged farming and agriculture and taught farming cultivation and techniques,
as they believed that agricultural development was the key to a stable and
prosperous society. That is how important farming is but how can farming continue
without the farmers as the article centers on the issue revolving on the decreasing
numbers of farmers it would greatly affect our country’s food security and can be
resulted to a threat of food insecurity in addition, Asterio Saliot, director of the
Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI) he said that the
average age of the Filipino farmers is 57. Assuming the average life span of 70, we
might reach a critical shortage of farmers in just 15 years ‘The average level of
farmers is grade five only he added. According to Saliot, farmers’ age and limited
education make them less receptive to new farming technologies that can boost
yields in the face of growing losses from volatile weather. Kala Pulido-Constantino,
advocacy campaigns and communication coordinator with Oxfam in the
Philippines they said “We didn’t pay enough attention to agricultural sector because
we thought we could always import our food if we couldn’t grow it ourselves. Weak
government policies and programs and excessive reliance on agricultural imports
and corruption, have taken their toll on the agricultural sector expert says. This is
enough evidence that the agriculture sector the farmers has been deprived to the
attentions and modernization they deserved to have it’s like they’ve been taken for
granted the agricultural sector which is in fact it is the most important sector to take
care of by the government but what actually happens they forgot farmers relevance
to the country’s progress. The tittle of the article are Filipino farmers a dying breed?
It is because this sector has been left over time and taken as it is. In 2010
the Philippines imported 2.45 million tons of rice, making it the biggest rice importing
country in the worldwide that year evident that the Agricultural section was not that
given enough attention to develop. This world food crises of 2008 taught us that
while we may have the money to import rice, rice –exporting countries may not be
willing to sell the rice to us. That is why the government should focus on giving
attention to our agriculture sector cause agricultural development is the key to a
prosperous society.
Farmers in the Philippines faces many challenges in farming one of the
prominent challenges is the disasters, typhoons a 2009 survey by the Canada based
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) showed that all the region in the
Philippines are vulnerable to extreme weather events, some which are linked to
climate change. According to the Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) of German watch
ranked the Philippines among the countries that experienced the greatest loss from
weather disturbances since 2011. Armando Banudan, 48 a farmer in from the
coastal Davao Oriental Province who use to plant coconuts on a small patch of land
that he also called home. He said “I lost my home, my crops- everything victim of the
category 5 (wind of at least 250km per hour) Typhoon Bopha, which caused an
estimated $663 million worth of damage to agriculture.” Being a farmer is like being a
priest; you take avow of poverty and made a pact with the lord that no typhoon will
come and destroy your crops”, said Pangilinan.
Farmers’ in the Is indeed might face a critical shortage of
farmers if the government continues to give less attention to the needs of the
Filipino farmers and if it continues our country will surely experience food insecurity.
Being is not an easy job it takes a lot to do this job yet many people see that being a
farmer is just being poor and degrade this kind of job which is not true the role of
being a farmer is very relevant to our country even though they lack in their
educational their importance is still the same .

Reference:
(2013 FEBRUARY 23).FILIPINO FARMERS ’ –A DYING BREED.THE
HUMANITARIAN .HTTPS://WWW.THENEWHUMANITARIAN .ORG/FEATURE/2013/02/26/ FILIPINO-
FARMERS -DYING -BREED #:~: TEXT =F ILIPINO %20FARMERS %20%2D%20 A%20DYING
%20BREED%3F,-FARMER%20ARMANDO%20BANUDAN&TEXT=A%20PRIVATE%20RESEARCH
%20INSTITUTION %2C%20SOCIAL,LATER%20(ONE%20MILLION%20FAMILIES ).
 AGRICULTURE IS DYING IN THE PHILIPPINES
ARTICLE ANALYSIS

Agriculture is dying in the Philippines, this article is about the agriculture in the
Philippines seems to be dying agricultural lands is being developed into industrial
areas, shopping malls and subdivisions. The farmers lack support, Training and a
moral boost the national budget allocated for the agricultural sector but we haven’t
see the development and improvement in the agriculture.
Agriculture is dying in Philippines by Sara Soliven De Guzman she said
Agriculture is dying. This is a sad reality of the country. Agricultural land is being
developed into industrial areas, shopping malls and subdivisions. Farmers are
growing old and their children have shifted into other careers. The agriculture
industry has not progressed in ages. Many of our agricultural schools are producing
office-oriented workers who would much rather do paper work than help improve the
agricultural sector of the country. Not to mention the many horror stories of
corruption at the Department of Agriculture. Even if the Philippines is primarily an
agricultural country, we have not done anything to ‘cultivate’ this sector. In the
sixties, we were ahead in Asia. Students from different countries came here to study
agriculture and its technology. But what happened? They are now better than us.
Somehow, we lost in the race. Yes, we have been blessed with different kinds of
bodies of water, lands that are lush and fertile, and a climate that is favorable in
growing various kinds of high valued crops and raising livestock, poultry and other
farm animals. But due to economic industrialization, this industry has been
challenged. Our priorities have changed almost forgetting our fundamental need for
survival. And according to reports, the agricultural sector employs only 25.96 percent
of the Filipino workers as of November 2017. This is very low compared to many
countries who prioritize and give more importance to it. Agriculture plays an
important role in the country’s economy. This is measured as the value added of the
agricultural sector as percent of GDP. According to the World Bank data from 1960
to 2016, the average value for the Philippines during the period was 21.36 percent
with a minimum of 9.65 percent in 2016 and a maximum of 31.06 percent in 1974.
This shows a sad truth that the percent of GDP (value added) contributed from the
agriculture sector continues to decrease. Although people still think of the Philippines
as an agricultural economy, strictly speaking, and based on the data, this is not the
case. The farmers lack support, training and a moral boost. First, they lack basic
skills in farming. Many are not educated or are only elementary graduates. Second,
good fertilizers, pesticides and seeds are imported from other countries, making
them very expensive and unaffordable for the lowly farmer. Third, the government
has not developed a good infrastructure for farmers (i.e. farm-to-market roads,
irrigation system, drying facilities and milling centers, etc.). Fourth, most of our
farmers do not own the land they till. They cannot maximize the use of the land that
results in low income. And since they are just tenants, some landowners require a
50-50 share of the product, thus leaving only half of the produce to the farmers. Fifth,
farmers have difficulty in financing their farming endeavors due to the high rates of
borrowing institutions. And when harvest time arrives, the money from the sale is
only enough to pay their debts and nothing is left for them. Sixth, farmers lack
protection from the middlemen who take advantage of their weaknesses. The
middlemen buy their products at a very low cost and the Department of Agriculture
always seems to be turning a blind eye on this culprits. During the Innovation
Olympics 2018 held at the 8 Waves Resorts in Bulacan last April, East-West Seeds
Philippines general manager Henk Hermans said that farmers represent the second
poorest sector in the country. This has resulted in the young people’s
disenchantment in pursuing a career in agriculture. He noted that the average age of
Filipino farmers is 57-59 years old and therefore there is a great need to encourage
the youth to engage in crop production to ensure the country’s food security. He also
pointed out that our farming practices are outdated, and majority of the farmers are
reluctant to use modern technology in farming, making their work labor intensive and
unsustainable.
The government has recognized the declining contribution of the agricultural sector
in the country’s GDP and this drop in its performance is attributed to its vulnerability
towards extreme weather events (drought and typhoons), infestations (coconut scale
insects), and poor adoption of high-yielding varieties at the end of the farmers. The
restricted crop production diversification of farms particularly concentrating on rice,
corn, and sugarcane impedes the optimization of the land potential. Other
longstanding issues such as the limited access to credit and insurance, low farm
mechanization and inadequate postharvest facilities, inadequate irrigation, limited
support R & D, weak extension service, ageing farmers, agrarian reform, limited
connection between production area and markets, poor compliance with product
standards, competing land use, and weak institutions have also been recognized.
But we need action!

The Philippine Development Plan for 2017-2022 seeks to: expand economic
opportunities for those who are engaged in agriculture; increase access to economic
opportunities for small farmers. Based on the legislative agenda, the development
plan supports the following strategies to: abolish irrigation service fees for small
farmers; comprehensive Forestry Law and delineation of Specific Forest Limits;
amend the revised chapter of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation to increase
capital stock; amend Presidential Decree No. 4 series of 1972 to separate the
regulatory and propriety functions of the National Food Authority; amend the
Agriculture Tarrification Act of 1996; provide guidelines for the utilization of coco levy
fund; pass the National Land Use Act to protect prime agricultural lands; and
genuine and comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to distribute for free without
amortization agricultural lands to landless farmers and agricultural workers (NEDA,
2017). So, what gives?
Last year the Department of Agriculture had a budget allocation of P46 billion. This
year the budget is P60.6 billion. Next year, it is expected to go up to P124 billion.
Yes, the DA has the budget but they don’t seem to have the brains and the balls to
get things going. They continue to point fingers on the past administrators. Every
Agriculture Secretary has a reason for the season. Sanamagan! Just do it!
UPLB Center for Technology Entrepreneurship executive director Glenn Baticados
said that agriculture today is more than just a farmer simply planting a crop, growing
livestock, or catching fish. He said, “It takes an ecosystem and several actors to work
together to produce and deliver the food we need. It is this dynamic and complex
ecosystem that will equip agriculture to cope with the competing challenges of
addressing food safety and food security, creating inclusive livelihoods, mitigating
climate change and sustainably managing natural resources.”
Agriculture constitutes the foundation of food security. As such, it is imperative that
all concerned bodies work together, innovate continuously, collaborate in research
and development to meet future challenges in agriculture.

Rference:
DE GUZMAN S.S.(2018,J UNE18). AS A MATTER OF FACT.A GRICULTURE IS DYING IN
THE PHILIPPINES .T HE PHILIPPINESTAR .HTTPS :// WWW .PHILSTAR .COM/ OPINION /2018/06/18/1825542/
AGRICULTURE -DYING -PHILIPPINES
 AGRIPRENEURS: MARRY AGCRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
ARTICLE ANALYSIS

A marriage between agriculture and technology can result in successful

agripreneurship that can help grow the Philippine farm sector. This was what Jairus
Ferrer, founder and president of iFarms Inc., and Cherrie Atilano, United Nations
Ambassador for Nutrition and president and founding farmer of Agrea, said during
their presentations at The Manila Times online forum titled “Food Security through
Agribusiness and Digitalization” last August 27. In his presentation, Ferrer noted the
benefits of incorporating age-old farming practices and new ways of doing things in
Philippine agriculture. “[W]e need to gain the wisdom of the old and get the
innovativeness of the young. Integrating things [will] make things a little bit more
effective.”
To further develop from this, Atilano noted the huge potential of the youth in helping
boost the country’s agriculture sector. Citing FAO, Atilano said digital innovations are
bringing the youth back to agriculture, who can help transform food systems as the
Philippine economy still grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic. “[There is a need] to
transform food systems because 2020 will be a year of reckoning [calling for] more
resilient food supply chains, healthy diets, regenerative farming, conservation and
innovation. Food systems are at the crossroads of human, animal, economic and
environmental health,” she said. Furthermore, Ferrer stressed that big corporations
and institutions should “look into how to empower local communities, villages,
condominiums, even the rural areas, barangays, municipalities.” “I really believe it’s
really time to decongest the cities. It’s really time to develop the rural areas for
economic development, [which] doesn’t necessarily mean the hightechness of things
— it’s really a healthy exchange of supply and demand locally,” he said. “[I]t’s time
that people look at this from a fresh perspective that agriculture should actually be a
prosperous industry. It’s time to adapt new ways of thinking, new ways of adapting
approaches, and even the way we do business,” Ferrer added.

Reference:
GOMEZ E.J.(2020S EPTEMBER3).AGRIPRENEURS: MARRY AGRICULTURE , AND
TECHNOLOGY.THEMANILATIMES.HTTPS://WWW.MANILATIMES.NET/2020/09/03/ BUSINE
SS/AGRIBUSINESS /AGRIPRENEURS -MARRY -AGRICULTURE -TECHNOLOGY /
762896#:~: TEXT=A%20MARRIAGE%20BETWEEN%20AGRICULTURE%20AND,GROW
%20THE%20PHILIPPINE%20FARM%20SECTOR.
GOVERNMENT BOOST SUPPORT SERVICES TO FARMERS,FISHERY FOLK
ARTICLE ANALYSIS

MANILA -- The Agriculture sector remains of crucial importance to the

Philippine economy. However, limited diversification and low
production output are the most important challenges which constrain
agricultural transformation in the country, Department of Agriculture
(DA) studies revealed.
Long standing challenges that hamper productivity include limited
access to credit and agricultural insurance, low farm mechanization
and inadequate postharvest facilities, inadequate irrigation, minimal
support to research and development. There is also limited connectivity
between production areas and markets thus, resulting to
overproduction in some areas.
The prospects for Philippine agriculture's growth within the next three
years may mark the beginning of real transformation as the Duterte
administration remains focused on boosting support services to
farmers and fisherfolk.
Such intervention was the construction of around 202 solar powered
irrigation system that would cover some 2,418 hectares in agricultural
provinces all over the country, a DA report obtained by the Philippine
News Agency (PNA) showed.
At present, there are 52 units completed, 98 ongoing installation, and
52 in the pipeline.
As of March 2019, the DA also distributed a total of 46,945 postharvest
machinery and equipment such as tillers, tractors, seeders, threshers,
rice planters, harvesters, and irrigation pumps to eligible farmers, rice
farm associations, and registered rice cooperatives, the report further
stated.
A total of 1,598 kilometers of farm-to-market roads were also
constructed by the government under the present administration to
address the problem of connecting farm produce direct to the market,
thus eliminating middlemen.
To further help the farmers and fisherfolk increase their income, the DA
has established a total of 11 agricultural trading centers and has put up
192 TienDA units all over the country wherein farmers and fishers
could directly sell their produce, and for consumers to be able to
access these products at its farm gate price.
The government has also released a total of PHP2 billion as easy
access credit to farmers with a 90 percent repayment rate as of May
2019.
The DA, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
(BFAR), has also distributed a total of 10,278 fiberglass reinforced
plastic bancas which benefited some 6,273 fisherfolk.
Some PHP226 million worth of livelihood assistance were also
awarded to outstanding coastal local government units through the
Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan (MMK) program of BFAR, the DA
report also revealed.
The MMK program promotes fisheries protection and conservation,
highlights the value of sustainable management of fisheries and
aquatic resources, and encourages stakeholders’ engagement in
guarding the seas.
The LGUs were assessed based on five criteria -- no illegal fishing;
observance of off-fishing season; declaration of marine protected
areas; clean, coastal waters without any garbage or industrial effluence
flowing to the sea; and effective mangrove protection and rehabilitation
program. (PNA)

Reference:
ISON L.(2019,JULY18). GOVERNMENT BOOSTS SUPPORT SERVICES TO
FARMERS ,FISHERFOLK .PHILIPPINE NEWSAGENCY .HTTPS://WWW .PNA.GOV
.PH/ARTICLES/1075413
 WHY DO FILIPINO SMALL FARMER REMAIN POOR?
ARTICLE ANALYSIS

Why are Filipino small farmers poor? Why do they remain poor despite the
fertile lands and abundant supply of fresh water in the Philippines? The knee-
jerk response of populist opinion writers dabbling in agriculture-related
development issues, and pretending to be experts on such concerns, is that
the government has neglected our farmers, or worse, exploited them to favor
powerful vested interests in the country. Though there might be a grain of
truth in their hypothesis, the reality is far from their imagined existence of a
pervasive conspiracy to keep the small farmers poor. Reasons our small
farmers are poor I can identify three major reasons our small farmers are
mired in poverty based on reputable works of our leading scholars on the
matter. The first, as noted by National Scientist and economics professor Raul
Fabella (2014), is that the land retention ceiling under the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) ensured that small farmers will never get out
of poverty. The low retention ceiling (i.e., five hectares for family-cultivated
farms, and three hectares each for their children up to four kids, making a total
of 17 hectares) results in economically unviable farm sizes. With the passage
of time, the original CARP beneficiaries further subdivided their lands as
inheritance to their children and grandchildren into minuscule sizes. No
wonder, the average farm land size in the Philippines is now less than 1.5
hectares. A farmer can earn a decent income from 1.5 hectares of land if he is
cultivating high value crops like vegetables or cut flowers. However, if he is
tilling traditional crops like rice, corn or coconut, there is no way he will earn a
decent income from farming. No matter how efficient the farmer is in tending
his farm, no matter how much assistance or subsidies the government
provides to such a farmer, it will be impossible for him to earn an income
adequate to support the needs of a family of five or six members with the land
size that he has. It is worth pointing out that most of our farmers are engaged
in the cultivation of traditional crops. Unorganized farmers There are millions
of small farmers in the country. The government, in particular the Department
of Agriculture (DA), whose headquarters is located in Metro Manila, cannot
reach out to all of them. It is imperative that farmers be organized into
cooperatives or associations to facilitate delivery of assistance from the
government. Unfortunately, the history of cooperatives in the country is one
replete with failures. From the heyday of the Facomas (farmers cooperative
and marketing associations) in the 1950s, the Masagana 99 under the Marcos
regime, to the establishment of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)
under the Aquino administration, farmers’ cooperatives in the country are far
from the beacon of success. The reasons are three-fold: the lack of
accountability among farmer cooperative leaders;
Enter
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cooperatives and farmers’ associations are formed mainly to access
government dole-outs; and the government agency (e.g., CDA), which has
oversight responsibility on cooperatives, is oriented towards regulations of
cooperatives rather than bestowing them with a

Reference:
Adriano F.D.(2020August27).Why Filipino small farmer remain poor.The Manila
Times. https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/08/27/business/agribusiness/why-
filipino-small-farmers-remain-poor/759852