Israel to usher Phl into new agri era
Israel will continue to help the Philippines enter a new agricultural era anchored on knowledge of markets and technology by training young Filipinos in the latest scientific innovations in farming.
During Daily Tribune’s digital show, Straight Talk, on Tuesday, Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss said his country will share its experiences in agriculture through internships.
Fluss said Israel and the Philippines’ Technical Education and Skills Development Authority are working together to create an 11-month agriculture internship program in his country.
He said the Filipino interns would study Israel’s cutting-edge agricultural practices to implement what they learn when they return to the Philippines.
Fluss said the program aims to expose young Filipinos from the agriculture sector to the Israeli way of farming.
“If you’re a farmer, you’re also a businessman,” he said.
“You have to pay for all your inputs, water, electricity, seeds, pesticides, whatever it is, you have to pay for it. So you have to make sure that the outputs, meaning your crops, that what you are growing will give you enough income to sustain yourself, so it’s a business,” Fluss said.
He said Israeli farmers use a scientific approach to farming, working very closely with the government and the research community.
He said Israel wants to share this approach with young Filipinos so they could move from traditional farming to modern agriculture.
Happy cows
Fluss said Israeli cows produce 32 liters of milk a day, while Philippine cows produce only between eight and 11 liters.
Hence, he said, Israel and the Philippines recently forged a deal to create “happy cows” and improve the country’s dairy industry.
“The principle is a happy cow is a cow that gives you more milk. So how do you make the cow happy? It’s proper nutrition, which means you have to know what the cow needs, and you have to make sure you supply it, check how the cow is health-wise if it is moving enough,” Fluss explained.
He said Israel had innovated a technology that takes all the necessary measurements from the cows, which farmers can manage remotely.
Fluss added that Pangilinan-led infrastructure conglomerate, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, signed a joint venture with Israel last month where they will work together to establish a dairy farm in the Philippines with 1,000 cows.
He said the co-investment is “really substantial” for both countries as 99 percent of the dairy products in the Philippines today are imported.
“So local production, I think that’s critical,” Fluss said.
He added that Israel is currently working with three agencies at the Department of Agriculture — the National Dairy Authority, the Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Agriculture Training Institute — to develop the dairy sector in the country.
Fluss said that several personnel from the National Dairy Authority and Agricultural Training Institute visited Israel’s National Dairy Authority last November to study Israel’s technologies.
Drip irrigation
Fluss said Israel also wants to help Filipino farmers increase their crop yield and quality while using less water through drip irrigation.
“The idea is unlike traditional farming, the idea is that you don’t just rely on the rain and the canals for water.” He explained that with drip irrigation each plant receives the exact amount of water they need.
He said Israeli farmers have monitoring systems that tell them the conditions in their fields, accessing the information easily through their smartphones.
“You can operate those irrigation systems (while you are away just by using) your smartphone; you don’t have to go to the field (to irrigate manually),” he explained.
Fluss said drip irrigation is a “healthier” way of watering plants — it’s not too much, it’s not too little, and it’s the precise amount the plants need.
And the drip water goes directly to the roots, saving the farmers from having to have resources like open canals and all kinds of other systems.
He also noted the challenge the Philippines has with the water supply in the country. Drip irrigation would create a new ecosystem that would help Filipino farmers manage their crops better, he said.