Gov’t assistance for composting projects
MR. R AM ONUy Sr. of Ba col od City told me that the government, through the Bureau of Soil and Water Management ( BSWM), an agency under the Department of Agriculture (DA), is already helping farmers by providing them with composting facilities, so that they could make their own organic fertilizers.
That may be one small way of helping the farmers, but it is a big step towards developing the market for organic produce and ensuring our food security.
The composting facilities consist of one shredder and one composting drum. The package includes training on the operation and use of the equipment.
The BSWM provides the package to any local government unit (LGU) and farmers’ cooperative, for as long as they are interested in producing their own organic fertilizer using their own biodegradable waste. They could send a letter of request to the DA, care of the BSWM.
Mr.Uy, through his social enterprise RU Foundry, is also engaging directly with the farmers, providing them with interest free loans, organic fertilizers and black rice seeds. He buys back the palay at a guaranteed price of 20 to 22 pesos per kilo. He threshes the palay himself, and brings the moisture content down from 24% to 12%.
In his own small way, Uy is providing a package of that includes financing, technology and marketing. These are the inputs that all farmers everywhere need. Let me know if you know of other heroic social entrepreneurs like him.
HOSPITAL BEDS TO POPULATION RATIO
The number of hospital beds available as a ratio to the total population is a measure of development t hat should be monitored by the government and reported to the public. So far, I could only find regional data as of now, which is not enough I think, because no one is really accountable for meeting targets at that level.
Ideally, the data should be reported at the provincial level, so that the governors would at least be accountable. Better still, it should be reported at the municipal level, so that the mayors could also be accountable.
Much as it would be good to have these data sets monitored and reported, this is really difficult to do, because the governors and mayors really do not have direct jurisdiction over the private hospitals.
However, this is where incentives could come in, because the governors and mayors have it within their powers to grant incentives to private hospitals, including exemptions from property taxes and even the free use of public lands.
If there is a will there is a way so to speak, and there are many ways to encourage the addition of more hospital beds.
The World Health Organization ( WHO) prescribes a ratio of one hospital bed per 1,000 population. Based on the data that I have gathered so far, it is only the National Capital Region (NCR) that has passed the minimum ratio, with 13.5 beds per 10,000 population. Given that data, we should not wonder why there was a shortage of beds during the pandemic./
That may be one small way of helping the farmers, but it is a big step towards developing the market for organic produce and ensuring our food security.