Sowing good seeds on fertile grounds
HARNESSING EDUCATION AS A VEHICLE FOR SUSTAINED GROWTH IN ASIA
(A speech delivered at the recent Asian Association of Agricultural Colleges and Universities’ 22nd Biennial Conference at the Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines.) GOOD AFTERNOON. I thank Dr. Edu Tulin, President of the Visayas State University, and the AAACU, for the privilege and opportunity to share my thoughts today on the most critical role each of you as educators, and our future farmers, and educators present here, in nurturing a new breed of farmers who will feed the world. As I always tell farmers during our graduation ceremony for farmers trained in the Harbest season-long training modules, “quality fruits and vegetables are produced by quality farmers.”
What makes a quality farmer?
SOWING GOOD SEEDS Our company, Harbest Agribusiness Corporation, started our operation in 1997 distributing one of the best brands in the seed industry, Known-You Seeds. I would like to start by sharing on the importance of quality seeds in farming. Likewise, in discussing the future of food security to feed the world’s growing population, we need to address the quality of our future farmers. The young agricultural students that are entrusted to each AAACU member institution should be nurtured. Like a good seed that is not planted in the field yet, it has to be stored in the right temperature, humidity, and packaging. By the time these seeds are sown, they should be viable and full of vigor.
A student under your tutelage should be properly educated on the science of farming – understanding the seed, soil, sun, water, climate changes, plant and animal nutrition, pests and diseases, finance, management, and marketing. Or some may opt to be scientists to continue scientific researches to produce abundantly quality food to feed the people of the world. These future
scientists should be motivated and inspired to pursue a career as scientists with competent mentors.
Agricultural students should experience actual field practices and hone their skills while in school – skills in research, sharpening their observation on plant growth, effects of different soil condition, understanding photosynthesis; skills in planting different crops or raising animals or fish for business; skills in costing their products; skills in marketing; skills in managing an agribusiness enterprise. Agricultural students should experience the success of earning money from the products they produce while in their third or fourth year. A horticulture student should know how to plant and manage a hectare of eggplant. A crop science student should know how to prevent or control army worms. An aquaculture student should know how to plan a 2,000 m2 aquaculture pond and raise tilapia. A VetMed student should learn to operate a 10,000- head poultry farm and manage it profitably. All these experiences should be gained while still in school.
Character and human formation should be part of college life. The school should be a place for learning the sciences, gaining experience, and skills. But most important, the classroom should be a community where students become a better person through their four years of college. Human values should be nurtured. Each student should be guided by a counselor. I remember in La Salle when each of us had to chat with a La Salle Brother about our personal life and be guided. Students should learn to be respectful and have a high level of integrity while going through the four years of college.
To conclude this segment of my chat with you, I would like to share with you a simple formula of how a successful agrientrepreneur should be. He should possess 10% science, 40% skills through experience, and 50% good character. This summarizes what I brought up above. The school should provide at least the 50% for science and skills, while sharing with the
parents of the student, the remaining 50% for character formation.
But mind you, it is only attainable if there is 100% effort and determination from the student. They should have the will.
FERTILE GROUND The school should provide that fertility for the student to grow and bear much fruits. Another statement that I can share with you is, “Quality students come from quality teachers and schools.” Each school should make it their mandate to be a center of excellence in whatever courses they offer. It is a grave responsibility. At times, schools missed this point. Each student is entrusted to you. Entrusted to you not only by their parents, but also by the society. It is not a matter of giving exams and grading students. Teachers should establish the basis for success in teaching on the comprehension of each student for lessons taught. Schools should make sure students gain the skills to do what they learned, to know how to do things right. There should be a sense of urgency in molding these students as they stay with you for four to five years only.
I have visited several agricultural schools in the Philippines. I have yet to see a functioning farm model that is bearing plenty of fruits with drip irrigation and well-managed. Greenhouses are not maintained and unproductive. Farm equipment are on display but not allowed to be used by agricultural engineering students. Many have dilapidated or non-functioning facilities. There are many with good facilities, but low utilitization, due to lack of experts or qualified professors. There are, of course, exceptional facilities and well-managed training courses in some school.
NURTURING QUALITY TEACHERS The teaching staff of each school should be up to date in their technologies – their field of expertise, as well as the effective pedagogical method, to transfer knowledge to the students. It is the responsibility of the school administration and the government to support the education of quality teachers. Scholarships for further studies abroad, with full financial support, should be optimized. The bottomline is, we should have well-motivated teachers who will exert their best effort to become better. They will provide the fertility of the ground where good seeds are sown.
CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT OF CURRICULUM Agricultural technologies are constantly improved by research for better productivity, as well as the changing demands of the environment. The aging farmers are realities that the schools should take seriously the challenge to nurture the next breed of young farmers. Highly motivated and scientific in their approach. Practicum subjects should be given room as part of the curriculum, so that graduates are armed with the necessary skills and confidence in their chosen field. Schools should stop producing graduates in Horticulture who do not know how to plant pechay; or Entomology, who can’t identify the symptom of aphids attack in infected plants.
Short courses on how to plant specific crops, or raise specific animals, can be provided as elective with intensive and supervised field practice. These should be done in one crop cycle to hone the skills of the students. In short, they can produce natural quality and safe fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat and fish, or ornamentals, by the end of the course. Schools should have functioning field classrooms and laboratories where students can practice anytime during the course. These can even attract more students to take special courses.
At the end of the day, students will also realize the income potential of producing food. Schools should nurture agrientrepreneurs. Field trips to operating farms, gettogethers with successful entrepreneurs, value-adding technologies exposure and skills development, seminars on credit facilities and actual interaction with financial experts, setting up start-up enterprise, chats with marketing experts, understanding business laws, exposure to distribution channels and retailers. All these can be part of class activities and incorporated to the regular curriculum.
EXTENSION Social media like the You Tube, Viber, Face Book and Messenger can be used to extend the scope of teaching by good professors. Their
lectures can be videoed and shared to the public. Schools can share a full lecture conducted by an expert through video. Intellectual property rights can be secured and can even bring more income for the school. It is a waste that a lecture of a good professor is limited to the audience of 40 students. If recorded, this can be a source of knowledge for thousands of students. Schools should provide quality audio-visual facilities for this type of lectures.
Government funded research or exchange program of teachers can be tapped to achieve this project.
TALENT SEARCH Schools of higher learning should do active search of talents in agricultural sciences from the high schools throughout the country. This can apply to other countries as well. Agricultural sciences can be taught in high school as part of their curriculum, particularly in areas that is highly agricultural. If Biology is seriously taught by a competent teacher in high school, possible future scientists might be discovered or inspired to pursue a career in Biology, or other related sciences. Our country is in dire need of good and competent researchers and scientists. There should be a conscious effort to fill this gap. The Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Education, with the Commission on Higher Education, can spearhead this search effort. There are scholarships available and supported by DOST, DA, Landbank, SM Foundation, and other agencies. This can be filled with quality students by nurturing fertile minds early on. The DOST and DepEd can help review the elementary and high school curriculum on agricultural sciences.
IMPROVEMENT OF LABORATORY AND TRAINING FACILITIES Standards should be established on equipment and design of laboratory facilities. This should not be left to architects. Inter-university members consultation can be done with our advanced Asian neighbors on this standard setting. Short lists of equipment that are the top of the line should be prepared to guide budget preparation. In the Philippines, the irrational bidding constraints hamper the progress of SUCs to develop their scientific research capabilities as planned. It is really a waste of money and time to be bugged down by too cautious government budget and audit policies.
Progressive Asian universities can act as the big brother to the third world universities to enhance their research capabilities, and even enter into joint projects for mutual benefits.
This applies, too, to training facilities. For agricultural courses, training fields and facilities should be established according to GAP and standards that will enhance the learning capacity of students as well as teachers. Exchange experts program can be encouraged. This is being done now, but this can be enhanced with closer and joint efforts by the institutions.
GRADUATING CONFIDENT FARMERS The average age of farmers in Asia ranges from a low of 55, to a high of 67 years old. I gathered this at the recent MARDI Workshop of Agri-Entrepreneurship in Selangor. As farmers produce food, and people have to eat at least three meals a day, we need to address this squarely. The world needs productive farmers and teachers to sustain this manpower.
A heavy responsibility rests on the shoulders of Agricultural Colleges and Universities. If schools value each agriculture student under their care, then there is a future for a sustainable supply of quality farmers. As Asia is now interconnected by 4G cellphones, mass media, social media, and air transportation, we need to work as one in providing opportunities for young farmers. The short supply of agri-entrepreneurs and farm workers is a common problem that we all face.
I hope that my personal recommendation included in the pointers above can be of help. With the brilliant minds available in each educational institution across Asia, I am confident that solutions will be derived. Innovations in agriculture that will benefit the smallest farmer, and each household fed with nutritious and safe food, will be an area our young farmers can look into. The possibilities are limitless. I look forward to many start-ups in agri enterprises for every batch of graduates that you produce. With you, the day will come when no single person will go to bed hungry, and no child will grow up malnourished.
Thank you! I look forward to meeting more quality farmers in every farm I visit. Arsenio Toto Barcelona is the president of Harbest Agribusiness Corporation. He is also the vice-chairman of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Food, Inc., director of KnownYou Seed Philippines, Inc., trustee of the Negros Economic Development Foundation, Inc., a Governing Council private sector representative at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquaculture, Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD). His office is at the Harbest R&D Center, Rizal Techno Park, Taytay, Rizal. He may be reached at (0917) 5203260 or (02) 671-7411 to 14, Email: arseniobarcelona@gmail. com; Facebook: Harbest Agribusiness Corporation; Website: www.harbest.com.ph.