|
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Subsistence agricultural systems
By Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements
IMPORTING FOOD. Today Cebu and the rest of the country continue to import cereals, such as rice and corn, to satisfy the needs of the people and industry.
The three major agricultural systems used in the world today require the input of solar energy used in photosynthesis to be supplemented by other forms of energy.
These systems are simple (subsistence) agriculture, based on energy supplemented by human labor; animal-assisted agriculture, based on energy supplemented by human labor and draft animals; and industrialized agriculture, based on energy supplemented by fossil fuels, with an emphasis on replacing most human labor with machines, such as tractors and combines.
The first two types of agricultural systems are still widely used in our country and other Less Developed Countries (LDCs).
Approximately 400 million horses, cattle, oxen, mules, camels, llamas, elephants and water buffaloes provide about one-third of the energy used in agriculture in LDCs. And in some countries, their contribution approaches 90 percent.
With the breaking up of our country’s landed estates through agrarian reform, the agricultural systems will either deteriorate or a more efficient agricultural system for the small and divided farmers will be found.
Most Advanced Countries (MDCs), however, depend entirely on industrialized agriculture, which greatly increases crop yields and productivity per farm worker. To produce one-half hectare of corn by hand requires about 500 hours of human labor compared to five hours of human labor using industrialized agriculture.
The success of industrialized agriculture, when coupled with a favorable climate and fertile soil, has been demonstrated by the dramatic increase in food production in the United States.
We have the land of promise, Mindanao, which former president Ramon Magsaysay predicted would support the food needs of the Filipino people. But after five decades, this has remained a promise.
Making and applying fertilizers, making and running tractors, pumping irrigation water, drying crops, processing food, transporting crops and processed food to markets, and preparing food in restaurants and homes all require energy, mostly from oil and natural gas.
As fuel prices rise, an increasing number of farmers are resorting to organic farming, a method of producing crops and livestock naturally by using only organic fertilizers, such as animal manure, green manure, legumes and compost and natural pest control.
If fossil fuels should suddenly become scarce or too expensive, the present agricultural system in industrialized nations would probably collapse, causing a sharp drop in world food production and corresponding rise in malnutrition and famine.
Since the 1980s, 53 percent of all US households have been growing some of their own food.
GREEN REVOLUTION. In the past, the Green Revolution of Imelda Marcos aimed to replace parts or all of the manicured lawns with small garden plots.
City residents were supposed to have gardens in apartment and condominium grounds, church and school yards, factory and shop lots, public parks and utility rights-of-way. Window box planters, small greenhouses, and rooftop and patio gardens could be places where tomatoes and other crops could be grown in small containers. Raised beds should be used to produce high yields of a large variety of vegetables in a small space.
A revitalized Green Revolution will not only make our people healthier, but it will also reduce our household food budget. Subsistence agricultural systems, such as gardening, are what urbanized areas should practice.
(January 19, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
