on rice and irrigation

For a country whose domestic product is mostly from agriculture, apathy and greed is the reason why only less than 40% of our farm lands is irrigated.

Irrigation is only one of the problems of our agricultural situation. Irrigation is highlighted anew because, believe or not, most of our farmers depend on rain and its clockwork seasonality.

And because of this dependence, when the seasons change due to global warming, our agricultural produce is affected. Why? Our farming process depends on rain and the quantity of it coming in on certain months. (I mean, have you ever ask why our classes opens on June? It is because by this time, we are done with the harvest, thus the children of the farmers who helped in the harvest can now go back to school.) When the rain comes in an unexpected time and in an unexpected volume, it directly affects agricultural outputs in economic terms. But really, what it means to the farmer is that they get poorer. Easier prey for vile people. And to us who buys and eats, complain of the price increase and offer well meant armchair insights on the solution = )

In the past, this fundamental problem of the Philippines could be hidden by importation. Thanks to free trade = )

But that solution assumes that this "apathy and greed induced rice shortage" is only local to the Philippines. That it would not spill to other countries.

But now, of course, we know that "the apathy and greed induced rice shortage" is fundamentally flawed, thus we are now in a period of recalibration and in asking the fundamental questions that will hopefully lead to structural changes in how we treat, manage and farm our very fertile lands.

I hope, we really go down to the bottom of it and not use the situation for grandstanding and scoring political points. I hope we really help our neighbor and not take advantage of them.

Lord, You are the God of the impossible. Please awaken the noble, the courageous and the strong side of our decision-makers and our implementers.