EDITORIAL

Bahay kubo farming the answer to poverty?

With the rice “crisis,” the Filipinos will not go hungry if only they will follow the bahay kubo style of farming, according to government bureaucrats. Agriculturists and non-government organizations also advocate this.

Speaking before participants in the 2nd Kamalayang Bayan Civic Journalism Seminar at Ciudad Clemente in Bulacan last week, Felicito Espiritu Jr., of the Central Luzon Agriculture Office said that bahay kubo style of farming is synonymous to integrated farming.

If farmers will plant different crops in just one hectare, they will never go hungry, he said citing the crops mentioned in the folksong Bahay Kubo. Espiritu said aside from different crops, farmers can also have livestocks like chicken, ducks, pigs, and even goats along with a small fishpond that can double as a small farm reservoir, and fruit trees around their home lot.

“There are many ways on how we can survive aside from driving a tricycle, but it requires hard work and perseverance,” he said. Farmer leaders who participated in the day-long seminar affirmed Espiritu’s suggestions.

Apolinario Paguio of Barangay Kapitangan in Malolos and Melencio Domingo, the City Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Malolos said that it is possible. Paguio said he planted okra, patola, hot pepper, tomatoes, corn, string beans, along with some 30 mango trees and a number of jackfruit trees in his home lot and found the scheme feasible.

Along with the crops and trees, he said, he has chicken and goats while his small farm reservoir is
being used to raise tilapia. Paguio said Bahay Kubo farming style helped his family in securing food for the table.

He said that when his wife is preparing their lunch, she picks up ingredients including spices from their backyard. Domingo agreed that the Bahay kubo style of farming is also feasible but it requires a lot of patience on the part of the farmer.

According to participants, the quality of irrigation is one of the factors that threaten their productivity aside from availability of water itself which is dependent on the climate.

They agreed people must understand that they are actually contributing to the unpro­ductiveness of hectares of farmlands because irrigation water has been polluted by solid wastes thrown into waterways.

The bahay kubo style of farming being advocated is laudable. But majority of Filipinos don’t own lands. Most lands of this Banana Republic are owned by the rich and powerful few. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program is a failure as the landed have found a lot of loopholes in going around the law and thus, lands are left in their hands.

Unless the government is serious in implementing laws like on lands and social justice which would benefit majority of the poor and marginalized, poverty won’t be lessened or eradicated in the country.