Philippines has a population growth rate of 1-2% per annum. This means that future Filipino homes would either rise (vertical growth) or spread (horizontal growth). The rise is already happening, especially for metropolitan areas. Somehow, this has caused perennial problems, especially with regards to the amount of wastes that clog our rivers and streams. On the other hand, the spread means that more and more agricultural lands would be converted for residential and commercial use. Only our experts can say the sustainable allotments for both kinds of development. But ultimately, we need to invest more into the research and development of an industry that must catch up with these unbridled urban developments – Bio-intensive Agriculture.
Bio-intensive Agriculture simply means the production of large number of crops from a small amount of land. At the end of the day, we all need to eat. Thus, we must not stifle the investments in our agriculture sector. Israel, which has developed many technologies for their agriculture sector, would be one of our best benchmarks for bio-intensive agriculture against the backdrop of climate change. We can start with a staple crop: Rice.
Black Rice
Province of Cotabato currently produces the famed Emperor’s Rice, otherwise known as Black Rice, which was believed to be an heirloom crop of Chinese Royalties. And while we are slowly lagging behind our ASEAN peers in terms of commercial rice production, we can focus on the comparative advantage of our Rice Research and Development and re-calibrate the production towards the high-value grain products.
Rice Bran
Production of rice produces many by-products, which includes rice straw and rice bran. These by-products can be reused for many value-adding products. For example, some brands use rice bran oils for cosmetic products. Additionally, the rice straw and rice bran can be used as a substrate for the production of mushrooms.
Shiitake and other Mushrooms
Mushrooms contain protein, and are used in many Asian and Western cuisines. It can be converted into food, medicines, and other value-adding products. There’s a wide range of developments that can be made, especially for our huge Filipino market. But one timely product that we can develop would be bokashi balls.
Bokashi Balls
The metropolitan areas are being cleaned under the current administration. Polluted rivers need agitates that can aid in cleaning of water systems. Bokashi has early roots in Korea, but was later developed in Japan. The method had been used in many projects before, which included the Pasig River. There’s just more that we can do when we re-calibrate our raw materials towards the value-adding supply chain.
Vincent Carlo Duran Cuzon 