Philippines is an agricultural country. Almost half of its land is an agricultural land. This is very important because it provides employment to a lot of Filipinos , plus adds value to increase national income .. and of course we'll have greater food security. Some of the major or main agricultural crops here in our country are rice , coconut , banana , corn, sugarcane , pineapple and mangoes, vegetables and many more.
Mentioning rice , it has been part of everyday lives of Filipinos.. It's our main food and we usually eat that three times a day. But at the current situation of agriculture here in the Philippines , specifically with rice and the farmers, they are having issues about the price of the palay and some other problems of the farmers.
First let's have a look who are the Filipino Farmers?
A farmer is typically the one working the land , probably a hectare or less , like of a rice land. They are considered our food producers.. bad the sad truth is , they belong to the poorest sector of the country and they are even prone to hunger everyday. I grew up in a rural area , where i've seen farm land and farmers working daily , dressed up with their farmer attire that will only be messed up at the end of every planting or harvest , working under the sun , with their body bent slowly , evenly and carefully planting rice .
I also wanna share this short song lyrics that is actually for farmers here , it's of course written in tagalog , but i'll be explaining what does this song explains , i just remembered the song at the moment of writing. Here it goes :
Magtanim ay di biro,
Maghapong nakayuko.
Di man lang makaupo,
Di man lang makatayo.
Braso ko'y namamanhid,
Baywang ko'y nangangawit.
Binti ko'y namimitig,
Sa pagkababad sa tubig.
Sa umagang paggising,
Ang lahat iisipin.
Kung saan may patanim
May masarap na pagkain.
Braso ko'y namamanhid,
Baywang ko'y nangangawit.
Binti ko'y namimitig,
Sa pagkababad sa tubig.
Halina, halina, mga kaliyag.
Tayo'y magsipag unat-unat.
Magpanibago tayo ng lakas,
Para sa araw ng bukas.
Para sa araw ng bukas!
The song just wanted to say what farmers usually feel everyday , doing their routine and as if they have no choice but to go through it all always. The song says that planting is not easy , you cannot sit nor stand up, your body is just bended , even your arms and legs will feel numb and you'll like soaked in water the whole process but the song still projects positivity out of the farmers that tomorrow will be another hardworking day for them. It's just so unfair to them because the reality is , you'll see them every end of the day , counting the money they earned budgeting it for them to be able to buy dome rice plus a usual canned goods or dried fish , yeah , that's what the real thing in our farmers.. food producers for many of us , but they remain poor , why is that?
Let me share to you the current issues the farmers are facing at the moment
The production cost of palay in the country is usually around P12 per kilo. The average farmgate price of palay is at P17.62, as of the 2nd week of August.This means that farmers on average earn just P5.62 per kilo of palay sold. If a farmer produces 4,000 kilos, it would mean earnings of P22,480 for that harvest period. If the farmer's rice variety can grow in around 4 months, it means that a farmer earns just P5,620 per month.
Looking on those information , the farmers who had usually worked hard to plant and harvest the rice /palay earn less , then the businessmen or those who own rice stores will sell rice at a higher price that even farmers can't afford , i mean those they consider well-milled rice. Very unfair truth. This is what actually is being discussed and look by the authorities , this has been an issue even before but it seems like it's just repetitively happening. Especially not only this is the problem of most farmers , let me share some others...
-poor educational background
-unfair trade practices
-most of them don't own a piece of land
-lack of high quality agricultural inputs
-sustainable source of income
-lack of knowledge for farming technologies
-lack help from social services
There are many other more to mention , but i just hope they'll be addressed properly so that our farmers will earn more and have a better quality of life. Can you imagine? what if our farmers get tired of what they're doing and just sell what they own to business minded people? Who will then do the farming for us? Re we just gonna import and import despite the fact that we have a lot of resources but are not just being properly used and allocated. I am not good on the technicalities of this matter , but i know that in our own little ways , we can definitely help our farmers.
my father
And since i've share about the agriculture and our farmers' issues here in the country. I also wanted to show you all just how thankful and grateful i am that my family , especially my parents and my uncle (mom's side) are one of those who gives opportunity for farmers to earn . Yes , my parents own some rice land , they actually love to invest more on lands. So on the picture you can see , that's harvest time in one of our rice land , and that's my papa having a selfie with the farmers and harvesters.
My uncle Dodong is actually the one responsible for all of that , from planting to harvesting , he like rented the land from my parents , all the funds and works are by him , so my papa will have only like 30% of the outcome. Then it's up to my father if he'll sell those or make it our rice.
my uncle
In photo is my uncle , he's actually worried about the current price of the palay/rice being sold by the farmers , but the capital is higher. because the truth is it's really unfair for all the efforts and hardworks of this food producers..
In the end , me and my family are lucky enough to have enough sources of rice and food everyday. But, i am hoping that our government would give more focus on the farmers' issues because they are the reasons why we have something to eat 3x a day , our main food,, the rice. i know some might say that it's actually just fair because of their educational attainment , but for me , it should be the amount of work , dedication , loyalty , patience and dignity that is being paid . We are all humans, and like us , FARMERS needs to enjoy life and all its perks.
harvest time in our rice land
my awesome footer by dear @coquiunlimited
much love,
!BEER
for @zephalexia
Wow! Congrats to your family to have riceland. You are so blessed. Yeah, truth...farmers are always look down in our beloved Philippines, so so sad. That is also the same reason why many join outlaw movements go to the mountains make war against the government due to this unfair practice, the producer of food is poorer...
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Would love to participate on this... I am sure I would love it. Paticipating on hard work is actually I got used in life.
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BEERat steem-engine.BEERfor you. Enjoy it! Hey @zephalexia, here is a bitThere are NGO's and programs both local and national helping farmers' families such as scholarships for their children. They are not without help but hopefully more people and organizations pitch in.