00:00In every meal, the most important food for Filipinos is rice.
00:10But with the increasing effects of climate change,
00:15the production of rice in the country is decreasing.
00:18And its importation is increasing.
00:23On February 3, the Department of Agriculture declared a food security emergency for rice.
00:30Its purpose is to lower the high price of rice in the market.
00:34Despite being an agricultural country of the Philippines,
00:38we are the largest importer of rice in the world.
00:41But according to the affected farmers,
00:44there is no need to stand up for the solution.
00:48The vast land of Nueva Ecija is rich in rice.
01:00In 2024, almost 10% of the rice produced in the Philippines came from Nueva Ecija.
01:06That is why it is considered the rice granary of the country.
01:10Silio de Velayo is a farmer from Nueva Ecija.
01:19Like many other farmers, he is also affected by the climate crisis.
01:25There was a calamity.
01:27If we remember, there were 4 typhoons here in Luzon.
01:33Almost two of the typhoons we saw here were super typhoons.
01:40The reason for this is that the farmers who were affected by these typhoons
01:46had almost no rice.
01:48The rice they had was low.
01:51The main reason for this is that they lost money.
01:56Because if you sell rice,
02:00if you get the same amount of rain, the price will be low.
02:06The Philippines is hit by typhoons year after year.
02:09In 2023, almost P10 billion worth of agriculture was damaged due to the calamity.
02:16When the Christine typhoon hit in November 2024,
02:20P4.46 billion worth of rice was destroyed.
02:25These problems faced by farmers in the Philippines
02:29have reached other countries.
02:32Support and protect the Filipino farmers.
02:37Long live the farmers.
02:40Long live the food sovereignty.
02:44I went there as a farmer.
02:46I had a presentation on climate change
02:53and it was devastating.
02:56In November 2024,
02:58the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, was held.
03:04This was the country's first meeting to solve global warming.
03:09Negotiations, meetings, and media advisories were held every two weeks.
03:15It was an opportunity for Leody to represent the Filipino farmers.
03:20Are we just going to ignore what's happening to us?
03:24We are already having a big problem based on what we have mentioned.
03:27We, the farmers, are affected by this climate change.
03:32We should also speak up.
03:35We should have a voice.
03:39Aside from the stronger typhoons,
03:41farmers also have a problem when the weather is bad.
03:45If it doesn't rain, there is no way to plant.
03:49Even if we want to have a water reservoir,
03:53it's not enough.
03:55It's not enough for our needs.
04:01Leody is ready to plant rice this year.
04:05It's not a typical rice plant that you can buy in the market.
04:10I discovered three types of rice
04:15that can be harvested early.
04:18I was able to harvest the water that was in the water reservoir just in time.
04:24The rice was harvested early.
04:27The rice is strong against diseases,
04:30strong against humans,
04:32strong against drought,
04:35and strong against flooding.
04:40This is M21-1.
04:43M21 is drought tolerant
04:47because the rice is harvested early.
04:51It's not affected by drought.
04:58This is the storage of rice
05:00by a non-governmental organization
05:02that works hard for agriculture.
05:07Franklin Campos is in charge here.
05:10Here at the National Baka Farm,
05:13we maintain more than 2,000 rice varieties.
05:18We have traditional rice varieties,
05:21masipag rice,
05:23and farmer bread rice.
05:25We currently have 823 traditional rice varieties.
05:33Traditional rice varieties are harvested from different places
05:40across the country.
05:42We grow them here at the National Baka Farm
05:45and we can distribute them.
05:47For the masipag rice varieties,
05:50we currently have 2,202 that we maintain here.
05:57These are products from the hardworking staff
06:00here at the National Baka Farm.
06:02For the farmer bread rice,
06:06these are the products from the hardworking farmers
06:12at their farms
06:15that we ask for copies here at the National Baka Farm
06:19and we distribute them.
06:21We currently have 204 of these.
06:24In total, we have 2,229 rice varieties
06:27that we maintain here at the National Baka Farm.
06:31The farmers are also free to distribute the rice to their fellow farmers.
06:35From the rice varieties that we give to the farmers,
06:45the farmers are also able to choose
06:50which rice is climate-sense resilient
06:53and which rice is suitable for their community
06:57and their land.
06:59They are able to choose the rice variety
07:01that does not require any inputs
07:03and that is suitable for their land.
07:10The group created a map
07:12where they can see the type of rice
07:14that was planted in one place.
07:16In the climate-resilient map that was created by Masipag
07:19and distributed to their fellow farmers,
07:23we want to show that there are already
07:26existing varieties of rice
07:29that are being used and used by our farmers.
07:33They are planted, cultivated,
07:35and cultivated in different parts of the Philippines
07:39that can also be used by our other farmers.
07:44They do not have to rely on commercial rice.
07:49Here, we can see the PBB-401,
07:57which I was talking about earlier,
07:59that is resistant to floods here in Camarizor.
08:01Here in Negros,
08:03the PBB-401 is also resistant to strong winds,
08:10mist, and drought.
08:12In their observations,
08:15they were able to create a map
08:19that was distributed to all farmers in the country.
08:22Here, we can see that the varieties from Masipag
08:29are resistant to strong winds,
08:33and are able to adapt to the climate
08:36even when there are floods.
08:38This is a product of a farmer's cultivation
08:47and it became a variety of rice.
08:51He tried it here in Camarizor
08:53that is resistant to floods.
08:56Because when it was flooded there,
08:59because it was flooded several times,
09:01the rice fell.
09:03About a week after the flood,
09:06the rice rose again,
09:08sprouted, and ripened.
09:10The rice is still able to grow.
09:13The M45,
09:15even when it is exposed to strong winds,
09:17it does not fall.
09:19This means that it is resistant to strong winds.
09:23This is a traditional rice variety
09:25that is also resistant to floods.
09:28The rice is still able to grow.
09:33The challenges that farmers face
09:37is the difficulty in accessing rice.
09:40Because if you are going to buy rice,
09:44it is expensive,
09:45and those rice require inputs
09:49that you will also buy,
09:51such as bonuses, pesticides,
09:54and other things.
09:56So it is not free to buy.
09:59The poor farmers
10:02may have to borrow money
10:04before they can plant rice.
10:06So if, for example,
10:08their crops are plagued
10:12or are affected by calamities,
10:16or are damaged,
10:17the farmers will be miserable.
10:30We just planted carabao marioor
10:33here in our ponla.
10:38It is a protection against mayas.
10:41It is also a fertilizer
10:44for our collection of rice.
10:48I hope it won't rain.
10:51I hope it won't rain.
10:54I hope it won't rain.
10:57I hope it won't rain.
10:59I hope it won't rain
11:00so that our ponla won't be damaged.
11:08To increase the supply of rice,
11:11they also plant it in their farm.
11:14And they continuously study
11:15the characteristics of each crop.
11:18We plant them every cropping.
11:20This means that the rice we plant
11:22is always new.
11:24Because the rice
11:26adapts to the new climate.
11:30The situation of the ponla
11:32before it was planted
11:34was only 5 days old.
11:37That's why it's still small.
11:39And it can't be watered yet
11:42because it's still small and might drown.
11:44These are the different types of rice
11:49that we maintain here
11:50in Masipag National Baka Farm.
11:52We also mix here
11:54the climate-resilient rice
11:58that is resistant to floods,
12:02storms, droughts, and others.
12:07This one is 21 days old
12:12so it can be transplanted
12:15to our farm.
12:19Organic and sustainable farming
12:21is the way of farming here.
12:23They don't use any kind of fertilizers
12:26or pesticides.
12:28Even a single pest
12:30can be beneficial here.
12:32There are many pests here.
12:34They eat the small ponla
12:38so the ponla can be damaged.
12:42Even so,
12:43we don't water the ponla
12:45if they're still small.
12:47It's better
12:49if we take the ponla
12:52and feed the small ponla to the ducks.
12:55For the big ponla,
12:58we use amino acid.
13:00It's used as a spray
13:02so that it can be used as fertilizer.
13:07We spray it with
13:09what we call fermented plant juice
13:11so that we can water the ponla
13:14and preserve its nutrients.
13:19This is water.
13:20This is the fermented plant juice.
13:23The ingredients are
13:27sweet potato stalks,
13:31water spinach,
13:33and malunggay.
13:35We use it to ferment
13:37and we mix it with molasses.
13:45In sustainable agriculture,
13:49based on our methods,
13:52we can avoid
13:54huge expenses.
13:56That's the first thing.
13:57Second,
13:58if there's a climate change
14:00like this,
14:02even if the crop
14:04decreases,
14:06it doesn't mean
14:08that you'll lose.
14:10Because
14:12all the organic agriculture
14:15that Masipag uses
14:18is based on
14:20the materials
14:22in its farm.
14:24We recycle the soil
14:26and that's what we do.
14:32In 1985,
14:33Masipag started to form a group.
14:36There's no food sovereignty
14:37and no food security
14:39if there's no sustainable agriculture.
14:42And there's no sustainable agriculture
14:45if there's no organic farming.
14:48So, it's a clash.
14:50And there's no organic farming
14:55if the farmers
14:58don't have their own land.
15:03So, in general,
15:05agroecology for Masipag
15:08is not only about
15:10how to manage
15:12our environment
15:16while we're farming,
15:18but also the whole aspect
15:22of our farming.
15:24From the land,
15:27to the fields,
15:28of course, to the rights
15:30of our small farmers.
15:34At the Philippine Rice Research Institute
15:36in the Department of Agriculture,
15:38they're also developing
15:40benihis to be climate resilient.
15:42We've been doing this for a long time
15:44because we've been feeling
15:46the climate change for a long time.
15:48That's why,
15:50in fact, we already have
15:52some varieties of rice
15:54that we can say are climate resilient.
15:56We have varieties
15:58for rice areas
16:00that have drought.
16:02We also have rice varieties
16:04for areas that have
16:06high temperatures.
16:08We have varieties for submergence.
16:10And we also have varieties
16:12for rainfall.
16:14That's what we call rainfed.
16:16We bring them closer to the farmers
16:18to see what their ecosystem is like,
16:20what are the places
16:22that are stressed.
16:24And we show the performance
16:26and we involve the farmers
16:28in the selection.
16:30Because we have projects
16:32that even for those
16:34that are far from our technology,
16:36that's what we're really aiming for.
16:40The current administration
16:42has agreed to increase
16:44the Rife Self-Sufficiency Ratio of the country.
16:46The SSR is a measure
16:48of how much
16:50of the country's needs
16:52is provided by its own production.
16:54The SSR increases
16:56if the rice supply is stable
16:58and the dependence on import
17:00is reduced.
17:02According to the latest preliminary data,
17:0478.5%
17:06is the remaining SSR
17:08of the Philippines in 2023.
17:10But according to Dr. Jose Hernandez
17:12of the Institute of Crop Science
17:14of the University of the Philippines,
17:16Los Banos, the government should not
17:18only focus on self-sufficiency.
17:20Our population
17:22is increasing.
17:24We now have more than 110
17:26million Filipinos
17:28and we have many
17:30calamities
17:32like typhoons,
17:34related to climate change,
17:36floods,
17:38drought,
17:40or el Nino.
17:42That's why our production is increasing
17:44but the problem is
17:46the demand is also increasing.
17:48That's why the highest importation
17:50of the Philippines
17:52is a record.
17:54I think
17:56our aim should be
17:58self-sufficient
18:00and food secure
18:02not self-sufficiency.
18:04Not only rice,
18:06but also the other
18:08crops that we need
18:10to be food secure.
18:12I'm not
18:14in favor of
18:16food self-sufficiency.
18:18It's okay for me, but
18:20our aim should be food security.
18:22Because Singapore
18:24does not
18:26produce
18:28crops, but they are
18:30food secure, right?
18:32Because they have something to buy.
18:34That's why our aim should be that.
18:42Through the
18:44Likaskayang Patasaka and the
18:46Binheng Minanab
18:48from our ancestors,
18:50we were able to develop
18:52more than 100 types
18:54of
18:56climate resilience.
18:58It's proven that
19:00farmers are the solution.
19:02We are the ones affected
19:04by climate change
19:06and
19:08these calamities.
19:10Because we farmers
19:12produce food,
19:14but we are the ones
19:16affected by it.
19:18We need to look at
19:20the needs of the farmers.
19:22We are asking for
19:24continuous education.
19:52If you like our videos,
19:54please subscribe to our channel.
19:56See you next time.
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