Coconuts, bananas and lazyboy solutions

“Human error”, “reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide”, or “it was the driver’s fault”.

These were just some of the instant assumptions that authorities made concerning the most recent bus accident that claimed many lives somewhere in Benguet province. After listening to the stream of presumptions prior to scientific investigation, it is evident that it was easier for authorities to once again blame it on the driver.

It usually is…easier to blame the dead or the powerless for something that is often the fault of the operator, the LTFRB, the DPWH or the Republic of the Philippines.

Time and again we have heard of vehicular accidents in many of our mountain roads because by international standards, most of what we call “highways” would not qualify as such.

Take for instance the Halsema highway, which is where you pass from Baguio to Bontoc. We often call it the Mountain trail because it often resembles once especially during the rainy season. Even with a well-maintained Land Cruiser or four-wheel drive SUV, driving through this road is a challenge for ordinary drivers.

The road is poorly maintained, subject to erosion, landslide, debris and fogs. So if you happen to be a poor bus driver making ends meet, you don’t necessarily get to complain if the bus has bald tires. You can’t count on the LTFRB to clamp down on the operator because they don’t really inspect the vehicles regularly, and you certainly can’t charge the DPWH or the provincial government for bad roads that kill people.

All you can do is pray, just like everybody else was praying as they were plunging to their death. Sure, blame it on the driver, that’s what guilty lazy boys do anyway!

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I caught the beginning of P-Noy’s press conference last Wednesday and it was amusing to listen to the President’s enthusiasm about the many potential applications for coconut by-products. His enthusiasm was marginally infectious and showed that if he put his mind to it, he could be the icon of optimism.

That being said, I wonder how long before the President discovers that the “new” developments he so proudly shared with the Malacañang Press Corps are actually 5 to 10 years old in existence, if not older. This of course is not his fault, since agriculture and technology have never been his publicized expertise or interest.

While the President is still excited about the prospects, someone ought to advise him that there are immediate and direct benefits from coconuts and bananas which could improve the lives of poor Filipinos if the government put the same amount of appreciation and interest behind the possibilities.

In terms of domestic by-products, the coconut gives us “juice” that is cleaner than bottled water, “meat” that has both protein and fat, and if you grate it, you get “milk” that becomes a key ingredient in many Filipino recipes. Unfortunately we have made coconuts into a “treat, a dessert, or something “special”.

That special treatment has in turn created an artificially driven “high price”. Because it’s no longer “cheap”, the farmers and vendors don’t get to sell as much. So with very little use for coconuts, it’s no surprise that farmers sell the trees for a quick buck. Law or no law, if it’s useless, farmers will kill it.

In our case, what we have done in our backyard farm is to go back to the “old ways” and maximized the benefits from coconuts and bananas.

Each day we grate or scrape at least 25 coconuts and use the grated coconut as a 50 percent feed mix for our chickens and native pigs. We have developed mixed breeds of native and hybrid poultry and are currently doing the same with native and hybrid pigs.

As a result we have cut our expenses on feed by as much as 35 to 40 percent and because of the nutrient content and resistance building nature of coconut meat, we no longer use chemicals and drugs often found in commercial poultry.

By raising “native chickens and pigs” we have opted to raise disease resistant animals that thrive on local natural feed sources. We have also rediscovered a viable and sustainable organic food sufficiency model “just like they used to in the old days”. No factory farming, no 45-day intensive feeding. No drugs - no dope, just coconuts and bananas.

We also busted the myth that native meat is tough by following what our “Lolas” used to do; just boil the meat into submission low and slow on the stove and you cook in all the good taste.

The people in the Department of Agriculture have all the information and probably more resource than needed to wage the war, but I learned from insiders that everything is disconnected and separately operating.

The coconut people are too busy bringing the value of coconuts in to the 21st century but not as much is done to restore its value in our backyards.

The banana experts are so focused on genetics, research and commerce that they forgot to remind Filipinos that the banana is great for man and beast as well as commerce.

The Bureau of Animal Industry needs a new program and new funds to bring back the “native” to the backyards of the Philippines because it is far easier to breed, incubate, raise and distribute native chickens and pigs than pure or hybrid goats, cows and pigs.

Given the geographic coverage of planted coconut and bananas, one way of promoting them is to make them a vital part of the food chain. Farmers must see their importance to raising chickens and pigs instead of chopping them down.

Government should shift livestock distribution towards culturally preferred “native chickens and pigs” which are disease resistant and low maintenance. By doing so the farmer has both short term and long term produce. With something to eat and another to sell the prospects of food sufficiency becomes even more interesting.