Hearken to the soil

(I was rummaging through the old files compiled by the BSU History committee with the hope of finding the older technologies developed or research discoveries at BSU  before the 1970s. I found some. In the process, I came across this piece published in The Mountain Breeze which apparently was delivered by my dad in a Future Farmers of the Philippines (FFP) District convention. I thought it good to be part of what my children may want to read come the time they understand or appreciate memoirs. 

Dad, I just wish I got even just a speck of your nerve in speaking before public.)

Hearken to The Soil
(first prize winning speech delivered during the FFP District Convention)
by Domingo Casiwan

1959 is an election year; and with it is heard the loud voices of politics. Here and there, now and then, speeches are given for the cause of democracy. But, my friends, more important than political partisanship and governmental appeals is the cry of the soil for conservation. And it is for the soil that I, one of the struggling future farmers of the Philippines, will speak tonight. It is to the silent pleadings of the soil that I charge you to hearken.

I am one of the underprivileged. This I say unashamedly, for I till the soil with honest efforts and a high sense of dignity. The average Filipino and the downtrodden lowly class consider me as one of them. But the higher class and the urban population simply take me for granted. Yet, as the son of a farmer and as one who is close to the soil, I speak, though not as one with authority, with just pride and a firm conviction as well as with utmost respect for the soil.

Divine Providence has blessed the Philippines with 31,080,000 hectares of land, out of which 4,325,554 hectares or approximately 1/8 of the total area is cultivated. From this cultivated area, the farmers squeeze out a harvest, sometimes abundant, at times meager. For centuries, this land has been coaxed to yield a little more. For many years, the farmer has toiled relentlessly. For generations past, the farmer has toiled the soil always with the hope that he will at long last enjoy a more pleasant and satisfying life.

That farmer may be your father or mine; he may be YOU or I, So we ask ourselves -- Has the soil failed us?

Fellow future farmers, I wish to emphasize in plain, simple language that Filipino rural and urban life is sustained by agriculture, and the success or failure of an agricultural enterprise depends largely on the soil. But when the soil is continuously cropped, as is our common practice, it becomes depleted and is rendered unprofitable for farming.

Let us visualize the tremendous untoward effects of improper soil management on the life of the 23 million and more Filipinos. Let us not be insensitive to the malpractices of soil exploitation. We keep on getting much from the soil yet we don't give it something in return. We are gradually depriving the soil of the nutrients. We have allowed the rich topsoil to be washed away by wind and water. We have resorted to the "kaingin" system, thus removing the watershed protection. We have  lived on a one-sided policy with us enjoying all the advantages and leaving the soil to Nature's care and to the mercy of the elements. Are we not duty-bound to conserve the soil and enrich it for the benefit of this and future generation? Is it not our solemn obligation to treasure this  greatest heritage of man?

True, my friends, the productive soil is the foundation of a stable Philippine economy. It supplies us with food that sustains our lives. It is therefore the source of strength for a strong manpower. It gives the raw materials which enable industry to thrive and to prosper. He provides mankind with almost everything--from the bare necessities of simple living to the luxuries fineries (sic) of extravagant living. Yes, God, in His boundless generosity has given man a vast area of fertile land. But I am very sorry to state here, that it is the countless advantages, the rich resources which we derive from Mother Earth that has blinded you and me to the fact that the soil too has its limits.

No one can deny that soil productivity is not limitless. Statistics show that the Philippine soils are generally infertile. This fact, enhanced by unsuitable agricultural practices, stands out in defense of soil conservation. So, I charge you, fellow future farmers of the Philippines, to think and to act now before the soil has gone to waste.

The FFP motto - "Learning to do, doing to farm, farming to live, living to serve"--should oblige us to reach every farm-hand and instruct him on how to conserve the soil by means of land-use adjustments, cropping changes, improved tillage methods and structural devices. However, in this gigantic task of soil conservation, let us not stop at giving more information. That  will be plain emptiness. Let use practice, and practice means action, such as soil-conserving and soil-enriching procedures as soil erosion and gully control, proper drainage and irrigation, strip cropping, crop rotation, contour cultivation, planting cover crops for seasonal protection of fields and the abundant use of organic and inorganic fertilizers.

If every farmer--whether he owns the land he cultivates or not, whether he be a large landholder or small landholder -- puts into application these scientific principles, we will certainly expect better production. We will surely derive maximum returns from the soil. If we give to the soil the nutrients it needs, if we unselfishly render to the soil the care it deserves, if we give to the soil the protection it expects -- in brief, if we conserve the soil, it will undoubtedly give us and our families a bountiful yield, an abundant harvest that will insure not only a strong family solidarity but also a stable and progressive national economy.

Future farmers of the Philippines, bend lower that you may hearken to the soil; act faster that you may reap sooner; and look closer that you may better read what is written on every furrow -- the statement in a farmer's lingo- YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO CONSERVE THE SOIL THROUGH PROPER SOIL MANAGEMENT. This is a living proof that you cherish the soil, God's greatest gift to mankind.

Source: The Mountain Breeze. March-April 1960.