Part Three: How to be an idiot in the Philippines
So one day last week, we are out for our morning walk. It's the same everyday. Three and a half miles through the rice fields. This is what it looks like. We walk up to the National Highway and back again.
The thing about rice farming in the Philippines is, it is farming. When someone says I am a farmer, he means rice farmer. Any other crop would make him less of a farmer. Maybe even, less of a man. The other thing to know about rice farming here is that all the farmers grow rice on these tiny plots. Anywhere from, say, a quarter of an acre to maybe ten acres. And ten acres would be an extremely large farm here.
Needless to say, they don't make any money. I mean, year in and year out, they don't make money. There's just too many farmers growing rice on too many tiny plots. So none of them benefit from any economies of scale. For all their efforts, the rice is expensive to produce. And the worst part of it is that the farmers don't seem to understand this.
But rice farming is not just an occupation here, it is identity. The farmers have a familial and intimate attachment to the land. It is what and who they are. Further, their cultural conviction that rice is the only crop worthy of their efforts borders on Stockholm Syndrome. So naturally, the economics don't seem to matter.
Anyway, on this day we ran into a group of people all wearing the same logo shirts. So I asked what kind of a group they were. One of the leaders says: We are an organization encouraging organic farming (sponsored by the government).
Me You mean organic rice farming?
Leader Well yes.
Me Why not organic vegetable farming? Say onions.
Onions have recently been very expensive here. The leader mumbled something about how onions don't need a lot of organic material to grow. And hey, what do I know? I do know that all vegetables are generally expensive here. It's a question of limited supply and limited demand.
Me So where is all this organic material going to come from? I mean, I never see any livestock here.
Leader Yeah, we have to import it.
Me Well wouldn't it be a good idea to encourage the raising of livestock here? Then you could make your own organic fertilizers.
Leader No, we don't have room for that here in the Philippines.
I scratch my head.
Me Well, how about right there?
I point to the rice fields across the street.
Leader No, no, it would be impossible to raise livestock there.
Me Why is that?
She looked at me like I was an idiot.
Leader Well obviously...because those are rice fields.