By: Myla V. Yanson
Farming, just like any other profession, is a noble job. The only difference it has with others is that, it requires a lot of stamina and physical strength. Without this job, a country may experience economic downturn, or worst famine. Although the afore-named bread-and-butter is ideal, not many are interested in becoming part of such industry. Why? Because it is exhausting. It is time consuming which only generates a meager income or profit. Farmers in the country specially the small scale farmers are poor. This is partly due to their lack of access to productive capital, knowledge and technology, and to limited market access. Rural poor people also have few options for generating off-farm income and lack of access to affordable financial services. Sad to say but our government have a meager support to our so-called farmers. Which if not for them we will have food on our tables.
That is the reason of those people who don’t want their children to be farmers since there is no money in it. Looks like they don’t understand how it works and how important farming is.
Yes. Not all may be filthy rich if they choose such path, but at least children must be aware of how vital the roles of the farmers are, and how important it is for them to earn how to cultivate the soil. That is why schools have made it part of the curriculum, so that at a young age, students would be motivated to learn more about the main source of income of most Filipinos.
The inability to raise more money has been the number one problem with farmers for as long as farmers have been around. It is one of the reasons why most people today who engage in small scale farming also engage in a job outside farming to have bigger income, so it is a must for the government to support our farmers.
The Philippines is a bountiful country when it comes to both land and marine resources. What is needed is for our agricultural knowledge and skills to be upgraded, so we can catch up with other Asian countries who tend to be leading distributors of other crops. Fortunately for us, thanks to our farmers, we are still in the market with our popular crops such as the Philippine mango.
The government should ensure that they incorporate agriculture to higher education levels in order to pass on the necessary skills of propagating and cultivating varieties of goods and products to the younger generation. Projects that involve high-end farming techniques, methods, machinery, and equipment must be focused on as well to enhance the quality of products and to increase the harvest.
We must not cease to promote scholarships to students who are interested in the a forenamed field of profession for them to keep on studying how to improve the quality of our crops, and choose farming as their profession in the future, so that the farming will be the top most industry in the country.
