UPLB [University of the Philippines Los Baños] agenda for land resource utilization (2011-2035): a paradigm shift towards food security

Land use planning is the practice of accounting and allocation of land resources in order to meet national requirement for food, feed, energy including sites for the needed infrastructures of the community as well as additional space to accommodate wildlife habitat. Critical to the planning process is the evaluation of land resources potential towards sustainable land utilization. With identified major soil constraints to food production for instance water availability, low CEC, aluminum toxicity, vertic properties, high P fixation, shallowness and erosion risk. Philippines has barely 9.323 M hectares of arable land with a potential of supporting only the grain requirements of a population of 22.909 M, 41.559 M and 76.295 M under low, medium and high technology input levels, respectively. The estimate does not even take into account the negative impact of climate change, extent of land degradation due to mismanagement and neglect which can exacerbate the productivity of available arable lands for particular agricultural crops. It is high time that the government planners should re-examine existing policies and programs designed to raise agricultural productivity as the national measure to address food security. Farming in the Philippines is now generally undertaken on small farms, owned and managed by single families ranging from subsistence to commercial production. Real growth of agriculture in the Philippines of 1% from 1980-1990 lagged behind the world average and middle income countries with average of 2.8% and 3.5%, respectively. Shall we maintain that our agricultural development be influenced by free-market capitalistic economies? Thus, we have to consider their potential consequences. In a globalized system according to Chantalakhana and Falvey (2010), where rich and poor are assumed to have free and equal access to the use of available resources to enhance their wealth, generally the rich group including multi-national corporations have the advantage in such a competitive world. On the other hand the poor especially marginalized farmers become poorer. This is an opportune moment for UPLB to revive its trail blazing record through its instruction, research and extension approaches--towards making of individual farmers, especially the small farmers, to become food secure. Instead of aligning our farmers to a particular commodity like rice, corn, or coconut, can we not offer them freedom to choose alternative farming systems, extensively evaluated and tested and proven to make farmer under specific condition be able to support with his income family requirements for food, shelter, education, clothing, and health sufficient for the whole year and beyond.