Outstanding global Filipino returns

Former Agriculture secretary William Dar has recently returned from a 15-year stint in India, where he made his mark as a Filipino technocrat heading a global non-profit organization that seeks ways to improve farm production in continents and countries with dry lands.

Dar, who served as secretary of the Agriculture Department from July 1998 to May 1999, became the only Filipino heading a global agricultural research and development facility.

He concluded an unprecedented 15-year term on Dec. 31, 2014 as director-general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India. ICRISAT is among the 15 global research centers under the CGIAR Consortium that also includes the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, Laguna.

CGIAR, which used to be known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, groups nearly 10,000 scientists, researchers, technicians and staff working to create a better future for the world’s poor.

At ICRISAT, Dar leaves behind a legacy benefitting millions of farmers in India, Africa and other dry land countries in the world including the Philippines. He served an unprecedented three five-year terms at ICRISAT, which is headquartered in Patancheru near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.  The global institute has two regional hubs and five country offices in sub-Saharan Africa.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid tropics have over 2 billion people, of whom 644 million are the poorest of the poor.

ICRISAT innovations help the dry land poor move from poverty to prosperity by harnessing markets while managing risks through a strategy called Inclusive Market-Oriented development.  ICRISAT is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

“We have turned around ICRISAT into a financially-stable, and a leading global research institute, receiving several awards particularly from the CGIAR,” said Dar.

With the innovative research-for-development programs that Dar introduced, ICRISAT continues to attract R&D investments into the development of modern, climate-smart and sustainable crop cultivars and technologies of its five major commodities (pearl millet, chickpea, cowpea, groundnut and sorghum) that are farmed by millions of smallholder farm families in semi-arid countries.

Among the top donors to ICRISAT is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, contributing about $18 million a year, which is allotted to the conduct of ICRISAT’s major research and development initiatives.

Two projects being funded by the foundation are the HOPE project, which stands for Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement of Sorghum and Millets, and the Tropical Legumes II project.

The HOPE project seeks to increase by 30 percent the productivity of sorghum and millets in 200,000 farmers’ fields in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, while TL-II aims to enhance productivity of six legume crops (groundnut, cowpea, common bean, chickpea, pigeonpea and soybean) by at least 20 percent through improved cultivars and management practices and the development of markets and value chains.

At ICRISAT, Dar oversaw the formulation of a new, more dynamic institutional strategy known as Inclusive Market-Oriented Development, which shifted ICRISAT’s focus towards enabling poor farmers to harness markets for poverty escape.

The institute also established centers of scientific excellence for genomics, transgenic and climate change research, and information and communications technology innovations for agriculture.

ICRISAT adopted an inclusive and technology-based entrepreneurship and agribusiness program through public-private partnerships to bring science-based technologies and products to the market for the benefit of smallholder farmers.

Dar was among the 32 overseas Filipinos who received from President Benigno Aquino III the Pamana ng Pilipino Award on Dec. 5, 2014.

A native of Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, the 61-year-old scientist was cited for “his exemplary leadership in successfully extending the frontiers of science and technology to ensure food security for all, and for his staunch advocacy of the important role of professional horticulturists in this endeavor.”

“It is a humbling experience, and I dedicate the Pamana Award to all Filipino farmers. I look forward to serving them again,” said Dar.

Dar has transformed ICRISAT into one of the best agricultural research institutes in the world in terms of innovative research programs, impact to clienteles and financial stability. Under his leadership and governance, the income and investments in ICRISAT has quadrupled since Dar took over, from $21 million in 2000 to $85 million in 2014.

In the Philippines, ICRISAT teamed up with the Bureau of Agricultural Research and shared modern sustainable farming technologies and cultivars of sweet sorghum, peanut, cowpea (garbanzos) and chickpea (kadyos) to farmers in Cagayan Valley, Ilocos, Southern Luzon and Southern Mindanao.

Dar vowed upon his return this year to share management and technical experience with Filipino farmers to transform barren rain-fed and dry lands into productive, sustainable and climate-smart farms through the so-called Inang Lupa social movement.

The movement aims to enhance the country’s food, nutrition and energy security, increase the productivity and incomes of small farmers through soil rejuvenation, sustainable and integrated natural resource management, use of improved cultivars and hybrids, and advocating for relevant policies and reforms in agriculture.

Dar, in a speech during the 2nd National Congress of the Philippine Association of Agriculturist Inc. in Tagaytay City in November last year, cited the need to make Philippine agriculture competitive. He said the agriculture sector should be inclusive, science-based, resilient and market-oriented to cushion the impact of the upcoming Asean economic integration. The Asean Economic Community envisions a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region and equitable economic development by the end of 2015.

“Any strategy to make Philippine agriculture competitive should balance between ensuring food security and well-planned crop diversification to enhance income levels of farming households by increased exports,” Dar said.

“This calls for achieving self-sufficiency in rice production along with diversifying into high-value crops in which the country has a comparative advantage,” he said.

Dar said that the government should also help small farmers gain access to markets and ensure that good agricultural practices are met.

He cited the role of science in improving farm production and meeting the sanitary and phytosanitary measures imposed by other countries.

“Agricultural and food exporters will have to grapple with many of the EU’s food safety requirements. These include standards pertaining to maximum residual levels for pesticides and other chemical inputs used in food production, the general food law which requires traceability of food across the supply chain and the food and feed controls regulations, among others,” Dar said.

Dar said that public investment in the agriculture should be increased to attract more private sector participation. “This will ensure sustainable economic growth by increased volumes of trade with the integration of the country into the AEC,” he said.

“Increased public investments will eventually result in more flow of private capital for investment and ultimately result in economic growth with development,” Dar said.