AGRICULTURE and TECHNOLOGY

************************************************************************************************************** HARVEST TIME seems to come early to some. Lucky, aren't they? EVERYWHERE I go the harvest scene is repeated. Signs of summer's end? PADDIES ARE golden. And trucks are busy transporting tractors to different locations. Rental Shops of farming implements are brimming with calls from farmers whose schedule have been arranged months before. FROM MY window, I can see an old man beaming, perhaps anticipating a great harvest, as he scan his HATAKE [PADDY]. I guess he's assessing the harvest. Soon came the tractor. As he mount the machine, his frail body shakes. 'Where's that son of his', I thought, a bit flustered at the idea why the old man has to do it himself. Yeah...this is the same man I talked to in early spring. That time he was preparing the field for planting. He said something about a son who refuses to be a farmer. What a pity! This old man has several hectares adjacent to ours. HE FINISHED harvesting in no time. GREAT TECHNOLOGY, indeed! He was able to harvest three hectares of rice in ...how many? I lost count. I didn't look at the watch. Anyway...it was as if he didn't exert any effort at all! AGRICULTURE IN JAPAN have reached that point wherein they boasts of quality. Quality, because almost all are verry good. Let me tell you about their MEIBUTSUs [DELICACIES]: ===AOMORI apples taste sweeter and better than those in Seattle. ...Same is true with apples from NAGANO. ===GRAPES from Yamanashi-Ken are great for wine-making. ===GRAPES from Okayama are sweeter than sweet to eat. ===UNAGI from Shizuoka are superb! ===TANGERINES from Mikkabi, Shizuoka are the best! ===GREEN TEA, again, from Shizuoka are the most expensive here because of its fine taste. ===SHELLS from Hamanako Lake tastes delicious. ===SUGAR are best from Okinawa. ===KOBE beef are renowned for its quality. ===RICE......ah...the best ones come from up north, they say....but for me, newly-harvested ones =anywhere= tastes specially yummy! .................and more. I WISH THESE TECHNOLOGY reach our shores. I KNOW Japan has sponsored many Filipinos via the JICA project to teach our Kababayans about modern agricultural technology. I have talked to some from Baguio. I wonder where they are now. Did they go back and share their knowhow with other Pinoy farmers? I wish in my heart they did...and still do. WE NEED MORE GOOD MEN TO SHOW THE WAY. WE NEED THEM ...........NOW.