This was said by the late Dr. Tito Contado, a from UP Los Banos and an expert who worked for FAO for a long time He said that what the agency promoted was subsistence farming. Coupled with land reform that decreased the farmholdings of farmers, this posed serious obstacle in progress of agriculture.
Instead he said, the agency should have taught farmers to be entrepreneurs, ie to be self sufficient. With a single crop planted the farmers are idle while waiting for the harvest. If the farmer produces just a single crop, where does he get his other needs? To buy these he needs to borrow even at usurious rates for his consumption
Thus farmers on their own must think for themselves at their own initiative, other businesses and exploit opportunities
Thus excess production of crops leading to waste leading to losses of capital need not happen It is always govt govt fault. Take note that govt can only initiate. The rest is up to the farmers He must solve his problems and find solutions. Thus problem of storage: organize cooperative for cold storage. Excess production of vegies: say tomato bottling, tomator paste making Or cabbage - make kimchi Or poultry: or pork ----> processed meat.
We have many schools and agencies teaching entrepreneurship or entreprenueria mindset Let us do this
