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local corn growers. In guiding farmers and infusing science
in their operations and on-farm decisionmaking, therefore,
awareness and enough vigilance of such beliefs should
be exercised. Indeed, much could be done to promote
productivity and minimize damages from climatic happenings
when knowledge of these local means is on hand.
Damages from climatic variability during the past
years were indeed immense, with 92 percent of the
respondents claiming that they had experienced losing
crops due to droughts, floods, and typhoons. The situation
is made worse as most of the farmers were pessimistic
about mitigating the adverse effects of these events. Still,
some corn growers claimed to have implemented
indigenous solutions like hilling-up, planting less, and
abandoning/fallowing the field.
A positive light is that more than 90 percent of the
farmers considered weather/climate as a major factor in
planning and crop production decisionmaking. Majority
claimed that advanced seasonal climate information
could aid in their production activities. This openness to
intervention, complemented with a rich blend of
experience and culture, could help jumpstart a wave of
development and increased productivity among the
country’s corn growers. (SCF Project Updates, March 2007)
Lunar-based agriculture: logic or folly
For centuries, the mysterious magnificence of the
moon has inspired the human mind to wander
in search of tributes and tales. From the rising
and falling of the tides to countless folklores of charms
and night creatures, the moon has been a staple in many
scientific and literary discourses. The same level of interest
applies to the field of agriculture where many farmers
have designated the various phases and faces of the moon
as indicators for a successful cropping or an impending
disaster.
Present-day lunar enthusiasts have tried to put a
semblance of logic to the value of the moon in agriculture.
It is claimed that all water on earth, from seas and rivers
to underground sources, are affected by the moon’s
gravitational pull. As the moon gets bigger during its
waxing phase (1st to 2nd quarter), water is said to rise
and become more available for plant growth. During its
waning or decreasing phase (3rd to 4th quarter), the water
table is said to recede. Practitioners of the art therefore
recommend that crops that need more water should be
planted during the waxing phase while crops that thrive
in dry conditions should be planted during the waning
phase.
Some sense could be gleaned from the above
premise but prudence is best to be exercised. One should
realize that the lunar cycle is completed every 27.3 days,
with each of the waxing and waning phases lasting for
only a couple of weeks. A simple review of the physiology
of major economic crops like corn and rice would show
that a typical cropping season extends from 90–120 days.
Both the increasing and decreasing phases of the moon
are therefore repeated 3–4 times during the whole
cropping season. The problem of attribution then
becomes a concern.
An article published in the web quoted John
Teasdale, the director of the United States Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Systems Laboratory in
Maryland, saying, “he is not aware of any research on lunar
influences in agriculture, but a simple hypothesis is that
lunar cycles could influence meteorological cycles which
in turn could influence crops.” Again, it seems reasonable
that if the moon is strong enough to influence ocean tides,
then it must in some way also affect the atmosphere.
Earth and Sky Communications, an internet-based
organization, explained the problem with this hypothesis
by focusing on science. They say that the combined gravity
of the sun and moon does pull both air and water as the
planet rotates, creating tides in both the earth’s oceans
and atmosphere. However, recorded levels of air tides are
very insignificant near the earth’s equator where tidal
effects are supposedly at their strongest. The tidal effect
increases air pressure by only a fraction of one percent,
too insignificant to impact local weather.
Though claims of significance are easily validated
through science, the moon’s romance with the farmers’
psyche has been ongoing for hundreds of generations.
Most ancient civilizations had their own versions of lunar
calendars where they based their cropping and