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A Filipino farmer from North Cotabato was again
honored on the first anniversary of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
in Norway for showing the world that simple farmers like him upheld
biodiversity through their indigenous knowledge.
Norway Minister of Agriculture
and Food Lars Peder Brekk cited Eulogio Sasi Jr., who, despite only
four years of formal education, was blessed with thousands of years
of local agricultural know-how that was passed down to him from
village elders.
“One year ago, when the
Svalbard Global Seed Vault was officially opened, this room was
filled with more than 150 invited guests representing 33 countries
and five continents. Among them were the president of the European
Community, Mr. Jose Manuel Barrosso; the Director General of the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Mr. Jacques Diouf;
and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai. All contributed
to our program, sharing their insights into the importance and
impact of crop genetic diversity. But at this moment, I would like
to mention another person who was present that day. One of the most
memorable voices of that seminar, Mr. Tay Gipo—a subsistence
farmer from the Philippines,” Brekk said, using the name that Sasi
was more known for.
Sasi spoke during the opening
conference of the Global Seed Vault on the Arctic island of Svalbard
on February 25, 2008. He passed away on February 16, 2009, a few
days before the first anniversary of the opening of the seed vault,
at the age of 64 in President Roxas, North Cotabato, in southern
Mindanao.
In a speech, Brekk said Sasi’s
legacy remains in the fields of the Philippines, where his
“Bordagol” is grown by his neighbors and their neighbors.
“Like other rice growers in the
Philippines, Mr. Gipo switched to high-yielding, improved varieties
in the late 1960s. But, he and his neighbors still struggled with
pests and diseases, like the tungro virus. During a particularly
tough year, he noticed one plant in his field that did not succumb
to the virus. He literally had to pull the plant from the mouth of a
farm animal who was planning to have it for a snack—he saved the
seeds, replanted them and the next season he harvested 25 kilograms
just from the seeds of that one plant. With his incredible success,
the rice he himself named “Bordagol” was born,” he added.
Preserving a legacy
Brekk said that Sasi’s legacy
remains as well in Svalbard, where seeds of his “Bordagol” are
safely stored for the future.
“I mention his name for two
reasons. One to illustrate how the field-level knowledge of our
farmers continues to be the most important element of crop
conservation. But also to keep his memory alive. Because just days
ago we received word that our fellow agriculturalist, Tay Gipo,
passed away this month at the age of 64,” he added.
In 1985, Sasi developed the rice
variety that was resistant to pest and diseases. He named it “Bordagol,”
a comic character from a children’s funny comics.
“I chose this name because the
character, ‘Bordagol’ in the cartoon strip has a good trait and
was able to save their planet. I thought that like the cartoon
character, this plant could help us farmers because according to our
elders, if a rice plant possesses purple tillers, it is resistant to
disease,” he said during the launching of the global seed vault
last year.
Simple story
Franco Esdrelon Jr., SEARICE
Mindanao Program coordinator based in President Roxas, North
Cotabato, said that “the simple story of Tay Gipo brought home the
message to all governments about the role of farmers in seed
conservation. He reminded all of us that the seeds being deposited
in the Global Seed Vault and all the genebanks are products of
generations of farmers’ knowledge and innovations across the world
that are entrusted to this generation and for the future
generation.”
Esdrelon worked with “Tay Gipo”
and other farmers on conservation and development of agricultural
biodiversity through promotion of farmer-breeding, use of local
seeds and sustainable agriculture in President Roxas and in other
farming communities in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Bukidnon and
Misamis Oriental, also all in Mindanao.
“Tay Gipo has left a daunting
challenge to the heads of governments in his speech during the
opening of the seed vault last year. He posed the challenge that
farmers’ contribution to agricultural biodiversity be recognized
and supported,” he said.
SEARICE is a nongovernment
organization based in Southeast Asia calling on the government to
adopt strategies that will strengthen farmers’ access to
production resources and technologies that reduce their dependence
on external inputs particularly seeds.
--Ira Karen Apanay
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