Vladimir Putin whiplashes a small farmer with a shallow tube well

IN many areas of Central Luzon now in the frenzied stages of paddy preparation, the recurring worry is water. Will the irrigation water be enough? Will there be enough precipitation this rainy season to bulk up the supply of the major dams? It is a ritual of worrying that comes with the planting season. The aging multipurpose dams and the unpredictability of the rainfall add to the constant state of worrying, a psychic burden piled on top of the arduous physical demands of rice farming.

OK, do you know what is behind the burden and why rice farming requires so much physical exertion? Even in farm mechanization, weep not for the small farmer, our sad sack of a country is the Asean laggard. William Dar, the agriculture secretary, says we are going there — farm mechanization. (But as usual, the pace of the program is that of snail mail.)