Full Interview: Buhay Bukid, A Conversation with My Father on His Childhood Farm Adventures and Climate Change

OPENING SUMMARY:

Upon the completion of writing my own climate story, I found a sudden interest in learning more about my father’s story. In an era where the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, taking a step back to hear the experiences of others and reflect on the past becomes crucial. Made possible through my Talk Climate internship with Climate Generation, I was able to ask Ramil Villarama, whom I like to call “Dad,” a set of questions to understand his early years that were spent on a family farm. He shared his unique perspectives on how the environment he knew as a child has evolved, the lessons he learned from the land, and his thoughts on the urgent issue of climate change that affects us all today. As we delved into these cherished memories and insightful anecdotes, we uncovered not only the joys and challenges of growing up on a farm but also the stark contrasts between then and now in the context of climate change. Thank you for tuning in and enjoy the interview segment!

INTERVIEW:

Ramier: Hello Dad!

Dad: Hey, how are you son?

Ramier: Good! So we’re gonna start with the first part of the questions…so this one is kind of the section about your farm childhood, then we’ll move on to one more focused on climate change, then one more focused on the future and future goals.

Dad: That sounds good, I like that!

Farm childhood

Ramier: First question is, can you share your experiences of growing up on a family farm? How long did you grow up on the farm, what were some of your earliest memories of farming practices…What are some of the things you planted or did on the farm?

Dad: I’m really that you are having interests as far as my childhood…me growing up on a farm, it’s really a rewarding experience. I had so many wonderful memories and experiences growing up on a family farm.  I used to help my dad plant various vegetables like eggplants, tomatoes, corn, bitter gourd or we call it ampalaya in Tagalog, and of course, rice.  Apart from these vegetables, we would plant and grow melons and watermelons as well. It’s been an amazing and rewarding to say the least, given all those experiences that I had and seeing these plants grow and bear fruits. I grew up and lived in the farm for almost 22 years…in terms of the farming practices, I can remember that we would rely on rains apart from irrigation in making sure the plants, vegetables, fruits get enough water. Given the nature of the plants that we grow and the type of the soil/land, we will grow them alternately, which means some plants are best grown during wet or rainy season while others are in dry season.  You know, I also helped my dad raise cattles and carabaos…I remembered that we will gather cow manure to be used as fertilizers and it actually helps improve the quality of the soil which is essential to growing healthy vegetables, plants, and fruits.  

Ramier: Kind of to follow up on that question, how did you learn life in a different way by living on a farm…let’s say compared to someone I guess who grew up in a city…but also, how did it teach you responsibility at a young age? 

Dad: That’s really a good question…living on a farm actually taught me to appreciate the simple things. It has taught me to be humble, the value of working hard, be respectful and persevere, and be patient cause I’ve really admired and respected my parents, particularly my day, as he’s been working really hard to provide our daily needs and that’s all coming from the farm. It actually taught me, you know, responsibility and compassion at a young age since I’ve always helped my parents, particularly my dad, with the planting and nourishing i.e., watering and applying fertilizers to the plants/vegetables we grow. I will always offer help and ensure that I, you know, make contributions with the daily tasks in growing our vegetables and fruits, feeding our cattles, etc.

Ramier: Cool, cool! So, I kinda took this question from something I read, from a book that also kinda talked about someone’s experiences growing up on a family and basically the question is, how did you have to work with and not against nature to make sure the farm succeeds?

Dad: Ya, that’s an awesome question! Again, you know, being a farmer or being a child or a kid of a farmer who grew up on a farm, we would rely heavily on nature to make sure that the farm or the farming succeeds right. Rain is very vital and a significant source of water for healthy soil and to grow the plants…so occasionally we would rely on heavy rains because that’s really good for the plants…and in the same manner, equally important is the heat of the sun, given that once you do the harvest, you need to dry the crops, especially rice, before it goes to milling. So nature plays an important role for the farm, for the planting to succeed. So we should take care of the nature, our nature, given that this provides, I would say, help, various help, regarding making sure the farming or the planting succeeds.

Ramier: That’s very interesting, especially in the book that I read, he talked about like…kind of all four seasons because he was from California, so kind of comparing that to the Philippines where it is only a lot of heat and rain, not really a spring or winter season is very interesting.

Dad: That’s very true! So in the Philippines, it’s either, it’s like there’s two seasons, right? When compared to the, to the States or the US, there’s like four seasons, but in the Philippines, sometimes I would joke around cause in terms of the weather or the temperature, it’s like hot or hotter, but during rainy season obviously there’s like rains and a lot of rains…you know, which as you can imagine, excessive rains don’t really help, cause it causes flooding.

Ramier: Ya so it’s kind of like both the positives and negatives of the seasons…so kind of to go off that, like as a child growing up on a family farm, did you have any experiences or realizations that made you more aware of the importance of addressing climate change? In other words, like how has your childhood shaped your understanding of the environment and climate…and I ask, I ask this because like I know back then people weren’t really thinking about climate change…it’s kind of more present knowledge and thought that people think more about now, but in the past, I feel like it is more something that just happened and people were kind of just farming to make a living and not really thinking about climate change.

Dad: Ya, I kinda find this question interesting, to say the least. Definitely! My response to that is definitely…growing up on a family farm, my experiences and realizations have really taught and made me more aware of the importance of addressing climate change. As a matter of fact and as I mentioned earlier, you know, rains, the heat of the sun are very important in terms of making sure that the plants grow healthy, right…but there are plants that are really suitable growing during the rainy season, while others are better during, or better suited, planting during dry season.  As you can imagine, given the shifts and changes in weather patterns, this can really or tremendously impact the way we do farming or the growing of the plants.

Ramier: Kind of to follow up on that last part, like, can you explain more of the specific challenges you and your family faced due to the changing weather conditions?

Dad: Sure, ya there were specific challenges, you know we faced due to changing weather conditions that I can remember.  As an example would be, when there’s drought and less rain, farmers or my dad will be heavily dependent on irrigation systems, which you would know becomes costly because you would have to buy fuel or gas to power the pumps…so obviously you know that’s an extra expense right, which kinda affects the profitable of farming. Then, the quality of soil diminishes, which means you can’t really expect good harvest. On the other hand, when you need to dry your crops right, like rice or corn, you’ll heavily rely on sufficient amount of sunlight to make sure the crops are totally dry and ready for milling.

Climate Change

Ramier: Cool! So we’re gonna move on to kind of this climate change and more specifics about climate change. So the question I have is how has climate change impacted your family farm over the years, and what are some specific changes you have observed? Then, to add on to that, how has the climate in the Philippines changed, if so, since your childhood?

Dad: Ya, again that is another good question…so I can say that climate change definitely impacted our family farm over the years. It’s been, as we go, harder to grow plants as you couldn’t really predict the weather due to climate change wherein, as I said, there’s change or shifts in weather patterns right…so, some specific changes that I’ve observed were obviously that we need to exercise crop rotation, the rotation of crops…wherein, let’s say this season, you’re just gonna grow rice, then the following season, you grow watermelon, so that’s what I’ve seen thus far. It actually became harder for other crops to grow due to shifts in weather patterns hence, you know, we would look into growing a different plant to really cope with the ever-changing weather patterns and given that the climate in the Philippines became, I would say, unpredictable given the climate change, however, for matter I’ve seen it’s getting worse nowadays, because of industrialization, pollution, and people not being cognisant right…they don’t really, I would say for a lack of a better word, take care of nature. Back in the day, when I was still living on our farm, we could still manage and cope up with the shift in weather patterns because before it’s not that worse, it’s manageable.

Ramier: Ya for sure! So I could tell that you guys as a family and as yourself, had to adjust farming practices in response to climate change and I think, of course, that’s really important…so, like you said, due to the changing weather you resorted to crop rotation, kind of to add to that, have you guys done any other adaptations or do you know what kind of is happening on that farm right now and what you’re family is doing to ensure the sustainability of the farm moving forward?

Dad: Ya, I mean like I said earlier, we had to make adjustments as far as farming practices in response to the ever-changing climate. Obviously, given the ever-changing weather, one of the things we’ve done was we resorted to crop rotation, that’s one…and the second, my dad actually built some irrigation well, given that, you know, you can’t really rely on rains, meaning that before you can actually predict when it’s raining and obviously crops would need to be watered and in order to do that, you would need another source and that’s the reason why, we would do or my dad would build irrigation wells just to cope up and be able to water the plants.

Future

Ramier: Wow that’s awesome! Now we are going to move on the future and future goals of the farm and yourself I gues. Kind of looking ahead, what do you envision for the future of farming, not only in your farm, but I guess your region, considering, like you said, the ongoing challenges of climate change? And another question is like, what role does the Philippine government play in supporting climate-resilient farming practices…are there any policy gaps that need to be addressed?

Dad: This is really a profound question…I would say looking ahead, what I envision for the future of farming in our region, considering the ongoing challenges of climate change are farmers should have access to better farm irrigation systems. Farmers should be able to explore and plant different rice seed variants or rice varieties to help breed improved crops with higher resilience to climate change. So you know, before, in the absence of good rice varients, you can’t really expect good harvest, given that the plants may not receive enough sunlight, may not receive enough water or sustenance…that’s the reason why I would think going forward, farmers should be more vigilant in thinking out of the box, like trying various or rice seed variants, which could really help improve or kind of cope up with the ever-changing climate change. The second question you asked about the Philippine government…obviously the Philippine government should play a vital role in supporting climate-resilient farming practices by building better irrigation systems. Another important thing is research and coming up with rice seed variants that are resilient to weather change. The Philippine government should also continue to educate its people regarding climate change as this truly impacts farming in the Philippines. As for the policy gaps that need to be addressed, the Philippine government should really enhance leadership and I would say accountability through monitoring, evaluation, and review of climate change policies and activities cause again this is very important right. As you would know, the Philippines is like a major source of you know, when it comes to rice, and there’s a lot of farmers there and it’s really important that the government should take part or do its role in making sure that farmers are able to cope up and navigate this ever-changing climate.

Ramier: Yes, I agree. The Philippines is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, so I think, obviously the government who has a lot of power should do more, in terms of helping the communities and people.

Dad: I couldn’t agree more. Again, coming from or growing up on a farm, it’s very important that the government should show the farmers that they’re doing, making sure that they provide support and in the same manner, educate the people…cause as you would know, farmers are from rural areas and they need to get this information and in the same manner, spread the news if there are new rice seed variants that they can utilize in making sure that those are resilient from climate change.

Ramier: Ya, so the next question is considering the challenges posed by climate change, do you have any advice or what message would you give to the younger generation growing up on family farms today?

Dad: I do, I sincerely do. As you would know…I mean, you, I can see that you are very particular with climate change and as you can imagine, climate change poses a real threat to farmers around the world and as you would know, farming is highly dependent on good weather and can really influence the harvest. In this regard, my pieces of advice that I’d give the younger generation growing up on a family farm today are they need to learn and they should learn how to adapt and think out of the box and also, be more cognizant and assertive in understanding what truly causes climate change. The younger generation growing up on family farms need to be more informed and I would think there are means right…they seminars or workshops and climate change has been an ongoing topic and younger generations should realize or I would say, be more keen in understanding the effects.

Ramier: What I got out of that was education is a big part, then like you mentioned like, the government can play a big part in educating it’s people, especially people who may not have these resources to learn about climate change. So kind of to end this, last question, is…so recently, I wrote my climate story and I wrote in it that I want to learn more about my identites, and one of them is my Filipino identity and I wanted to learn specifically your stories about growing up on the farm and that connection to climate change. So, what were some stories your father told you about the farm when you were younger? 

Dad: I actually, specifically, gravitate to this particular question cause…you know…I can imagine like, I really like listening to my dad, my father and he’s always told me a lot of stories about our farm when I was younger and one of stories I can recall and I would say I will never forget is when Dad would tell me that, hey, you and I will go to our farm and he’ll bring me to the actual field and for me to actually see the size of the tomatoes and also the watermelons that we grow and then we observed and I’ll always tell my dad, hey can we pick up some tomatoes or watermelons…that’s how he’s told me the stories cause obviously I was a little young back then so I couldn’t really recall the full story, but my dad told me that we’ll pick the ripe ones and we will eat them and share them with the entire family and friends. He would always remind me that in life you actually need to persevere in order to be successful regardless whether I become a farmer or follow any other profession. He also kind of reminded me to respect nature and everyone around me cause again nature being vital to farmers and it was a lowkey life, but I can always feel happiness you know or like fully contented, meaning there’s food on the table right…my dad is always able to provide food for us and in the same manner, our farm, again, that’s main source of income for them…I kind of get teary when we’re talking about farm and particularly my experiences and the stories that my dad told me cause he’s been very passionate in regard to farming and he has a sense of, he’s very responsible to say the least. Imagine, my parents main source of income back then was farming and you know, they didn’t get higher education, but they were able to provide for their family and my dad was able to think outside of the box as well…he didn’t just rely on planting vegetables, he also took care of cattles. Up until now, we have cattles…he raised cattles, which was another source of income. It’s a cycle, like you plant rice and then the hay, the hay becomes the food of the cattle. Like you can imagine it’s like homestead, everything’s there. And I would say, climate, like weather, played a really important role, like rains, obviously the heat of the sun, so again, we should respect nature and take care of Mother Earth. 

Ramier: Ya so one more thing is, now talking about your stories that your father told you, why do you think it’s important for you to share your own story and kind of, I guess right now like what we’re doing, talk about your life on the farm and be appreciative of that part of your life…and, why do you think it’s important for me and my other siblings to kind of, visit the farm and experience the farm whenever we travel to the Philippines?

Dad: You actually hit the nail on the head when you say the word appreciate. Me sharing these stories to you guys, for me, is very important to know your roots and in the same manner, you know, making sure that…cause there’s life out there right, I mean you probably think that its simple, but in essence, it’s kind of lowkey, but very rewarding for you guys to experience that, meaning it’s so simple, living is simple there and everything is provided by nature, and to me, I like you guys to, when we have the opportunity to visit the farm, to kind of experience what I’ve experienced cause I do cherish that. For me, I’m not the person I am today if I had, you know again those experiences taught me to be a better person and living on a farm man, I mean its been great and I would say you know, I’ll encourage you to, when we have the opportunity, to see and understand your roots as well.

Ramier: Ya, wow thank you dad!

Dad: I hope that answers all the questions, but if in anyway or any case you would like to have another conversation regarding me growing up on a farm, feel free and I love, I enjoy talking about my childhood and living on a farm obviously.

Ramier: Thank you!

Dad: You’re very welcome, anak!