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‘There are no barren soils,
only barren minds’
The philosophy, passion and life of Dr. Romulo G. Davide
(2002 Concepcion Dadufalza Awardee)

In his small office at UP Los Baños’ (UPLB) Plant Pathology Department hangs a black-and-white photo of a little boy without shoes in front of a cogon-roofed elementary school building. That little boy kept a dream in his heart. He left his sleepy town of Argao, Cebu to study, and worked with dedication and commitment to realize it. Almost 68 years to the day he was born, Dr. Romulo G. Davide—teacher, scientist, mentor-extensionist par excellence—looks back, humbly saying, “I am just doing my job.”

After finishing high school, he sailed for Luzon to pursue his bachelor’s degree in agriculture at the then UP College of Agriculture (UPCA). Then he went to Oklahoma State University for his master’s degree. In 1966, he received his Ph.D. degree in nematology and plant pathology from the North Carolina State University, which offered him a professorial job that he declined because of his commitment to serve his country.

And so he went back to the university. Without a laboratory and proper equipment to conduct his research work, Dr. Davide used discarded drums and bamboo sticks during those early years. His ingenuity and perseverance paid off when the UPCA began to offer undergraduate and graduate courses in nematology. Alongside teaching, he continued to advance his studies on plant diseases caused by nematodes and their control.

In the course of his career, he was able to publish 145 scientific papers in local and foreign journals, brochures and a book on studies of banana nematodes in the Philippines. His pioneering work on the development of a biological control against plant nematodes, registered by UP Los Baños with the Securities and Exchange Commission as BIOACT, is now set to be produced for the world market.

Considered as the safest means to control nematode pests, BIOACT is estimated to have a market worth $87 billion. It is now being used in banana farms in Mindanao and is about to be manufactured in the US, Australia and Germany. “I hope our UPLB legal counsel can initiate discussion with the company to define the royalties that the university can get from the sales of BIOACT in the international market,” muses Dr. Davide.

The 2002 Concepcion D. Dadufalza award for distinguished achievement that was conferred on him on Feb. 27 by the UP System, is but one of the many awards that attest to his dedication to research and extension work. In his 40 years of service to the university, the country, and Asia, he has received 38 outstanding achievement awards and recognitions. He is well-known internationally for his pioneering studies on plant parasitic nematodes in the Philippines. To his credit, the science of nematology in the country was developed.

Yet he remains grounded, preferring to talk about his real passion in life, which is helping out and exhorting marginalized farmers in the countryside to become scientist-entrepreneurs. He believes in empowering farmers technically, inspiring them to develop their own solutions at the farm level to boost the earnings of their farms.

Having retired from official service in the university in March 1999, Dr. Davide now divides his time to supervising graduate students in their research work in UPLB and to reaching out to farmers, often on foot, in their far-flung villages in Cebu, and in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, as well. Soon his innovative Farmer-Scientist Participatory Research, Development and Extension (RDE) project will also be launched in Mamburao,Occidental Mindoro. He also hopes to cover Bicol, Leyte, Davao and other provinces with marginalized farmers.

His crusade began in 1994 when he won a presidential citation as outstanding agricultural scientist and a Jose Rizal Pro Patria gold medal from former President Fidel V. Ramos. The P500,000 that accompanied the award was what he used to start the project because no funding agency would attempt to dream with him. The participatory approach in technology transfer was not a popular idea at that time.

And because he always believed in venturing into areas nobody or few has ever tread, he went back to his birthplace in Colawin, Argao, Cebu. It took him 40 years to realize this dream for his little town. “Slow but sustained” is how he calls his painstaking efforts just like those early years when he was trying to establish the science of nematology. Unaffected by the trappings of his illustrious career, he ventured on his “long walk home” to break the chains of poverty in his hometown.

For Dr. Davide, this was his vision all along: empowered farmers using the advances of science and technology to free themselves from the bondage of poverty. His mission was to train a new breed of farmers who were also scientists and businessmen. His task as the project leader was to be the catalyst in forging the partnership of farmers with scientists and soliciting support from various sources.

Almost eight years into the project and now with funding from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) and the UPLB-CA, his agricultural ideas have already spread to 14 towns in Cebu, a feat thought to be impossible by the government of Cebu because of the province’s poor soil conditions. “There are no barren soils, only barren minds” is Dr. Davide’s philosophy. The farmers literally dug holes on rocky mountain soil to plant corn.

What used to be poor farmers in Cebu are now enjoying the bounty of increased yields in their corn, rice and vegetables, as well as their improved production in cow’s milk and livestock. No longer do their families live in weather-beaten makeshift houses nor go to bed hungry at night. Most of the farmers now drive motorcycles of their own. An annual income of P125,000 from the farm is no longer just a dream for the farmers.

Under his current project on corn-based farmer-scientists’ RDE training, Dr. Davide has organized a team of scientists from UPLB, DA-BAR, DA Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI), DA Region 7 and state universities and colleges. He has also sought help from Region 7’s municipal and provincial agricultural officers and non-government organizations (NGOs).

“I cannot do it alone,” he says. The help of these agencies, he stresses, makes “the great task of eradicating poverty among marginal farmers easier to achieve.”

Dr. Davide believes that for scientists to really make a difference in the countryside, they should go back to their hometowns and work in partnership with the farmers and the local government. He thinks that the existing set-up of scientists just being in their laboratories and research farms leaves much to be desired.

“It takes at least five years,” he says, for research results to reach the farmers. This is what Dr. Davide hopes to change. According to him, if only scientists could spend time teaching the farmers the scientific methods, technology diffusion would be quicker and more effective. Variety trials are now being conducted on site. A number of variety trials of UPLB seeds planted in Cebu yielded better than those planted in UPLB farms.

Dr. Davide points out that the reason past government programs on rice and corn have failed is that the technology transfer had a top-down approach, where the farmers were only given lectures and books/manuals. After delivering their discourses, the extension agents would immediately go back to the comforts of their offices. For Dr. Davide, a fresh approach is imperative.

“If millions of our farmers are still poor, then something must be wrong with our government food security program,” he opines. One of the solutions, he believes, is the important role of local government units (LGUs) to guarantee the success of the project. Since each LGU has a budget allotment of 20% of its Internal Revenue Allotment for food security, Dr. Davide believes that “it is not a matter of no funds available.”

He also believes that farmers, guided by scientists, should do the scientific on-farm experiments themselves, thus learning by discovery. Through his efforts, the farmers were able to learn integrated pest management, weaning them from dependence on toxic pesticides. Likewise, they learned to develop their own hybrid corn, producing their own seeds from their farms. In effect, the farmers became scientists and in turn became the extension agents for their fellow farmers.

“You don’t need an M.S. or Ph.D. degree to develop an inquiring mind,” this wise mentor enthuses. He takes pride in the developed leadership capabilities of the farmers he trained, some of whom have become barangay captains and members of the Sangguniang Bayan and barangay councils.
Not about to rest on the merits of his achievements, Dr. Davide says that he will continue working for as long as there are poor farmers in the countryside, and for as long as The Maker allows him to.

His free time he spends it puttering about in the garden, a hobby he shares with his wife, Dr. Clara L. Davide, also a former professor and scientist at UPLB’s Dairy Training and Research Institute. He takes care of the vegetables and she looks after the flowering plants. “We grow our own vegetables,” he beams. They have corn from Hungary, sweet potato, ginger, cucumber and other vegetables growing under cacao and rambutan trees.
“My environment is bukid,” he says. Comparing him now to the little boy in that black-and-white photo, Dr. Davide is not really a different person. A bit older now but still he carries with him that simple, uncomplicated attitude in life. With his trademark sunny smile, he says that he is just an instrument of God, that the glory is not for him to keep. (Eileen Calaycay-Cardona)

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Updated September 25, 2002
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