CONCEPCION, TARLAC – In 2006, Alfredo Gonzales had problems with chemicalfertilizers, which at that time cost P2,000 per 50-kilogram bag. He found the prevailing prices of urea to be ironic, considering the wasteful practice of most farmers. “When I traveled around [Central Luzon], I saw palay husks being burned. When I go to sugar mills, I also saw wasteful practices,” says Gonzales, a sugar planter. But instead of whining, the sugar farmer decided to do something about it. His 40-hectare farm, which used to be buried under 20 feet of lahar (volcanic debris) following Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991, is now the site of what is touted to be the first mechanized production facility for organic fertilizer in the country. In a day, the farm churns out 500 fertilizer bags, which Gonzales sells for P240 each. The product, which is registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, goes under the brand name “Power” – Pilipino Ways for Environmental Reconditioning. Gonzales, 60, says each bag contains 4.40 percent nitrogen, 1.85 percent phosphorous, 2.08 percent potassium, 13.14 percent moisture, and is 27.38 percent organic. The fertilizers are also mixed with microelements, like calcium, magnesium, sulfur, manganese, iron, copper and zinc. All organic elements are obtained by mixing 60 percent chicken manure, 10 percent each of cow and hog dung, and 20 percent sugar waste and agricultural waste from public markets. Laden with indigenous microorganisms, all of these undergo decomposition from 21 to 27 days. Surprisingly, flies are nowhere to be seen in the decomposing area, indicating that the process is clean, Gonzales says. Each bag represents hard work, he adds. From 2006 to 2008, his truck gathered sugar waste (bagasse, mud press and boiler hash) from Basecom, Sweet Crystal in San Fernando and Porac in Pampanga, and Central Azucarera de Tarlac in Hacienda Luisita. Gonzales obtained the droppings of chicken, cows and hogs, and hauled in agricultural wastes from public markets. By late 2008, Gonzales and his staff began making organic fertilizer “pala-pala” (shovel) style. Output then was a little over 50 bags a day, which he used in his sugarcane projects. He also handed out organic waste products to friends who agreed to test the fertilizer. Because labor costs ate into his budget and manual work did not prove to be efficient, this mechanical engineering undergraduate fabricated his own machines. “The current output cannot catch up with the big demand,” he says. One client alone needs 35,000 bags a month, for instance. Minus a marketing staff, the plant employs 10 workers, including seven Aeta. Jomer de la Cruz, 19, of Sta. Juliana, Capas, has not even reached Grade 1, but now he drives a forklift. In late 2009, Gonzales started his own organic farm for health and environmental reasons. His one-hectare farm is certified organic by ecoLand, a certification agency. According to a billboard on the site, the farm has met the Philippine National Standards for Organic Agriculture and Processing established by the Department of Agriculture. On the farm, Gonzales and his helpers raise vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, and fruit trees. Gonzales does not sell the produce. He distributes most of the farm yield to family members, friends and workers. On the manufacturing and farming fronts, Gonzales turns to his cousin Eduardo, the Central Luzon assistant director of the Department of Agriculture, for technical advice. Power’s organic fertilizer includes modified sandy soil, found in abundance in Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales following the 1991 eruption, Gonzales says. The organic fertilizer also increases the water holding capacity of the soil by introducing microelements, which improve root penetration. It also minimizes dependence on synthetic fertilizer, eventually turning the farm into a chemical-free plantation. “We can’t just be grumbling and worrying about things. There are solutions,” says the sugar planter, whose sunny disposition is almost legendary in the local industry. |
Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer Sept. 26, 2010. |
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