An Institute For Organic Farmers

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — The ongoing trend is production of healthy foods, which means naturally-farmed food products that are not sprayed with chemical pesticides or meat products that are laced with antibiotics.

The problem is that there are no well established institutions where interested individuals can learn the fine points of organic agriculture. Most of the seminars are conducted by individuals who have been practicing the techniques of organic agriculture. The curriculum is not included in formal institutions of learning such as the colleges of agriculture and state universities.

Of course, the pioneering individuals are doing good service to the movement. Naturally, if the training is well organized, it could become a healthy partnership of the government and private sector.

Probably that was what was in the mind of Dr. Francisco de la Pena Jr. when he decided to put up about a couple of years ago his Natural Farming Institute in Panabo City. After all, he is the founder of two colleges in Davao del Norte, one in Tagum and the other in Panabo.

So far, he has established showcases of naturally farmed pigs, chickens, goat, vegetables, banana, papaya and even bangus. He has formulated an organic fish feed (he is a fisheries expert with a PhD degree), and has vermiculture bins for the production of organic fertilizer. The institute also has a fermentation house where fermented juices of fruits and plant materials are processed for application in organic farming.

The first batch of trainees came from Davao City consisting mostly of barangay officials. The strategy is to train the higher ups in the community so they can influence their constituents to adopt organic farming techniques more effectively.

One of the most active barangay captains is Jimmy Poliquit of Davao City who has put up his own projects of raising organic pigs and chickens. He is now readying a program whereby the barangay funds will be used to support the dispersal of chickens and pigs among interested barangay members. He stressed, however, that before any recipient is given his pigs or chickens, he will have to undergo training.

Trainees at the Farming Institute of Dr. de la Peña also come from other provinces. For instance, the officials and council members of Maribojoc, Bohol, including Mayor Leoncio Evasco, have undergone training in Panabo
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Organic fertilizer producer reeks of unqualified success

By Tonette Orejas Central Luzon Desk Most Read 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.

DA to give 53 compost facilities to farmers, LGUs

By Vicente Labro

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines -- The government is set to distribute 53 composting facilities worth about P18.5 million to farmers’ groups and local governments in Eastern Visayas.

Leo Cañeda, regional executive director of the Department of Agriculture said the distribution of composting facilities would be in line with the nationwide program called Tipid Abono (Save on Fertilizers) Program-Organic Fertilizer Production Project of the DA.

The program aimed to encourage farmers to use organic fertilizer as a sustainable approach to food security, income generation and poverty alleviation, especially in poor regions like Eastern Visayas, Cañeda said Friday.

He said around 120 composting facilities were earmarked for the region, with the initial 53 now ready for distribution and the rest, to be delivered here next year.

Armando Arcamo, regional coordinator of the DA's Bureau of Soils and Water Management, said the 53 composting facilities would be awarded to beneficiaries in the region during the launching of the program on Oct. 30.

He said the beneficiaries were either farmers groups or local government units, with a 100-hectare cluster in their respective areas.

Arcamo explained that some farmers’ groups sought assistance from local government units because they could not put up the counterpart - a building where the composting facilities would be installed.

"Some LGUs became interested in the program because they could use the composting facilities in their solid waste management program," he said in an interview Friday at the sidelines of the Farmers LGU-led Bantay Peste consultative meeting here.

The project beneficiaries are those in areas where the average yield is below the national average of 3.8 metric tons per hectare, according to Arcamo.

Of the initial 53 units, Arcamo said 25 would go to Leyte, eight to Biliran, five to Southern Leyte and the remaining 15 to the three Samar provinces.

The composting facility is composed of a shredder, compost brewer, 15 kilos of African Night Crawler compost worms, and three units of vermi-bed.

The composting facility can produce 800 kilos of shredded materials per hour or 64,000 kilos per day at eight hours of operation, which would make it appropriate for a 100-hectare-cluster, he said.

Each program package, costing P350,000 and composed of the compost facility and a training program, would be given as a grant to beneficiaries, Arcamo said.