Agriculture Business Week

One municipal head who is really serious in propagating organic farming in his own town is Mayor Leoncio “Jun” Evasco of Maribojoc, Bohol. We met him at an organic agriculture presentation at the Natural Farming Institute in Panabo City last March 19.

The presentation was attended by the head of the Agricultural Training Institute, officials of TESDA, Department of Trade and Industry executives, farmers, Davao City officials and other stakeholders.

Mayor Evasco is in the process of setting up the facilities for a demo farm and training center on organic agriculture in Brgy. Bayacaba, Maribojoc. He has already planted 10 kinds of grasses and several leguminous shrubs on two hectares that will be used as feed for the farm animals. The buildings for goats, pigs, office and some other facilities are already up. In the process of construction is a fermentation house where the fermented juices of fruits, vegetables and other plants will be processed for use in organic farming. He says training will start middle of this year when everything will already be in place.

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The vegetable farmers in Rizal harvested Jupiter 208 hybrid squash developed by breeders of Allied Botanical Corporation which has an experiment station in Tayug, Pangasinan. The plant is claimed to be highly resistant to different kinds of virus that attack the squash family. It has strong vines that produce a lot of fruits. The fruits are 5 to 7 kilos each and are uniformly ribbed so that they are stackable. They can be conveniently stacked on top of one another during transport (see left photo). The flesh is best described in Tagalog as “maligat” which is preferred by most consumers.

The club could also organize farm tours and meetings for both Taiwan and the Philippines to open the eyes of farmers in both countries to the potentials of a closer working relationship. It could also initiate investment forums, particularly Philippine investment policies on agricultural projects that could be undertaken by Taiwanese, and come up with investor-friendly services to facilitate the process of setting up farming operations here. The Board of Investments, Department of Trade and Industry, local government units, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Immigration and the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform can provide a cohesive and clear cut policy to attract investors in various crops and farm animals, fisheries, agro-forestry, food processing and marketing for both local and export markets.

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A lady farm operator who grows fruits and orchids is very ecstatic these days. She is Remy Rodis-Santelices who has a farm in Sto. Tomas, Batangas and another in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan. After three months of using an organic foliar fertilizer on her durian trees, ornamentals and orchids, the plants are doing extremely well. Her durian trees, in particular, have started to produce a lot of flowers since the middle of last December after spraying the trees weekly with the organic fertilizer since last October.

Her colored dendrobium orchids which rarely flowered before have developed fat stems and are now profusely flowering. The same is true with her other ornamental plants. They are growing very vigorously.

The registered name of the foliar fertilizer is Advance Organic Fertilizer manufactured in Cebu by Green Philippines. Soon another factory will be set up in Pangasinan to take care of the requirements of farmers and gardeners in Luzon.

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Who would think that farmers could still extract profit from residues?

Researchers of the Bicol Integrated Agricultural Research (BIARC) do so. They have developed an innovative, environment-friendly technology to convert sweet sorghum residues into bioorganic fertilizer.

Bio-organic fertilizer is compost from any organic material that has undergone rapid decomposition through the action of introduced homogeneous microbial inoculants. It is different from fresh organic fertilizer in which natural decay process is brought about by the action of heterogeneous microbes present in the organic matter. Compared with the traditional composting method, the introduction of microbial inoculants shortens composting time from three months to just three to four weeks.

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“Ang halaman doon ay sari-sari. Singkatnas at talong, sigarilyas at mans, sitaw, bataw, patani, kundol, patola, upo, kalabasa, labanos, mustasa, sibuyas, kamatis,bawang, luya at linga…”

So goes a familiar line of the very popular Filipino folksong “Bahay Kubo.” The 18 crops mentioned in the song are Grown in the Bahay Kubo Garden of the Department of Crop Science of the College ofAgriculture of the Central Luzon State University (CLSU).

A new project of the department, the 200 square-meter garden serves as model for farmers and for urban families in growing organic vegetables in limited space. The garden has planting boxes for each crops. What’s interesting with this is that the crops are planted in the order these are sung in the folk song.

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Although there are more than 400 earthworm species in the country, only a few are efficient for vermicomposting

Earthworms are beneficial soil invertebrates that play an important role in conserving soil and enhancing its fertility. By digesting organic matter, earthworms produce castings that are rich in humus and friendly microbes.

The culture of earthworms or vermiculture is an old industry that began in the United States for the production of worms as fish baits. Its use for the production of organic fertilizer (vermicompost) and for waste management started only in the 1950s.

In the Philippines, vermiculture was introduced in the late 1970s. Although there are more than 400 earthworm species in the country, only a few are efficient for vermicomposting. The “African night crawler” (ANC), an epigeic species (surface-dwelling) is considered the most suitable for the tropics. It was brought into the country by this author in 1982 through a colleague in Germany. After extensive studies, the ANC is now widely cultured in the Philippines for vermicompost and vermimeal (earthworm meal) production.

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This organic egg promotes growth, restores vitality and helps keeps us away from diseases.

Eggs are an essential and versatile ingredient for many baked goods, a key ingredient to so many delicious and nutritious dishes, and of course, great for breakfast.

But nowadays, people are now nary chicken eggs in the market open grass) like becoming conscious about the food they eat. Maybe this is why there were an increasing number of folks claiming to have organically grown eggs. They also believe that it is healthier to eat organic eggs than to have ordinary chicken eggs in the market because organic ones come from chickens that are treated with hormones (antibiotic free) and so our body should be safe from chemicals.

Organic egg, they said, is from free range chicken (raised on open grass) like native chicken.

They eat seed, grains, grass and other plants…unlike the commercial chickens fed with feeds made up of animal and fish byproducts which cause that fishy taste in their eggs. But these are not always true.

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They’re cheap, potent, safe and totally environment friendly. Greenland Farms’ Tony Luna explains why biofertilizers are the smarter way to growing crops.

Spending more on chemical fertilizers these days is considered a “win-lose” endeavor. Not only do you increase your production expense, you are also contributing to the planet’s decay and at the same time jeopardizing the health of others. This is why more and more farmers are shifting their mindsets and embracing the clean and green perspective. The smarter alternative? Shifting to biofertilizers.

Biofertilizers consist of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) which fix atmospheric nitrogen solubilize phosphorus and promote uptake of immobile ions of zinc and other micronutrients. These include bacteria like Azolla, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Rhizobium, cyanobacteria (blugreen algae), phosphobacteria, Sesbania, etc. Biofertizers also provide growth promoting substances like vitamins, hormones, amino acids etc. to the plants. (www.mictobiologysuite101com). In layman’s parlance, “bio” means life and the introduction of live microorganisms into organic fertilizers explains the term.

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A low-cost and effective organic fertilizer from seaweeds has been developed by researchers of the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine School of Technology .

Fertilizers are major inputs in agriculture and aquaculture. The rising prices of petroleum-based chemical fertilizers have increased production costs of farms in the country and reduced farmers’ incomes. The use of organic fertilizers in combination with inorganic fertilizers is now being promoted by the government to improve farm profitability and protect the environment.

A low-cost and effective organic fertilizer from seaweeds has been developed by researchers of the Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine School of Technology (SPAMAST) in Davao del Sur led Gracilla Caballero. The technology was based on the observation that ornamental plant growers use the exudate or drippings of seaweeds for fertilizing orchids. To determine whether there was any scientific basis for such practice, the SPAMAST scientists conducted studies.

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It seems the organic movement is going great everywhere. Thanks to the soaring prices of chemical fertilizers three or four years ago, more and more farmers have turned to organic farming. Instead of urea and the like, many have resorted to processed as well as semi-processed organic fertilizers. An increasing number of practitioners have resorted to beneficial organisms to enrich plant extracts, fish emulsion and so on. More people are turning to fermentation technology for the production of organic plant growth enhancers.

And one of the more interesting developments that came to our attention is the project of Dr. Ofelia Peralta of the Sunshine International School in Daraga, Albay. Last year she bought a one-hectare property in front of her school which she converted into an organic farm producing high-value vegetables and other crops.

What is so interesting is that she has organized an Eco-Friendly Club with the grade school kids as its members. The young children are introduced to the wonderful world of growing crops the organic way. The members hold meetings during which they are taught the basics of growing plants and taking good care of them. This way, they also learn to love eating vegetables and fruits which lead to a healthy life style.

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A seaweed-based organic fertilizer which is said to address micronutrient deficiencies particularly zinc (Zn) deficiency in rice and other crops is one of the products that farmers should not have missed at the recent Agrilink Trade Show held at the 1Vorld Trade Center: Metro Manila in Pasay City.

Called MegaZinc Plus, it reportedly increases rice yield by a minimum of 20 cavans per hectare. It is said to increase resistance of rice plant to pest and diseases, increase tillering, induce uniform maturity of grains, and increase milling recovery. It has 1.62 percent zinc seaweed extracts plus auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins as active ingredients.

Florentino Pangilinan, owner and general manager of Central Luzon Farmers Agro Center in Cabanatuan City, the producer of MegaZinc Plus, agreed that zinc is the most critical micronutrient to rice growth, with Zn deficiency now considered as the third most widespread nutrient disorder in lowland rice areas of Asia next to nitrogen and phosphorus.

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Filipino farmers who are searching for a system that is not only environment friendly but improves their income as well should look no further. The answer to their quest: organic farming.

In Mindanao, at least 120 hectares of rice farms in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao is planted to organic rice. It is an agriculture practice that is already gaining ground around the country’s second largest island as many farmers have now seen the sweet harvest of those who went ahead of them and practiced what was earlier was less popular.

“Organic agriculture is the answer,” pointed out Jessica Reyes-Cantos of the Manila-based Rice Watch and Action Network. “It won’t only retain soil productivity but it can make farming viable. If farmers will have additional income from their land they will continue to plant rice.”

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At 71, Jaime Tadeo has been living a colorful life. From being a government extension worker, he experienced being a communist, activist, convict, and given pardon.

Today, he is living a new, interesting life as an organic farmer. As aging cools his ardor and intransigence for the farmers’ cause, he realizes more threats to the rural community, and one major threat is climate change.

Tadeo believes that organic farming can mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. This is the reason why he joined another movement—a peaceful movement this time and that is Go Organic, Philippines.

It is a consortium of NGOs led by the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) and the La Liga Policy Institute (LLPI). Endorsed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Go Organic promotes the use of organic fertilizers and pesticides.

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Soular Organic Farm’s owners tell us how organic farming changed their lives and how they want to share the same brand of bliss with other people.

Several years ago, Editha and husband Omar ‘Jing’ Tobias were Filipinos  just dream of- Edith as an accountant-comptroller of one of the biggest diamond processors in the world and Jing as a management consultant in New York, nonetheless. They had lucrative jobs, the humbly plush address and luxurious cocktails every weekend as possible.

But the price they paid for that kind of lifestyle was higher than the cost of Big Apple living. “We moved up financially, yes. But my husband and I were away from our children most of the time. We missed countless programs at school for our children and there was even one time when our children had to set up the Christmas tree all by themselves because the two of us weren’t there,” continued Edith.

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