Agriculture Business Week

The organic fertilizer needs of farmers in Batangas, Quezon, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Mindoro, and fishpond operators in Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Pangasinan could now be fully satisfied by a newly established processing plant in San Juan, Batangas that manufactures Durabloom bio-organic fertilizer for crops and Nova Pure PCM Aqua for fishponds.

Owned by Engr. Reynaldo Garcia, a 45year old construction magnate who used to be in the ricemilling business, the processing plant is a franchisee of the Novatech Agri-Food Industries which developed Durabloom and Nova Pure PCM Aqua.

The bio-organic fertilizer Durabloom is now widely used by corn and sugarcane growers in Mindanao and it appears that the establishment of this processing plant is timely as the processing p’.ant in Bantayan Island in Cebu may have difficulty in satisfying the rapidly growing demand for Durabloom. Nova Pure PCM Aqua, on the other hand, is now widely used by fishpond operators in Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Pangasinan.

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Posted on November 20th, 2008 under Farming, Organic. Tags: Durabloom, Fertilizer. Comments: None

One project that is producing virtually instant positive result was initiated only last September 24. Now it has generated a lot of interest among school kids in growing highvalue vegetables within the school grounds.

This is the vegetable gardening project in elementary and high schools in the second district of Quezon and Lucena City initiated by Congressman Proceso J. Alcala in cooperation with the Department of Education. The project is dubbed “Procesong Gulay Para sa Masaganang Buhay.”

Under the program, the latest varieties of high-value vegetables are grown in the school grounds using environment- and health-friendly, organic and natural farming practices. The program components include capability building which provides seminars on natural farming, including a handbook guide. The program also provides vegetable seeds, and other initial inputs in first cropping. The produce of the first crop will also be bought at prevailing prices so that the proceeds could be used to finance the succeeding croppings.

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Posted on October 24th, 2008 under Organic. Tags: Farming, Organic. Comments: None

Since Nitrogen is a major plant nutrient, farmers usually shell out so much money for chemical nitrogen fertilizers like urea. However, studies show that these imported and expensive synthetic fertilizers make soil acidic and degrade its fertility, and pollute the water table.

This was the reason why Dr. Mercedes U. Garcia of the University of the Philippines Los Banos invented Bio-N, a biofertilizer derived from the bacterium Azospirillum found in the roots of the local grass (talahib), which thrives throughout the Philippines.

According to Dr. Garcia, the atmosphere is comprised of 78 percent nitrogen but it cannot be absorbed by the plants as nutrient. The Azospirillum in Bio-N solves this problem by converting the nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that can be readily used by the plants.

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Posted on October 22nd, 2008 under Organic. Tags: Fertilizer, N-Fertilization, Organic. Comments: None

Farmers often suffer from considerable losses whenever their crops are badly hit by a typhoon. In northern Iloilo, however; corn farmers claim that application of the bio-organic fertilizer Durabloom during planting of corn prevented them, from incurring considerable yield losses.

Members of the Northern Iloilo Corn Producers Association, Inc. (NICPAI) led by their chairman, Jose “Joe” Baldomero, and vice chairman, Jesus “Jess” Salcedo, assert that if not for Durabloom they would have surely suffered much from typhoon Frank’s fury. The corn plants that survived the typhoon apparently had more than enough stored energy.

We were with the NICPAI members at Bantayan Island just before typhoon Frank hit Iloilo and Cebu, and they were saying they never regret using Durabloom as their previous crops were never as pleasing to the eyes as the Durabloom-applied crop. All of them, 13 in all, were expecting a bonanza barring any unforeseen event.

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Posted on October 15th, 2008 under Organic, Other Crops. Tags: Farmers, Fertilizer. Comments: None

Two years after Executive Order 481 was signed and declared that it is a national policy to promote organic agriculture nationwide, the Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), appears to be all out in the promotion of organic agriculture.

At the same time, the Organic Alliance of the Philippines has started to train trainers on organic agriculture and certification.

In his speech during a training at UP Los Banos which was read for him by Dr. Mariano Bugaoan, BSWM Director Silvino Tejada said this sudden shift in agricultural production policy was caused by a number of factors. First, the Green Revolution in the mid-sixties failed to sustain production targets to cope with the rapidly burgeoning population. Secondly, the rising costs of agricultural inputs, primarily inorganic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, exact a heavy burden on our farmers.
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Posted on October 11th, 2008 under Organic. Tags: Organic. Comments: None

As attested by Rogelio dv. dela Pena, there are indeed organic fertilizer producers who add inorganic fertilizer, especially those containing nitrogen, to their organic material. And they call this as “fortified organic fertilizer”.

The first word uttered by Dr. Cezar Mamaril, a retired UP Los Banos soil science professor and IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) soil scientist, was “Wow” when we told him about the observation of dela Pena.

He said there is no such thing as fortifying organic fertilizer with inorganic fertilizer. Once inorganic fertilizer is mixed with organic fertilizer, the mixture is no longer organic. It’s as simple as that in soil chemistry. Moreover, the odor of the mixture is not user-friendly, he said.
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Posted on October 10th, 2008 under Organic. Tags: Fertilizer, Organic. Comments: None

He is now 77, but he is as hale and hearty as ever. He is Angel L. Javellana who used to hold a high executive position in Del Monte Philippines and now enjoying his brand of organic farming in Valencia City in Bukidnon. He calls his place Manupali Natural Farm, a six-hectare property.

Angel, who was born in Iloilo City, is a highly educated professional with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from De La Salle and a masters also in chemical engineering practice from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. In his earlier years he was into teaching at La Salle and for sometime, he engaged in consultancy in the United States. All along, however, he has been interested in farming. And that’s why he enjoyed very much his job as field superintendent at Del Monte from 1966 to 1979.

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Posted on September 13th, 2008 under Entrepreneurs, Organic. Tags: Entrepreneurs, Manure, Organic. Comments: None

There’s another kind of rice that’s starting to create waves in urban markets and farmers from the North and South are cashing in on the bandwagon.

Legends tell of ancient grains exclusively served on tables of royalty. Today, these grains are known as heirloom rice in the United States and other parts of the world. Most heirloom rice production is in remote parts of Asia, including Bhutan, Bengal, and the mountain regions of the Philippines. Here, they are simply called, red rice.

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Posted on August 27th, 2008 under Organic, Rice. Comments: 1

It can not be denied that the high quality of a product speaks well of itself among its users and those who advocate high quality products for their risers. Such is the case of Durabloom, a bio-organic fertilizer manufactured by the Novatech Agri-Food Industries, which is owned and managed by Berlin trained industrial microbiologis Dr Ronaldo A. Sumaoang.

For the second time in a row, Novatech Agri-Food Industries will receive again the Best Bio-organic Fertilizer Manufacturer Award, according to a joint announcement of the National Council for Product and Service Quality, National Product Quality Excellence Awards, and Consumers Today Magazine. Novatech received the award for the first time in 2005, covering the period from 2004 to 2005. This year’s award covers the period from 2006 to 2007. What’s more, no other organic fertilizer manufacturer in the Philippines has received this award.
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Posted on August 14th, 2008 under Organic. Tags: Durabloom, Fertilizer, Organic. Comments: 1