Natural Farming in Los Amigos
A number of enterprising farmers are doing their brand of natural farming in Brgy. Los Amigos in Tugbok district, Davao City. They are showing how one can succeed in farming without using the conventional means of growing crops, like controlling pests and diseases with chemical pesticides. They don’t use chemical fertilizers either, which don’t only make the soil acidic, they are also very expensive.
Among the natural farming practitioners we met during our visit to Davao City are Dante Delima an agriculture graduate from Cebu, and Wilfredo “Tibaw” Santander, a commerce graduate from Davao City. Both have been previously connected with non-government organizations (NGOs) that have been engaged in community development, particularly advocating natural farming.
When they were connected with the NGOs, they went around lecturing and teaching the basics of natural farming. However. they yearned to practice the techniques they were teaching to the other farmers. So they opted to go into natural farming on their own in 2005.