PinoyEcoFarmer

I think that one of the foundations of being a good farmer is the drive to constantly get more and more information. I know there is no substitute for the actual farming but the theory helps a lot.

These are excerpts from Rodel G. Maghirang’s paper on Organic Vegetable Production, Institute of Plant Breeding College of Agriculture University of the Philippines Los Baños (April 2004):

Combination Planting

• Chilli- with okra, eggplant, radish
• Cabbage- with onion and tomato
• Tomato- with carrot, cucumber, onion, garlic
• Cucumber- with radish, corn, lettuce
• Peanut- with corn, okra
• Radish-with cucumber, tomato. Chilli

Use pest repellent plants

• Spices (onion, garlic, leek, lemon grass, ginger, turmeric)
• Flowering plants (marigold, cosmos, sunflower, zinnia)
• Herbs (basil, tarragon, coriander)

Pest and their repellants

• Ants – mint
• Aphids – garlic, chives, cilantro/coriander/wansoy, anise
• Beetle – tomato, radish, marigold
• Borers – onion, garlic
• Cabbage moth – mint, celery
• Mites – onion, garlic, chives
• Nematode – marigold, dahlia, calendula, asparagus
• Whitefly – marigold

The Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP) is the official certification body for organic products in the Philippines. The Department of Agriculture has accredited OCCP as the first certifying agency for organic agricultural products in the country.

Certification is defined as a system by which the conformity of products, services, practices, etc. to applicable standards is determined and confirmed. This confirmation can be done either by:

• The first party – the supplier
• The second party – the customer, or
• The third party – an independent body

Certification is the procedure by which an independent third party gives written assurance that a clearly identified production or processing system or methodically assessed and conforms to specified requirements/ standards.

Certification of organic agriculture combines certification of products and quality systems, but it is primarily certification of a production system or method. All operation in the product chain, including farmers, processors and distributors, must be certified as acting in conformity with the standards and regulations of the certification program.

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We found this old book (The Green Consumer by John Elkington et al) at Booksale in SM Dasmarinas while scanning their shelves. The book was published back in 1990 (more than 18 years ago) but I noticed that most of what is written are still applicable today.  We still face the same concerns and the book has been reminding us that “we can buy products that don’t cost the earth.”

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Internet has surely revolutionized a lot of things. One of the many advantages it brought is that it has eased the access to information and collaboration among like-minded individuals. As farmers we can also take advantage of the internet. The information is just there for learning and discussion . It is just up to us to discern what would be the best practice that will most benefit  us and the environment.

These are some of the local groups that I recommend:

1.  Natural Farming in the Philippines

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/natural_farming_philippines/);

Worldwide, the growing demand for safe, pesticide-free and naturally-farmed products trigger interest on natural and organic farming. Still considered as a budding sector in Philippine agriculture, nonetheless, organic food production belongs to the top ten priority sectors for revenue development in the Philippines (DTI, 2006). Thus, the Executive Order 481 aims to “promote agriculture development, conserve environmental resources and promote social equity and product access to foreign and domestic markets.”

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