PinoyEcoFarmer

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises”. Leo.F. Buscaglia

I was very excited and honored by the opportunity to share my knowledge on vermiculture and vermicomposting to students, teachers, parents and staff at the Bayanan Elementary School Main (BESM) in Muntinlupa City this past Saturday (January 28, 2012). The basic training was a compressed 3-hour event meant to introduce vermicomposting and set up an actual vermiculture and vermicomposting bed.

What I taught and showed them were the actual lessons that I learned in my own vermicomposting experience. The concepts were lectured in Filipino  and supplemented with research from other publications for better understanding. Among the topics covered in my presentation were definition of vermicomposting terms, considerations for the vermibed, and the advantages of vermicomposting.

Flory Tabio, the Executive Director of the Philippine Transmarine Carriers -Carlos Salinas Jr. (PTC-CSJ) Foundation – engaged in programs related to education and people empowerment; marine environmental awareness and protection; livelihood promotion; and literacy, art, music and sports development – facilitated the realization of the training as a great complement to the Foundation’s “Growing Good to Great Kids” or 3G Program that is being implemented in BESM.  The 3G Program aims to improve basic education primarily by feeding nutritious meals to severely malnourished pupils. Organic wastes from the feeding program (such as vegetable peelings and desiccated coconut) which were previously just thrown away, can now be processed by the worms as organic fertilizer (vermicast) and used in the school garden. The worms and vermicast can be eventually shared with the wider community.

It was good to know from the participants themselves that it did conform to what they expected at the onset of the training. The brief lectures and actual hands-on exercise was very helpful in making them understand what vermicomposting is all about. For some who are already into vermicomposting, it was a revalidation and improvement of their own practices. A concrete output of the training was the setup of a vermicompost bed in the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) or waste segregation area of the school.

As an eco-farming advocate, I will always gladly help spread these environmentally sound practices and make people better understand the advantages of farming the sustainable way.

Basic Vermicomposting Training. (click on title or image to download presentation)

Other Useful References:

Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture

Guide to Vermiculture and Vermicomposting

In today’s urgency to go all natural and green, many industries are making an effort to evaluate their old ways and embrace new (or old yet effective) methods to turn out quality products without compromising the already fragile ecology. Hog-raising is one of those industries that is seeing an earnest revamp. This endeavor is locally being spearheaded by a newly-formed group dubbed the Natural Piggery Movement.

Led by its convenor Gil Carandang, the Natural Piggery Movement (NPM) is an organization of committed hog raisers advocating the cause of mitigating harmful environmental effects of pig production. The NPM aims to create balance between pork production, food safety and environment protection through the natural way of raising hogs.

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Larry Milloroso, a 43-year old farmer from Barangay Dongon East in Numancia, Aklan is glad he has shifted to natural rice farming. Among the reasons he practices natural farming in his farm include getting a good harvest, additional profit, healthier environment, and chemical-free rice on the table.

Larry cultivates a 5,500-square meter irrigated ricefield that he planted to NSIC Rc 120 this season. In Aklan where farmers’ landholdings are commonly small and contiguous, this area can already be considered good enough to produce rice for family consumption and have some extra harvest for sale. He also grows latundan banana on 1,000 square meters, and mungbean and squash in the adjacent 1,000 square meters.

Larry learned about natural farming from PINA Foundation Inc., a non-government organization funded by the Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund which aims to help farmers increase production and income through sustainable agriculture. In 2003, PINA Foundation office in Kalibo, Aklan conducted a six-month season-long farm school in Numancia where Larry was one of the 15 enrollees.

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We had our vermicomposting bin setup with the help of two friends (Xavier and Malou Peña) over the weekend. They brought a kilo of African Night Crawlers (ANC) worms and showed us how to properly prepare the bed.

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Our backyard garden may be small but nothing compares to the simple joys of harvesting something from it. We gathered the first fruits of our pipinitos (mini cucumbers) after just barely two months after we first sowed the seeds.

For breakfast, we  sliced the pipinitos into thin pieces as salad and it was great with rice, sardines and scrambled eggs. We also prepared a blended pipinito smoothie out of our harvest. All we did was mix some calamansi juice, add honey to sweeten and some crushed ice. The result was a refreshing and delicious drink.

Growing pipinitos is easy. Sow the seeds directly and put a trellis near it (a tree branch will do), water regularly and wait for nature to run its course. We did not put any fertilizers nor applied pesticides but we got good results. Imagine doing this in your own yards.

Carbonized rice hull is a crucial ingredient of bokashi organic fertilizer and can also be used in composting toilets and animal bedding. CRH results from the incomplete combustion of rice hulls under high heat and low oxygen conditions (pyrolysis). Pyrolysis causes the decomposition of organic materials such as lignin and cellulose, leaving a residue of carbon and mineral nutrients.

Click on Carbonized Rice Hull to view in pdf format.

The document was done by one of the members of Natural Farming Philippines.

The three-day 3rd Pinoy Organic Festival will open on May 28, 2010 (Friday) at the AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center at the Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City. The event will end on Sunday, May 30, 2010.

The organic fest will be participated in by organic farming practitioners, advocates from the government, academe and the private sector. Various organic products will be exhibited for sale by growers and processors of various commodities.

Expected to grace the 3-day festival are:

1. Pablito Villegas (trustee of the Organic Produce Trade Association, owner of Villegas Organic Farm, and convenor for Asia of the Intercontinental Network of Organic Farmers Organization)
2. Sen. Miguel Zubiri (one of the principal authors of the Philippine Organic Agriculture Law)
3. Rep. Proceso J. Alcala (Congressman of Quezon Province and a staunch advocate of natural farming)
4. Armand and Teresa Saniano of the Earthkeepers (Teresa Saniano write a book on natural farming)

The Quizon Farm in Antipolo City will also display live turkeys as well as processed turkey meat products.

The exhibits, the forums and seminars are open free to the public. The event organizer, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, is the Agri-Aqua Network International (AANI). Pol Rubia is AANI’s vice president and operations manager.

See you there.

Note: Article is a repost.

This is a list of botanical plants, methods of preparation and insect pests controlled and or prevented.  No formal scientific study was undertaken on the effects of these botanical plants in the control of pests. However, with the integration of other (cultural, biological and mechanical) measures, an experiment at the garden at the Bureau of Plant Industry – Los Banos National Crop Research and Development Center (BPI-LBNCRDC) produced substantial amount of healthy vegetables.

This is worth a try. Afterall, all of them are easy to obtain.