PinoyEcoFarmer

This is reposted from the Can Guyabano Cure Cancer? - WELL-BEING By Mylene Mendoza-Dayrit (mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com)

The Philippine Star,  August 24, 2010

I remember receiving an e-mail that soursop or guyabano is tens of thousands more potent than chemotherapy. Having just lost a friend this year due to cancer, I looked at the title and trashed the copy dismissing it as another one of those incredulous claims.

Then I met a biochemist from a reputable university who claims three personal encounters with the efficacy of the plant. She excitedly recounted to me — in between rounds of freshly roasted Bataan coffee from her plantation — that the latest case involved the local barangay captain who was diagnosed with cancer. My husband knows him. His family was advised to prepare for the worse as he was thought to have only six months to live. Waiting for the prospect of a costly surgery, the patient got depressed and was resigned that he will not survive this. Gina boosted his morale and gave the friendly advice of taking tea from the soursop bark and leaves.

Apparently, the barangay captain did just that. He drank the soursop tea as his water for three months. He felt better and better and when he had another scan not a single tumor was seen. He was declared cancer-free!

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The government might eventually end up giving out pepper pellets, not for condiments but as a means of decimating dengue-bearing mosquitoes.

This, if scientists at the Philippine National Health Research Institute (PNHRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) would find it practical and effective.

PNHRI Executive Director Jaime Montoya told a press conference that they are looking at the possible use of pepper pellets to reduce the population of dengue vectors.

“May mga technology na tayo laban sa lamok. Napag-alaman ko lang na [We already have technology against mosquitoes. I just learned that] based on the researches made by the PCHRD (Philippine Council for Health Research and Development), ‘yung pepper pellets have (a killing effect) against a larva. Pag nilagay mo sa tubig ‘yan at dumapo d’yan, nangitlog dyan ang lamok, patay ang lamok. [If you put that in water and a mosquito hatches egg on it, it will die],” he said.

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NOT all the king’s men can stop the march of armyworms. What the king’s men failed to do, however, a farmer succeeded in beating back the invading hordes that have been destroying Negros Occidental’s food crops.

A young Kabankalanon farmer-scientist harnessed nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) as a biological weapon against armyworms, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist recently announced. Roland Quimpo experimented with an NPV solution against the armyworms feasting on his peanut plants.

Within three days, the horde was kaput. Quimpo tried the NPV solution against the armyworms in his Tamlang farm. His purok was one of the worst hit with the attack. Said he, “I observed that the worms vomited, no longer ate the leaves of my plants, became weak, their rears turned up, and died.  I found black spots on their abdomen.”

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To ensure better yield and higher rate of survival for seedlings prepared in its very own nursery, Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) is employing the “elevated seedling hardening” technology on the seedlings they distribute to communities in South Cotabato.

Elevated hardening is a leading-edge practice in seedling care developed through a joint study by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), University of Queensland, and College of Forestry and Natural Resources at the Visayas State University.

For the people of South Cotabato, seedling survival of trees and other plants has always been a concern. Poorly cultivated seedlings produce low quality trees that tend to wither and die when exposed to adverse conditions despite proper planting and maintenance of the plantation area. High quality seedlings, on the other hand, facilitate high survival rates of trees and decreased maintenance costs of tree plantations.

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Despite the El Niño, his lowland rice crops reached harvesting stage with more filled grains and more seeds per panicle.

Bernardo Calilung, Magsasaka Siyentista of Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center in Tarlac City, proved that the combined application of vermicompost and vermitea can improve soil condition and agronomic performance of selected rice varieties.

Calilung’s farm in Barangay Amucao, Tarlac City was used as a Science and Technology-based farm (STBF) demonstration plot. The Tarlac College of Agriculture (TCA), Tarlac City FITS Center, Central Luzon Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (CLARRDEC), and the Philippine Coun-cil for Agriculture, Forestry and Natu-ral Resources Re-search and Development (PCARRD) assisted Calilung during the STBF implementation.

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Barnyard in Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Goats gives a detailed and comprehensive guide to raising goats. Raising goats has many benefits including meat and milk. Their manure can also be used in composting.

Goats serve many purposes worldwide. They produce delicious milk, healthfullow-fat meat, and fiber for spinning. They are excellent at brush control, and they may be used to carry camping supplies on hiking trips or hitched up to help withlight chores around the yard. They are inexpensive to maintain, require simplehousing, do not take up a lot of space, and are easy to handle and transport.

Click on the Cover Page or the Title to download.

Compost: The Natural Way to Make Food for Your Garden by Ken Thompson is another reference that will be very useful for gardeners and farmers alike. A straightforward and easy reading that will serve as a composting blueprint.

In a country where 70% of the poor live in rural areas, one tool for poverty reduction that shows great potential is sustainable agriculture, a holistic systems approach to agriculture that adopts indigenous knowledge systems and demonstrates cultural sensitivity. This paper recounts evidence that sustainable agriculture has a positive effect on farm yields and income, accompanied by an initial increase in production costs which tapers significantly over time. The author gives policy recommendations to mainstream sustainable agriculture and lays guidelines for the establishment of a Department of Agriculture program on sustainable agriculture for poverty reduction.

This policy paper examines sustainable agriculture and it’s role in reducing poverty incidence in the Philippines. Maybe we can throw our two cents worth of recommendations as well.

Click on the Cover Page to read the document.

The New Self-Sufficient Gardener: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Planning, Growing, Storing and Preserving Your Own Garden Produce by John Seymour.

John Seymour’s classic guide gives you the knowledge and expertise to create your own self-sufficient garden and produce what you need. Whatever the size of your space, discover how to garden organically and maximize your harvest, without the need for radical changes to your lifestyle. From cultivating vegetables to making cider, keeping chickens to training vines, you’ll garden in tune with the seasons, growing for the year, eating for today and storing for tomorrow. No specialist knowledge required: just clearly explained principles and practicalities ideal for any gardener.

I already have one of John Seymour’s book “The Self-Sufficient Life & How To Live It” which I bought at Booksale (used but very cheap). I really enjoyed reading that book.

The comics starts with questions to serve as GUIDE TO CONSCIENTIOUS FARMING:

What happens to the land?
What happens to the food it produces?
What happens to the people who eat it?
What will eventually happen to the communities?

The publication explains to farmers the Difference Between Chemical and Organic Farming, Crop Differences Between Chemical Farming and Organic Farming, Health and Social Differences, Economic Differences and the Myths and Realities of Organic Farming. This comics also serves as an educational material to promote the benefits of organic farming compared to the synthetic chemical-based farming. The publication was supported by the Australian Government (AusAID) and the Foundation for Sustainable Society Inc.

Click on Cover Page to download.