PinoyEcoFarmer

a lush ricefield

What does it take to convert a rice field cultivated the conventional way into an organic farm? One technique is to follow the system of Pastor Jerry Dionson of Humayan Ministry in Bago City, Negros Occidental. He has been helping the farmers in this rice bowl of Negros in converting conventionally farmed fields into organic farms.

Dionson and his farming colleagues have good reasons for converting rice fields into organic farms. For one, it is economical to produce rice the organic way since the farmers themselves are taught to make their own fertilizers and plant protection inputs. Usually, an organic farmer can grow organic rice at a cash expense of only about P14,700 per hectare. For another reason, the price of organic rice is much higher than the conventionally produced grains. The selling price is P60 to P80 per kilo.

As per the experience at the Humayan Ministry, the yield increases as the years pass by. In 2005, when they started converting their farms, the yield was only 75 cavans of palay per hectare. This increased to 87 cavans in 2006, 93 cavans in 2007, 115 cavans in 2008 and then 128 cavans in 2009.

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The pili (Canarium ovatum) tree is the source of the pili nut which is made into delicacies that are the pride of the Bicol Region. What most people don’t know is that the bark of the pili yields a valuable resin – known as “Manila elemi” – which is used in the paint, pharmaceuticals, printing and perfume industries.

However, despite the fact that 225,000 pili trees grow in the Bicol provinces, there exists virtually no resin harvesting enterprises in most parts of the region.

To help start a sustainable industry, the Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) started three years ago teaching pili growers and farmers the scientific way of resin gathering. “The resin must be tapped the right way to make sure that the pili trees are not harmed and their yields are sustained. Over-tapping, deep tapping and frequent re-chipping can damage and eventually kill the trees,” explains FPRDI’s forester Arsenio B. Ella.

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With a year-round produce of vegetables, rice and other crops, people of Tara, a small outlying farming community of Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental, consider themselves very lucky. The harvests came even when last year hundreds of small farmers across the province suffered the brunt of a drought brought about by the El Niño phenomenon causing erratic weather . It is not so much because the Tara villagers are a hardy lot, according to Solflorename Puentespina, a former rebel priest who now works for a nongovernment organization.

A trail-blazing invention allows them to bring irrigation water up-slope from the Bingig River to their farms 10 meters above the source. The Tara Hydraulic Ram Pump System won for the Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. (Aidfi) the top prize of the 2010 BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) World Challenge, a global competition rewarding grassroots projects that give something back to their communities.

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The chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and aquatic Resources (BFAR) is encouraging fish Dagupan farmers to adopt the Isda’t Gabi (Fish and Taro) Culture, an agro-aqua integrated farming technology found to be technically practical and profitable for household-backyard food production. Dr. Westly Rosario, BFAR-National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center chief in Dagupan City, said they are implementing this project in Sto. Tomas, La Union and in the BFAR compound in Bgy. Bonuan Binloc.

Gabi-fish culture can provide a net profit of about P362,000 per hectare in five months, Rosario said. He said the integrated culture of isda and gabi results in increased soil fertility, reduction of weeding cost and optimization of soil use and farm space. He said there are fish species that are suitable for farming together with gabi like tilapia, African catfish (locally known as hito) and freshwater prawn (or ulang to local folks).

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There’s an enterprising balikbayan in Brgy. San Pedro, Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija who grows vegetables in sacks instead of in plots in the ground. She is Thelma Villaroman Zara who used to work for an aviation company in Anaheim, California.

Her duplex house has been attracting a lot of visitors not only from the neighborhood but also from nearby towns. That’s because of the very impressive display of vegetables that are planted in used sacks around the house. Thelma’s house stands on about 2,000 square meters of land. The big space around the house is mostly cemented and is used for drying palay during the dry season. When the area is not used for drying palay, it is not really productive so she decided to do something unusual. She planted different kinds of vegetables in used fertilizer sacks.

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There’s this interesting food place inside the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City where one could imagine being in the midst of a coconut grove though there are no coconut tress around. It’s where people can find “the best coconut ice cream in the world” and very wide array of food all made from coconut. Coconut House is owned by Jun Castillo, an entrepreneur advocate for the Philippine coconut as food.

Castillo believes in the power of the coconut fruit as a health food for the Filipino people. Not for the processed, unnatural and foreign food fare found in fast-food joints and supermarkets, but in the vein of the natural, indigenous, whole foods promoted by the worldwide Slow Food Movement. The food in Coconut House is so amazing that the organizers of the people’s party last June 30 when President Aquino was installed chose it to be one of the official caterers for the guests and dignitaries celebrating the event in Quezon Circle. Kris Aquino was there, reportedly thrilled by the taste and feel of cool coconut water cum lemon grass served in a drinking glass made of fresh bamboo.

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In Barangay Talbak, Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT), Bulacan, about 200 hectares are planted to coffee. Annual coffee green bean production there is around 40 tons, thanks to the Talbak Coffee Growers Association. They are the farmers’ group that has boosted coffee production in DRT. But they are not natives of Bulacan. Their 23 pioneer members came from Cavite. More than 30 years ago, they applied for acquisition of homesteads in DRT before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as the town was a good production area and sure market for coffee.

The group managed to develop their own community now called Barangay Talbak. Coffee, of course, has been their primary cash crop. In the early years of their stay, some of the pioneer members even planted more than 10 hectares of Robusta and Arabica coffee. They also engaged in coffee trading. The group bought coffee green beans in DRT and nearby Norzagay town then marketed these in Cavite where coffee trading was more viable.

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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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On-going studies continue to suggest new ways at looking at natural herbs, paving the way to more business opportunities, like what these companies have found:

DXN
Products: Reisho Gani (RG), Ganocelium (GL) and Lingzhi Coffee
Mode of distribution: Multi-level marketing
Unique Selling Point: Ganoderma Mushroom as key ingredient to its products. The company’s “One World One Market” approach, which means every step of the process—from cultivation, processing and packaging, to marketing of the products— is carried out solely by the company under strict quality control.

R.L.N. Malunggay Herb Tea Manufacturing
Products: Sun Angel Malunggay herb tea, powder and capsules
Mode of distribution: Mercury Drug outlets and through its web site (www.malunggayherbtea.com)
Unique Selling Point: Uses 100 percent malunggay (moringa) leaves in their products, the company being a staunch supporter of breastfeeding, of which malunggay is believed to be a natural aid.

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At first glance, Ruby Cruz seems like any other participant selling herbal remedies at the Megatrade Hall’s event emphasizing organic solutions for health-conscious Filipinos. Eager to have people try their latest product, a dietary supplement called Hydrolean, she chats with visitors sampling the vermillion-colored drink, explaining that the slight itch they feel at the back of their throat is from the ginger extract, while the color of the drink comes from Roselle extract—a natural anti-oxidant that gives the product its cranberry flavor and inhibits the conversion of carbohydrate into fat.

This writer was given five packs of Hydrolean to try out in five days, and while it must honestly be said that the results are inconclusive, the effects of the product cannot be shrugged off. Drinking it just before going on a stationary bicycle for 30 to 45 minutes, the product causes one to sweat more, and possibly makes you want to pedal a bit faster than usual, and represses the urge to snack in between meals. At P700 for 14 sachets, it may be what some people need before the start of their day.

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