Sustainable and Organic Rice Agriculture

“Likas-Kaya at Organikong Pagsasaka ng Palay” (Sustainable and Organic Rice Agriculture) by University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) Professor Oscar B. Zamora and his team. The Go-Organic! Philippines Movement and the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) helped launch the manual.

The book tackles land preparation, seed selection, seed preparation (wetbed, drybed, dapog and SRI methods), seeding (wet, dry). It discusses the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers on the soil. Water is an important subject too. A whole chapter is devoted to pest control and management. Chapter 10, Pagiiba at pag-uugnay ng mga gawaing pangsakahan, (changing and integrating farm activities) deals with transfer of energy, water and substances cycles, plants, animals, biodiversified farming system, synergy, etc.

Farm management is something farmers also need to learn well in order for their endeavors to be both profitable and sustainable. A whole chapter is devoted to organic fertilizer production, composting methods, the Korean natural farming, Bokashi fermented fertilizer, carbonized rice hull. The last chapter offers 10 principles and methods (vertical and horizontal conversion) on how to convert into likas-kayang pagsasaka (LKP) or sustainable agriculture. What to consider before converting, and more.