PinoyEcoFarmer

When Leticia Basubas of Barangay Maligaya, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija decided that producing coffee from rice was her likeliest road to success, not a few raised their eyebrows and scoffed at her business sense: “Who will buy your coffee?” “Where will you sell it?” “It will not succeed as it is just an ordinary product.” “Anybody can produce it in the kitchen.” These were some of the reactions that reached Basubas in 1998 when the Green Ladies of Maligaya, a women’s club of which she was president, displayed its wares at a rice exhibit sponsored by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

PhilRice was then introducing rice by-products as potential side enterprises for neighborhood farmers, and the institute had vouched highly for rice coffee, much as it did rice wine and rice-based chiffon cake, butsi and puto pao, rice brownies, rice waffles, rice nougat, rice-enriched pasta and rice noodles. Basubas, an agriculture graduate, was determined to pursue her “kapeng bigas” business. At that time she was working as a PhilRice administrative assistant. She eventually resigned from her job to plunge into rice-coffee making.

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The country’s organic farming movement will get the needed boost as the Department of Agriculture is alloting an initial P900 million next year to implement various initiatives under the “Organic Agriculture Act of 2010” or Republic Act No. 10068.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said the amount will bankroll four major imperatives, in a speech during the 7th National Organic Agriculture Congress, held November 16, in Lucena City, attended by about 750 organic farming advocates, farmers, private entrepreneurs, NGOs, and DA and local agriculture officials.

The four major concerns include policy formulation on organic agriculture products regulation and registration, accreditation, certification and labelling; research, development and extension of appropriate sustainable environment and gender-friendly organic agriculture; promotion of the establishment of facilities that produce organic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other farm inputs, certification process; and implementation of organic agricultural programs, projects and activities, and provision and delivery of support services to farmers and other stakeholders.

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Two non-government organizations (NGOs), with help from the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), are promoting the production of adlai both as a food and medicinal herb. The two NGOs –Earthkeepers and MASIPAG – together with the BAR held recently in Bukidnon a five-day training-planning workshop on adlai production.

In some parts of Asia, adlai is considered a cereal in much the same way that rice is. Its grain is often used in soups and broth. In Southern Vietnam, sam bo luong, a sweet and cold soup, has adlai as its main ingredient. Beers and wines may be made from fermented adlai grains. Aged vinegar is also made out of it in Japan.Yulmu cha, or Job’s tears tea, is a thick drink in Korea made from powdered adlai. The Koreans also produce a liquor that is made from adlai together with rice and it is called okroju. Known widely in Asian countries for its medicinal qualities, adlai a folk remedy for a wide range of ailments.

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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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Serving up organic fare may be enough of a come-on to boost business, but one firm has raised the health ante, gaining a steady stream of loyal customers in the process.

Hecky’s Lechon offers Cebu-style roast pig, promising it to be a “healthier” alternative to other lechon sold in the market. “Our lechon is oven-baked, which means it has less fat,” says Richard M. Dijiamco, managing partner of Food Enterprise Corp. The recipe, and even the oven where the lechon is baked, happens to be the brainchild of Dijiamco’s father-in-law, Hecky Tabuena. Sometime in the 1990s, Tabuena went to Hawaii and was inspired by a barbecue oven he saw during his trip. The oven uses gas and convection to cook the lechon. These gas-powered ovens melt away the fat.

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At first glance it looks like a coconut tree standing in the middle of nowhere. Tall and solitary, it is a silent sentinel over surrounding rice fields. But on closer look subtle differences show—the curve of its leaves, its thicker trunk and a cluster of small brown nuts in place of young coconuts. This is the buri, a species belonging to the palm family. Growing to as high as over 40 feet, it is the tallest palm found in the Philippines.

This tree, called silag by locals, is the source of livelihood for families in Barangay (village) San Aurelio 1st in this eastern Pangasinan town. They use the buri’s large, fan-shaped leaves as roof for their homes, the starch from its trunk as food, and its nectar to produce tuba, a juice loved by many for its sweetness.

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oyster mushroom culture at st pauls university in dumaguete (SPUD)

CAN MUCH money come from growing mushrooms? The answer is a resounding yes. There are thousands already benefiting from raising mushrooms and more can easily follow in their footsteps.

There are four advantages of growing mushrooms. From Marid Digest’s Jesse Jan Edep and Rizal Technological University’s Mushroom Specialist Angelita Medalla, we identified here the following benefits.

1. Edible mushrooms are good sources of high-quality protein. Medalla says: “They can be produced with greater biological efficiency and have an important role in elevating the diet of people suffering from protein deficiency.”
2. Mushroom-growing is one of the most cost-effective ways to convert agricultural waste into a valuable product. The residues left after harvesting mushroom can be converted into feedstock for ruminants and used as soil conditioners.
3. Because of the low investment involved, farmers’ income can increase.
4. A less obvious but very important benefit is that this improves the social status of previously unemployed people.

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Food from the Wilderness is a compilation of known wildfood plants in the Philippines. Specifically, this DENR Recommends series lists 29 species of plants growing in the wilds. These wildfood plants could serve as alternative food source. The compiler indicated valuable information about each species such as its scientific name, family name, common name, description, distribution and propagation. The compiler, more importantly, specified how each species is used as food. Photographs are supplied to facilitate the readers’ identification or recognition of specific wildfood plants.

Readers can enhance their awareness and knowledge of the wildfood plants that could supplement their usual diet and income, and which might readily be available in their localities.

The list of species presented herein is not at all exhaustive. Nonetheless, this particular DENR Recommends can serve as a valuable reference for other researchers to conduct further and more in-depth studies as to the nutritive values of wildfood plants indicated in this series.

Reposted from Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB)

Click on Image or Title to download.

A banana exporting company operating in Southern Mindanao has discovered the benefits of organic farming, and its area devoted to non-chemical agriculture has grown since it adopted the practice.

Dr. Benny Corcolon, vice president for research and information of the Tagum Development Corp. (Tadeco) banana plantation, said the area the firm has devoted to organic farming now makes up 5 percent of their 6,500-hectare plantation. Tadeco mainly grows bananas in Davao del Norte.

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