MAKING YOGURT AT HOME

We made a fresh batch of yogurt last night. It had been a long while since we made a large batch so I took the opportunity to document this with my phone camera. Here are the simple steps in making the probiotic using a commercial product as starter:

1. Use whole milk. I used a powdered whole milk that I bought from the bakery supply store at P125
   
   per kilogram. I mixed 1 cup of the whole milk in 4 cups purified water and blended it thoroughly.
   
   
   
   
   

2. Heat the blended milk up to 55 degrees Celsius. I bought my thermometer at Rose Pharmacy for about P60.00.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

3. Blend in the commercial yogurt preparation that can be bought at the cold section of any supermarket here in Iloilo City. Use the plain “Creamy” type, not the fruit blends.
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
    
   

4. Immediately transfer to a small styropore ice chest. If needed, add warm water heated at 60 degrees Celsius around the base of the yogurt container (outside). Be sure your styropore ice chest doesn't leak.
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. Wait overnight and you'll have about 1 liter of yogurt in the morning. It's a perfect yogurt, sourish sweet. You can add fruits or dilute it for a yogurt drink. Each serving of 125 grams will cost you about P10.00, very much cheaper than the commercial which is P29.00.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

AART: Providing Fish Farming Technology and Fingerlings for Ilonggos

Immediately upon his assumption as Governor again, Hon. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. ordered Ms. Alma Moreno-Caballero, Agricultural Center Chief II, to organize and develop the Demonstration Fish Farm in Brgy. Nanga, Pototan. The area is part of the agricultural demonstration complex and the Iloilo Rehabilitation Center. While the other components of the demonstration farm had already been developed, the fish farm component had not been given much attention, mainly because it had just transferred from its old location in Molo, Iloilo City when the lease agreement with the Iloilo City Government had just expired.

Getting funds from the regular budget of the Iloilo Provincial Government, Ms. Moreno started to develop the area by first preparing the development plan where the general concept was to provide a site for validation research, technology development on freshwater aqua-culture and to provide on a limited scale, fries and fingerlings of popular freshwater species that can be grown by farmers all over the province.

Meanwhile, Ms. Moreno was aggressive in coordinating with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources where she availed of various training and acquired breeders of the latest fishes being promoted by the bureau. By the end of 2010, she reported the demonstration farm's various accomplishments that included among others, the acquisition of the latest improved strains of Tilapia and the emerging sunshine aqua-culture fish, the Pangasius.

Also during that time, BFAR Regional Office was looking for recipients of grants for demonstration farms and citing the accomplishments of the demonstration farm at Nanga, Pototan, offered a module worth more than P3,000,000.00 to Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. who gladly accepted and also advanced the Province's counterpart funding. The project is now underway.

Meanwhile, Ms. Caballero exerted greater efforts and looked for talents who would be able to support the demonstration farm's pool of qualified personnel. She then endorsed to Governor Defensor trained aquaculturist Pedro Blacer who then became the lead man in producing spawns of tilapia and on growing the Pangasius. Concerted efforts by her team led to the production of more fingerlings and the high survival of Pangasius fingerlings. Also on board is the culture and breeding of freshwater prawn or “olang” in Ilonggo/Hiligaynon.

With the finalization of the development plan for the demonstration farm, it was only fitting that it be renamed ART Development Center or Aqua-culture Research and Technology Development Center which is now the center for freshwater aquaculture research in the Province of Iloilo.

Tilapia is now popular all over the world. Western countries export this fish as fillet or as frozen whole fish. The Philippines is still a minor player in the export market because of the minimal government support in the research and development compared to other Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam which are now the world's top fish producers.

Pangasius meanwhile is known as dory fish in plush restaurants and hotels worldwide. It is exported as fillet and is popular among chefs because it can be prepared in so many ways due to its neutral taste and flavor. Its white meat also makes it a good substitute for other more expensive species. Since it is native to the Mekong Delta, Vietnam and Thailand are still the biggest exporters of this fish species.

The Provincial ART is still the only provincial facility in the region to grow Pangasius with the aim of raising breeders so that the hatchlings can be grown and dispersed to farmers province-wide. Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. is confident that with both the efforts of the Provincial government and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Pangasius can be one of the major fish commodities produced by farmers in the province.

ENGINEER SIDELINES AS AN ORGANIC RICE FARMER

Engr. Mina Gallego who works at the Provincial Engineering Office got sick when she was about 36 years old. Her doctor advised her to undergo medical procedure to remove her myoma which had grown fast. Hesitant, she went to other doctors for a second opinion and the same diagnosis was given. By the time she was forty, she was ashen faced and very sick. Yet she was afraid to go under the knife and so she sought alternative medical opinion. She met a Dr. Ramos who practiced natural medicine in the US and gladly accepted his recommendation for a detoxification process.

Engr. Mina went through the whole detox program of Dr. Ramos, which was the rigorous intake of his formula of fruit juices and a strict vegetable and fish diet regimen totally abstaining from meat. It took her more than a year to recover and by the time she ended her detoxification, she was totally healed. That experience taught her a valuable lesson that diet plays the most crucial role in one's life and that healthful food should be the person's primary concern.

That experience also drove her to test her skills as a farmer and she took over her father's 2.75 hectares farm in Brgy. Naga in Pototan in year 2007. Leaving the 2,500 sq. meters built up area, the net area for rice farming was about 2.5 hectares. At the start, she adopted the conventional farming system which is being practiced by all farmers in her community. For that 2.5 hectares, she used 12 sacks of rice seeds, 5 bags Urea and 14-14-14 and top dressed with 2 more bags Urea. She also applied 1 liter of foliar fertilizer.

Aside from these chemical inputs, she also applied 38 bags of vermi cast or the manure produced by earthworms. To control weeds, she applied 3 gallons of Microbase. Both the vermi castings and Microbase were supplied by a known organic inputs supplier in the area. Her inputs and efforts resulted to a good crop of 198 sacks of palay for the main crop and another 30 sacks from the ratoon crop 45 days later. She herself was surprised by the ratoon crop which was productive because all her neighbors did not practice ratooning. The stalks of their rice plants were not sturdy and healthy after the panicles where harvested.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she decided full conversion to organic farming by June 2008. This time she applied 25 bags vermi compost, 3 gallons of Microbase and 3 liters per week of the probiotics solution provided by the same organic inputs supplier. This time even without the chemical inputs, she harvested 96 bags of palay. She went another step further in November 2008 where she used only 3 bags rice seeds, 20 bags vermi cast, 3 gallons Microbase to control weeds and 2 containers (40 liters) per week of her own probiotics which is based on the fermentation of Tibicos, a type of probiotics said to have originated in Nepal or the Himalayas (http://healthmad.com/alternative/tibicos-mushroom-a-miracle-cure/).

Her non-conventional farming methods also gave problems for her. Her neighbors thought she was crazy and would just look at her weirdly. It also came to a point that the laborer which she paid P3,000 per month just to follow her orders must have been laughed at and left suddenly. The disruptions in the schedules of spraying and other timely farm activities resulted to a low harvest of 75 sacks of palay. She was further challenged when a neighbor approached her to propose that he will lease her farm since she was only experimenting and playing with it.

Another blow hit her next season when she acquired faulty seeds from a government agency. She only used 15 bags vermi cast and her farm hand lied to her about using Microbase as scheduled and weeds overran her rice crop. Despite the bad start, her rice seedlings showed promise and at 15 days old, they already started to tiller because the soil was already fertile. But she was dealt a double whammy when Tungro, a dreaded viral disease brought by the plant-hopper vector hit the whole farm. However she persisted and while her neighbors had total crop loss, she was still able to harvest 48 sacks. She attributed this recovery to her weekly spraying of 60 liters of tibicos solution.

At the start of the second crop in Novermber 2009, she planted Red-64, a local discovery which originated when a farmer planted a crop of IR-64 beside a traditional red rice strain and the IR-64 cross pollinated and resulted to a red strain which had excellent eating quality. Engr. Mina sourced her seed from another farmer-engineer, Ananias Lago. This time she applied 14 bags vermi cast and Microbase to control weeds. Again, she applied a weekly dose of Tibicos and other fermented juices which she made personally. This time, her harvest went up to 90 bags.

Buoyed by the increasing yields of her farm, she got bolder and by June 2010, she used 5 bags Red 64, 10 bags vermi compost and again the weekly spraying of Tibicos and other fermented juices. This time she went without Microbase. Even when El Nino hit the country, she was not bothered. While her neighbors' farms were dry and the soil cracked, hers was also affected but the cracks were very few and mud was still knee deep even in the midst of the driest periods. Her farm hand and her neighbors often went to inspect the crop and were surprised at the micro-ecosystem that had established. Spiders, dragonflies and other predators had re-colonized and despite the heavy presence of green and brown plant hoppers, her farm was not at all affected by the Tungro virus! This time she harvested 196 sacks of rice.

When asked by neighbors about the secret of her farm, her farm hand answered that she is using herbal medicines, aptly called in Ilonggo/Hiligaynon as “harampol” and “luy-a-luy-a”. This insinuates that she must have resorted to mumbo-jumbo often associated with witch doctors and herbalists. However, the use of fermented juices and vermi-casts are an established protocol in organic farming and had been carefully studied by advocates of natural farming and organic farmers.

Now fully confident, Engr. Mina has recently planted her farm with 1 sack black rice, 1 sack white, 1/3 sack glutinous or malagkit and 4 sacks of her old reliable Red 64. This time she said, she will stick to her established protocol that gave her the 196 sacks of rice despite the El Nino.

She had her low moments too, she said. Being called crazy is one thing that challenged her and she knew that she was in the right direction that is why she persevered and proved to everybody that she was right all along. Her initial low yields were brought by the poor soil conditions and the lack of a stable ecosystem in the farm. The rice plants were always attacked by pests and diseases as well as the drastic changes in weather conditions. Rice plants grown on basic nutrients supplied by chemicals are not sturdy since they grow fast and lack a balanced nutritional profile. Organically grown rice plants however are healthier and sturdier where insect pests find it hard to penetrate the hard outer stem.

Balanced nutrition provided by the organic fertilizers, the presence of good bacteria both in the plants and in the soil, and, the non-use of pesticides have also ushered the reestablishment of a balanced ecosystem where insect predators attack insect pests and thus keep their population low. So Engr. Mina haven't seen the need to use pesticide poisons for her farm.

Producing organic rice has rewards too. She sells her milled red rice at P45.00 per kilogram, to co-employees and others who have learned about it. This is about P12.00 per kilogram higher than the standard milled rice in the market. Asked about her income from farming, she says that she just earns a bit at the moment because of the experimentation she had gone through but she is optimistic that there is already a turn around and the future efforts will be much brighter. If her prices hold, she says that she will be earning almost twice any rice farmer having the same area that she has. She is very happy that since starting her farming efforts, her whole family had been behind her, supporting her activities and experiments.

GOD vs. SCIENCE

WE LIFTED THIS FROM THE EMAIL THAT HAD BEEN SENT TO US. PLEASE DON'T STOP READING TO THE END:

Professor begins....

In hopes that all our college students are able to discern this well! 'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.'  The atheist professor of Philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of His new students to stand. 'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?' 'Yes sir,' the student says. 'So you believe in God?' 'Absolutely. ' 'Is God good?' 'Sure! God's good.' 'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?' 'Yes' 'Are you good or evil?' 'The Bible says I'm evil.' The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and You can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?' 'Yes sir, I would.' 'So you're good...!' 'I wouldn't say that.' 'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.' The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does He? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?' The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you? the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella.. Is God good?' 'Er..yes,' the student says. 'Is Satan good?' The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.' 'Then where does Satan come from?' The student falters. 'From God' 'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there Evil in this world?' 'Yes, sir.' 'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?' 'Yes' 'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created Everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.' Again, the student has no answer.  'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?' The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.' 'So who created them?' The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student.. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'  The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.' The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to Identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?' 'No sir. I've never seen Him.' 'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?' 'No, sir, I have not.' 'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, Or, God for that matter?' 'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.' 'Yet you still believe in him?' 'Yes' 'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, Son?' 'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.' 'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.' The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?' ' Yes.' 'And is there such a thing as cold?' 'Yes, son, there's cold too.' 'No sir, there isn't.' The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.' Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer. 'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?' 'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?' 'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?' The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?' 'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.' The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?' 'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.'  'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'  'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?' 'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.' 'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?' The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.  'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?' The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. 'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.' The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelled the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so.  So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?' Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith..' 'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'  Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.' To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'  The professor sat down. If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face when you finished, mail to your friends and family with the title 'God vs Science' PS: The student was Albert Einstein Albert Einstein wrote a book titled "God vs Science" in 1921...

LEON-ALIMODIAN ORGANIC FARMERS MAKING MARKETING HEADWAY

We had been helping and monitoring the marketing activities of organic farmers of Leo and Alimodian for about two months now. We have gotten involved when Tony and Baby Capirayan of Tacuyong Sur in Leon made a surprise visit at our office at the Provincial Capitol. We had our last meeting with the couple about two years ago when they suddenly appeared and briefed us that they were able to access some funds from a sectoral representative. The project, they said,was being implemented by a state-run university. We lost track of each other because they must have been busy implementing the project.

As we talked, I sensed something was wrong and they needed help so we processed them and found out that they were losing money on an untested marketing concept called Sabado Merkado at the parking lot of a Mall in the heart of the city. They said that they were charged about P5,000.00 per week for four hours of selling, roughly P1,250.00 per hour. Added to this fee is the cost of transport from Leon and Alimodian for them and their goods. Often, they have to stay overnight so they have to factor in the cost of food. They haven't added the inconvenience of sleeping without mosquito nets among their goods as well as the hardship of looking for clean toilets to relieve themselves.

They said they were selling organic vegetables worth about P15,000.00 every week which they and fellow farmers grow. At the most, the margin of profit would be about 25 percent or a mere P3,750.00, more or less which would not cover the cost of space rental! The Sabado Merkado has ended and the farmers say they have lost more than P42,000.00 from the rentals alone, not accounting yet, the efforts and the personal expenses they have incurred. That amount is badly needed by the farmers and it will take time for them to recover from that loss.

We proposed that they should also study their situation, their products and their market. Organic vegetables are not yet favored by Ilonggo consumers and there needs to be some visibility and the only way is to expose the vegetables longer in a high retail traffic area. Sabado Merkado cannot offer such solution. We proposed that they should find venues that would not charge them high fees and stay for a longer period so that the consuming public can be educated on the merits of organic farm products and thus establish preference and later patronage.

They also realized that their other major expense area is transport. Bringing in the products from the interior barangays up to the city market reach as much as P800.00 per week. The biggest transport expense is taking the taxi from the terminals to the stocking areas and from the stocking area to the mall parking area or to the retail market they have identified. The loss of more than P42,000.00, they said could have gone to the down payment of a multi cab which could have eased their burden and expense since the vehicle can go right to the communities where farmers grow their vegetables. The monthly amortization of P11,000.00 can easily be taken cared of from the income they get if they do not pay for the rentals at the mall.

The efforts of these farmers are recognized by the town mayor Hon. Rolito C. Cahilig who recently passed by their makeshift table at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol. Mayor Cahilig was profuse in his appreciation for Governor Arthur Defensor for allowing the farmers to display and sell organic vegetables along the covered passage way every Friday. This gesture had enabled the farmers to have a high visibility for their goods.

The Department of Agriculture Region VI had also opened an area for display and marketing of other groups too. Slowly they said, organic vegetables are gaining ground in the consciousness of Ilonggo consumers. We said that even if they are losing right now, they should sacrifice more if only to establish awareness among the Ilonggos that organic vegetables are healthier and safer. The exposure need not be expensive and they should find other venues which if possible would not be expensive, unlike the mall parking lot where the lease alone eats up 60 percent of their gross margin.

They should also find means to get reliable vehicle which they themselves would own to cut the expenses on transport. They can do this with a loan or with a grant from some donor agency. May be if ever there is a new grant, the project cost will cover such and should pay less on the consultancy fees of the supposed “experts”.