MODELING RICE-BASED INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS IN ILOILO

The instructions of Hon. Governor Arthur Defensor for more food production necessitates the shift from the conventional systems to a more holistic approach where the farmers are taught how to harness every factor to make his farming not only successful but also sustainable. For this, we will not only revisit proven farming technologies but also those which are emerging and gradually establishing themselves as part of the mainstream technologies which may help us in Iloilo to sustain and even improve food production output.

The basic definition of an integrated farming system is the principle of planning and implementing a farming approach where all components or features are inter-related and supportive of all other sub-components. There is usually a focal system or crop, for example, rice, corn vegetables or pigs. In a truly rice-based integrated farming, there would be rice taking up a major portion of the area but all other features would be supportive of the main crop.

Rice being a heavy nutrient consumer need high amounts of external inputs (translation: high chemical fertilizer requirements) since the new types or the high yielding varieties, especially the new hybrids had been re-engineered to require high amounts for it to produce high yields. Thus, in an integrated system, the farmer needs to impute a nutrient producer and the recommendation of various institutions like the FAO is for livestock and poultry to be included in the rice farm (http://www.fao.org/docrep/ 006/y5098e/y5098e04.htm). FAO or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has identified three (3) major rice-based systems in Asia, all of which integrates livestock and poultry into the system.

Laguna Province is noted for its vast rice lands but it is also known that a major portion of its rice farmers are among the lowest income earners. This became the entry point for the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to set up the Center for Rural Technology Development (CRT), a center that dedicated itself to developing, validating and disseminating practical and applicable technologies that helped improve the income streams of rice farmers in Laguna and now in many parts of the country and abroad (http://crtd-pbsp-crtd.blogspot.com/). With the help of CRTD, many rice-based integrated farming technologies were developed and which helped farmers with even less than one (1) hectare of land earn decent incomes to improve the quality of life of their families.

One technology developed at CRTD is the BUKHAY (Bukid ay Buhay), translated simply: there is life in farming. This technology focuses on small farm holding of less than one hectare. There is a model where the farmer and his family lives and works on half a hectare and earns at least P100,000.00 per annum net income. The farm is divided into permanent areas of rice, pig pen, fish pond which drains to the rice farm and where fishes are released to feed on the weeds and pests of rice and forced back to their main pond when operation like harvesting and land preparation are done.

Like the requirement noted by the FAO which identifies nutrient inputs as a major factor in the success of an integrated farm, the farmer in a rice-based model grows his own fertilizers in the form of pigs, ducks, chickens and earthworms as the component or sub-system to digest and speedily decompose the manures so that the application to the rice plants is timely and safe. Partially processed animal and poultry manure is harmful instead of beneficial to plants due to the chemical burning during decomposition.

Main Crop: Rice

A typical rice-based integrated farmer would grow rice in a 3,500 sq. meters area, which when feasible would be totally organic and thus would give his produce a premium price in the market, more so if he grows the fancy and purple or red strains. If he grows the fragrant hybrids, he will have a potential of 8 to 10 tons of palay per hectare and with his area of 3,500 sq. meters, this would reach to about 2.8 metric tons which when milled at a conversion rate of 65%, he would net about 1,800 kilos of clean rice. At P30 per kilogram, he would gross about P54,000.00 per cropping. More if he grew fancy rice which fetch about P45.00 per kilogram in the market.

Rice is grown organically or with the least or non-use chemical poisons. Resorting to the technology developed by the Japanese horticulturist Dr. Teruo Higa, the farmer and his family produce their own concoctions for farm application. The center of this concoction is the Effective Micro Organisms Technology or the EM-1, a concentrate of fermented rice where several types of beneficial microbes had been cultured. While there are commercial preparations already available at expensive prices, the farmer can make his own at a much cheaper price and with the same effect. It is also sometimes called the Indigenous Micro Organisms, especially if home-made.

The dikes of the integrated farm are intentionally made large but low to accommodate vegetables and small fruit trees on both sides. The vegetables and fruits like guava and banana are another source of food and income for the farm family. In between the fruits and vegetables are forage plants like napier, ipil-ipil and other legumes that will be fed to the pigs and goats.

To reactivate soil microorganisms, the EM solution is applied to the soil during various stages starting at land preparation. The EM solution is also applied at various stages of growing the pigs, chickens, ducks and even the fishes. The beneficial bacteria intervenes by helping out in many ways, from strengthening the immune system to reactivating the good bacteria that fights viruses and other deleterious microorganisms that would otherwise infect the crop and animals.

In this model, the farmer raises 5-6 heads of pigs for fattening or finishing every six months, mostly timed so that he can sell his pigs when prices are high and not when he needs this for family expenses or school fees. Instead of relying on commercial feeds, the farmer feeds them with home-mixed rations based on the formula provided by the CRTD technicians. Farm rejects and excess produce like spoiled banana, rotting vegetables, kangkong and others are fed to the pigs which not only reduce the cost but also provides good nutrition. While other farmers make about P800.00 per pig for the six months that they raise them, a Bukhay farmer earms several times more since he grows most of the feeds and often slaughter the pigs himself for sale to neighbors and use some for processing into sausages and bacon for added value and income.

Chickens and ducks are also an important part of this model. But they are grown in confinement and pastured when the rice crops are not in danger of being damaged. They are grown for the eggs and meat for sale. Ducks however are more preferred since they also perform the task of clearing the rice fields of the dreaded pest: the golden apple snail which can destroy as much as 40% of the rice crop. Since the chickens and the ducks have dedicated pens, it is easy for the farmer to collect the manures which are then fed to the earthworms which can convert them into organic fertilizer ideal both as soil and leaf (foliar) fertilizers.

The earthworms are also a valuable commodity. Using the fast-reproducing African Night Crawlers (Eudrillus eugeniae), the worms themselves can be used as feeds not only for the chickens and ducks but for the tilapia which can be grown in a separate pond and released to the main rice field when water is high enough and weeds have started to grow. Tilapia are omnivorous and will feed on both grasses and the insects infesting the rice field. When feeds are lacking, earthworms may be fed and which will hasten the growth of the fish since earthworms have almost the same quality and levels of protein as meat.

There are already many farmers in other parts of the country who have established their own rice based integrated farms but only a few Ilonggos have adopted this system. In our visits around the province, we have interviewed many of the non-adopters and their basic answer is that developing an integrated farm is laborious and capital intensive. Many of them however are poor and they have the attitude of stopping all farm activities even before sunset which is the mindset of a laborer or an employee. In our opinion, it is not the system that should be introduced but more intensive activities should be spent on changing the attitudes of farmers and this cannot be done by mere training since for several decades now the Department of Agriculture had been conducting never ending trainings and seminars. Probably the best approach would be to concentrate technology transfer on a few progressive-minded farmers so that technology radiation shall emanate from them.

ROD TECSON: FARMER-ENTREPRENEUR

 

This top rated radio broadcaster is a certified farmer-entrepreneur. He can definitely make money on almost anything that grows on his farm. He also makes use of his time as productively as possible, be it on his farm or on his free time before and after his time slot as anchorman for the popular morning talk show segment. He epitomizes the popular American saying that goes: “A true entrepreneur is one who when thrown to the Florida Swamps, makes money from the alligators, including their cries”.

After acquiring an abandoned farm land in the middle of Guimaras Island-province a few years ago, he immediately brought in some of his siblings, cousins and some laborers to clean and start a farm. He also conditioned the century-old mango trees so they can bear fruits which he can sell when matured. He also initiated any type of crop which he think will help him earn and pay for the lease of the land.

While experimenting with crops, he was introduced to the possibility of raising white leghorns, the chicken breed ideal for commercial egg production. So he approached a commercial raiser for an initial stock of 250 heads, on a complete system: cages, facilities and stocks. The supplier also transferred the technology of raising using the commercial approach where everything relies on feeds and veterinary medicines.

FARMING AS A BUSINESS:

The initial egg production system and stocks enabled him to learn the ropes of egg farming, from producing eggs to selling them in every possible market outlet. He treated the initial egg project as his hands on farm education. He realized then that the most important aspect of farming is making profits and collecting the cash so that you can plow the money back to operations or use it for other important transactions like paying for bills, expansion and for helping pay the tuition fees of his younger siblings whom he was sending to school.

His most important lesson so far is that profitability is only measured by the money one has collected and not the sales which may be mostly accounts receivable and may even turn to bad debts if not aggressively collected. He recalls during the interview that a seemingly successful woman-entrepreneur refused to settle her account for Rod's egg deliveries by questioning rod where the delivery receipts were. Rod retorted that he kept an accurate record of everything as demanded by his accountant and told her that she can have the balance of her debt if that is how she treated her suppliers. The said woman still owes Rod about P35,000.00- too big for a budding entrepreneur like him!

While all aspects of farming is essential and that one has to perfect everything, recording and book keeping, says Rod, is the most important task for a farmer-entrepreneur. By learning how to record every transaction, one knows where every peso comes from and where it goes. “In the early stages of my farming business, I often wondered where my money went and even if I had sizable sales, I continued to end up adding to my farm investment from my main source of income which is my salary as radio anchor man. It was good that I met some people who helped me realize that farming is a business and like all businesses, one has to keep track of everything”.

With the things he learned from 2007 to the present, Rod has learned to become an astute businessman and farmer. His initial venture into the egg business now gave way to many other farm activities such as raising native chickens, goats, native pigs, vegetables, and others which can add to the income of the farm. Every project initiated, Rod says, should make money so that it can add to the income or help defray expenses.

EGG PRODUCTION:

From the initial stock of 250 heads, Rod has expanded to 2,000 heads. The initial foray was a system provided by the chicken supplier where Rod learned the ropes and his expansion program was mostly his innovation, from housing to cages to the use of probiotics or beneficial micro organisms which may help in the growth and egg laying capacity of his flock.

Use of antibiotics-free feeds and Probiotics. Receiving feedback from his buyers, Rod has started using antibiotics-free feeds provided by a supplier who guarantees the quality of the feeds. This practice has enabled Rod to collar the account of several hospitals and food chains where antibiotics-free eggs are being demanded. To offset the possibility of diseases attacking his flock, Rod turned to the use of probiotics which he makes by himself. “Using probiotics has weaned me from antibiotics-based pre-mixes and water additives. Antibiotics may protect the chickens but residues are transferred to the eggs and those who eat them become immune to antibiotics treatment. This will endanger their lives in case of infection where they will not anymore respond to treatment”.

“The probiotics technology has helped me a lot. Not only that my flock is strong, they also have a relatively higher egg-laying rate at more than 78%. Industry rate is at 66%. So with a flock of 2,000. I have an average daily egg production of 1,400 to 1,600. Even my old layers are still laying eggs beyond the industry cull age of two years! Besides, even if I still raise native chickens on the side, their presence is not a threat to my layers. Ordinarily, poultry experts would tell you that raising other birds near the layer flock is a big risk. But look inside my poultry house: there are stray native chickens feeding on the floor”.

OTHER INCOME SOURCES:

“Egg production is my cash cow but all other projects contribute to the general income. My native chickens provide me with a few thousand pesos every month and they are fed with the waste feeds, earthworms, maggots and the grasses they can forage from the land. I am still expanding my goats and I project that next year, I will be selling goat meat. The manure produced by the chickens are fed to the earthworms and the castings are bought by other farmers. But still I have more than enough manure and organic fertilizers so I have grown red chili pepper which gave me an estimated P2,000.00 per week. I am still expanding the area so that I can get more from the chili since the market is stable”.

“I have also given attention to the old coconuts on the farm by cleaning the tops and fertilizing them with chicken manure and salt for its chlorine which is needed by the coconut. Periodically we harvest them for their green and mature nuts. We don't need to dry the nuts for copra anymore because the price of mature nuts for cooking and the green coconut for its water provides more income and we can sell them directly”.

SELLING DIRECTLY TO THE CONSUMERS:

Rod learned that the successful farmer is himself the salesman. “The reason why most farmers are poor is that they leave the selling to the middle man. It is the middle man who makes the most profit. But I have short circuited the system by doing the leg work myself. I have connected with the large consumers like the hospitals and franchise food companies by offering them slightly lower priced but quality eggs. My other come-on is my practice of not using antibiotics which these institutions welcome as it provides healthful and safe food for their clients and customers. My hands-on marketing style allows me to talk with customers and get their feedback so that I can further improve my products. This also gives me the opportunity to learn about new things to produce and sell.

OPEN-MINDEDNESS:

Being open-minded is one attribute of Rod Tecson. He is always willing to learn and try new projects, technologies and approaches. “ By being open to new technologies, I was able to learn how the simple technology of making your own probiotics can strengthen the flock, get them to lay more eggs and do everything cheaply so that we stretch the budget and earn more. I am also a risk taker so that I would venture into something new with calculated risks, which is, that if the experiment fails, I can still recover but if it succeeds, I could earn more”.

“So far I can say that I have succeeded as I was able to send three of my siblings to school, expand my farm operations on this 1.4 hectares hilly farm and buy a few essential things which can somehow allow me to live with some comforts. And I guess, the love of farming and making money out of it has helped me find a girl of my dreams and sing a ditty or two to her every time we are here at the farm”, Rod stated finally.

RETIREMENT ACTIVITIES

by LARRY LOCARA

“It's never early to plan for one's retirement”. This is what Mr. Roldan Provendido said when I interviewed him as he displayed his plants as part of the Agri-Fair of the Pagdihon Festival held on October 22-31, 2011. In that event, Roldan showed the ornamentals he grew and sell to garden and plant enthusiasts. While almost 65 years old now, he anticipates that he will still be retained for another year because the mayor of the town he is employed in still wants him to continue with his services particularly tending the many ornamentals of the LGU and teaching farmers and housewives how to grow and market them.

This is also the attitude of Mr. Rey Osano, recently retired as head of the Crops Division of the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office. Mr. Osano has already invested part of his lump sum in developing his garden and in acquiring varieties of plants which he thinks will sell high especially during trade fairs and even by walk in customers who have heard of his plants.

Both Provendido and Osano are hands-on agriculturists who have spent many long years of their life as government technicians helping farmers grow and earn more. As technicians they not only lecture but can also plant and take care of plants so much so that they can proudly say that they are “hands-on” government workers. Now that they are in their senior years and retiring, they have prepared for their next careers: as gardener entrepreneurs.

Osano had not started early with his retirement program, since his job involved the hands-on management of his division. Besides, his residence in Moroboro, Dingle compels him to wake up early, prepare for work in the city and attend to the various concerns of his division that makes him travel to all parts of the province. But even then, he had an idea of what he wants to do once he gets out of government service. As early as ten years ago, he had started collecting the plants and crops he wants to sell later. Being also a farmer, he had always planted good varieties especially those being tested by his office so his knowledge of plants and ornamentals had been up to date.

As soon as he retired and processed his retirement lump sum, Osano started to develop his dream. He built a large enough shed that serves many purposes like family gatherings, putting soil into plastic pots and even meetings for small groups like his garden club and farmers' group. He also built a small shaded house for growing seedlings of plants and ornamentals he wants to propagate. When he located

a dumping site for the coffee hulls of a coffee dehuller business, he had the whole bulk carted to his lot and which he now uses as potting mix.

Aside from ornamental plants, he is also on the look out for excellent fruit varieties which he can plant and later reproduce in large volumes for sale to farmers and other plant enthusiasts. He has recently acquired variegated kalamansi which is not only fruitful but also beautiful and may be made as an accent to one's yard. He says that he has other species and varieties of fruits which may also help other farmers to earn both as seedlings and fruits they can sell in the market.

He then applied his years of experience as a technician to grow healthy plants. He also continued to acquire unique and highly salable varieties as mother plants so that he can grow many seedlings from them. On his very first entry in an agri fair in his hometown, his plants immediately sold out because they are not only unique but are also healthy. During that show, he was on the look out for new varieties which he again can grow in numbers and sell later for a hefty profit.

Osano also started a hog finishing project where he built a pig pen on the back portion of his property and raises about 10 finishers per batch. He opted to buy piglets to grow and finish instead of raising sows which he thinks is laborious. “The beauty of growing piglets is that one just grows them for 150 days or less and sell them at 95 kilograms and above”, said Osano.

But hog raising has also another advantage. Hog manure is a good source of organic matter for plants and Osano says that by raising pigs, he is assured of continuous supply of organic fertilizer for his garden. He allows the manure to fully decompose and adds this to the decomposed coffee and garden soil, coming up with an ideal soil mix for his seedlings and plants.

On the other hand, Provendido being a technician for cut flowers and other special crops worked with gardeners and unemployed women in San Enrique. His job enabled him to learn and teach the culture of these plants, many of them exotic or coming from other countries which required special care. As organizer and coordinator, he also have to help the farmers and women of the town to bring the plants wherever they wanted to participate. At first, he only helped the farmers and the women, but seeing there is money in growing and selling the plants, he also grew his own and brought them to the fairs and exhibits.

His hobby is now another source of extra income for him and his family. He is tapping his children and his nephews and nieces for labor and to act as watchers during the fairs so that he can be free to attend to other functions. In return, the nieces, nephews and children are rewarded with allowance money especially for cell phone loads, now a necessity for growing children.

TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS

Osano and Provendido are only two of the many retirees who are now enjoying their golden years by planting and selling ornamentals and other plants. But both have tips for other retirees and people wanting to join the band wagon of growing ornamentals and seedlings for sale.

First, is that one has to love growing ornamentals and other plants. The immediate objective may not even be money or to sell the plants. It may be just be for the love of plants and growing them. But the money aspect can follow especially if one starts to produce healthy and beautiful plants which are not ordinary. Plant enthusiasts will rush to buy unique healthy plants to add to their collections, to beautify their homes and gardens but also to sell later on. So if one is ahead of others in acquiring a new type of plants, he is assured of a market when the demand for them comes up.

Second, one has to learn how to grow beautiful plants, learning their habits, nutritional requirements, environment which is ideal for them, and the pests and diseases which may attack them later. By learning everything, one gets the assurance that he will produce healthy plants for sale. One has also to spend time tending his plants especially hands-on since one cannot often leave this task to laborers who more often than not would just work without care. The best situation for the gardener is when he finds a laborer who loves plants as much as the owner.

Use nature-friendly technologies which are sustainable like growing earthworms to harvest its wastes as fertilizers and also to use the live worms as feeds for chickens and fish. You can also learn the Japanese and Korean Natural farming System which use bacteria and other beneficial microorganisms to help in farming activities and to restore balance in the environment and the ecosystem.

Third, ornamental plants is a business too so one has to keep track of the expenses and the effort, accounting also the amount of time one spends on his project. With proper accounting, one gets an idea of the state of his business or hobby and how it can be grown too.

SIMPLE WAYS TO A HEALTHY HOME GARDEN

by LARRY LOCARA

One can have sustained productivity from his own home garden with basic knowledge and practice of sustainable gardening or farming. Mr. Leonardo Geraldino, Vegetable Coordinator at the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office has these advice:

Whenever possible, prepare the soil well first and rebuild it with addition of ample amounts of organic matter coming from decomposed plant and animal sources or whenever possible, use large amounts of earthworm castings/manure or what is popularly called the vermi-cast. He recommends that even at a small scale the gardener should start his own earthworm farm or raise earthworms in sacks, plastic bags and other containers that would secure the earthworms as they produce vermi-casts from kitchen wastes and other organic materials. African night crawlers are the most ideal earthworms to raise as they are prolific and are not migratory. They can digest organic wastes almost twice as fast as ordinary earthworms found locally.

Depending on the size and location of one's garden, the vegetables planted should be planned so that the gardener can establish a small ecosystem where the plants can grow together helping in each other's growth. Camote and green leafy vegetables are often heavy consumers of soil nutrients so it is practical to plant it together with legumes which produce their own nitrogen through the symbiosis with Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, rhizobium spp. When planting vine vegetables, one can first establish the live poles like malunggay (oringa oleifera) so that both the pole and the vines crawling on them are productive.

As much as possible, plan your garden to take the most advantage of sunlight. It is recommended that the rows be laid out on the East to West direction so that shading is minimized. When planting on dikes of rice farms, plant low lying vegetables so as not to compete with rice plants for sunlight. Also plant vegetables that would not become hosts of rice pests so that when the rice crop is harvested, the insects will not transfer to the vegetables and feed while there is yet no new rice plants established.

Practice the natural farming system advocated by the late Dr. Teruo Higa, the Japanese who developed the system of using bacteria and other microorganisms to help in farming and in human health in general. The system is easy to adopt and the technologies therein are taught by the technicians of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist. Some of these are the Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO), Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) and Fermented Fruit Juice (FFJ). By enlisting the help of microorganisms, the gardener lightens his work because these microorganisms will do a lot of work like decomposing, repelling and even killing some pests through microbial action. Also known as probiotics, these concoction are not only easy and cheap to make but can also be made right at one's kitchen or backyard.

Practice crop rotation and succession cropping. Crop rotation is the method of changing crop or vegetable types after the maturity of the current crop. For example, after six to eight months of growing camote for leaves, the gardener should shift to a different type like kulitis (amaranthus) or alugbati (Basella rubra). This way the pests infesting the camote such as worms cannot attack the alugbati since a different type of insect feed on the latter. Also after a while, soil nematodes or the parasites infesting the roots of some vegetables take a while to adjust to feeding on the roots of a different species. Alslo change from a heavy nutrient consumer to a nutrient producer and vice versa so that the soil is naturally rehabilitated. Whenever possible, add more organic matter each time the gardener establishes a new vegetable plot.

Use indigenous vegetables instead of exotic ones. Exotic vegetables like crucifers (pechay, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli) are easily infested with pests and need insecticides to grow and produce. Even if declared safe these chemicals poison our system so it is prudent to eat local vegetables especially those rich in flavonoids and anthocyanins. Malunggay contains twice the nutrients of broccoli and the nutrients found in alugbati is higher than those found in cabbage and similar vegetables. These local vegetables need minimal care and often can be established where the exotic species cannot thrive.

Establish fence lines using leguminous trees and shrubs like ipil-ipil, madre de cacao, indigofera, rhinzonii and nitrogen rich plants like madre de agua, mulberry, etc. they are multi-purpose, serving as organic matter provider and feed for the livestock and poultry.

For more information please log on to: http://www.vegetable-gardening-and-greenhouses.com/organic-vegetable-gardening.html and http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/build-a-garden.html. The author may also be contacted at 0939-320-3542 and 0923-667-0619. The author's blogsites: http://larry-simplybusiness.blogspot.com/, http://farmerlarry.wordpress.com/, http://approtech.multiply.com/video/item/1.

HOME GARDENS IN DINGLE

by LARRY LOCARA

“The incidence of malnutrition in Dingle is low and this had been the reason why we had not been included in President P-Noy's 4Ps or Pantawid sa Pamilyang Pilipino Program”, thus said Mayor Rufino P. Palabrica III. He attributes this to the widespread practice of Dingle residents to make home gardens. Before entering politics, Mayor Palabrica had a lucrative medical practice in the community. His rallying platform as a leader was to improve the health conditions of the people of his town.

For several decades now, Dingle farmers and residents have adopted the habit of growing vegetables in vacant spaces near their homes. “Traditionally the people of Dingle are fond of growing vegetables for home consumption. They have inherited this trait from their forebears. Our people had been traditionally isolated due to the bad roads and the decision of the national government to build a bypass road from Pototan to Duenas even added to this isolation and our people have developed the attitude to plant indigenous vegetables in wherever they can”, Mayor Palabrica added.

Home gardens come in a variety of shapes types and degrees of productivity. For those who have very little knowledge of farming, the home gardens can be as simple as just planting the cuttings of local vegetables like alugbati (Basella rubra) and camote (ipomea batatas) and kangkong (Ipomea aquatica) and allowing them to grow which way they want, either as creepers or as climbers often using whatever posts, trees or bushes available to creep on. The normal sight in Dingle and elsewhere is for alugbati to grow on fences and harvested for its tender shoots. Bushy vegetables like okra and eggplants may also be grown this way, with no order or arrangement because the only intent is for the plant to grow and bear fruits for the table.

However, various types of home gardens are taking shape in the municipality. Many yards, both front and back are still planted any which way but many farmers and gardeners have started to plan their gardens now. In our official travels to the municipality, we have noticed many of these as highly productive, diverse and can provide their owners with almost complete nutrition for the family.

Mixed Gardens:

Almost all home gardens in Dingle are mixed species, that is, all kinds of both local and exotic vegetables are planted. In many gardens, we would find what many call the pinakbet array of veggies. This means that even a 20 square meters garden would grow okra, squash, eggplants, amargoso (bitter gourd), some tomato plants and shallots or leek. Sometimes one would also find native chives which is as pungent as the imported garlic. The fence line would also be planted with alugbati and leaf-type camote which serve to hide the occupants when the foliage had become dense. In many instances, one would also find rare types of climbing beans like patani (lima), giant patani (misnomer) which is actually a climbing type of navy beans, pole sitao. Where there is space and plenty of sunlight, many also plant borders of cadios or pigeon pea, a favorite of Ilonggos, often cooked as a dish called KBL: kadios, baboy and langka.

Legumes should be a vital part of the home garden, said Mayor Rufino Palabrica III. Maybe the reason why there had been no incidence of severe protein malnutrition in our community is that our farmers see to it that they would plant several kinds of beans and also mungo during the dry season. These beans are rich in protein which is vital for the growth of people and animals, especially chickens and other poultry. It is usual for Dingleanon families to keep several kinds of poultry and even small ruminants and pigs both as “piggy” banks and to save on fiesta and celebration expenses. “Chickens are the fastest way to take in high protein food that is why, every rural family should raise them along with tending their gardens”, added Palabrica.

There are many benefits from a home garden. According to the ILEA magazine, a source book for practitioners of Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA), a mixed garden offers more than just the harvest (income and food) that one gets from them. The mix of crops especially those which are both nitrogen feeding and nitrogen producing (legumes) provides sustainability and stability to the garden and the immediate ecosystem. There are also plants which are not only spices and condiments but also provide both repellant and pesticidal actions against pests. Aromatic plants like lemon grass (tanglad) and chili peppers repel and even kill insects. Those planting tobacco in Dingle, especially in the barangays of Matangharon and Guinalinan Nuevo observe that there is very incidence of pest infestation in their home gardens. Tobacco had been used as insecticide long before the discovery of potent chemical poisons. Families who grow a mix crop of plants usually need very little external inputs like fertilizers and pesticides because there is the tendency of the different plants to depend on each other.

In many parts of the world, especially in Africa and Slouth America, mixed gardens had been in existence for as long as humanity. In these areas, the same plot of land, usually a few hundred to a few thousand square meters had been planted for generations because the mixed species have a symbiotic or helping relationships. In many instances, vegetables planted to provide the much needed protein like beans have leaves rich in amino acids which when decomposed become nitrates which provide the nitrogen for growth and development of the other plants in the system.

Productivity of Home Gardens:

Home gardens are highly productive especially when one plants mixed species that complement each others' growth and needs. Until now our mixed garden have plants like live ipil-ipil being grown for firewood but at the same time used by the lima and navy beans as climbers. When the vines die off, we also trim the side branches and use the leaves to feed to the goats and tilapia. Our okra plants are planted in the same plot as the camote which we grow for its leaves. As we harvest the okra fruits, we also harvest the young leaves of the camote.

Our malunggay trees are also used as fence lines and climbers The extra leaves of malunggay that we cannot consume either dried and used as supplements or fed directly to goats and chickens. Thus they are converted to other forms of food. Malunggay are also protein rich and contain high levels of other nutrients needed by people and livestock.

There are certain varieties of camote grown for both leaves and roots. The purple varieties are better than pale or yellow ones because of the high levels of anti-oxidants they contain. Even though creeping, we also plant other vegetables in the same plot as the camote. We just make sure we sustain the fertility so that both the camote and the other vegetables are highly productive.

In many low lying areas of Dingle where rice is the main crop, even the canals and dikes are turned into vegetable gardens. Along the Brgy. Sinibaan road, one can see long rows of dikes fully productive with all types of vegetables. Even the canals are planted to gabi for their roots, runners and leaves. A popular variety called the “abalong” grow profusely and are arvested for their young shoots which are often used to improve the taste and flavor of fish cooked as “pinaksiw” and also cooked with coconut milk.

Livestock and Poultry Mix:

Livestock and poultry are a natural addition to any family endeavor in Dingle. There is a helping relationship between gardening and raising these animals and fowls. The excess and waste from the vegetables are fed to the chickens, pigs and goats while the animals' dung are decomposed and used as organic fertilizers for the vegetables.

We have estimated that if chickens were raised to complement the home garden as a source of food for the family, one can sustain 5 to 10 heads of chickens on a 100 square meters garden with very limited needs to buy chicken feeds regularly. The manure or dung generated from the chickens would be enough to sustain the fertilizer requirements of the garden.

Need to Convert to Organic Gardening:

With the growing awareness for healthier food, home gardeners should immediately shift to organic farming where there is total independence from chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Government agencies are also strongly advocating this shift because the external inputs have become expensive and that there is a total shift in the food demand worldwide. Organically grown vegetables have become more expensive than chemically grown versions. Farmers who have already converted are earning well and much better than their still chemical farming-oriented counterparts.

“We feel that we have to be aggressive in promoting more families to make their own home gardens and as a medical doctor, I strongly advocate good food as a means to boost the health and well-being of our constituents. Again, the saying that an 'ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure' is highly relevant to our town. We not only promote healthful living and eating, we also promote healthful way of raising our food”.

ALTERNATIVES TO DESTRUCTIVE CORN FARMING

Our previous feature on the destructive corn farming in Northern Iloilo elicited some reactions one of which asked us what alternatives can be done and what regulations can be formulated. Firstly, there should be pro-action in this because this is both an economic and political problem.

Farmers planting corn in Northern Iloilo were first encouraged by the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office VI (DA-RFU-6) under its massive corn program in the late 1990s, according to Mrs. Almi Villamera, Provincial Corn Coordinator. The main purpose was to meet the requirements of feed corn by the livestock industry. Even at that time, Panay livestock farmers particularly those involved in hogs and broilers were already hard-pressed to find reliable sources of yellow corn which often comprises as much as 40% of their animals' diet.

Trial plantings in Northern Iloilo proved profitable and this grew into a multi- million industry with traders and some politicians joining the band wagon of both production and trading. The financial and marketing arrangement was two-way beneficial for both trader/financier and the farmers. The latter provided land and labor while the former provided the inputs and guaranteed the market. The wife of one politician in Northern Iloilo even became the national corn farmer of the year a few years back.

Everything seemed fine for the market-driven industry with not one agency of government giving attention to the massive expansion which now encroached to the critical slope areas of Northern Iloilo. Even the Provincial Agriculture Office did not insist on regulating this massive planting since the first line of operation lodged on the Municipal Agriculture Offices of the municipalities affected.

Slope farming should not be destructive to the environment however. There are now available technologies that will mitigate the effects of removing vegetation for the purpose of planting corn. SALT or Sloping Agricultural Land Technology developed by the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center in Bansalan, Davao del Sur focuses on building contour lines on the slope and planting nitrogen fixing trees like ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala spp.), madre de cacao (Gliricidia sepium), libas (Spondias pinnata (Linn. f.) Kurz. ) and legume shrubs like rhinzoni, flemengia and cadios (cajanus cajan) and malunggay (Moringa oleifera).

A similar technology called Alley Cropping had been developed in the Americas where equidistant bands of leguminous species are planted leaving spaces for commercial crops like corn and dry land rice. Like the SALT, alley cropping focuses on preserving the land from being eroded due to the bands that help control the down flow of the soil from higher ground. The bands of legumes serve both as soil control and sources of green manure at the same time.

Legumes have the ability to fix or access Nitrogen from the air through the symbiotic relationship with the nitrogen fixing bacteria that lives in their root system. The bacteria using phosphates absorbed by the roots of the trees absorb Nitrogen and convert this element into nitrates. When the bacteria die off, the nitrates become available to the plant which then utilize this for growth. Farmers can make use of the nitrates as fertilizer for their crops by harvesting the leaves and soft stems and decompose them either through compost-making or by simple burying near the base of the plants they want to fertilize.

The No-Till Farming Technology or Zero Tillage Technology is another option for corn farmers. This technology focuses on the drilling corn seeds in a vegetation covered land. Weeds are controlled so that it doesn't compete with corn for much needed fertilizers and sunlight. Chemicals herbicides like paraquat and glyphosates are used to killo the weeds and the dead organic matter is left on the spaces between the rows which help control erosion by softening the impact of rainwater and retard the down flow of wet soil that could have been washed down the slope. But these herbicides also create a negative impact on the environment as they may pollute the streams directly below the slopes.

Organic farming modifications of the No Till Farming technology calls for the use of leguminous vegetation to completely cover the planting area and where the corn seeds may be drilled. This has many advantages aside from the lower cost of production as a result of not plowing the land anymore. Some farmers advocating this technology, rely on the use of leguminous ground cover which not only holds the soil but also helps maintain fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air. Some of the species used are the creeping peanut (Arachis pintoi), legume vines like centrosema (Centrosema pubescens), red or velvet bean (mucuna pruriens), tropical kudzu (Calopogonium mucoides).

In the organic No Till Farming Technology, weeds are suppressed with the use of mechanical equipment or by simple rollers drawn by a small tractor or by the carabao. The leguminous plants buried are immediately decomposed by the action of burying and by micro organisms present in the soil. If the farmer had been practicing this technology for a long time, it can be possible that earthworms may have already re-established and will be helping re-fertilize the soil by their castings or manure. A well managed leguminous ground cover can fix about 50 to 100 kilograms of pure nitrogen from the air annually and farmers can save as much as 50% fertilizer requirement.

Still another option is inter-cropping of various other crops if only to provide ground cover for the spaces between the corn crop. In the training sites of the Farmer Scientists Training Program (FSTP) of the province, farmers engage hands-on training in corn-based intercropping where initial results have shown promise. Mrs. Villamera said that the results of the corn-peanut inter-crop trials showed that yields of both corn and peanut were higher than the average. Peanuts being a legume needs only Phosphorus as it can fix its own nitrogen requirement from the air. Corn may have benefited from the inter-relationship of the inter-cropping strategy. She further said that the corn-sweet potato intercrop trials are not yet concluded since sweet potato has a longer growing period.

No till corn farming and inter-cropping have not yet been widely adopted in Iloilo. Recently retired Crop Division Head, Reynaldo Osano once stated that these technologies are still being tested and taught to Iloilo farmers. He has apprehensions however as to their acceptability and adoption since they may be cost intensive at the start. Besides, farmers have the tendency to be suspicious of newly introduced technologies since there is doubt as to the chances of success as well as to their sustainability. Mrs. Villamera added that the adoption of the successful trials on integrated farming still hinges on affordability, capability of farmers to adopt and sustain and most importantly, attitude for change for the better.

There are alternatives to mono-crop corn farming and they had been proven successful in other areas of the globe and this country. It is unfortunate that when the Department of Agriculture advocated for massive corn planting, they did not set boundaries or restrictions in terms of land usage and terrain. For the technicians of this department, there was only a single-minded purpose which is to produce corn for the other end user, the livestock farmers. In the process, we have destroyed our forested slopes and made them prone to erosion and landslide, a grave and present environmental danger. We should regulate corn planting in slopes NOW!

SALT: AN ALTERNATIVE TO DESTRUCTIVE SLOPE FARMING

On his recent visit to Northern Iloilo, Engr. Salvador Alipe of the Engineering Division of the Provincial Agriculture Office said that the damage to the slopes planted to corn for several years now may be irreversible. During that visit, large portions of the road leading to Brgy. Langka in Batad were covered with mud and silt that came from the slopes above the road. Landslides are now a regular occurrence mainly due to the lack of live trees and bushes to hold the soil. Corn which is the main crop of farmers in the area was the main reason why they cleared the slopes of trees.

Initially, the yields of the corn crops were high because years of secondary forest growth built the rich top soil. After a few years though, fertility declined but the yields were sustained due to the heavy application of chemical fertilizers. The initial culture method was traditional, meaning, the land is first plowed then corn is planted on the furrows. Many farmers did not also practice contour plowing and row-making, rather, they made their rows straight from the top to bottom and this even sped up soil down flow or erosion.

In recent years, chemical companies introduced and advocated the ZERO TILLAGE TECHNOLOGY where the slopes are no longer plowed but sprayed with glyphosate herbicide. This chemical was effective and reduced the labor cost of corn production but wanton use also created another problem- chemical contamination of the streams and water systems from the mountains down to sea. While glyphosate is said to be safe to mammals, its negative impact on the environment had been substantial. Studies in various parts of the globe established the destruction of aquatic ecosystems because glyphosate also killed aquatic flora when the chemical leached from the farms and flowed into the streams.

But the LGUs and the farmers have alternatives if they decide to act now and gradually transform to a more sustainable farming system for the slopes. As explained in last week's issue, these alternatives can be adopted and will help mitigate erosion and chemical contamination. We will now discuss the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology or SALT.

SALT was developed by the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center, a not for profit organization based in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. The center is located in the mountainous area along the national highway going to North Cotabato. In the late 1970s, the center's management led by missionary Rev. Harold Watson observed that the farmers in the area were poor and that their sloping land had already deteriorated where yields were low. These farmers were barely able to feed their families and send their children to school. They also planted corn and other short term crops because this is what they knew and had no other alternatives.

The center's primary mission was to establish a church but in the process, they had to engage in farming not only to feed the employees but also to generate models that may help the community improve their economic status. Since the whole area was mountainous and hilly they had to evolve farming models to suit the environment. They studied not only the farming methods of farmers around but also their economic status and they concluded that their farming system not only makes them poorer but is taking a serious toll on the environment. Where corn and upland rice farming had been intensive, many of the farms had already been abandoned due to exhaustion of soil nutrients and the land cannot anymore support a good crop of rice or corn. In some areas, land had eroded and had minor landslides.

While in previous generations, the original settlers and natives had the opportunity to allow the land to rest or fallow by shifting to other areas when land had become barren, the inflow of settlers prevented these farmers to open fresh land to cultivation. They had no option but to continue tilling the land they have occupied.

The MBRLC mission at Kinuskusan had to study and develop the best possible farming practices given the consideration that the farmers cannot anymore go to other areas to farm but have to maintain both fertility and productivity of their land. The farming system to be developed has also to consider the long term effects on the environment. Borrowing concepts from various parts of the globe, the missionaries developed what they called SALT or Sloping Agricultural Land Technology.

SALT revolves around the concept of conservation farming where land is farmed but sustainability and environmental protection are also as important. It calls for establishment of an apex or crown crop of permanent cover or trees, not only to provide cover at the mountain or hill top but also to hold the soil which is often the worst affected. Contour lines are developed to serve both as soil erosion control and to be planted with leguminous trees and bushes whose leaves are regularly harvested for animals and as green mulch which when decomposed will also serve as fertilizer for the crop planted between the contour lines.

Short term or cash crops are planted between the contour lines. These provide immediate income for the farmers. However, planning of the crops should also be made. Grassy crops like corn and rice which are fertilizer-hungry are rotated with leguminous crops like munggo and soybeans which also produce nitrogen due to the action of the rhizobium bacteria which can fix nitrogen gas from the air.

Some bands are planted with long term crops like cacao, coffee, rubber and fruit trees. These long term crops provide both income and better soil holding capability that further protects the land from erosion and landslides. Cacao and coffee are also crops that can be further processed and sold as finished products with added value for the farmers and their families.

The MBRLC had also developed other models, all revolving around conservation farming. In SALT 2, livestock can be simultaneously raised which are fed from the contour lines planted to edible legumes. At the MBRLC, they raise dairy goats which are mainly improved strains of Anglo Nubian and Saanen which are also milked for both added nutrition and income for the farmer and his family. SALT 3 model revolves around a mainly agro-forestry concept where fruits and other tree species are planted to preser4ve the land better.

In terms of economic returns, SALT models provide long term better sustainability and income for the farmer and his family. At present costs, a SALT farm may cost 200% more to establish than a purely cash crop farm but in the long run, the income derived from SALT far exceeds that of a cash crop farm. Those who have embraced the models in the neighborhood of the MBRLC have now attested to the feasibility and productivity of their SALT farms. Some who have established high value fruits in their SALT farms now literally sit back, relax and reap regular incomes from fruits like durian, rambutan and lanzones or from the regular harvesting of their rubber, cacao and coffee crops. One farmer who was featured in a national agricultural magazine claimed that his 2 hectares SALT farm earns him an average of P300,000.00 yearly from his mixed crop of fruits and industrial crops, aside from the cash crops which gives him regular income and food. (Further reading and illustration credits: http://pcarrd.dost.gov.ph/cin/AFIN/technologies%20-%20salt1.htm).

Changing the farming system in Northern Iloilo from pure corn farming to a more sustainable farming system will be hard work for development workers. While trainings can easily be conducted, the shift is not only financial but political as well. One needs to invest in developing contour lines and planting these to leguminous species like ipil-ipil, madre de cacao and bushes like flemingia, rhinzonii, cadios, etc. The farmers may find it hard to find financiers to fund the shift.

There is also the reality of corn trading being controlled by powerful individuals some of them even political leaders in the area. Thus, there is some pressure when farmers want to shift as this means reduced production of corn, the main trading commodity.

The much abused words: “political will” have to come into account in this case. There has to be a policy shift where corn farming on slopes have to be regulated. The LGUs in Northern Iloilo need to act now before the slopes in their jurisdiction will have become barren and eroded.

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.