Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

BECAUSE Cebu City cannot meet the demand despite its tons of garbage, Barangay Luz is turning to Carcar town for materials for its “Kwarta sa Basura” project.

This, as City Agriculturist Joelito Baclayon said organic farming helps Cebu City farmers cut on cost and increase income.

He said that is the reason the City Government is teaching farmers how to make their own compost instead of buying commercial fertilizers.

Baclayon said that while a hectare needs 10 to 20 sacks of organic fertilizer compared to just six bags of commercial fertilizer, the next planting season requires double the number of bags of commercial fertilizer because of the loss of soil nutrients.

This is not so with organic fertilizers, he said, because the soil gets richer instead.

He said the number of discriminating buyers who look for “organically-produced vegetables and crops” is also growing, that organic farming’s prospects in the city are good.

He said that while there are also alternative chemical bio-pesticides, their prices are restrictive and that farmers could turn to the use of compost instead.

Nida Cabrera, Luz barangay captain, said that compared to commercial fertilizer that costs P2,000 a sack, they sell a sack of compost for only P150.

But, she said, the demand is high for their products, particularly the compost and the items made from recyclables, so they went to Carcar to get more materials.

“Niadto na lang mi’g Carcar para maka-produce sa compost og daghan,” she told Sun.Star.

Mixed

The problem with the garbage in Cebu City, she said, is that these are no longer segregated at source and therefore could not be sent by the trucks to their composting area at the Cebu Business Park.

She said they went to Carcar and were heartened that the garbage there could more or less meet the demand for compost and their products, which include bags and slippers made from foil packs.

She said that with garbage, the barangay has expanded the livelihood program for residents.

In particular, its composting area at the Cebu Business Park already employs 21 residents.

She said their community-based livelihood, which provides work to the youth, churns out, among others, placemats from chopsticks and woven bags.

“Kung nay mo-order og compost o ba kaha wati (used in vermi-culture), mora gud nag pyesta sa barangay kay inigkahuman og pahibawo manggawas man na ang mga tawo magdala kay kada household naa may vermi composting (If anyone orders compost or worms from us, nearly every household is ready to contribute to the supply),” Cabrera said.

Baclayon said they have taught vermi-composting and the use of microorganism, or Takakura composting, to farmers as a remedy to the high cost of farm inputs.

He said his office has already reached out to 28 mountain barangays.

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(November 23, 2008 issue)
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