SA SINUGDAN, murag natingala pa ang mga tanom (At first, the vegetables we were growing appeared to be in a quandary)," was how Thelma Cordova Tambis, an organic farmer from Toril, described how it was when she first returned to organic farming.

Tambis, who was born to a farming family and remains to be so now that she has her own family and grown-up children, was into chemical farming for so long, saying this is what they have been used to.

In 2000, however, through the encouragement of a non-government organization, Katakus Inc., which worked with women in their area, she decided to give it a try. She has not returned to chemical farming since even if she had to give up the small rice field her family was tilling.

"Basakan man 'to, 3/4 hectare nga gi-ang-ang namo sa paggamit og organic (It was a 3/4 hectare rice field that we made into terraces when we started venturing into organic farming)," she said. She admits the first harvest of the vegetables were not good, apparently there wasn't much fertility left on the soil to sustain plants. But she kept on and soon was harvesting all kinds of vegetables.

The fertilizers, she said, are made from the excreta of their hogs; the grasses were not killed and burned as they used to, but were instead cut and made into compost.

They were also taught to minimize tillage to conserve the topsoil.

"Mas dako kay nakamenos mi sa gastos kay dili na mopalit og chemicals. Lahi pud ang lami sa gulay nga organic. Kanang nakatilaw na sa organic, ginapangita anang kalami (We were able to profit more because we no longer buy chemicals. The vegetables we produce are also tastier. Those who have tasted organically grown vegetables look for that distinct taste)," she said.

In the nine years they have cut out chemical inputs in their farm methods, Tambis said, she witnessed how chemicals affect farmlands. This, in fact, was the reason why they had to give up their riceland.

"Sa palibot niato kay mangga man, naga-spray sila sa mangga, ang tanan mananap niadto sa amo (Around the rice land, we were tilling with mango farms that use a lot of chemicals. All the pests moved to our rice land, destroying our crop)," she said. After several crop failures, she said, they told their landlord they no longer intend to farm in that area and became a tenant of yet another landowner.

The Metsa Foundation Inc., another NGO that is in the forefront of organic farming, pushes for diversified integrated farming systems just like what Tambis has in their small plot of farmland.

A diversified integrated farming system produces just about every product needed in the kitchen from a patch of rice land, fishpond, trees, vegetables, and livestock.

As a result, small farmers drastically reduce their expenses because the farm inputs are now all resource-based. Fertilizers are made from rice washing and spoiled vegetables and fruits. There are composting pits as well.

Joe Nobleza, administrator of Organic Center of Davao City, that small patch of greenery along Tionko Avenue, believes that with a little bit more push, more and more farmers will embrace organic farming.

"It's not really resistance, its absence of information. Because the new generation now only know of chemical farming, hindi nila alam ang original agriculture, which is organic and doesn't use poisonous chemicals," Nobleza told Sun.Star.

Metsa, on the other hand, observed that what binds farmers to stick to chemical use is the cycle of indebtedness.

"It's not resistance, it's just a hesitation to shift because they fear they cannot pay up their debts because all farmers have debts," a Metsa officer said. Most of the debts are incurred in buying certified seeds and the chemicals that are needed to make these certified seeds grow and yield the harvests it was designed to yield.

Through the generations that chemical farm inputs have become a necessity to farming to such extent that the soil itself can no longer sustain life without getting a dose of chemicals, nature was made to conform to the chase for more profit, Nobleza said.

"Let's stop prostituting nature," he said, saying that is what the past and present generations have done.

"We destroy the soil for profit, we are employing chemicals for profit, we have practically put a price on nature for profit, isn't that prostituting?" he asked.

For the small farmers and those working with them, it's as simple as taking care of the soil, the medium on which all their plants grow.

And while the conventional farmers and giant corporate farms are scoffing at the small victories of organic farmers, Annie Ontic of the Sibulan Organic Banana Growers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Sobagromco), could only crow in pride.

"Akong gipasigarbo ang paggamit og organic agriculture kay ang magtanom sa saging dili pagaputlon ang mga puno, og ang among saging gi-undercrop namo og gulay (I take pride in our use of organic agriculture because our growers do not cut the trees that are already there just to plant bananas, and we even plant vegetables underneath our bananas)," she said during last Thursday's World Food Day celebration at the Organic Center of Davao organized by the Go Organic! Davao City.

The Sobagromco made its first shipment of organically grown bananas in 2005 under the brandname Ecofair.

While the volume is not as big as the monocropped banana plantations the region is known for, Ecofair gained instant recognition because of the growing trend toward organically grown crops.

Sobagromco admits their price is much higher than normal exports such that only rich Japanese can afford to buy their produce. But they are buoyed by the fact that small farmers like them have gained a foothold in the organic food market of the world.

This is aside from the fact that their growers can still maximize the use of their land by inter-cropping, thus they are still able to produce other fruits, coconuts, vegetables and fatten livestock, self-sustaining activities that can never be done in a monocropped banana plantation that use chemicals.

Small victories indeed, in terms of market and profit, but when viewed toward their contribution to conserving what is left of the environment, these organic farmers direction is contributing a lot toward a real sustainable agriculture that doesn't sweep the poor farmers into the margins of poverty as they are now and in the past.