Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Strawberry fields need rehab
WHILE farmers in La Trinidad are batting for the production of organic strawberries, the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) and the local government are pushing for the rehabilitation of portions of the production areas to fit the objective.
Municipal agriculturist Felicitas Ticbaen said portions of the areas planted to strawberries need to be treated in order to bring the soil acidity to acceptable levels.
Some strawberry growers at the 80-hectare plantation owned by the Benguet State University (BSU) are gradually shifting to organic production of the fruit.
Ticbaen said about 15 percent of the strawberry fields need rehabilitation. This was based on the soil analysis profile conducted by the office in 2007.
The agriculturist said organic strawberry production is a sustainable industry given the proper type of soil and farming practices.
The current production of strawberries from the conventional farming is about 20 tons per hectare, based on the records of MAO. There are no available data on the production of organic strawberries yet.
The local government unit (LGU) has tapped various agencies to help identify technologies farmers could adopt in their pursuit for organic farming.
Recently, a consultant from the Washington University helped identify a predatory mite, which could combat the spider mites, one of the major pests bugging the strawberries.
These predatory mites are available locally. Ticbaen said they are now looking into easier ways to mass-produce the predatory mites for the farmer's use.
Use of these mites could help minimize or eradicate the application of chemical pesticides to strawberries.
The Japanese Exchange Council is also training farmers on organic-based farming while introducing technologies farmers could adopt for organic agriculture.
These international interventions for organic farming are supplemented by BSU's efforts in propagating tissue-cultured strawberry planting materials to come up with disease-free seedlings. (JC)
