NEGROS OCCIDENTAL - In hinterland Barangay Patag in Silay City in Negros Occidental, the elders have success stories to share with the new generation and the next how they thwarted conflicts and attained peace through organic farming.
In the 1980's, residents only had hopes and dreams that everything be put in order so that development would no longer elude the people of Barangay Patag, once torn by armed conflicts between government forces and New People's Army (NPA).
Back then, residents had resorted to charcoal and illegal logging to survive while few men did hunting for food.
"Lahat kami illegal ang livelihood. Merong illegal cutting at kaingin at ang Patag, maraming mga NPA," recalled Rosario Villarenia, president of Barangay Patag United Organic Farmers and Association Inc. (BPUOFAI).
Despite this, the people did not take sides to any of the two warring factions because doing so would not do anything good to address the problems hounding them and their children for years.
To cut the story short, instead of guns and bullets, the residents took up shovels and prayed to the heaven that they be blessed with abundance in organic farming.
Not long, Barangay Patag's organic village took shape, with the support from well-meaning individuals coming from a school, non-government organization (NGO), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who braved trudging up the community to educate the residents on the harms of cutting down the trees and hatched a project on organic farming.
Barangay Patag is one of two barangays in Silay City where there is organic village. The other one is at Sitio Sibato, Barangay Guimbala-on.
The association of organic farmers in Brgy. Patag was formed in 2004, which so far has 63 member farmers. The organic village sits across a 10-hectare sprawl where farmers grow all organic vegetable. The produce are sold to restaurants and local markets.
The Brgy. Patag is very much alive today, with some nurseries in place with lettuce, carrot, radish, eggplant, and tomato grown inside. No more illegal cutting and no more smoke wafting up into the sky.
Villarenia and Rodelia Panganiban were cited by the Department of Agriculture as outstanding farmers.
Panganiban owns 2.3 hectares where she grows some organic vegetables. Within her farm in BrgyPatag is also where her Ladlad Mountain Resort sits, the fruit of her labor from organic farming.
Silay City Agriculturist Office (CAO) head Jason Benedicto said they are hoping to meet the 5 percent national target of agricultural lands converted into organic farms by 2016, or equivalent to 750 hectares out of the 15,000-hectare of its total agricultural land.
Of the total P4.2 million budget of CAO, at least P2 million has been allocated to support the organic farming in Silay City, positioned as the "organic food bowl" of Negros Island.
"We are number 1 in Region 6 when it comes to organic farming. We want to promote better health and low production cost in farming, and help mitigate climate change," he said.
Organic farmers are also gearing up for the upcoming Asean Economic Community (AEC) in which Benedicto said he is hoping to highlight the city's good agricultural practices and its promotions on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), a certification that will open doors in the international food trade, especially in the US and European food markets.
Organic advocate
If there's someone in Negros Island who is pushing for organic farming, it's Ramon Uy, owner of RU Foundry and Machine Corporation, the manufacturer of agricultural equipment for organic farmers.
Ramon and his wife May run May's Organic Garden and Eco-Park, a six-hectare property at Sitio Aning in Barangay Pahanocoy, Bacolod.
"I am proud of being a farmer. I am a farmer kung walaako, gutomka!," said Ramon.
An affiliate company Fresh Start Organic, a Negros Island Certification Services (Nicert)-certified organic farm, has found the most sustainable way in farming through vermicomposting since it started in 2005.
The farm has been producing some five tons of vermicompost, a high quality organic fertilizer derived from the wastes of a certain species of worm called African nightcrawler.
Ada Enriquez, office clerk of Fresh Start Organic, said they found sustainability with vermicomposting, as most of the vermicompost being produced will be used to fertilize their own farm while the rest is sold to other farmers.
The organic farm started off with a hectare of land in Silay City until it expanded to 3.8 hectares today. There, they grow lettuce and herbs, including rosemary, basil, tarragon, cilantro, mint, and stevia (alternative sweetener) and other fruits like bananas.
The company has become a major supplier of these organic vegetables and herbs to the hotels and restaurants in Bacolod and neighboring areas.
What makes vermiculture the most sustainable farming technology is that it does not cost much to sustain it, which only needs around P2,000 to P3,000 a month to produce a high quality fertilizer because the methods and the production are easy.
These worms can last until five years.
Two types of fertilizers are being produced by the Fresh Start, one is called vermicast while the other is bokashi.
Bokashi is an organic blend which contains mill ash coming from the sugarcane and vermicast as two of its components. The vermicast, meanwhile, is comprised of raw biodegradable materials such as mud press, shredded bananas, sugar cane, and vegetables.
To make the process of vermicomposting easier, Fresh start has put in place a shredder to turn bigger chunks of banana trunks and other biodegradable wastes into smaller pieces.
The worms then will be introduced to the waste bed, once flattened, it is ready for harvesting.
"Hindi yan makakain ng worms kung hindi i-shred," she said. "Ito (worms) yung paboritong employees kasi no need ang SSS, Philhealth and no need for salary."
The African nightcrawler is hermaphrodite, an organism that has both male and female sexes, meaning they can reproduce on their own.
For every 500 kilos of food, it needs the same amount of worms to expedite the composting process. The end-product is also about the same weight.
Enriquez added a 50-kilo sack of organic fertilizer is sold for P500 while a kilo of African nightcrawlers can be bought at P500 for those who want to venture on backyard organic gardening.
When Fresh Start was just starting, they sourced out the African nightcrawler at the BuroBuro Springs Vermi Farm at Sitio Balogo, Barrio Concepcion, Talisay City run by Pamela Henares.
Uy who is also an advocate of organic farming himself, urged farmers to invest on organic farming because it can help bring down the cost of production.
"More production cost does not translate to bigger profit. Kung maliitang cost mo, mataasang income," he said. Vermicomposting is an efficient method used in farming that is "low tech".
Vermicompost, or the vemicast, serves as import substitute to inorganic fertilizer, which he said is more expensive.
"You don't to have to be a rocket scientist to make it... That's what we promote, to go organic," he said, adding that vermicomposting will revolutionize farming in the Philippines.
Aside from organic vegetables and farming machineries, Ramon has developed organic products out of lemon products called "RU Botanicals," borne out of his partnership with the residents of Camalanda-an, Cauayan, Negros Occidental.
Ramon, just like the farmers in Brgy. Patag, has high hopes in organic farming and that vermicomposting will revolutionize farming in the Philippines.