Farmers’ Progress – How Might The PH DA Convince A Million Farmers To Switch To Organic Farming, And How I Wish It Would!

The Philippines has an 11-year-old Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 (Republic Act 10068), but I have yet to read so many successful stories of farmers applying organic fertilizers in their fields. Today, I would like to find out more.

RA 10068 says (FAO, 2010, leap.unep.org):

This Act declares that the policy of the State shall be to promote, propagate, develop further and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the Philippines in order to enrich the fertility of the soil, increase farm productivity, reduce pollution and destruction of the environment and prevent the depletion of natural resources.

Beautiful! But I saw something I did not like. This Editor In Chief with 50 years of experience immediately saw what was lacking in the Abstract as presented by FAO 12 years ago:

Did you notice that the 4-5 purposes of the Act does not say anything about the farmer? If you ask me, it should have said, in the first place, instead of fertility of the soil: “in order to enrich the farmer…”!

I think I know why they missed putting that in – because the thinkers of Organic Philippines were strictly guided by their desire to standardize and guarantee that all farm produce claimed to be “organic” are in fact organic and have passed the strict criteria called for under the so-called Organic Certification.

Meanwhile, I would like to say that I am proposing that farmers go into organic farming without first aiming at organic certification.

The first objective of farmers applying organic fertilizers to their crops is to reduce the big costs of fertilizers – and thereby guarantee their big returns! (Certification can come later.)

But as I write this, I see that “not-so-expensive” Atlas PerfectGro 14-14-14 is selling 25 kg for P1750 (lazada.com.ph). For 10 bags total, for fertilizer alone a farmer cannot afford P17,500!
(lower image from BusinessMirror.com.ph)

So I recommend that he concocts his own fertilizer, maybe asking advice from a member of the organic-conscious MASIPAG farmer organization (to contact, visit masipag.org).

(Extra: To conquer the cecid fly, I am also advising the mango growers to apply organic fertilizers on their orchards – a healthy tree fights off any pest or disease naturally.)

I have my own organic formulation. I call it WEALth, for “Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash to Trigger Terrestrial Health” – here’s how to create your WEALth:

Run the rotavator so that the blades will cut down into the soil shallowly, 2-3 inches deep. When you have rotavated the whole area, your organic would-be fertilizer has already been spread across the field for you!

Thus, you produce WEALth at zero expense – you spend only for the cultivation, which you have to do anyway.

About WEALth, I have the 50-year experience of my brother-in-law Enso Casasos to back up my claim of the organic wisdom of my WEALth – although I did not call it by that name when he was applying it in his ricefield.

Try WEALth sometime. You will be glad you did!@517