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[av_heading heading=’ URBAN FARMER ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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Wednesday, September 6, 2017
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IN THE promotion of organic agriculture, composting plays a very vital role, particularly for the small farmers.
Sen. Cynthia A. Villar says that those who will benefit from organic agriculture and production of organic fertilizer are the small farmers in the country.
“We must remember that the small farmers will feed the world in the future. Opo, ang mga maliliit na mga magsasaka ang maaasahan natin para siguruhin na hindi tayo magugutom,” she emphasized during the recent launching of the Training on Capacity Enhancement on the Operations of the Composting Facility for Biodegradable Wastes (CFBW) spearheaded by the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) at the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, was the guest of honor and keynote speaker during the event.
Villar says that even the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has emphasized that 70 percent of the food we consume globally comes from small farmers.
About 1.5 billion of people globally are estimated to be involved in family farming in over 500 million small farms worldwide.
The establishment of composting facilities is a very effective waste management practice, where the involvement of the local government units (LGUs) is crucial.
It is expected to boost the institutional capacities of LGUs in terms of sorting, collecting and composting community wastes.
Tons of biodegradable wastes are produced in the country, which could be converted to organic fertilizer through composting.
FAO says that we should compost all our wastes and bring them back to the soil, particularly here in the country, where 38 percent of our soils are already degraded.
Soil nutrient management is an integrated system to manage soils, nutrients, and crops in a sustainable manner to optimize crop production and improve soil health.
To grow what we eat and to eat what we grow, we need healthy soils. We need to protect our prime agricultural lands from degradation which can come in the form of neglect as manifested by increased erosion or in the form of abuse such as over fertilization, excessive pesticide application, and intensive cropping system.
The CFBW is composed of one unit rotary composter, and one unit shredding machine.
Here in the country, these machineries are produced by RU Foundry and Machine Shop Corporation.
Organic agriculture covers the promotion and commercialization of organic farming practices, cultivation and adoption of production and processing methods, capacity building of farmers, and the education of consumers, among others.
Organic fertilizers produced from agricultural residues are intensively used as alternative to inorganic/synthetic fertilizers.
Considering that large amount of biodegradable wastes are also coming from markets and residences, there is a need to set-up facilities near markets, trading posts and residential areas that will convert those wastes into organic fertilizers/compost which could be used by farmers.
The Organic Agriculture Act promotes and encourages the establishment of facilities, equipment and processing plants or CFBW that would accelerate the production and commercialization of organic fertilizers and other inputs. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
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