Sustainable agriculture has been one of the advocacies of ASDP in Iloilo. Through the Agricultural Support Fund (ASF), the peoples' organizations were able to engage in organic fertilizer production.
The Dela Peņa Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DIMPC) decided to that chemical fertilizers are widely utilized and preferred by almost all the farmers in the municipality. The farmers widespread use of chemical fertilizer is due to (a) its commercial accessibility; (b) presence of lenders who give them access to credit for this type of fertilizer; and (c) the government endorses hybrid crops that requires massive amount of this kind of fertilizer.
Froilan Palabrica, a farmer member of the DIMPC, made a comparative analysis on the use of chemical and organic fertilizer. Since a sudden shift of use from chemical to organic fertilizer will alter the soil productivity (and thus, would affect production negatively), Froilan applied both the chemical and organic fertilizers in the first cropping season of his one-hectare farm lot. He obtained 3,360 Kilogram (Kg.) of palay (unhusked rice), a little under the 3,600 kg he usually harvests in his lot that used the chemical fertilizers. Froilan usually earns P29,000- P32,000 per cropping season using chemical fertilizers.
During the 2nd cropping season, Froilan only used organic fertilizer on his lot. After harvesting the produce of the second cropping season, he was able to obtain 4,361kg of palay, higher than the 3,825kg he usually achieves in his lot that used chemical fertilizers. With the use of organic fertilizer, he earned a net profit of P42,000 or an increase of P3,500 monthly income.
Froilan also observed no infestation in his field when he used organic fertilizer. This lessened the cost of production by eliminating the use of insecticides. He further claimed that the soil became easier to cultivate.
When other farmers heard from Froilan that his crop produced healthy yields, other PO members followed suit and encouraged more farmers to use organic fertilizers. The eight sustainable agriculture practitioners of the PO through education activities now tell other farmers that 1) it is less expensive to use organic fertilizer with production costs of inputs per hectare almost halved, 2) production output is normally higher by 10 sacks per hectare; and 3) organic fertilizer acts as soil conditioner and maintains soil fertility while chemical fertilizers lead to soil acidity.
Because of the good effects of organic fertilizers on the soil and the lessened production costs, non-PO members who rely heavily on chemical fertilizers are now shifting to organic fertilizer use. DIMPC members are happy to be giving their fellow farmers the option to engage in a type of agriculture that is cheap, healthy, and environment friendly.
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