Organic farming needs organic fertilizers

After decades of being relegated to the back burner of Philippine agricultural development, organic farming in the country seems to be well on its way to growing substantially in the next few years.

Recently, Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala sent off the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the Organic Act of 2010 as approved by the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB). 

The IRR will be transmitted to the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM). The Organic Act seeks to promote, propagate, develop further and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the Philippines.

This is great news as it will certainly spawn not just organic farms but a back end industry that organic farms will need in order to ensure their profitability.

On the surface of it, the assurance that one's produce is free of pesticides and residual chemicals (potential toxins) found in fertilizers allows farmers to sell their produce at a higher price.  And on the onset, there may be farmers in the Philippines who are now considering a shift to organic farming -- but this shift can't be made so easily.

The globally accepted standard for organic farming and organic food states that such farming methods and produce should not use any chemical fertilizer and pesticide.

But without the aid of fertilizers and pesticides, organic farms can have a tough time producing good harvests that can be sold to the market at good prices.

For one, farms used to cultivate crops with the aid of chemical fertilizers and pesticides cannot shift immediately to organic farming.  The soil which basically had been stripped of naturally occurring nutrients, enzymes, and microbes by chemical farming methods will not be in a condition that could sustain abundant crops.

What needs to be done is to basically revive the soil, putting in back the nutrients, enzymes, and microbes that naturally fertilize the soil.

Friends at the Agricultural Inoculants Corporation or AIC has a ready solution that allows farmers to transition to organic farming.  Through a method of rapid composting, AIC can provide farmers with a technology that will allow them to make high grade organic fertilizer from locally available farm produce.

AIC enables farmers not only to cut down on the high cost of fertilizers by producing and using their own organic fertilizer, but also allows them to market the excess organic fertilizer to other farmers.

For inquiries on how you can engage in the production of organic fertilizers, you can get in touch with AIC via e-mail at cropsys.info@gmail.com