As soon as you entered a side road from the National Highway going to an interior town about seven kilometers from the municipality of Barotac Viejo, one can feel a slight change in the ambient temperature. The air has become a bit cooler and humidity seems to be a bit high. In contrast to the landscape from the town center which are basically bare due to past and present farming practices, the landscape is filled with more trees and shrubs.
Going up the hill to the small training hall (Photo No. 1), one sees a row of Ylang-ylang trees which have started to bear sweet smelling fragrant flowers. There are also scattered fruit trees particularly jack fruit or langka. As one tops the hill at the training hall one can view the whole spread of the four (4) hectares demonstration farm.
Through trial, evaluation and re-alignment in the last five (5) years, the demonstration farm has slowly taken shape and has perfected technologies where farmers in the municipality and nearby areas can learn from.
The four hectares demonstration farm is basically hilly with some low portions and very limited flatland. When the municipal government bought the land, it was thickly populated with noxious weeds like cogon (Imperata cylindrica) and hagonoy (Chromolaena odorata). There were a few stands of banana and native trees some of them native guavas seeded by the birds from their feeding and gathering activities.
The land was once thickly forested but the sugar boom of the 1970s, the lure of marginal cash crop farming and the incessant tree cutting for charcoal has left the land barren and untenable for profitable farming. Even the low portions cannot support a decent crop of rainfed rice due mainly to severe soil nutrient depletion and the incessant erosion of barren top soil from the hillsides for lack of ground cover.
The municipality first organized a team or task force composed of technical people and the academe to design a suitable model that can develop the area and become a profitable model so that farmers can visit, learn from and replicate in their respective farms. As the models were tested, those that did not work were discarded to avoid unnecessary expenses. The management team led by Municipal Agriculturist Jesus Balila also studied available technologies and adopted those that were appropriate, low cost and have high chances of success.
Technologies for Dry Land Farming:
Since the terrain was hilly, ranging from slight to steep, applicable technologies were tested, among them the popular Sloping Agricultural Land Technology developed in Mindanao. For small areas up to one-fourth hectare and simulating a family holding, the said technology has a good chance of succeeding. However, it was found that SALT is labor intensive and that the type of climate, soil and vegetation in the municipality makes the technology inappropriate. To realize a SALT project, one has to work hard without considering time or labor spent just to develop basic features like the contours, legume bands to provide organic matter and fertilizer, etc. The demo farm is staffed by the LGU employees and thus, their activities are mostly confined to an eight-hour work day. In a year or so, the management team submitted their findings and recommendations as to how to further improve the IFS Demo Farm and to make it a viable/income generating endeavor for the municipality.
Hon. Mayor Raul C. Tupas, acting on the findings of the management team, approved the recommendation to plant the major portions especially the steep hilly areas with selected high quality grafted mangoes. These varieties were taken from the clonal center of the Bureau of Plant Industry at Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. The recommendation called for the establishment of about 400 grafted mangoes in a more or less 12m x 12m planting distance wherever possible. Their estimate is that after 5 years or so, these grafted mangoes will start bearing fruits. They can either be leased to any interested fruit vendor at P2,500.00 per tree or the IFS management will induce them to bear flowers and manage fruit maturation for sale to wholesale fruit vendors or sell them directly to the townspeople at wholesale prices so that they will be able to savor the sweet high quality mangoes produced out of their taxes. On the latter, the good mayor foresees that the IFS project will get more than just leasing out the trees.
When Mayor Raul Tupas ordered the management to develop the forest cover simultaneously as the mangoes get established, the team resorted to Assisted natural Regeneration technology where native and exotic leguminous ground cover and trees were established above the vegetable areas. The legumes have slowly but surely crept on top of the cogon stands. Behind their heels come the ipil-ipil and other fast growing trees.
Periodic brushing is also undertaken to suppress competition for sunlight and allow the mango seedlings a good head start. Jess Balila says that Assisted Natural Regeneration is the least cost approach to recovering barren areas taken over by cogon and hagonoy. (Photo No. 2).
Meanwhile, where applicable especially those reached by the water system of the farm, the hillsides were turned into vegetable farms using organic methods. About 3,000 sq. meters of the area were continuously cropped between the growing mango seedlings. Using the bio-active carbonized rice hull (Bio-active CRH) technology, 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm holes are dug along the contours and planted to various vegetables in rotation. Usually the rotation pattern is pole beans, ampalaya, pole beans and squash. In a permanent area, an eggplant patch using the same technology is established. The farms ratoons the eggplants so that they can be productive for four years or so, thus eliminating the need to establish new plants every year. The use of manures and the bio-active CHR has practically managed root knot nematode infestation, a prevalent pest among eggplants in continuous cropping. (Photos Nos 3,4).
Early in 2008, the municipality has signed a memorandum of agreement with a private entrepreneur and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the development of about 2,000 hectares of Ylang-ylang for essential oil production. To date, the said company has already planted more than 500 hectares. For its part, the LGU is also promoting the said industry by planting mother trees and developed a nursery for patchouli, another source of essential oil which is even more expensive than the essential oil from Ylang-ylang. Ylang-ylang had been found to grow fast and bear flowers in the municipality. It grows well under the canopy of taller trees and prefers high moisture but well drained areas. The demonstration farm has developed a clonal garden for both Ylang-ylang and patchouli. (Photo No. 5).
Technologies for Wetland Farming:
With more than 2,000 hectares planted to rice in the municipality, the IFS is also keen on developing alternative and appropriate technologies for wetland farming. Its initial activities to improve rice yield has focused on producing low cost organic fertilizers and soil ameliorants. “The bio-active CRH technology has already helped countless farmers who used this soil ameliorant and saved about 40% in fertilizer cost”, said Mr. Jesus Balila, Municipal Agriculturist.
This year, the IFS thru its technician, Mr. Vicente Batic-batic developed the enhanced Bio-active CRH where critical micronutrients such as Boron and Magnesium were added. After its introduction, the farm was swamped with requests for more supplies because of the dramatic increase in yields of rice farms. Many farmers enjoyed up to 40% increase in yield due mainly to the effect of the microorganisms and the micronutrients. (Photo No. 6).
We have also introduced the farming of “abalong” a type of gabi (colocasia esculentum) which produces runners called “takway”, a favorite vegetable of Ilonggos. A waterlogged farm can be converted to this crop and a 1,000 sq. meter lot can be more productive as a ½ hectare rainfed or severely flooded rice farm. If the said farm is located below a pig or cattle manure pond, it can be twice productive. The farm’s abalong 1,000 sq. meters project yielded about P12,000 this year.
Ornamentals:
The demo farm also established an ornamental garden basically to attract housewives on the prospects of ornamental plants as a money earner and additional source of income for the household. Farm wastes such as decomposed rice hulls and corn cobs are used as medium for growing anthuriums, a high value ornamental much in demand for its flowers and leaves. Rice hulls and corn cobs can be decomposed fast and still retain its shape for porosity by exposing it to Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO), a technology being taught by the Department of Agriculture and discovered by Japanese scientist Teruo Higa in the 1930s.
Medicinal plants are also planted especially the pink periwinkle, local name- rosas sa baybayon (Catharantus roseus) which is processed into capsules and sold as a food supplement to help mitigate various lifestyle diseases. Technician Junior Gonzales and his family earns by processing the said plant and several others into different kinds of supplements and ointments.
Livestock Integration:
From the start, the demo farm has incorporated livestock into the concept because of the multifold instructional function as added income, source of organic fertilizer and as an integrative factor. The No Wash Pig technology developed by the farm (previously featured in this magazine) has gained many acceptors in the locality especially among the poor fishing villages which received soft loans for backyard pig raising as added income when fishing is not allowed or when tidal shifts make it dangerous for the small fishermen to venture to the sea.
Murrah buffalo had also been acquired but the farm has yet to perfect the technology for production. Goats are also planned but these had to be confined in a specific area to avoid damage to the young mango trees.
Prospects and Future Plans:
The demo farm is bent on developing appropriate technologies for various types of farming landscapes and conditions. Its technology to produce carbonized rice hull is still crude, being mainly dependent on a small rice hull stove which can produce about 3 bags per hour. Its rice hull pyrolizer model is also basic. “Wee need new cheap technologies to produce rice hull carbon for use in our various operations”, says Vicente Batc-batic.
A self-contained ½ hectare model where a family can live profitable and comfortably is also being developed. A butterfly range is being studied. This is to attract more students to get interested in farming and the butterfly range will be one of the attractions so that they will be interested to visit.
Mayor Raul Tupas is optimistic and enthusiastic about the future of the demo farm. “So far we have developed appropriate low cost technologies easily applicable for the farmers of our town. We hope that with the publication of this article, farmers from other areas will be interested to visit. We welcome them. We also welcome new ideas especially coming from technical people who have a long track record of successful agribusiness and farming background. We hope that as our demo farm evolves, the municipality will realize substantial revenues from its operation and at the same time attract more farmers who will adopt and multiply the technologies developed her”, said Mayor Tupas. Photo No. 10).
Mayor Tupas added: “we firmly believe that our model is easily replicable and that farmers can copy them by just visiting and learning hands-on from our technicians. We also project that in four years, the farm will be self-sustaining and will recover all its investments in 4 more years!”
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