Organic, sustainably produced, and earth-friendly products (including those from the farmers featured here) are available every week at Good Food Sundays at Mandala Park in Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong. You ,too, can have your own Nature’s pharmacy like mine  or  an herb spice rack by growing basil, thyme and dill. By: Chit U. Juan - @inquirerdotnet. Your email address will not be published. “I guess that’s the experiment of community-shared agriculture,” Tan adds. Knowing we had an increasing demand, we opened up the ECHOmarket—especially for people who had NO time for weekend markets. I already also have my ginger or turmeric for memory. Don't miss out on the latest news and information. The farm has been around for two years, cultivating wild and endemic species as well as root crops and fruit trees. As it is, there is a dearth of knowledge and information about natural farming methods. I got involved with Amadeo, Cavite when we adopted a coffee farm of the mayor then to showcase as a Barako Farm. Back to The Master’s Garden. Learn the basics of organic farming . In 2005, I dreamt of having my very own coffee farm. “Mas madali sa kanilang maglagay ng pesticides. Meanwhile, Pinga and the rest of the young organic farmers continue to do the difficult work of intimately knowing the soil where our food grows, and shortening the distance between farm to table, in the hopes that slowly and surely, these small efforts will somehow help consumers make better lifestyle choices. From raw land, Mr. Pat Acosta started developing this land carefully and manually carving the rolling terrain making it a well organized mini organic farm today. Learning the basics of natural and organic farming is the first step in starting an organic farm. The first is organic produce can exist in the mass market. “We have to create our own compost, even knowledge of what variety [a plant] is, all of these things we have to do ourselves,” says Tan, Espital says they get most of their knowledge from YouTube. Everything must take its natural course. “I visited one of their farms, and I saw how they … have a separate site for organic farming and those for commercial use. “Why wait for the weekend?” we thought. “Organic produce in the Philippines is just not enough,” says Pinga. One example is an Organic Farm somewhere in La Trinidad Benguet, The Master’s Garden, a Micro-eco farm about 3000 square meters land area owned by Mr. Pat Acosta. Even if they compete with the advantages of conventional farming, the young organic farmers see no need to take shortcuts. This is where transfer of seedlings happen from one container to another. Required fields are marked *. Everything starts from scratch. People [also] really don’t fully grasp the value of protecting the environment [through organic farming], the farmers’ health.”. So I asked them why they have a separate site … [it’s because] they do bad practices to earn a higher profit.”, “There’s so much pesticide involved in keeping your regular vegetables looking the way they do,” adds Tan, discussing her experience with some commercial farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet. Not everything can be bought, especially the joy of experience. Not long after, we came across a property that was on the auction block. Most farmers are into conventional farming methods (which includes the use of chemical pesticides), and these are less labor-intensive than natural or organic farming, and bring in more profit at lesser costs. She started with tomatoes and okra. “Right now it’s such a loose term. Walang market ‘yan,’” adds Espital. ZIDOFA uses a holistic value chain approach in order to produce high quality, safe, affordable and healthy organic SRI rice to Filipino consumers, protect, conserve and restore biodiversity in the farm and marine and coastal ecosystems and bring the benefits and the credit back to the farmers and empowering them through the creation of a closed-loop organic SRI rice value chain. Tan also comments about the content of available knowledge. “Kasi alam nila na puro pesticides ‘yun. You might choose to start a small organic farm like raising livestock, producing products like milk or eggs and growing fresh fruits or vegetable. “We can’t apply that because we don’t have the same seasons. “And ang daming supply. “We’re small farmers. So they’re in the same market as all the conventional ones, so they end up selling at the same price,” he says. Mr. Acosta proudly says that “The Master’s Garden” is one of the first Organic Farm in Benguet, passed the standard setting and completed the requirements, 1st to be certified, by Organic Certification Center of the Philippines within the area. “I started with a 500-square-meter lot,” he says. With more demand than ever before, you have many options for starting your own farm business. While his family has owned a farm since 1992, it was only in 2014 that he started devoting the land to organic farming. “We exist to bridge people with these smallholder farmers,” she says. But it all started from nothing. You just have to try it out and hope it will grow well,” Ojeda adds. The farmers in Capas typically produce lowland bahay kubo vegetables, while in La Trinidad, they produce the chopsuey types of vegetables. As Espital persuades the same farmers to try organic farming again, he and his colleagues grapple with the reasons why some farmers go back into conventional farming, even though the latter option is more harmful to one’s health and the environment. “So bumalik na naman sila sa conventional.”. I never thought this dream would come to fruition. To find out more, please click this link. Tan was more motivated by the “bigger philosophical questions: like how should we live in this time. Tan, like most of her colleagues, works with smallholder farmers (farmers who till small plots of land, often with their families, and often use some of its produce for their own) in different areas in Capas, Tarlac, Mountain Province, La Trinidad, Benguet, as well as indigenous farmers among the Dumagats in Rizal and Aetas in Tarlac. At a time when agriculture faces a scarcity of farmers and “going organic” has become a loose term that has somehow lost its ethical implications — it’s supposed to be a “whole movement of trying to live in such a way that’s in harmony with the environment,” says Tan — the five young farmers (along with other members of their community) try to raise awareness on the origins of the food that we eat, and what it means for the people who produce them. “Eat mostly plants,” says Michael Pollan. So sasabihin nila, ‘Sir, ‘wag mo kakainin ‘yan, kasi para sa Manila ‘yan,’” says Espital.