by Ma. Kathleen C. Cabal

CALAUAN, LAGUNA – Preparations are on-going for the five-day camp out of PESANTE Pilipinas happening on February 20 to 24 in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform’s central office at Quezon City. Around 100 farmers from eight provinces are expected to take part in this camp out that aims to address nine of the 84 pending land cases.

Brgy. Imok Councilor and PESANTE Pilipinas President Evangeline Mendoza stressed the need to address these concerns because it has already been long overdue.

The 84 pending land cases have not been resolved since the Presidential Decree No. 27 and the Agrarian Reform Code of 1971 was issued during the Marcos regime. These cases were the backlogs that were not addressed by the government.

She also emphasized that the reason why the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with Reform (CARPER) is not working today is because the land owners already know so much about the law that they already found ways to evade it.

Included in the nine cases to be addressed during the camp out is the Coconut Coir case of Barangay Imok, Calauan, Laguna.

Ka Vangie Mendoza, president of Pesante Pilipinas and one of the councilors of Brgy. Imok, Calauan, explaining the how the coconut coir logs help lessen the landslides and soil erosion.

The coconut coir project of Imok-Arc Women’s and Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative and also spearheaded by PESANTE Pilipinas, is a strategic project that aims to preserve 50 to 100 hectares of coconut plantation through replanting and fertilization in Calauan, Laguna. A total of 3.1 million grant is also involved in this case.

The coconut coir project has been on-going in Brgy. Imok in Calauan, Laguna since 2010. This project was established by PESANTE Pilipinas through the Imok ARC Women and Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative. The project may look promising because it generates employment in the community, but according to Councilor Mendoza, the process just to put it up was not easy.

“Dalawang taon naming ni-rally ito. Para lang maipatupad ang ganitong klaseng proyekto, dalawang taon namin itong inilaban,” explained Mendoza. She also discussed how the coconut coir project helps the farmers of Barangay Imok despite the fact that the project lacked support from the government.

“Halimbawa sa fiber, kumikita sila ng Php200.00 per day. Kung tuloy-tuloy ang aming operasyon, meron silang napo-produce na Php6000.00 per month. Tapos yung kikitain namin, ibibili namin ulit. Paikot-ikot lang. Kasi ang puhunan naman namin para dito, walang galing sa gobyerno Ang kapital para sa proyektong ito, galing lang din sa mga miyembro. Ang puhunan namin dito ay capital share. Ibig sabihin, lahat ng miyembro, nag-invest nang tig-Php500.00 bawat isa para dito, pambili ng diesel tsaka ng iba pa. Kaya sa amin talaga ito,” she explained.

The purpose of this project is because of the organic vegetable farming that the members of the cooperative initiated in the said barangay. Since farming is the main livelihood of the residents of Brgy. Imok, the cooperative members wanted the rest of the farming families to adapt the organic vegetable farming as well.

Councilor Mendoza also made it clear that they have been resilient to those companies who have shown interest in their project because they do not want to be affiliated with any political officers. For her, it’s not enough to have a capital alone or the manpower alone; it has to be a two-way process.

“Ang hinahanap kasi namin, yung tulong-tulong kami sa pagpapatakbo. Siyempre tinitignan din namin yung motibo nila sa paglapit sa amin. Ang gusto namin, yung parte sila, pero parte rin kami sa implementation,” she explained.

She also discussed the severe case of corruption in the Philippines and the reason why it is hard to address this issue. “Pati pondo ng mga magbubukid, halimbawa sa Fertilizer scam, papipirmahin kami ng attendance sheet pero ang nakasulat ‘recipient of liquid fertilizer’, pero wala naman kaming natatanggap. Doon ko talaga napatunayan na ang korupsyon, nag-uumpisa sa mga barangay, kaya naman napakahirap ng laban natin sa anti-corruption,” she shared.

PESANTE Pilipinas is a nationwide alliance of farmers focusing on agricultural development and agrarian reform of the country.

by  Ma. Kathleen C. Cabal

After the barangay was hit by a blight on October 2011, the farmers were of Barangay Dila in Bay, Laguna are still having several problems with their primary source of income, according to Menandro Curibot, one of the councilors and farmers of Barangay Dila.

A blight is a plant condition after being infected by an infectious pest causing the death of the plant tissues. “Dadalawang kaban lang ang nakuha ko ‘nun. Dapat mga 100 hanggang 120 sako ang aanihin namin. Humigit kumulang Php 50,000.00 yung nalugi sa akin”, Curibot shared.

Because of the blight, some of the farmers decided to temporarily lease their lands and opted to go for other sources of income. “Pinaupahan muna namin ng dalawang cycle yung lupa namin. Sa landscape at gardening na lang muna ako ngayon, pero marami na rin kasing ka-kumpetensya sa landscaping ngayon,” he added.

The barangay submitted a proposal for the soil testing analysis November last year. Out of the 200 hectares of rice field in the barangay, the Bureau of Soils, in cooperation with the Municipal Agricultural Office, approved 50 hectares for soil testing. Results showed that the main problem of the rice field is zinc deficiency, thus soil conditioning was granted to the land owners.

Councilor Menandro Curibot of Brgy. Dila, Bay, Laguna while talking about being thankful to the Home Owners Association of Bayview Subdivision for allowing them to use the empty lots for their Barangay Garden.

Also one of the major programs funded by their barangay to boost their farming and gardening livelihood is their ongoing Barangay Garden. This aims to extend help to the farmers, gardeners and other residents from their barangay who needs support after they failed to harvest their crops last cycle.

Barangay watchman Vergilio Policarpio of Brgy. Dila, Bay, Laguna is serving as one of the caretakers of their Barangay Garden.

Headed by their barangay captain, the councilors and barangay watchmen are working together to maximize the free use of some of the private empty lots at Bayview Subdivision, Bay, Laguna. These lots were transformed into a temporary barangay garden where they can plant root crops and vegetables to consume or to sell.

“Binebenta sa palengke yung iba hanggang sa bumalik yung capital. Sobra-sobra naman ito kaya yung mga matitira binibigay na sa mga nangangailangan”, he explained.

Some of the vegetables planted in the Barangay Garden are pechay, mustasa, and talbos ng kamote. Another program that seeks to help the farmers is the ongoing rebuilding of the Dila Multipurpose Cooperatives for Progress, Inc.

Councilor Curibot, also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the cooperative, explained the need for the license renewal of the cooperative, saying that most of the members of the cooperative are also farmers.

“Agricultural Cooperative kasi talaga kami. Ang taas nga lang ng standards ng CDA (Cooperative Development Authority) ngayon kaya medyo nahihirapan kami sa license renewal. Pero konti nalang naman ang kulang namin. Yung financial statement tinatapos na rin namin ngayon,” he reported.

Farm managers of Barangay Dila are now also shifting from pure rice planting to ornamentals, herbs and spices since the income decline in rice production.

“Nagiging diverse na rin kami ngayon. Yung mga gardeners naman dito, considered as farmers rin. Nag-umpisa na kami magtanim ng mga Bougainvillea. Tapos pinasok na rin namin ang ornamentals. Ngayon naman, pumapasok na kami sa herbs and spices.”

He also said that some of the farmers decided to stick with rice planting despite the inclome decline mainly because they do not want the rice production in their barangay to decline.

“Marami rin kasi ditong farm managers. Yung ibang mga farmers dito, mga emergency farm laborers lang. Kasi siyempre tututok ka dun [sa rice planting] pero maganda naman ang kita sa ornamental. Para lang mapanatili yung rice planting kaya nasa rice planting pa yung iba.”

BAY, LAGUNA – In response to the Bureau of Soils’ recommendation from the most recent soil analysis, Brgy. Dila turns to organic fertilizers to condition and improve the quality of their farmland.

Brgy. Councilor Menard Curibot discussed the Zinc deficiency of their soil. “Maasim na kasi at kulang na sa nutrisyon ang mga lupa,” he explained. The implementation of the project developed by the Bureau of Soils, Municipal Agriculture Office, and the LGU first started with a soil test last December 2011 while the recommendation and distribution is in process this January 2012 until present time.

February 2, 2012 marks the date of distribution of the next batch fertilizers at the Dila Multipurpose Coop Inc. in Purok IV Windvalley.

Two hundred and fifty (250) sacks of vermicompost delivered at Dila Multipurpose Coop Inc. in Brgy. Purok IV Windvalley.

Farmers are encouraged to use organic fertilizers since the use of chemical fertilizers can be a threat to the health. By using organic fertilizers, farmers can generate more income since organic fertilizers are cheaper. In terms of harvesting, improved quality of yields is expected when using organic fertilizers.

The Bureau of Soils provided the fertilizers to be applied in the respective land areas. They recommend the use of one litre of Trichoderma harzianum-compost activator, one Microbial Inoculant (250g/pack), ten (10) bags of Vermicompost, one bag of Triple 1-4 and one bag of Urea per hectare to fully nourish the soil.

One box of Trichoderma Microbial inoculant from UP Los Baños ready to be distributed to farmers.

According to Zenaida A. Lansigan, the agricultural technologist in charge of mixing of fertilizers for the application, the use of organic fertilizers addresses Zinc deficiency, leads to better conditioning of soil resulting to a land more conducive for farming.

The Bureau of Soil targets 50 hectares of land in Brgy. Dila divided in to two 25-hectare sites in Purok IV Windvalley and  Purok III care. Thiry-six (36) farmers, 19 from Purok IV and 19 from Purok III, will be the initial beneficiaries for the program.

Chosen site for application of organic fertilizers in Purok IV Windvallley.

According to Curibot, the quarterly evaluation of the lands will be conducted to monitor the effectiveness of the fertilizers. All finding will be recorded to serve as basis for the improvement and/or the larger scale implementation for the program in Brgy. Dila.

by Therese Marie L. Quilnat