by Aessen Tapiador and Eirene Grace Zaragoza

In celebration of the World Oceans Day (June 8), let’s take a peek into the success of a woman who built a career in fisheries, marine zoology, and aquaculture.

As we share what we learn to others, we make them a part of our lives.

This is one of Dr. Blesshe Querijero’s principles in life. It’s no surprise that after a decade’s worth of research, she found herself in the academe teaching zoology in the Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS) at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

As an enthusiast for marine life, Dr. Querijero has published researches internationally. Her field of specialty is fisheries, focusing on marine and aquaculture. She has also been granted with the prestigious Elvira O. Tan Award for most outstanding aquaculture research.

With much success in her field, it’s interesting to know how she developed her interest in the sciences and discovered her passion in sharing knowledge to others

Starting Point

The field of fisheries has always been very close to Dr. Querijero’s heart. She grew up in the island municipality of Quezon in Quezon Province located in the southern tip of Alabat Island, an island rich with marine life.

Back when she was little, her favorite pasttime was swimming and diving. She’s enthralled with exploring the corals and various fishes inhabiting the sea. Her father also brought her picture books from Reader’s Digest about fisheries and marine life. She enjoyed looking at the pictures of corals, fishes, marine mammals, and invertebrates.

This childhood love for the sea inspired her to study more about acquatic organisms. She took up BS Zoology major in Marine Zoology in UPLB back in 1976. Her interest in fisheries became the beginning of her life-long adventure in this field.

Third Time’s a Charm

While many students labor through finishing their research in the shortest time possible, the young Querijero went through creating and re-creating her thesis three times. But alas, the third time’s a charm.

Querijero pursued her master’s degree in Fisheries major in Aquaculture in UP Visayas. On her first attempt to finish her thesis, her research samples were stolen just a week before the final collection of data. She repeated her study from scratch. This time, a storm ravaged her samples.

Querijero decided to change her research topic. She focused on how food passes through the digestive system of tilapia. With that study, she did not just graduate with a master’s degree, she also bagged the Elvira O. Tan Award for Most Outstanding Aquaculture Research in 1990.

Through these mishaps and triumph, Querijero learned that “it (success) really takes time; you cannot control what can happen. The making of a person is what is important.”

She also took another MS Degree in Public Management major in Technology-based Management in Ateneo School of Governance where she graduated summa cum laude. Until now, she gets invited in Ateneo to be a consultant for students presenting their research.

Ganbatte Years

After finishing two post-graduate degrees in the Philippines, Querijero found herself in Japan taking up her PhD in Fisheries. For four years, in the course of her study, she published three Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) journals refereed by scientists from all over the world.

Sometimes, she would sleep in the laboratory to finish her research. She motivated herself with the Japanese word, “ganbatte”, which means “cheer up, bear up, keep your chin up, be courageous, and do your best.” When she finished her PhD in Japan, her professors offered her a job as a faculty. She refused the offer; she preferred to go home and be with her family. Had she taken the job, though, she would have been the only female faculty and a second foreigner to teach in the Faculty of Fisheries in her university in Japan at that time

Teaching as a Passion

Upon returning to the Philippines, Querijero was hired as dean in Marinduque State College (MSC) where she taught for 10 months. Though less than a year, for her, the months she spent teaching in MSC were the most rewarding and fruitful days of her career. That was when she realized that teaching has a great impact on her.

After serving as dean in MSC, she was hired as an assistant scientist in DOST and worked there for 13 years. In 2013, she decided to pursue teaching again. “I love teaching”—in three words, Querijero has summed it all.

She shares that teaching gives her greater happiness and satisfaction as she shares her knowledge, and inevitably, herself.

Teaching is a passion; an intense desire to positively influence students not only in the subject matter but also in their eager pursuit to discover and harness their potential; that they may become better persons and citizens.

by Inzle Jarred Santos

During the month of May, we celebrate the National Volunteerism Month by looking into institutions where volunteers abound – as with the case of Madre de Amor Hospice Foundation (MdAHF) in Los Baños.

Covering 23 towns in Laguna, MdAHF is a non-stock, non-profit institution providing community-based hospice and palliative care service. It caters to an average of 40 patients a month for free.

The institution’s passion to serve is inspiring—and so is its story.

The inspiration behind the hospice

It is in times of grief when we are either broken to pieces or made stronger. When 14-year-old Sarah Katrina Adriano died of nasopharyngeal cancer in 1994, her parents, Lourdes and Fermin Adriano, were stricken with grief at her untimely demise.

However, Sarah’s death paved the way for a new chapter in palliative care in the Philippines, providing terminally ill patients with care up to their final hours.

It was through the Adrianos and Dr. Josefina Magno that the Madre de Amor Hospice Foundation, the country’s first community-based hospice program was established. Magno, a specialist on palliative care and fresh from her stint in the United States specializing in hospice programs, met the Adrianos by chance at one of her seminars on palliative care in 1994 at Manila. The Adrianos then went on to co-found the hospice in honor of their eldest child, in the hopes of providing assistance to those who are terminally ill.

Established during the year of Sarah’s death, Madre de Amor Hospice has since then been providing free pain management therapy for patients diagnosed with terminal diseases. According to administrative staff Gina Cabrera, the hospice offers six services: pain and symptom control, [care of] psychosocial aspects, lending of medical equipment, training of volunteers, and day care.

As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), palliative care is“an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.”

Simply put, it is the practice of helping terminally ill patients cope through the stress and trauma of going through an ordeal both physical and emotional.

Supportive care is for ambulatory patients, or those who are able to move from one place to another without assistance. Day care is the same, but is also a “diversionary” tactic to out the minds of the ill off their disease. The hospice also loans out medical equipment such as oxygen tanks, hospital beds, and wheelchairs.

Most cases admitted are cancer, but the services the hospice offers are also available for other illnesses such as end stage renal diseases such as but not limited to dialysis patients.

The foundation is located at the university town of Los Baños, just a tricycle ride away from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB) campus. Though not strictly limited to Los Baños residents, most of the foundation’s patients are from the barangays of the town. Some of their patients have come from the surrounding towns of Bay, Sta. Maria, and Calamba.

21 years as a volunteer

Aragones, or “Tita Alice” as she prefers to be called, has been a volunteer at the hospice for 21 years. After her husband, a UPLB professor, died due to complications from diabetes, she found herself wanting to volunteer for work at the Madre de Amor. “Bilang alam ko yung pinagdadaanan ng isang may kamag-anak na may sakit, naisip ko, ‘kahit makatulong sana ako’”.

“Mahirap maging volunteer,” she begins, “pero if you have the heart, hindi ka mapapagod.”Recounting the story of Sarah made her reminisce on her own experiences on being a volunteer.

“Ang ginagawa namin, binibisita namin sa kabahayan yung mga may sakit, papaliguan, [at]lilinisan. Kung saan saan ako nakakaabot, minsan tangay tangay ko pa yung anak ko.

Volunteers in the hospice are taught on how to care for patients who have special needs. Usually through workshops, volunteers are also taught on how to deal with emotional aspects of being terminally ill. A mother of seven children herself, Tita Alice says that volunteering is something that is not for the weak of heart. Putting emphasis on emotional maturity, she says that the most trying times are when she sees the warning signs of death in her patients. “Usually pag malapit nang mamatay, alam mo na yun eh: nanghihina, naghahallucinate na. Madalas nang tulog… yung iba, balisa na lang.”

Tita Alice admits that most of the work in volunteering comes not from administering pain medications, or making their rounds on the houses of the patients. The challenge, she says, lies mostly with the emotional aspects of the work.

According to Tita Alice, it is hard not to form attachments to patients as a volunteer. “Madalas kasi kahit yung mga pamilya nila, napapagod din o kaya naman, walang oras mag-alaga sa may sakit.”She also says that they are somewhat the family of the patients. “Kami na lang yung nangungumusta,” she says.

“Madalas naming pag usapan kung paano yung buhay [ng pasyente] dati.”Recalling the case of a spinster diagnosed with breast cancer whom she cared for, she says “dun ko lang naisip, ang hirap pala pag walang pamilya.”

She also notes how most of the patients she has served for throughout the years would eventually find themselves being closer to the Lord. Given this, she feels that, to a certain extent, her volunteer work is a fulfillment of being the Lord’s stewards. “Kami ang naghahanda ng kaluluwa para magbalik loob sa Diyos,”she adds. “Ang iniisip din ng mga tao, pag hospice, mamamatay na,” she says. “Hindi naman sa ganoon, katunayan meron kaming mga cancer survivors na volunteers [na ngayon],”she adds.

She shares the story of a fellow volunteer Tess Gonzales, who is a cancer survivor. According to Tita Alice, Gonzales used to be a teacher at the nearby Maquiling School, Inc. After her bout with cancer, Gonzales has since been an active volunteer at the hospice.

According to Cabrera who sees herself an accountant and social worker by profession, “the work is its own reward. “…nakakapagod talaga, it’s also emotionally exhausting.”. In spite of this, Cabrera still finds herself drawn to the hospice. “Kasi kung tutuusin, if you want to go corporate, ang daming trabaho dyan,”she says.

Palliative care in the Philippines

In the context of hospice care, the Philippines has been described as in its early stages of palliative care development. Although there is definitely the presence of palliative care, it is only in isolated groups. In Southeast Asia, only Singapore has successfully introduced palliative care into its healthcare system. According to Ayda Nambayan, a registered nurse and a consultant on palliative care and oncology at the Makati City Medical Center, some challenges seen in the effectivity of palliative care include education and lack of adequate government support. There is also lack of proper training on part of volunteers and specializations of qualified palliative healthcare providers.

Cabrera laments the state of palliative and hospice care in the country. “Sana mas may government support,”she says. “Yung sa ibang bansa grabe ang supporta ng government,”she adds, citing the case of the Taiwan delegation, which they have encountered during a summit on palliative care in the Philippines last 2012. “Sila pa dumating, talagang grupo. Yung amin eh executive director lang, kasi sariling gastos,”she said.

A 2008 country report by Lancaster University of the United Kingdom lists 34 organizations which provide a wide array of palliative care services in the Philippines. In this, the Madre de Amor Hospice is listed as offering home care, day care, and psychosocial support.

According to Cabrera, the main problems that the hospice faces are on volunteers and funding. In the recent months, few volunteers have shown up for volunteer workshops that the hospice hosts every month. “Nitong nakaraan nga, nag one-on-one kami kasi iisa lang yung pumunta”.According to her, the hospice has adjusted its once two-day workshop into two hours just to make volunteer work more appealing to volunteers.

In recruiting volunteers, Cabrera says that preferably, they should be young. However, looking at their 52 strong volunteer demographic, she says that it is the seniors that are more active because they are usually retirees with plenty of spare time. “Yung iba nga sa meeting lang every first Friday of the month ko na lang nakikita,” says Tita Alice, who is also one of three Perfect Attendance Awardees at the hospice. However, Cabrera understands. Also a mother herself, Cabrera says that to serve others, one must first sustain his/herself.

They also discourage people who have recently lost a loved one to cancer or any other disease because of their emotional fragility. Citing Tita Alice as an exception, Cabrera says that they cannot afford to reintroduce their volunteers into something traumatizing. “That’s why hindi talaga naming tinatanggap”.

Funding and donors

While the Madre de Amor Hospice has its fair share of donors, with some being corporate entities, funding is still a problem. “Katunayan we just had a project sa isang UPLB group, yung sa HIV/AIDS? Break even lang yung kita, pero we’re still happy kasi we got to inform some people tungkol sa Madre de Amor Hospice and HIV/AIDS,” says Cabrera.

The hospice also sells some merchandise done by some patients to help add to the hospice’s funds. “We have our morphine from the Department of Health (DOH),” says Cabrera. In partnership with Hospice Philippines, the hospice has been supplied with morphine, an aneasthetic drug used to relieve pain as part of their pain management therapy, since 1996. Starting with the death of a 14-year-old girl way back in 1994, the collective efforts of the Adrianos, Dr. Magno, and the men and women behind the Madre de Amor Hospice have helped shaped the hospice from its humble beginnings to a fixture in the Philippine hospice scene. Being internationally recognized as one of the pioneer palliative care centers in Philippines, the hospice has served as the final refuge for the terminally ill.

Individuals interested to become volunteers may visit http://www.hospice.org.ph for more information.

nina Camille Abiog at Hannah Aquino

Si Remia Adedoja ay isang business woman na mula sa bayan ng Los Baños. Siya ang may-ari at tumatayong punong tagapamahala o general manager ng Remdavies Enterprises.

Nagtatrabaho na ang dalawa niyang anak samantalang ang isa ay nag-aaral pa. Gayun pa man, kasama ang kanyang asawa, tulong-tulong nilang itinataguyod ang kabuhayan sa rattan at water hyacinth.

Rattan Furniture Business

Taong 1999 nang simulan niya ang pagbebenta ng mga muwebles na gawa sa rattan. Iniluluwas o export nila ang mga muwebles. Bukod doon ay may tindahan din sila sa palengke kung saan sila ay nagbebenta ng itlog.

Katuwang niya ang kaniyang mga anak sa negosyo. Bahagi ng kanilang proseso ay ang pagpapadala o shipmentat pagbabalot o packing ng mga muwebles. Bukod sa Laguna, nagkaroon din sila ng pabrika sa Pampanga.

Nakasama niya sa negosyo ang buong pamilya, pamangkin at kapatid niya. Dati, sila ay nagpupunta sa Angeles upang ibalot lahat ng muwebles sa karton. Sama-sama silang nagbabalot at nagpupuno ng isang mahabang kaha o container.

Aniya, “Mas malaking workforce ang kailangan namin dito kasi isang puntahan lang, magbabalot kami tapos itatabi doon sa container.”

Natuwa si Remia sa kaniyang hanapbuhay. Marami ng lugar ang kanilang napuntahan. Ngunit may mga oras din na nakaranas sila ng hirap sa pagpapatakbo nito. Nabanggit niya na maraming manggawa ang kailangan sa negosyong iyon.

Water Hyacinth Business

Masaya si Remia sa kaniyang hanapbuhay mula sa water hyacinth. Hindi lamang nila pinagkakakitaan ang mga handicrafts o gawaing-kamay. Nakukuha din sila bilang mga tagapagsanay o livelihood trainers sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa. At bilang mga tagapagsanay, ibinabahagi nila ang teknolohiya at kaalaman sa kapwa Pilipino.

Ani Remia, “Nasa tao lang kung ano ang goal na nais abutin. Kung ang layunin ay maka one million sa dalawang buwan, kailangan magtrabaho ng double time. May ‘extra effort’ ika nga, at maaabot ang layunin.”Para sa kanya, kapag nagkaka-edad na, kadalasan ay ayaw na ng maraming problema, kaya nais niya na hinay-hinay lamang sa negosyo para walang pagod at hindi mabilis magkasakit.

Paminsan-minsan, mayroon din nararanasang problema sa water hyacinth business sila Remia. Kapag naaantala ang produksyon ay may bayad o multa. Dahil dito, mas mainam na kaunti lang ang bilang ng araw ng pagkaantala upang maliit ang magiging multa.

Katulad noong nakaraang taon, nagluwas o exportsila ng mga produkto. Kailangang mas mabilis ang produksiyon. Araw-araw ay puyat sila upang hindi maantala ang paggawa at hindi mapatawan ng multa. Kung minsan, kailangan nilang pumunta sa Bicol upang madagdagan ang produksiyon. Dahil dito mas malaki ang nagagastos. Sa ngayon, lokal na suki na lamang muna ang kanilang pinagkakaabalahan.

Pagsubok Sa Kabuhayan

Ayon kay Remia, mayroong bahagi ng pagkalugi sa preproduction kapag nagsisimula pa lamang sa negosyo. Sabi niya,

“Dahil namumuhunan ka, puro ka labas ng pera.” Mayroon din pagkalugi kapag sumali sa isang trade fair. Halimbawa ang bayad upang makidalo sa kalakalan ay PhP 10,000. Kung ang benta ay PhP 10,000 lang rin, walang kita sa araw na iyon.

Kung kaya naman ay pinipili niya ang mga sinasalihang trade fair. Bilang general managerng negosyo sa water hyacinth, ang pangunahing gawain ni Remia ay pangangasiwa sa produksyon o Itutuloy sa pahi paggawa ng mga produkto. Mas madali ang bentahan kapag may ibebenta. Maaari lamang magkaproblema sa paggawa kapag kaunti ang mga produktong nagawa, kaya kaunti rin ang nagiging benta. Kaya ang mga manghahabi ay kailangang alagaan. Tinitingnan din niya mga kagamitan o raw materials. Kailangan ay palaging mayroong supply.

Inaasikaso rin ni Remia ang mga tauhan. Mayroon siyang mga pamangkin sa produksyon. Ang bunsong anak niya ay nagsisilbing kalihim. Ang dalawa pang anak ay nakatalaga sa mga aktibidades at gawaing nagpapakilala ng kanilang produkto sa merkado. Ang asawa naman niya ay namamahala sa produksyon at tumutulong sa coatingat finishingng mga produkto.

Hindi lamang salapi ang puhunan nila Remia. Husay sa pamumuno, talino sa pagpapatakbo ng negosyo, at malasakit sa mga empleyado. ‘Yan ang mga sangkap na naghabi sa kanilang magandang hanapbuhay –– ang Remdavies Enterprises.

nina Jyn Ignacio at Jimilyn Gerobin

Patuloy na nagkakaloob ng libreng newborn screeningang Los Baños Municipal Health Office (LBMHO) para sa mga bagong silang na sanggol. Ito ay ginaganap tuwing Lunes hanggang Huwebes, mula ikawalo ng umaga hanggang ikalima ng hapon sa Newborn Screening Roomng nasabing tanggapan.

Ayon sa datos mula sa LBMHO, dumarami ang bilang ng mga tumatanggap ng libreng newborn screening ngayong taon, mula sa 20 simula noong Pebrero, 25 noong Marso, hanggang sa 28 noong Abril.

Base sa resulta ng newborn screening,ang Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD) ang pinakamadalas na medikal na kundisyon o disorderna natatamo ng mga bagong panganak sa Los Baños ngayong 2015.

Ito ay isa lamang sa mga karaniwang medikal na kundisyon na maaaring matuklasan kapag dumaan sa newborn screening ang mga bagong panganak na bata.

Maraming karamdaman ang maaaring matuklasan sa isang bata kapag dumaan sa newborn screening. Isinasaad sa Reproductive Health Lawo Republic Act 10354 (The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012) na ang mga buntis ay dapat regular na kumonsulta sa duktor at ang mga bagong panganak ay dapat dumaan sa newborn screening.

Ayon kay Racquel Sumiran, isang midwifemula sa LBMHO, lumaki ang bilang ng mga dumadaan sa newborn screening dahil natutuklasan na ng mga magulang ang kahalagahan nito para sa kanilang sanggol.

Dagdag pa niya, ang mga buntis ay dapat nagpatingin ng tig-iisang beses sa una at pangalawang trimesterat dalawang beses sa huling trimesterng kanilang pagbubuntis. Dagdag pa niya na kailangang dumaan sa newborn screeningmula sa una hanggang ikasampung araw matapos maipanganak ang bata.

Ang panahon na ito ay tinatawag na “golden period”. Kinikilala ng Reproductive Health Lawang kakayahan ng newborn screeningna alamin ang mga karamdaman na nakukuha ng mga bagong silang na sanggol. Alinsunod sa batas na ito, ang mga buntis ay hinihikayat na dumaan sa newborn screening.

nina Jonah Romasanta at Kathryna Marie Lopez

Taong 1992 nang mamulat sa gawaing pagsasaka si Bernardito Regis, kilala bilang si Mang Bernard, sa lalawigan ng Tacloban sa Visayas. Magmula noon ay pagsasaka na ang nagsilbing kabuhayan ni Mang Bernard na siya ding kanyang sinandalan upang maitaguyod ang pamilya sa araw-araw.

Sa pagpasok ng Bagyong Yolanda sa bansa noong 2013, isa ang pamilya ni Mang Bernard sa mga libu-libong labis na naapektuhan at napinsala sa buong Kabisayaan.
Matapos ang bagyo na maituturing na isa sa pinakamalakas at pinakamapaminsalang
naranasan sa buong mundo, pinili ni Mang Bernard na lisanin ang kinalakihang Tacloban upang magsimula ng bagong buhay sa Laguna. Ipinagpatuloy niya ang kinagawiang pagsasaka sa Brgy. Putho-Tuntungin sa Los Baños.

Sa kasalukuyan, si Mang Bernard ang tumatayong pangulo ng Putho-Tuntungin
Farmers Association at kasalukuyang isa sa mga magsasaka na nagsasagawa ng
vermicompostingsa Los Baños.

Ano ang vermicomposting?

Sa isang panayam kay Ginoong Jose Honrado, may ari ng J.A. Grasslands Farm sa Los Baños, ang vermicomposting ay ang paggagamit ng bulate upang makapaggawa ng masustansiyang pataba na maaaring magamit na lupa ng isang sakahan.
Nagsisimula ang lahat sa paghahalo ng dumi ng hayop kagaya ng kalabaw.
Ito ay ihinahalo sa dayami at balat ng mga prutas at gulay. Ang J.A. Grasslands
Farm ay isa sa mga kumpanya na ngayon ay nagbebenta na ng bulateng ginagamit
para sa vermicompostingna tinatawag na African night crawlerat ng produkto
mismo na nagagawa ng mga bulateng ito sa pamamagitan ng vermicomposting.

Ayon kay Honrado, ang mga magsasakang nandito sa Pilipinas ay nagsimula nang magparami ng African Night Crawler sa pamamagitan ng vermiculture.

Paggamit ng vermicompost

Si Mang Bernard ay nagtatanim at nagpapatubo ng iba’t-ibang halaman at gulay
tulad ng sitaw, kamatis, pipino, at iba pang mga gulay sa maliit na bahagi ng lupang pagaari ng isa niyang kamag-anak. Ginagamit niya dito ang mga kaalamang natutunan
tungkol sa proseso ng vermicomposting. Nangongolekta siya ng dumi ng baka at kambing na ginagamit niya bilang substrate na ipapakain sa mga bulateng African night crawler. Gumagamit din siya ng mga damong nabubulok, dahon ng ipil-ipil, acacia,o kaya’y dahon ng kahit anong halaman na sinasabing mayaman sa nitrogen.
Payo niya sa ibang magsasaka na mas mabuting nahaharangan o kaya’y nakalagay sa nakasabit na lalagyan ang mga bulate upang hindi mawala ang mga ito.

Inirerekomenda din niya na maglaan lamang ng sapat na dami ng substrate na kayang ubusin ng mga bulate, depende sa naunang obserbasyon sa dami ng kinain ng mga ito.

Ayon kay Mang Bernard, umaabot ng halos isang buwan bago makapaglabas ng
sapat na dami ng dumi o vermicastang mga bulate na maaari nang gamitin bilang
organikong pataba sa lupa matapos palamigin sa loob ng maikling panahon.
Sa kasalukuyan, ang iba sa mga magsasakang miyembro ng Farmers
Association sa Putho ay magsasagawa din ng vermicomposting sa pagtatanim sa kanyakanyang bakuran o likod-bahay. Mayo 2014 nang opisyal na naiparehistro bilang
samahan para sa maliliit na magsasaka ang Putho-Tuntungin Farmers Association sa
pamamagitan ng Municipal Agricultural and Fishery Council (MAFC).

Sa taon ding iyon ay naturuan ang mga magsasaka ng mga pamamaraan ng organic farming pati na din ng vermicomposting, sa tulong ng Gender and Development (GAD) Office at ng Department of Agriculture. Ayon kay Mang Bernard, patuloy silang nakatatanggap ng mga buto na ipinamamahagi ng GAD. Kaugnay nito ay nagbubukas ang GAD ng organic market tuwing Biyernes sa harapan ng munisipyo ng Los Baños upang maibenta ang mga organicna produkto ng mga magsasaka at kung saan ang mga perang kinita ay ibinabalik sa kanila.

Benepisyo ng pagbe-vermicompost

Mula sa mga karanasan ni Mang Bernard sa pagbe-vermicompost, masasabi niyang madaming magandang naidulot ang prosesong ito para sa mga magsasaka. Ayon sa kanya, nakatutulong ang paggamit ng vermicast sa pagpapasigla ng lupang taniman kung kaya’t nakatitipid silang mga magsasaka mula sa pagbili ng kemikal na pataba. Sa paggamit ng vermicastay naiiwasan ang pagkalason na maaaring idulot ng mga kemikal na pataba at nababawasan din ang mga pesteng lumalapit sa mga pananim. Higit sa lahat ay makatitiyak na ligtas para sa mga tao na kainin ang gulay na pinatubo sa lupang ginamitan ng vermicast.

Para kay Mang Bernard, bukod sa pagsasaka ay higit na malaki ang naitulong ng pagsubok at pagpapatuloy niya ng vermicompostingsa pagsisimula ng bagong
buhay matapos ang Bagyong Yolanda.

Mula sa kinita niya sa paggamit ng vermicompostsa pagtatanim ay nakaipon
si Mang Bernard ng sapat na pera upang makapagtayo ng simpleng bahay para sa
kanyang pamilya at upang makabili ng pamasadang pedicab na kanya rin ngayong
ginagamit sa paglalako ng mga inani niyang gulay.

Sinasabi ni Honrado na ang pagbevermicompostay isang pamamaraan na
talagang makakatulong sa mga maliliit na magsasaka tulad ni Mang Bernard dahil
kaya nilang magparami ng mga bulate gamit ng vermiculture upang mayoong
magagamit pa para sa susunod na pagsasagawa nila ng vermicomposting.
Ang kagandahan din ng gawaing ito ay maaari nilang ibenta ang parehong
vermicast at ang bulateng African night crawler. Maaari din naman nilang gamitin
ang vermicast bilang pataba sa mga pananim na pinapatubo sa mga organic
farms dahil ito ay walang karagdagang kemikal na ginagamit dahil lahat ng mga
ginamit sa paggawa nito ay mula sa mga organikong kagamitan.

Ang isa pang kagandahan ng paggamit ng vermicastay ito ay nakakapagpasigla ng lupa at kayang pasiglahin muli ang mga lupang nataniman ng mga halamang ginamitan ng mararaming kemikal. Ang pagbe-vermicompost ay isang magandang gawain dahil ito ay pangmatagalan dahil pwedeng paramihin ang mga bulate upang magamit pa
muli. Ito rin ay pwedeng mapagkunan ng karagdagang hanapbuhay ng mga magsasaka dahil pwede silang magbenta ng bulate at ng vermicast.
Kita nyo?

Ang kagandahan sa likod ng vermicomposting!