Tobacco rejects make good fertilizer

TANAUAN CITY, Batangas — Farmers here have successfully grown vegetables using tobacco rejects as organic fertilizers.

“These vegetables are safe for human consumption,” said city agriculturist Grace Platon after she and Dr. Isagani Catedral, a noted organic farming expert, showed officials of Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI) the plots where the farmers cultivated a variety of vegetables.

Tests conducted separately by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) and the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) showed that no alkaloids or harmful chemicals had permeated into the vegetables, Platon said.

PMPMI managing director Chris Nelson, corporate affairs director Bayen Elero, community relations manager Felizardo Mercado Jr., and fiscal affairs and government relations manager Chita Herce later had a taste sampling of these vegetables made into a salad.

“This is the fruit of our partnership,” Nelson said as he referred to the team effort between the local government, a farmers’ federation, and PMPMI in growing the vegetables that used the discarded tobacco leaves.

PMPMI throws away about 50 tons of tobacco rejects every month, and experiments conducted by a waste management contractor show that such leftovers could actually yield some 25 tons of organic fertilizers.

Realizing the potential of these earth-friendly substances, PMPMI met with a group of farmers to introduce this bio-organic fertilizer. Mercado said the company also invited experts in composting to talk about the promise of this soil enhancer.

However, the farmers were initially hesitant to use it, fearing that the tobacco aroma and other chemical compounds attributed to smoking could seep into their crops. Subsequent tests conducted by the NTA showed that no such harmful substances entered into the plants.

Following the successful harvest, Mercado said there would be a series of consultation meetings with the city agriculturist and the Tanauan City Farmers’ Federation to discuss how these fertilizers would be distributed and at what price.

Mercado said that PMPMI would be turning over the tobacco rejects to the city government for free.

“This is not altruism,” he said. “Companies inevitably have an influence on the communities they’re part of, and we believe that influence should be for the better.”