Carcar farmers warm to organic eggplant farming

CEBU, Philippines - Farmers in barangay Valladolid, Carcar City have been advocating and showing support for the promotion of organic farming, especially that the city is largely agricultural land. 

At least 24 farmers attended a demonstration by the Department of Agriculture that showed how organic eggplants are grown. 

City agriculturist Ricardo Oca said he is determined to continue planting the seed of hope in the hearts of farmers by establishing more demonstration farms on organic eggplants. 

Oca said the pilot area in Valladolid has brought about a positive change in the barangay and he envisions to bring about a similar change in the lives of eggplant farmers in other barangays in Carcar City.

For the farmers, exposing their eggplants to chemicals has become an accepted practice. 

What farmers do is dip the eggplants in strong chemicals before these are harvested to make them look healthy.

This practice is prevalent among eggplant producers who opt for higher income. 

Marino Quisa-ot, who has been growing eggplants for 20 years now, said he has realized that he has to be freed somehow from the use of these chemicals because he has to shell out more money for it, eating up much of his income from farming. 

Quisa-ot said by attending the demonstration, he has taken the first step in finding a solution to his dream of chemical-free farming. 

During the demonstration, the DA presented to the farmers with vermi-compost, probiotic liquid fertilizer, and vermi-tea packages which will help farmers produce healthy eggplants the natural way without having to resort to chemical dipping. 

This will also help boost their income without having to shell out more money to buy chemicals. 

With the use of the organic fertilizers, an area that measures 2,500 square meters yielded 2,064 kilos of eggplants, bringing a farmer’s gross income to a total of P30,182.25 during the cropping season, said Roland Magos, project leader of the demonstration farm and a staff of DA-7. 

A farmer such as Quisa-ot can earn a net income of P7,632.25 or a 33 percent return on his investment from chemical-free farming, Magos said. 

Aside from the commercial viability, organic farming is needed among eggplant farmers considering that the soil in Valladolid has been exposed excessively to chemical use in the past, he said.  (FREEMAN)