Citing bad practices in agriculture reduce nutrients in the soil which resulted in its 38 percent degradation, Senator Cynthia Villar is pushing for composting and the use of organic fertilizer.
In her video message during the 71st anniversary of the Bureau of Soils and Waste Management (BSWM), Villar underscored the need to produce organic fertilizer from agricultural residues like rice straw, corn stover, and animal manure, and others that can replace the inorganic/synthetic or chemical fertilizers.
“We need to produce organic fertilizer from agricultural residues like rice straw, corn stover, animal manure, and others that can replace the inorganic/synthetic or chemical fertilizers.”
“You are one with us in actively promoting organic farming methods, especially producing organic fertilizer,” the chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, told the BSWM.
“Since we have many biodegradable wastes in our environment, I have been transforming them into useful things. We have many of them in our markets and in our own homes, so there is a need for a facility for them near our farms, trading posts, and markets,” the veteran legislator added.
The seasoned lawmaker said the biodegradable wastes in our residential areas consist of kitchen and garden wastes.
“We only need to collect and convert them into organic fertilizers or compost which can be used by our farmers, most especially now that fertilizers are very expensive, and sometimes, they are not available for our farmers,” the lady senator explained.
Villar, who also leads the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, related that she has personally caused the establishment of 117 composting facilities nationwide. 67 of them are found in her hometown in Las Piñas while 50 are located in Vista Land Communities.
“We are distributing for free our organic products to our farmers and plantitos/plantitas across the country.”
“Villar SIPAG is included in this advocacy. We are distributing for free our organic production to our farmers and plantitos/plantitas across the country,” she said.
According to Villar, she started this advocacy in 2002 to help minimize waste and to encourage the use of biodegradable wastes for healthy soil.
She also mentioned that Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act was passed into law in 2010 which intends to expand organic agriculture in the Philippines. There is also RA 9003 or the Ecological Waste Management Act which mandates the segregation and reduction of wastes through recycling and composting.
“These two laws promote protection for our environment, especially organic agriculture through composting,” Villar said.
“To realize this, I always need to remind the BSWM because it is important that we give Composting Facilities for Biodegradable Waste (CFBW) to our farmers and local governments in the whole country. I hope you would do this, particularly now that chemical fertilizers are so costly,” she added.
Villar said this project was also being supported by the DA-National Organic Agriculture Program and the DA- High-Value Crops Program. The CFBW consists of one unit of the rotary composter and one unit of shredding machine.
“It is really important that we take care of our soil to have a productive harvest and lower hunger, and food insecurity in our country,” she said during the event with the theme, “Malusog na Lupa at Tubig na Sagana, Tungo sa Progresibong Agrikultura.”
