2:47 June 19, 2008 | All news from "Organic Whole Foods"

DOING THE ORGANIC WALK

Many people talk organic but only a few walk their talk.

Alfredo Micena has taken the challenge, which has brought life to his lectures on organic farming to nongovernment organizations and fellow farmers in a 3,000 square, meter diversified farm in Barangay Sapa in Naic, Cavite.

He grows vegetables, root crops, fruit bearing trees, grains, chickens, ducks, goats and carabaos, all organically, in the farm. Another 50 sqm lot is allotted to a fishpond.

Micena, 50, does not own the property but cultivates it under the 'buwisan' (leasehold) system. He gives three cavans of rice to the owner every harvest from his produce of 18 cavans in a 300 sqm field. If irrigation water supply is good, he harvests twice a year.

He lives in a house beside the farm.

Last year, Typhoon 'Reming' ruined the irrigation dam supplying water to his farm, but this did not discourage Micena from planting. 'When rice became difficult to raise because of water shortage, I ventured into mungo (mung bean) and soya production,' he said.

Learning by doing

He adopted what he learned about natural farming from the Department of Agriculture. He produces organic fertilizer by mixing the soil with a liter of fish amino acid, a kilo of fish and a kilo of brown sugar. Only a small amount of the pesticide is sprayed on the plants.

'My harvest of palay increased from 12 cavans to 18 cavans,' Micena said.

The farmer also learned to produce soya milk. He bought a kilo of soya beans, soaked it overnight in nine liters of water, ground, boiled and mixed it with 1/4 kilo of sugar.

'I was happy with the taste,' he said, claiming he had made 96 glasses and sold one glass for P10.

Breakfast for the family consists of fresh products from the farm, like boiled banana, sweet potatoes and organic eggs. His ducks lay at least three eggs a day.

The household also feasts on 'pinakbet,' a mix of vegetables cooked in fish sauce.

'We don't fear that we will run out of food because it is just here. We're self sufficient,' Micena said. 'My in laws survive on vegetables and bananas and are even able to sell the excess harvest after five to six months.'

His wife, Susan Decena, also earns from a small store in front of the house. Many vehicles stop over looking for produce without chemicals.

She sells one 'buwig' (bunch) of bananas for P250. 'Products are sold out in one day,' her husband said.

In March, their only daughter, Aiza, graduated with a degree in Education, sustained by the farm's income.

Left blue collar job

Micena took over his father's farm when he was 12 years old. He graduated with a Commerce degree, major in Marketing, in 1981 and worked as clerk typist at Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. from 1982 to 1984.

He left for Riyadh in 1992 to work as a clerk typist. But he missed his country, so he returned home in 1994 to manage the farm. 'I realized that my happiness is in the farm, not in the office. If you put farming into your heart, you will be happy,' he said.

Compared to sitting for several hours while working in the office, he finds himself a lot healthier now. 'I deeply thought about my old age. I was 50 and my batchmates were leaving this world. So I got into organic farming,' he said.

He worked with the provincial government as a casual employee from 2003 to 2007 while continuously attending to his farm. He decided to shift from being a politician?s leader to head a farmers' group called the Samasaka.

'One of my responsibilities is to know the problems of the farmers and to help find solutions to these. So I share with them what I have learned and my farm has become a pilot for organic farming. Already, 10 farmers are adopting my organic method,' Micena said.

He advised people to be diligent in planting any vegetable. 'If there is no land, it can be urban gardening using [recycled materials],' Edong said. He produces composts on flat tires from animal waste mixed with soil and fish amino acid.

'The tool to live is to work hard; if there?s a vacant space, till it,' he said.

To those working in the nearby export processing zone as contractual employees with a meager salary, Micena says: 'If they are early to rise, even just on Sundays, and without vices, they can manage a small organic garden.'

By Madonna Virola

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