Peñalosa: Organic farming at its best

By Henrylito D. Tacio
From a swamp area where mechanics dumped trash over a decade ago to a place teeming with vegetable crops, fruit trees, herbs, ornamentals, livestock, fish, and poultry today, the Peñalosa Farm has gone a long, long way indeed.
Located right at the back of a mall in the heart of Victorias City, the 0.9-hectare farm is one of the top agri-tourism destinations in Negros Occidental.  “We can address the problem of poverty by teaching people about farming,” said Ramon Dayrit Peñalosa, Jr., the owner of the farm.
“Mr. Organic,” the moniker Peñalosa earned for venturing into organic farming, never really thought of becoming an agripreneur.  When his former business – a bus transport system – closed down, he was left with property that was used as garage and repair area for vehicles.
“We had to think of something that would make our property productive,” recalled the organic guru and pillar of organic farming in Negros Island and Western Visayas.  “So we tried something far off from bus lines.”
In the beginning, he planted kangkong in the property, particularly near the water-logged areas.  Later on, the whole area was swamped with kangkong,  so he decided to raise pigs. He found it so viable that he added more pigs, and before he knew it he was already raising 40 pigs all in all.  He then thought of raising tilapia, ducks, and chickens, and he planted fruit trees and vegetable crops.
It was just a matter of time before he learned about integrated farming.  From there, it was just a step away from organic agriculture.
According to the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, organic agriculture refers to “all agricultural systems that promote the ecologically sound, socially acceptable, economically viable, and technically feasible production of foods.”
But to Peñalosa, organic farming has a lot to do with “maka” (a Hiligaynon prefix that usually means “for”): “maka-tao” (people-friendly), “maka-kalikasan” (environment and wildlife as the main focus), “maka-lupa” (pro-soil), “maka-kalusugan”(does not threaten the well-being of a person), “maka-kinabukasan” (pro-future), “maka-bulsa” (profitable), and “maka-Diyos” (pro-God).
Peñalosa believes that a farmer should not be content with merely planting seeds into the soil and seeing them grow.   “To become a successful farmer, he has to understand the whole concept of agricultural production,” he explained.  “He also has to learn the business side.”
He coined the word “agripreneur” for a farmer who also engages in business.  As a good agripreneur, he followed the “business tree” of production, marketing, finance, organization, and management.  All these can be accomplished by using what he called as “agripreneur’s toolbox.”
“My tools include the language of the soil, language of the plants, language of the animals, and the art of war against pests and diseases,” he pointed out.
In an article, Peñalosa disclosed what he meant by those tools:
Language of the soil: This pertains to learning the basics of all crops being grown in the farm.  “Knowing how to properly nourish and condition of the soil can increase chances of good crops.”
Language of the plants: It’s not enough to understand the crop a farmer plants, its characteristics, weaknesses, and strengths.  “You also need to know the necessary hormone to be induced to make the crops do specific things.”
Language of the animals: Again, a farmer needs to know all the basics about livestock, the diseases they usually encounter, and other means of making them more productive. 
Art of war against pests and diseases: “The farm is not always free from attacks of the enemies so you need to know your enemies well.  By doing so, you can do effective ways to counter any infestation on crops and livestock.”
Peñalosa believes farmers should never go hungry and should be well.  But such is not the case in the real sense.  “Sixty percent of Filipinos are into agriculture and fishery, and yet they still belong to the poorest sector,” he says.
That’s why Peñalosa recommends that farmers think like a businessman.  “An agripreneur should go into business opportunities under the concept of farm-to-market, farm-to-kitchen, and farm-to-plate,” he says.
The most profitable venture in his farm is the probiotic pigs.  Probiotics are formulations of beneficial organisms and enzymes as well as vitamins and minerals which are added to the animal feed. 
A news dispatch released by the media service of the Department of Science and Technology shares this information: “Probiotics contain good bacteria that improve the immune system of the pigs, preventing harmful bacteria that cause four odor and diseases.”
This must be the reason why at the Peñalosa Farm, the swine farm requires no commercial disinfectant like footbath and no antibiotic injections except the hog cholera vaccine.  The use of probiotics allows him also to let the animals live without batching them regularly, which is the usual practice in most commercial piggery farms.
“Going into probiotic swine production requires a major change in the way a farmer would conventionally raise swine,” Peñalosa says.
After 4-6 months – or when the pigs’ live weight reaches 85-90 kilograms – the fattened pigs are ready to be butchered.
Hog manure is collected and mixed with other manure.  “Farmers can cut on production by reusing organic matters available within the farm,” he says.
During an interview with Davao journalists, Peñalosa said he was happy that the Department of Tourism has chosen his farm as one of the region’s tourist destinations.  “You can earn more from people than in livestock or crops,” he said.
What he simply means is that if he could draw more tourists to his farm, he could earn more from the people than from what he plants and raises.  “People come, buy something from our farm, eat organic food in our restaurant, and may opt to stay in our hostel for training,” he further explained.
Peñalosa believes the success of his integrated organic farm is because of his belief in the Almighty, the Supreme Being who is the source of all knowledge.  “A farmer who does not know how to pray,” he declares, “is not a good farmer.”