by Ricky Jimenez
This writer joined a small group of consumer advocates out to discover lessons in sustainable farming and we found ourselves attending a seminar in Baguio district early last October.
The seminar site was the Dumandan Greenfield Diversified Farm in an open space surrounded by coconut trees, cacao and coffee plants, all bursting with fruits. The only unnatural items in the scenery were the monobloc chairs which we and a handful of visiting farmers sat on.
It was almost a four-hour, one-man show conducted by retired teacher- turned- farmer-enterpreneur, Marcos M. Dumandan, a self-described “magsasaka-scientista” who was adjudged Best Coco Farmer in the country in 2009, and now a national director of the Philippine Coconut Authority Council under the Noynoy Aquino government.
We came to know what makes Marc (his nickname of choice to take off years from his biological age) tick in diversified farming, or having several high value commercial plants in between rows of coconut trees, such as cacao, durian, coffee, to name a few, within a limited area of two hectares, and make big money from what he loves to do – farming.
Some lessons we learned were: organic farming works best with vegetable plants, but not quite with multiple fruit trees. Organic fertilizer (basically N-P-K, for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) contains mainly the three elements. Under the science of balanced plant nutrition, plants need 16 elements, hence the need to supplement with the other micro, macro and other elements. (We wondered how purists on organic food production would react to this statement from Marc).
What made Marc’s lecture style unique was that it began with basic lessons on values formation. “To succeed in farming, do away with B-I-S-Y-O and bring in K-R-I-S-T-O”, he intoned. This writer thought the acronyms were common to habitués of cockpits, but later found out they can apply not only to farmers but to consumer advocates as well, in pursuit of a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.
To Marc, BISYO means avoidance of B for babae (somebody not your wife), I for inom (alcohol), S for sugal (gambling), Y for yabang (conceit), and O for opium, illegal drugs, including cigarette smoking. “A farmer with BISYO will fail because all his money will be gone in no time,” he said.
The antidote for BISYO is KRISTO, he said, explaining: K is for kakugi (industriousness), R for responsable (responsibility), I for interest (desire to succeed), S for sinsero (sincerity), T for trust, and O for obligasyon (sense of duty). Why Marc mixes Cebuano with English in his acronyms is beyond me, but somehow this is what gives him a kind of mystique in a way.
CASH-L leaders like Dodie Canete (himself a successful farmer-enterpreneur-marketer), Rody Regodon ( a biofuel producer and self-made farmer in his own right), Boy Cubillas, a careerist with the Department of Trade and Industry, Davao City and CASH-L secretariat, made a few discoveries in the Dumandan farm:
Durian-eating guard dogs to watch over fallen fruits at nighttime to ward off thieves. “No need to hire security guards”.
Basiland chicken, Marc’s secret weapon for organic pest control. They have a knack for scratching up food and spotting tiny bugs to eat. They eat ticks, grasshoppers, scorpions, centipedes, even mice. They hunt down mosquitoes and slugs. Aside from providing flavorful eggs and meat, they distribute nitrogen-rich manure that keeps fruits trees happy. “They are equivalent to two farmhands on duty within the two-hectare area, working all days of the week with no day-off. No SSS, health insurance or overtime pay to spend for.”
The Dumandan farm exposure trip gave us valuable insights on sustainable farming, pet animal training, environment care, natural pest control, balanced plant nutrition and above all, values formation that you can bring with you all the days of your life.
(email me at rjrjrajimenez@gmail.com)
