by Lorie A. Cascaro
Biodegradable wastes from households such as food scraps, fish internal organs, reject vegetables and fruits are turned into organic fertilizers and pesticides through composting and fermenting minus the foul smell.
In a compact urban setting, biowaste composting is a practical way to reduce wastes and contribute to the waste management of the city, said the couple, Dennis and Grace Lainez, practitioners of natural farming at home.
In a week, the couple’s household only delivers a plastic bag of garbage, which contain wastes that could not be recycled or reused, to the regular garbage collectors of Poly Subdivision, Matina Aplaya, Davao City.
They say sometimes they have no trash anymore as their biowastes are used for composting, while plastic bottles, containers, and tetra packs are used as containers for gardening.
Odorless compost
Thanks to maggots—the larvae of black soldier flies, a biowaste composting drum or container does not produce smell despite the variety of wastes inside, may that be durian shells, rotten fruits, vegetable wastes, scrap meat, etc.
Dennis Lainez said the black soldier fly is the farmer’s best friend. The only thing it does is to produce larvae or maggots that will eat the eggs of house flies.
The house flies, which are common carriers of pathogens, will no longer exist in the compost drum when maggots are already present.
The absence of house flies is noticeable in the couple’s residence.
The biowaste compost container should have holes to maintain the temperature inside in order for the maggots to survive.
After five to seven days, the liquid from the compost will be extracted to be used as fertilizers, while the compost itself may be mixed with soil, rice hull, and charcoal or wood ashes. It may also be used as garden soil where seedlings will be directly planted to it.
Used to hasten the decomposition of biowastes, the bokashi bran, which is mixed with effective microorganism, molasses, water and rice bran, is fermented for 15 days, and then dried in the sun.
Do-it-yourself
The Lainez couple produces organic fertilizers at home by fermenting food scraps inside plastic bottles usually for 15 days.
Fermented Amino Acid (FAA), also odorless, is made from fish intestines and one kilo of molasses.
Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) is made from either banana, pineapple and other fruits and vegetables, which are fermented with molasses.
The Organic Herbal Nutrients (OHN) is made from garlic, ginger, chili, gin (any brand) and molasses, and can drive away pests when applied to plants by spraying the leaves or mixing it with the soil.
By applying these organic fertilizers twice a month, the couple reconditions their dying atis tree, and made their mango tree bear fruit every month.
To provide calcium for the plants, they ferment shells of eggs and tahong (sea shells) and used their extract to mix with the soil.
Lainez used to give lectures through radio broadcasting six years ago on a program dubbed “Bangon Bagong Pinoy, Bangon”.
Hoping to revive the radio program this year, he said farming is not difficult as long as the soil is already prepared, meaning it has all the nutrients it needs.
“Everyone has a green thumb,” he told Edge Davao.
In natural farming, one feeds the soil to produce healthy and nutritious plants for food, instead of directly spraying synthetic fertilizers or pesticides on the plants for immediate results, he added.
