Third Week Report on the Mabuhay Agritech Mission Project in Iloilo, Philippines

September 10, 2023

To:          Mike Stanley, Missions Committee, Westminster Presbyterian Church

From:    Zonia Velasco, Mabuhay Fellowship, Mabuhay Agritech Mission in Iloilo, Philippines

Because of the past typhoon and school enrollments which disrupted their Agritech class schedules, the students have requested if they can come on weekends, Saturday, and Sunday to continue their work in their farm gardens.  The reason they give for this is that they must build up the plots that had been damaged by the rains, are preparing more beds for their germinated seeds that need to be transplanted soon. They are also covering their prepared beds with mulch and are checking daily that the rain gthat mostly comes at night now, is not washing out their plots.  Some of the seedlings are already ready to transplant, and they had already planted some. They are challenged by cutworms and other pests that are eating or “cutting” the tips of their newly transplanted plants.

They had lectures on soil, soil preparation and soil testing.  They are making sure that the acidity and alkalinity is controlled, and that the clayish soil is being augmented by sand, carbonized rice hull and vermicompost to correct their composition before covering them with mulch.  They forgot to plant their companion flowers in their plots and their vegetables are being attacked mainly by cutworms.  So aside from germinating their companion flowers and plants, they have been making their baking soda pesticide/fungicide sprays to use.  Sprayers have been purchased and provided to each of the 14 students.  Their recipe is: 1 liter water, 2 tablespoons baking soda, 1 tsp liquid soap, 2 tablespoons cooking oil – shake together and spray on the plant and surrounding soil. As preventive, they may use this 2x a month but they may use 3x a week with a bad infestation.  It will take care of not only cutworms, but also slugs, aphids, mildew, slugs, whiteflies, thrips, caterpillars, spider mites, roaches, and ants. When the mixture is consumed by insects it releases carbon dioxide into their system and kills them. The vegetable oil suffocates them and repels fungal spores. It keeps leaves fresh and clean. It sweetens the taste of tomatoes.  However they are cautioned that it can adjust the soil ph into alkaline, so they have to be wary about using them too much.

This week, aside from reformatting their plots, they put mulch on top, made holes in the mulch where they will plant their vegetables.  At the same time, they are germinating companion plants with their tomato, eggplant, okra seeds, and they used up $200 of their funds to buy more quality seeds. 

They continue to also take care of their vermicompost sheds, chopping pieces of banana stalks daily as they see that the worms are eating them faster now.  They see this each time they aerate the vermicompost. They have more worms doing the job for them now. 

They are also making sure their lotus ponds are full of water.  We call them lotus ponds now, but they are 4’x4’x 3’ deep holes lined with plastic which serves as our water reservoir on the top areas of the fields.  There is no other water source but a deep well at the bottom of the hill, and it is very laborious to bring water in pails up the hill. We planted lotus in these small ponds to attract dragonflies, frogs, and garden lizards to help control mosquitoes and other flying insects around.  The lotus has now caused the water in the pond to clarify.   We also added some tilapia fish to take care of mosquito larvae since dengue (carried by host mosquitoes) had been endemic in the area. 

They are also preparing the soil around the “bahay kubo”(small bamboo hut) where they will plant their pollinator flowers, and citronella.  Why citronella? To prevent snakes from making their nests under the “bahay kubo”.  Citronella is a known snake-buster. It can also be cooked with coconut or olive oil and made into citronella oil and used as a gentle body oil against mosquitoes.

So this week and the coming week, their activity will be on the vegetable beds, keeping up with more germination, vermicompost beds – feeding and aerating.  Their plan is to plant their fields with the germinated tomatoes, eggplants, okra, peppers.  They chose tomatoes as they found out it already costs P150 in the market, and they are already looking forward to a good harvest and income in three months time.  They are also planting vine plants like bitter melon, cucumber, long beans, squash and when these grow taller, they will make a “balag” vine trellis for them with bamboo which they also could source from the farm. .

Part of their project is planting trees. In the following month, they will also plant a field of cacao, coffee, and coconuts and we have already ordered if not buying these saplings for them to plant.  Herbs are also part of their project, so we will have blue ternate, basil, citronella, rosemary, tanglad, etc.

They are all very thankful for this opportunity to do what they are doing now.  More lectures on pests, fungi and control, on how to make organic concoctions to provide increased nitrogen, calphos, neem oil, and madre de cacao concoctions which they can make cheaply and effectively from trees and plants available in the farm. 

Their schedule is still the same, early morning to a break between 12-2 when the sun is at its zenith and is hottest since we are almost by the equator. They cook their own lunch and have a short siesta immediately after.  We are still giving them P1000 a day for food, and they are able to make do with this budget, augmenting the food with what vegetables they could gather around the farm.  With this budget, they have a snack at mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and a cooked lunch with rice.

They are a happy lot, with smiles on their faces, a spring on their steps.   They are learning a way of living that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

This is our report for Week 3 of the Mabuhay Agritech Training Program in Iloilo, Philippines as sponsored by Westminster.

Sincerely yours,

Sgd.  Zonia Velasco

Mabuhay Project and Mission Director