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

September 23, 2023

To:          Mike Stanley, Missions Committee, Westminster Presbyterian Church

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

This week, students are now watching the germinated seeds and getting them ready for transplanting in new plots.  Some plots have already been planted, but they are expanding their operations.  There are still some plots that have to be completed with soil testing, soil amendments, and covering with plastic mulch.  The plots where they have run out of plastic mulch, they are covering the plants with shredded  coconut husk mulch to help retain moisture.  The heat index is going up and even if it rains every night, it is still not enough to cool temperatures down during the day.

They continue their daily surveillance of their newly planted seedlings, and weeds that had sprouted in the beds, or between the beds, are removed and cleared out. They are now watchful of garden pests, and the worst so far has still been the cutworms.  So they are spraying the plants and surrounding soil with their prepared baking soda pesticide/fungicide. Each individual student is responsible for remixing and replenishing this for use on their garden beds for pest control. The ordered germination trays have not arrived yet.  We had budgeted for 10 trays of 105 holes each, so they could germinate 1050 seeds at one time. 

Vermicompost shed.  The students are also in charge of feeding our worms and aerating the substrate daily with a rake.  We have 6 covered beds where we grow our vermicompost.  We have local worms, but also purchased and added the bigger African vermicompost worms.  These worms, aside from eating green and brown leaves, love banana stalks.  But the banana stalks must be shredded daily to keep up with what the worms ingest.  They see vermicompost being produced by the worms, but not enough to harvest yet.

Moringa stems for planting.  The farm has about 500 moringa trees and they are getting taller to where it is harder to reach the leaves for harvesting.  We are trimming them now.  We also have neighbors that come after all the workers have left, climb the fences to “steal” moringa leaves to cook for their supper.  This does not dissuade them from picking other vegetables and fruits on the farm. To discourage this practice, we are “rooting” about 100 stems to give away to neighbors. Maybe if they have their own tree to harvest moringa from, they will stop visiting our farm to get their own supply.  We hope this also controls and dissuades them from picking and harvesting the student’s other planted vegetables.

Pollinator flowers.   They were instructed to plant these in their plots together with the planted vegetables, but alas, this concept is new to them.  I sent them more than 10000 seeds of zinnia, echinacea, marigolds, and we have purchased citronella and lemon grass plants for them to propagate.  But I see no companion / pollinator flowers planted in the plots.  Instead they are planted far away near the lotus ponds where we have little vegetables planted.  We had a long discussion about the fact that these companion and pollinator flowers will not only help dissuade pests from harming their vegetables, but it will also encourage pollinators to come around the flowers and pollinate their vegetables for them.  This practice therefore is not a beautification project, but a necessity.  Flowers are planted to attract pollinators to pollinate their vegetables. The more vegetables they plant, the more pollinator flowering plants they also need. Citronella and lemon grass (tanglad, local name) also helps reduce harmful insects, mosquitoes, flies, and prevent snakes from coming into the planting areas. 

So this week and the coming week, they will continue their activities on the vegetable beds, keep up with more germination, feed and aerate vermicompost beds.  The vine vegetables have also grown taller, and they are putting up trellises for them.  So far, they have planted their fields with the germinated tomatoes, eggplants, okra, peppers.  They also have vine plants like cucumbers, bitter melon, long beans, squash, etc.  They must cut and harvest more bamboo logs from the existing bamboo clumps to use as vine trailers.

Fungus problems:  our bananas, dragon fruit had been infected with anthracnose and rust fungus.  We had collected plant and soil specimens of the infested areas, but lab results from the DA (Department of Agriculture) is not back yet. We do not want it to spread to the vegetables the students are planting.  These samples were brought to the lab last week but is still not back because of the local holidays. 

They found wild pineapple growing at the other side of the rice field, and some of these were transplanted near the dragon fruit area.  20 cacao and robusta coffee seedlings arrived but we are still waiting for the 4 batuan, 2 lanzones and 4 rambutan trees.  The cacao and coffee trees need to be planted in shade, so they will be accompanied by a banana sapling planted beside each one of them.  We use the saplings that are already available in the farm.  Planting trees and herbs is included in students list.  They will be done, after the frenzy of germinating, planting, in their plots is done, and their fields are looking more stable.

Water Reservoir Areas.  Pond #1 is healthy and is planted with lotus.  Water is clear, we have 2 tilapia that together with frogs, lizards and dragonflies have controlled the area of flies, mosquitoes, and pests.  Pond #2 is the newer pond.  One of the workers accidentally used this to soak rice seedlings, and it turned green with algae.  They had tried to empty it of water and clean the plastic sides, but alas, it kept raining every night, so it keeps filling up with more algae green colored water.  A suggestion last week was to add 2 tablespoons of chlorox compound, but alas they poured the entire bottle into it.  The following day, 3 small dead frogs were floating on top. The chlorine was too harsh and killed them.  So now, they are emptying this pond of water again, scraping the walls of algae, and filling it up with fresh clean water.   This is the second water reservoir pond that is used to water the vegetables planted on top of the hill.   They now realize that the best solution to this is not chemical, but organic and natural. Plant lotus inside the pond in pots, and the lotus roots will not only clarify the muddy water, but also control algae.  Add tilapia fish as they will also control and feed on the algae on the sides of the ponds.  This is being considered currently.

Our Lotus Pond #1 has lotus growing in it, and 2 tilapia fish which were 2-inch fish when we caught them from the nearby creek last year.  The water in this pond is very clear.  The fish had grown to about 8 inches long, but they want them to stay in the pond as they also control mosquito larvae.  The area is endemic for dengue currently, and we are trying to control our standing water to avoid mosquito growth and population.  Lotus pond #1 is at the shed which is used as the student’s open-air classroom.  There are hardly any mosquitoes and flies around the area.  

I attended a pollinator conference at the Euchee Butterfly Farm in Bixby, Oklahoma Wednesday and Thursday this week. I learned about growing pollinator field stations to attract butterflies and bees, learned about the flowers they feed on, learned about harvesting seeds from native plants that will help bring pollinators to the area.  I also looked at their model of butterfly farming and found that building a butterfly farm where we could produce habitats for pollinators is very viable and will also help in the pollination of not only TSEP, but all the farms in the vicinity. 

So far, we have learned that:  without viable soil, we have no plants, without good water, we cannot feed our plants, but without pollinators, our plants cannot produce fruit and give us a bountiful harvest.   

This is the first time that this has been taught to students and farmers in the area.  I have learned about how to do this in Oklahoma this week, and now will use that knowledge and information to develop our pollinator areas in the farm.  The students are scratching their heads, as this is their first time to hear that flowers planted near their vegetables will help attract the pollinators that will make their vegetables produce more fruit.  They thought they would only plant vegetables, and now they needed to plant flowers also.

Their schedule is still the same, early morning to a break between 12-2pm when the sun is at its zenith and is hottest since the Philippines is by the equator. But right now, instead of coming just 5 days a week, they are voluntarily coming 7 days a week.  They are now also coming on the week-ends as they are afraid their plots could be destroyed and their work disrupted.   It does rain at night and they are afraid their fields will be eroded.  But because of the additional 2 days, we worry about their food budget as all 14 of them eat for only $20 a day, but they are able to supplement this with mung beans, vegetables like fresh moringa, lettuce, green papaya and bananas they could find in the farm. We had just provided them with 2 big sacks of rice that we hope will suffice until the end of their training.  They cook their own lunch and have a short siesta after until 2 pm. 

Last week, the students observed a rice harvest from the farmers in the adjoining rice field (also part of TSEP farm), and while working in their own vegetable plots, they also enjoyed the extra excitement of observing and enjoying the food that usually feeds all the workers. Harvest day is always a special day of thanksgiving. It is mini-fiesta time, and the intensive labor of the harvesters are always rewarded by good food. 

One thing that was realized from the rice harvest is that about one hectare to the southeast is infested with rats.  Control of rats is through owls, hawks and snakes on the ground.  We still have our 2 owls flying above, but they need more help from under the bush in order to control the rat population.  Hence, we will be moving some garden snakes to that area. if we find them. We do not have poisonous snakes or cobras in the area. 

We also attracted visitors from the local elementary school, where we had some pupils coming by to observe and enjoy the farm.  One of them is the daughter of one of our students.  They will become future farmers also. 

Pictures to follow.  Among the pictures, you will see one of about 15 men lifting a small nipa hut from the truck, carrying it to its permanent position at the entrance of the farm last week.  This practice is called “bayanihan”, meaning community teamwork, the term for an old Filipino practice nationwide especially in small rural communities.  This nipa hut will be where the student’s customers will come to have their self-harvested vegetables/produce weighed and sold. This has added a buoyant feeling of joy and increased energy as well as motivation for these students to look forward to, because they know their produce will attract customers to come, and that they will have some added income.  The beautification of this area has since also become their pride and joy. 

Grateful for the funding support of Westminster.  Your ministry has just made a difference on the lives of these students, their families, and the whole community of Sitio Bitin, Janipaan-Oeste in New Lucena. It also puts the whole city of New Lucena on the agricultural training map of the whole island of Panay.   Because of this, the mayor has informed us that it has allotted P4 million pesos budget to go to the cementing of the dirt road that leads to the farm and environs. Although this will not happen until next year, we are very happy about this good news. 

This is our report for Week 5 of the Mabuhay Agritech Training Program in Iloilo, Philippines as sponsored by Westminster.

Sincerely yours,

Sgd.  Zonia Velasco

Mabuhay Project and Mission Director