When you sow, you’ll reap

Elmor Judit with his family and Madeleine C. Belmonte, 

 Development Facilitator of Bulan ARC.

PLANTED with upo, ampalaya, beans, pechay, eggplant, and red pepper – this demo farm of GPIFA (G. Del Pilar Farmers’ Association) is managed by Elmor Judit, member of Audit and Inventory Committee. 

Covering 600 square meters, this vegetable garden is devoted to organic agriculture which GPIFA learned from the trainings conducted by East West Seeds Corporation. The corporation has also sponsored the inputs of this demo farm amounting to Php15,000.00 with agreement to the ARBO that every harvest they will give half of the farm’s income to the sponsor. According to Judit, he attended the training on organic agriculture in March. By May, he becomes busy for the soil preparation. He first made some plots, then covers them with plastic mulch so that weeds would not grow. In June the seedlings were delivered to him, so he planted it in a manner he learned from the training. He use organic fertilizer from vermiculture and fish amino acid combined with molasses. To get rid of the worms and insects, he uses grind red pepper for spraying. Flowering plants such as marigold, xenia, and cosmos were also planted around the garden to ward off harmful insects. In July and August GPIFA get a taste of their first harvest from purely organic vegetables.