Ameurfina Mitchtiaquem G. Aguilar
Environmental Journalism
Environmental Journalism
Vermi Composting for Nutritious Crops
With the new practice of organic farming in the Province of Negros Oriental through Vermicomposting, organic fertilizers can be easily obtained and might give healthy and nutritious crops as a result.
To fully understand, Vermi composting is the biological degradation of organic wastes into vermicompost or vermicast which is a high quality and chemical-free natural fertilizer through the digesting action of selected worms.
According to Provincial Agriculturist Gregorio Paltinca, the province has been using organic farming since 2004.
Paltinca shared that they are using the African night crawler worms since these has the largest body of 90-300 millimeters long compared to other worms.
He said that the said worms rapaciously feed on organic wastes like cow manures, grass, dead leaves or discarded vegetables.
Through constant feeding, it can produce 40 grams of its wastes which well become organic fertilizer and that a kilo of these worms can produce one kilo of vermicompost each night.
Paltinca explained that every week, these worms can produce capsules or eggs with three worms inside it. Also, it multiplies twice its number each month.
In vermicomposting, 10-15 days are needed to complete the process, as said by Paltinca. First is to undergo the Thermophilic stage or the method of drying waste before feeding it to the worms. Then the Partial Decomposition stage wherein wastes are sprinkled with water before it is placed to the vermi bin for vermicomposting.
Vermi bins can be made up off cement, sacks or woods, Paltinca revealed. Also, he said that the amount of fertilizer collected will also depend on the quantity of waste placed on the bin to decay.
In addition, Paltinca stressed that this process can increase food production and lessen garbage in the city. With these, he said that healthier and chemical-free crops can be harvested from organic farming.-AMGA
Ameurfina Mitchtiaquem G. Aguilar
Environmental Journalism
With the new practice of organic farming in the Province of Negros Oriental through Vermicomposting, organic fertilizers can be easily obtained and might give healthy and nutritious crops as a result.
To fully understand, Vermi composting is the biological degradation of organic wastes into vermicompost or vermicast which is a high quality and chemical-free natural fertilizer through the digesting action of selected worms.
According to Provincial Agriculturist Gregorio Paltinca, the province has been using organic farming since 2004.
Paltinca shared that they are using the African night crawler worms since these has the largest body of 90-300 millimeters long compared to other worms.
He said that the said worms rapaciously feed on organic wastes like cow manures, grass, dead leaves or discarded vegetables.
Through constant feeding, it can produce 40 grams of its wastes which well become organic fertilizer and that a kilo of these worms can produce one kilo of vermicompost each night.
Paltinca explained that every week, these worms can produce capsules or eggs with three worms inside it. Also, it multiplies twice its number each month.
In vermicomposting, 10-15 days are needed to complete the process, as said by Paltinca. First is to undergo the Thermophilic stage or the method of drying waste before feeding it to the worms. Then the Partial Decomposition stage wherein wastes are sprinkled with water before it is placed to the vermi bin for vermicomposting.
Vermi bins can be made up off cement, sacks or woods, Paltinca revealed. Also, he said that the amount of fertilizer collected will also depend on the quantity of waste placed on the bin to decay.
In addition, Paltinca stressed that this process can increase food production and lessen garbage in the city. With these, he said that healthier and chemical-free crops can be harvested from organic farming.-AMGA
Ameurfina Mitchtiaquem G. Aguilar
Environmental Journalism
Flashfloods Devastate Millions
Flashfloods showed its power and destroyed millions worth of properties in the different parts of Negros Oriental last New Year’s Eve.
According to the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), the recent flashfloods and landslide destroyed almost P11 Million of properties in Dumaguete City, Vallehermoso, San Jose, Dauin and Valencia.
The City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) of Dumaguete City reported that 23 houses made of light materials were washed out by the strong current from Banica River.
In San Jose, Negros Oriental, seven households were affected after Ayuquitan Dacu River in Barangays Cangcawas, Camandagan and Calo River of Seniora Asion overflowed. An estimated P200, 000 was damaged in San Jose.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council (MDCC) in Vallehermoso also reported that an estimated damage of P8 Million was brought about by the said calamity.
Also, MDCC reported that flashfloods washed out fishponds, crops, livestock, farm equipment, public cemetery, school buildings, government offices and other infrastructure projects at Barangays Bagawines, Macapso, Tabon and Puan in Vallehermoso.
Other parts in Dauin and Valencia also received great lost of residential houses, farm lands, buildings and other properties.
In trying to examine the causes of the huge floods that had occurred, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Officer In-charge Charlie Fabre said that the main cause of the floods were the low pressure and the change in climate.
Fabre lamented that due to the long and strong rain, the soil becomes very soft and with continued pouring, thus damages and erodes the soil causing landslides and flashfloods.
In contrast, Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) Agricultural Technologist Phero Alabado said that the lack of forest covers due to cutting of trees is the main reason for the occurrence of this disastrous calamity.
However, he did not confirm that illegal logging could be the main cause for there have not occur any serious floods as this since 1980.
Yet, Alabado stressed that flashfloods could destroy food production because it exterminates the nutrients from the plants and crops.
Also, he shared that flashfloods might lead to the sea and with its unwanted waste materials, it could cover and kill the marine life especially the coral reefs.
In continuation, he suggested that concerned citizens should plant trees and rehabilitate the forest so that lots of plants can prevent huge flashfloods from happening again.AMGA
Ameurfina Mitchtiaquem G. Aguilar
Flashfloods showed its power and destroyed millions worth of properties in the different parts of Negros Oriental last New Year’s Eve.
According to the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), the recent flashfloods and landslide destroyed almost P11 Million of properties in Dumaguete City, Vallehermoso, San Jose, Dauin and Valencia.
The City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) of Dumaguete City reported that 23 houses made of light materials were washed out by the strong current from Banica River.
In San Jose, Negros Oriental, seven households were affected after Ayuquitan Dacu River in Barangays Cangcawas, Camandagan and Calo River of Seniora Asion overflowed. An estimated P200, 000 was damaged in San Jose.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council (MDCC) in Vallehermoso also reported that an estimated damage of P8 Million was brought about by the said calamity.
Also, MDCC reported that flashfloods washed out fishponds, crops, livestock, farm equipment, public cemetery, school buildings, government offices and other infrastructure projects at Barangays Bagawines, Macapso, Tabon and Puan in Vallehermoso.
Other parts in Dauin and Valencia also received great lost of residential houses, farm lands, buildings and other properties.
In trying to examine the causes of the huge floods that had occurred, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Officer In-charge Charlie Fabre said that the main cause of the floods were the low pressure and the change in climate.
Fabre lamented that due to the long and strong rain, the soil becomes very soft and with continued pouring, thus damages and erodes the soil causing landslides and flashfloods.
In contrast, Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) Agricultural Technologist Phero Alabado said that the lack of forest covers due to cutting of trees is the main reason for the occurrence of this disastrous calamity.
However, he did not confirm that illegal logging could be the main cause for there have not occur any serious floods as this since 1980.
Yet, Alabado stressed that flashfloods could destroy food production because it exterminates the nutrients from the plants and crops.
Also, he shared that flashfloods might lead to the sea and with its unwanted waste materials, it could cover and kill the marine life especially the coral reefs.
In continuation, he suggested that concerned citizens should plant trees and rehabilitate the forest so that lots of plants can prevent huge flashfloods from happening again.AMGA
Ameurfina Mitchtiaquem G. Aguilar
Environmental Journalism
Loggers to Transfer in Mt. Talinis,
Cut and Replace Trees
Loggers in Sibulan and Pamplona are advised to shift logging in Mt. Talinis and to plant a seed and rehabilitate the forest when deciding to cut even a single tree.
Presence of illegal logging in Negros Oriental specifically in Pamplona and Sibulan is a proof that illegal logging still exist as said by Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Officer In-charge Charlie Fabre.
As said by www.wikipedia.com, Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of national laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits
Also, another form of swift extermination of trees is the Kaingin (slash and burn) which consists of cutting and burning of forests or woodlands.
In related subject, last December 31, 2008, huge flashfloods and landslides occurred due to the lack of forest covers due to cutting of trees as believed by Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) Agricultural Technologist Phero Alabado.
In connection with this, Fabre suggests that loggers who still choose to do it might as well cut trees in the areas of Mt. Talinis since there is still abundance of trees in the said mountain.
Also, Fabre said that Mt. Talinis has an estimated 17,000 hectares of trees–a quantity that can still rehabilitate in a certain time if ever some timbers would be cut.
According to the World Trade Organization, forest trees provide so-called ecosystem services that are vital to humanity. For example, they play a key role in regulating water flows on Earth by helping stop floods, preventing soil erosion and evaporation from the soil, regulating rainfall and river flows, and providing clean, and reliable supplies of water.
Even if humanity could reproduce these services through Technology, we could not afford to do so, on the scale already offered by forests. We are all dependent on the world’s forests functioning properly, both locally and on a global scale.
Forests help slow climate change by absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere and burying carbon as peat. Destruction of forests generates 20 per cent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions and is a significant cause of climate change, including regionally.
As a result, defending forests is crucial to our ability to combat climate change. Current predictions are that at the present rate of change, the economic costs of climate change will outstrip total world economic output by 2065. This means that we will be literally unable to afford the damage caused by climate change unless dramatic action is taken soon.
Since forest trees play such a big role in mitigating the damage caused by climate change, for example by providing flood protection, protecting forests is a crucial aspect of protecting our economies as well.
As a solution, Fabre suggested that everyone, including loggers should plant trees like Gemelina or Mahogany that make excellent lumber and Acacia or Mangium which are fast growing trees so that the forests here in the province well never extinct.-AMGA
Loggers to Transfer in Mt. Talinis,
Cut and Replace Trees
Loggers in Sibulan and Pamplona are advised to shift logging in Mt. Talinis and to plant a seed and rehabilitate the forest when deciding to cut even a single tree.
Presence of illegal logging in Negros Oriental specifically in Pamplona and Sibulan is a proof that illegal logging still exist as said by Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Officer In-charge Charlie Fabre.
As said by www.wikipedia.com, Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of national laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits
Also, another form of swift extermination of trees is the Kaingin (slash and burn) which consists of cutting and burning of forests or woodlands.
In related subject, last December 31, 2008, huge flashfloods and landslides occurred due to the lack of forest covers due to cutting of trees as believed by Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) Agricultural Technologist Phero Alabado.
In connection with this, Fabre suggests that loggers who still choose to do it might as well cut trees in the areas of Mt. Talinis since there is still abundance of trees in the said mountain.
Also, Fabre said that Mt. Talinis has an estimated 17,000 hectares of trees–a quantity that can still rehabilitate in a certain time if ever some timbers would be cut.
According to the World Trade Organization, forest trees provide so-called ecosystem services that are vital to humanity. For example, they play a key role in regulating water flows on Earth by helping stop floods, preventing soil erosion and evaporation from the soil, regulating rainfall and river flows, and providing clean, and reliable supplies of water.
Even if humanity could reproduce these services through Technology, we could not afford to do so, on the scale already offered by forests. We are all dependent on the world’s forests functioning properly, both locally and on a global scale.
Forests help slow climate change by absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere and burying carbon as peat. Destruction of forests generates 20 per cent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions and is a significant cause of climate change, including regionally.
As a result, defending forests is crucial to our ability to combat climate change. Current predictions are that at the present rate of change, the economic costs of climate change will outstrip total world economic output by 2065. This means that we will be literally unable to afford the damage caused by climate change unless dramatic action is taken soon.
Since forest trees play such a big role in mitigating the damage caused by climate change, for example by providing flood protection, protecting forests is a crucial aspect of protecting our economies as well.
As a solution, Fabre suggested that everyone, including loggers should plant trees like Gemelina or Mahogany that make excellent lumber and Acacia or Mangium which are fast growing trees so that the forests here in the province well never extinct.-AMGA
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