Organic agriculture is starting to gain popularity among farmers in the province of Siquijor.

Organic agriculture practitioner Mario Dumat-ol of Enrique Villanueva town shared that he harvests an average of 200 kilograms per week of organic eggplant using his own organic fertilizer concoction made of molasses. 

Dumat-ol is one of the recipients of the molasses distributed by the Department of Agriculture Central Visayas (DA-7) in support of the organic practitioners in the province. 

He received five containers of  molasses from the total 65 containers provided by DA-7 under the organic agriculture program.

The towns of Lazi and Maria each received 15 containers, while the municipalities of Larena, Siquijor, and San Juan each got 10 containers. 

Molasses is an important ingredient in the preparation of organic concoctions like indigenous microorganisms (IMO), fish amino acid (FAA), fermented fruit juice (FFJ) and plant juice (FPJ), among others. 

"Kini nga mga molasses daku kaayo ni nga tabang tungod kay mao kini ang main ingredient sa paghimo og concoctions (The molasses is a big help because it is the main ingredient in making concoctions),” said Dumat-ol. 

Aside from an organic concoction ingredient, molasses is also used as feed supplement or additives for organic livestock. 

Since 2015, Dumat-ol has been applying organic fertilizers in his farm planted with eggplants, string beans, tomato, okra, kangkong, sweet corn, bananas, among others. 

Every week, Dumat-ol harvests an average of 200 kilograms of eggplants from his 6,000-square meter farm which he sells every Sunday in the local market. 

"Kung magsige tag chemicals, makada-ut kini sa tanom, makada-ut sa panglawas, makada-ut pud sa atong yuta (The continued use of chemicals can harm our plants, our health, and our soil)," Dumat-ol said when asked why he chose to do the natural farming method. 

"Kami man gyud ang unang mukaon sa among tinanom, unya di ko ganahan nga magkaon akong mga anak ug pagkaon nga gi-spray-han ug mga chemicals. Mao nga bisag inantigo ug hago ang paghimo sa concoction, among gipaningkamutan nga mag-organic gyud kay mas maayo gyud ng organic (I don't want my children to be eating vegetables sprayed with chemicals. That is why, even if it is laborious, we strive to stick to organic farming),” he added. 

Dumat-ol's children also own a parcel of land where they grow organic vegetables. (RAC/PIA Siquijor/with reports from MJ Banglos, DA-PATCO-Siquijor)