ASENSO, The Sure-Fire Organic Fertilizer Formula For Helping Farmers Double, Even Triple Their Incomes Wherever They Farm In The Philippines

Today, I am convinced that the best way to help Filipino farmers rise from poverty is to start from the very beginning: Change very expensive chemical farming to very economical organic farming! (Additionally, I have a personal formula for an almost-free organic farming, but that can come later.)

56 years ago, I saw the great promise of organic agriculture (OA) for farmers foreign or Filipino – but I never seriously thought of how OA could enrich each and every farmer without fail. Today, I say, the PH government should be the organic husbandman!

I now recommend that the Department of Agriculture (DA) embark on a nationwide program for farmers to actually immediately embrace OA – now, it is wrong to think first of organic certification!
(“Embrace” image from adobestock.com.ph)

For my degree, I studied for BS Agriculture major in Ag Edu at the UP College of Agriculture, now UP Los Baños, from 1959 to 1964, or 5 years (I was “Extreme Delinquent” for 1 semester), graduating with a 2.36 WA (counting in the 5s) – I remember my mis/achievements, but I don’t remember OA being taught.

In 1966, while I was a Substitute Instructor in Horticulture, I hounded the open shelves of the library of UPCA/UPLB and discovered Edward H Faulkner’s “trash farming” in his 2 books published by the University of Oklahoma Press: Plowman’s Folly (1943) and Soil Development (1952). Trash farming has since invaded my mind – but, unfortunately, I have not been bold enough to push organic agriculture fervently in my country.

That was before. Right now I’m thinking of the PH DA – with the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar – embarking on a nationwide program for an organic agriculture program I now call ASENSO – Agrikulturang Syensya Entero Natural Sistemang Organiko.

With several billions of a dedicated budget from the national government, ASENSO will be implemented nationwide via farmers’ groups, associations, especially multi-purpose cooperatives funded via the Agricultural Credit & Policy Council (ACPC). The initial ASENSO assistances are not farmer loans – they are ACPC grants. (The ACPC will also ease financing for virtual agribusiness trainings for farmers.)

The organic fertilizers will be provided free to farmers for Year 1, or 2 planting seasons. After that, they will have to pay the approved coop price.

How much budget would this cost? If you have 10 million farmers, about P50 billion, where the total cost of farming can be loaned out to farmers with zero interest and is payable in 5 years.

To make sure that organic fertilizers (OF) are economical, the OF makers will first be competitively compared by actual plantings for the 1^st season. The first 3 leading OFs by virtue of yield will then be mass-purchased from by the DA, the fertilizers to be distributed to farmer coops for grant purposes.

Now then – if a presidentiable made ASENSO a very audible/visible part of his/her campaign, s/he will gain millions of votes from farmers! S/he will then make great political ASENSO – in the name of PH Progress!@517