Organic farming has grown in the Philippines, and it’s always nice to visit these farms and learn their stories. Often they are stories built on sustainability and community.
I got to visit one such farm in Lipa, Batangas last June 2017: Kahariam Farms. What began as a hobby greenhouse for a family’s personal consumption of lettuce turned into the biggest vermicompost farm in the Philippines and Southeast Asia–and it all started with one seed. Amazing story!
Because my motto these days is to “Just show up!” I grabbed the chance to attend a #Sustainable and Livable Cities SenseCamp this weekend. Venue was #Kahariam Farms in Lipa, #Batangas, which is the biggest #vermicompost farm in SE Asia. They produce 200 sacks of #vermicast (that’s the fertilizer from poop of earthworms) per day and have successfully turned animal manure into a highly profitable business! We got a tour of the 23-hectare farm and it was amazing to see such an efficient and education-oriented organic farm helping its local community manage waste. What a great reminder that it all started with one #seed.
Here are some pics taken on our farm tour of Kahariam Farms, whose advocacy is to raise awareness on Organic Farming and Ecological Solutions. As an agritourism site, it is deliberately set up as a laboratory and showcase farm for visitors.
This is Beiah Tudio, tour guide, young passionate farmer and friend to African Night Crawlers!
These worms produce vermicast faster than local PH earthworms, and triple in number after one life cycle (two months). Kahariam sells African Night Crawlers for Php500/kilo.
Vermicast expires if kept in sacks because it accumulates moisture. To make it last longer, it is aerated in this machine.
Tilapia ponds cleverly designed with a bahay kubo or nipa hut in the middle.
Everyone on the tour was so taken by these cute little piggies! They were uber friendly too.
Here’s Beiah explaining these Azolla ponds, which are not only pretty to look at but potent water ferns with up to 33% protein. They’re used as fowl feed here but a quick google says they grow at lightning speed and may just be the next super space food.
