Senator Cynthia Villar is pushing for composting and the use of organic fertilizer anew, citing that bad practices in agriculture reduce nutrients has resulted in significant soil degradation.
In her video message during the 71st anniversary of the Bureau of Soils and Waste Management (BSWM), Villar underscored the need to produce organic fertilizer from agricultural residues like rice straw, corn stover, animal manure, and others that can replace the
inorganic/synthetic or chemical fertilizers.“You are one with us in actively promoting organic farming methods especially producing organic fertilizer,” Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, told the BSWM.
She said the biodegradable wastes in residential areas consist of kitchen and garden wastes.
“We only need to collect and convert them into organic fertilizers or compost which can be used by our farmers, most especially now that fertilizers are very expensive, and sometimes, they are not available for our farmers,” Villar said.
The senator, who also leads the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, related that she has personally caused the establishment of 117 composting facilities nationwide. Sixty-seven of them are found in her hometown in Las Pinas while 50 are located at Vista Land Communities.
“Villar SIPAG is included in this advocacy. We are distributing for free our organic production to our farmers and plantitos/plantitas across the country,” said Villar.
According to the senator, she started this advocacy in 2002 to help minimize waste and to encourage the use of biodegradable wastes for healthy soil.
She also mentioned that Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act was passed into law in 2010 which intends to expand organic agriculture in the Philippines. There is also RA 9003 or the Ecological Waste Management Act which mandates the segregation and reduction of wastes through recycling and composting.
“These two laws promote protection for our environment especially organic agriculture through composting,” she said.
“To realize this, I need to remind always the BSWM because it is important that we give Composting Facilities for Biodegradable Waste (CFBW) to our farmers and local government in the whole country. I hope you would do this, particularly now that chemical fertilizers are so costly.”