ROOT TRAINER TECHNOLOGY FOR RUBBER DEVELOPED

GOOD ROOT DEVELOPMENT is important in the growth of rubber seedlings. To accomplish this, the University of Southern Mindanao (USM), together with various regional agricultural field offices in Mindanao, developed the root trainer technology that can promote better growth of rubber trees.

Root trainers are specifically designed plastic containers which have vertical ridges inside to promote growth of roots.

Requiring less labor, the root trainer technology will enhance the development of straight tap root and many and philosophical approach to agriculture, which has as its goals the protection and conservation of the land for future generations, the production of high-quality food, the return to many traditional agricultural methods, and the harmonious balance with a complex series of ecosystems. Land, water, plants, animals, and people are all seen as interlinked and interdependent” (Anonymous, encyclopedia.com, encyclopedia. com).

Too long, too complicated. The health of the land is linked to the health and future of the people. That is important. If your soil is healthy, the crops that grow are also healthy. The anonymous encyclopedia author says, “Land, water, plants, animals, and people are all seen as interlinked and interdependent” – that is a good way of describing organic agriculture, but there’s no explanation. Next reference, please.

About soil fertility and pest problems In essence, organic farmers manage soil fertility… and combat pest problems (including insects, weeds, fungi, nematodes, and diseases) in a different way than conventional farmers. Management methods may include, for example, changes in inputs (crop varieties and livestock breeds; nutrients; predators), rotations (more and different crops and livestock), and timing of activities (planting dates and harvesting dates) (Els Wynen, orgprints.org).

Wynen is pointing out four major differences between organic agriculture (OA) and chemical agriculture (CA). OA uses (1) a different type of fertilizer; (2) different crop varieties; (3) different crop and livestock mixes and rotations; and (4) changes planting and harvesting dates. OA is more complicated. But its inputs and outputs are healthier for human bodies, crops and livestock, and the environment. OA has biodiversity, or a mix of crops, that CA does not have. But the essence of OA is not clear yet. We have to read more.

About natural life cycle systems Put simply, organic farming is an agricultural system that seeks to provide you, the consumer, with fresh, tasty and authentic root hairs which allow the rubber plant to withstand environmental stress after planting. Moreover, one whorl of rubber plants grown in root trainer is ready for transplanting in 6-7 months compared with the conventional method of sowing one whorl of rubber seeds in budded polybags which can take 8-10 months.

The root trainer is one of the technologies developed under the Industry Strategic S&T Program for rubber of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOSTPCAARRD). food while respecting natural life-cycle systems ( philstar.com).

So, organic farming gives us authentic food, that is, food not full of laboratory-made nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, not to mention, pesticide residues.

So, natural life-cycle systems – for instance, you produce compost as fertilizer using earthworms, waiting for those creatures to “do their thing” as their nature allows them.

Three popular organic fertilizers prepared by farmers themselves today are the bokashi, fermented plant juice (FPJ), and vermicompost, the last produced by cultivated earthworms. Bokashi is added as tea for watering. Both FPJ and vermicompost are applied to the soil.

The word “organic” means “of, relating to, or derived from living organisms such as “organic matter” ( American Heritage Dictionary, thefreedictionary.com).

So, based on all of the above, here’s my highly original and nontechnical definition:

Organic farming is the incorporation into the soil of once-living matter that then provides natural nutrients to crops to grow healthy and thereby produce healthy fruits.

Organic fertilizer is okay – if the organic matter content was (1) not grown with chemical fertilizers, (2) not sprayed with chemical pesticides, and (3) not genetically modified organism.

You can produce your own organic fertilizer using weeds, stubble, crop leftover, leaves, mulch, compost, manure, or any combination. Or, you can simply incorporate those into the soil via very shallow cultivation using rotavator blades; this is trash farming.

So, with organic farming, you grow healthier and more productive crops without adding to greenhouse gases that cause global warming!