Arroyo To Launch Fertilizer Program In Pagadian City

PAGADIAN CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 11 May) Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo is scheduled to visit Pagadian City in the southern Zamboanga del Sur province for the national launching of organic fertilizer production in the country, the official Philippine Information Agency said Thursday.

Arroyo is to grace the launching later this month at the Provincial Government Complex in Dao village. She will be accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban, it said.

Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora E. Cerilles said eleven other provincial governors are also invited to the launching of the government fertilizer program.

"Of the 76 provinces in the country, only 12 have been chosen as beneficiaries of this program. We are very fortunate to be chosen as one of the program recipients," Cerilles said, adding, an initial 1.5 million pesos have been released through the Department of Agriculture to fund the project.

The province started using organic fertilizers a few years ago after Cerilles tried it on their farm which resulted to greater yields of good crops.

Oscar Parawan, regional director of the Department of Agriculture, said the use of organic fertilizer is a good alternative to chemical fertilizers and will help many farmers in the region.

"With this program, I look forward to the day when the entrepreneurship would go down to the farmer groups that will be supporting it. Organic fertilizer production will cater to the needs of the crop farms in Zamboanga del Sur," he said.

Mahleen Bersales, provincial agriculturist, said the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides were polluting farms in Zamboanga del Sur and urge farmers to use organic fertilizers. "We need to use organic fertilizer to sustain the fertility of the soil. Organic fertilizer is a system where the greatest possible yields and returns are obtained from each unit of the land," she said.

Cerilles said with the full implementation of the project, Zamboanga del Sur would be one of the major organic fertilizer suppliers in the country and an excellent example which deserves to be replicated.