Company: Leoni Agri Corp.
Country: Philippines
Project Name: LAC Farms: From Curse To Promise
Category: Environment
Website:
Objective:
The project was set up mainly to supply materials to the parent company.
Details of the project:
Despite the soil’s low fertility and its being arid, LAC decided to use the 42-hectare parcel of land to plant lagundi and sambong, the raw materials for Pascual Lab’s new, alternative medicine line. The land was turned into an organic farm to ensure that the final output would not contain any harmful chemicals detrimental to consumers. Organic farming was implemented through composting, vermin-culture, periodic soil testing, etc.
The land’s rehabilitation began with the digging up of “dead” soil and its replacement with organic soil. To transform LAC into a fully-integrated organic farm, management did not just plant lagundi and sambong, use organic composts, vermin-composts and IMO, but also planted vegetables between the herbs so the weeds would not grow. It also employed other natural agricultural methods such as multi-cropping and crop rotation, thereby enhancing the farm’s biodiversity. Organic and beneficial micro-organisms, even organic swine were used to produce organic soil, while relying on God and nature to solve the hurdles.
LAC learned from termites. Farmers tried planting lagundi seedlings in polybags containing organic soil and lined them up along the low-lying ground, eventually learning to utilize disregarded land and helping lagundi thrive.
Irrigation was another lesson learned from nature. Workers prayed daily and in the belief that “cleanliness is next to godliness,” they cleaned their own respective areas, cut the cogon at the back of their offices and helped level the ground. During one such routine, they discovered a cluster of bangkal trees that could not be felled by a tractor. Three days before the cluster was to be cut by a chainsaw, a visitor told them not to cut the tree but to dig instead because then they would find water around the trees. Acting on faith, the workers dug and discovered what became the farm’s current source of irrigation water.
Through bayanihan, the farmers interconnected the diggings to other bangkal trees which they called Salmo Uno (Psalm 1). It was now being expanded into a 10-meter wide and (approximately) 1-kilometer long man-made river. Beside it and using the dug ground, several lagundi, vegetables and fruit bearing trees were planted.
The farm known as “Lupang Sinumpa” before 2001 due to low fertility, acidic and sandy soil, etc. was, by December 2007, transformed. It was certified by the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP) as the first and largest organic farm in the Philippines. It also won a National Award from the Department of Agriculture as “Best Organic Farm- Farmer Category” in October 15, 2008.
From 2008 to 2009, LAC was able to create its own mini-river, its primary source of water. While it earned positive income in 2007, 2008 to 2009 saw a doubling of its income. Farmers’ salaries were raised and incentives were on the horizon.
LAC developed its processing by designing and collaborating with small machine shops in Nueva Ecija instead of buying equipment from abroad. In this manner, it shared technology. The arrangement proved mutually beneficial.
With its own land fully utilized and productivity at 530 percent, LAC Farms continued its mission to develop organic farms by reaching out to surrounding farms. It decided to expand inorganically using organic means by sharing its system with the surrounding farmers. It immediately received the support of barangay officers who also volunteered their own unproductive land.
LAC taught these willing farmers, sent out its own tractors to till their land, and helped start their organic plantations. It committed to buying all their output of lagundi and organic vegetables. LAC also believed that part of its social responsibility was to inspire people by sharing its values.
In 2009, LAC aimed to convert 200 hectares of unproductive land around Barangay Liwayway, Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija into an organic herbal plantation. It engaged the community in a program that made the farmers its “business partners” through an output-based scheme.