Bahay kubo farming style pushed

PAOMBONG, Bulacan – Filipinos will not go hungry if only they will follow the bahay kubo style of farming.

Speaking before participants in the 2nd Kamalayang Bayan Civic Journalism Seminar held at Ciudad Clemente here over the weekend, Felicito Espiritu Jr., of the Central Luzon Agriculture Office said that bahay kubo style of farming is synonymous to integrated farming.

“If farmers will plant different crops in just one hectare, they will never go hungry,” he said citing the crops mentioned in the folksong Bahay Kubo.

Espiritu said that aside from different crops, farmers can also have livestocks like chicken, ducks, pigs, and even goats along with a small fishpond that can double as a small farm reservoir, and fruit trees around their home lot.

“There are many ways on how we can survive aside from driving a tricycle, but it requires hardwork and perseverance,” he said in Filipino.

Farmer leaders who participated in the day-long seminar affirmed Espiritu’s suggestions.

Apolinario Paguio of Barangay Kapitangan here and Melencio Domingo, the City Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Malolos said that it is possible.

“I have tried that and I found that it is possible,” Paguio said in the vernacular.

He said he had planted okra, patola, hot pepper, tomatoes, corn, string beans, along with some 30 mango trees and a number of jackfruit trees in his home lot.

Along with the crops and trees, he said, mayroon din akong manok, bibe, at kambing, at yung small farm reservoir ko ay ginamit kong palaisdaan ng tilapia.”

Paguio said Bahay Kubo farming style helped his family in securing food for the table.

He said that when his wife is preparing their lunch, she picks up ingredients including spices from their backyard.

For his part, Domingo agreed that the Bahay kubo style of farming is also feasible but it requires a lot of patience on the part of the farmer.

“Ginagawa rin namin iyan sa Malolos pero ang tawag namin diyan ay halo-halo farming, at talagang pinakikinabangan ng mga magsasaka,” he said.

Domingo added, “kailangan ang dagdag na tiyaga sa panig ng magsasaka at kailangan talagang tutukan ang pagtatanim.”

As this developed, they said that the quality of irrigation is one of the factors that threaten their productivity aside from availability of water itself which is dependent on the climate.

Paguio said people must understand that they are actually contributing to the unpro­ductiveness of hectares of farmlands because irrigation water has been polluted by solid wastes thrown into waterways.