The company has long been synonymous with household and industrial pest control products.

Now, Mapecon headed by Gonzalo "Jun" Catan is becoming a big-time producer of organic fertilizer, particularly vermicast. It can produce as much as 4 to 5 tons a day in its manufacturing plant in Alaminos, Laguna.

His venture into organic fertilizer started with what he considers an accident. And it is a timely accident since chemical fertilizers have become unaffordable to farmers, both small-scale and big-time producers.

It all started when he and a provincemate, Alex Amor, received the Orientel Negrense Award given by their home province in 2005. That time, Amor had already a thriving vermiculture project but he lacked cash to buy a delivery truck and for expanding his operations. He asked if Catan could lend him a million pesos.

When Catan asked how he would pay him back, Amor said he could pay him an interest of 4 percent a month. Catan replied that was too much. He asked for just a 3 percent monthly interest, and it would not be in cash. He said that Amor could pay him with earthworms worth R30,000 monthly. Amor liked the idea very much because that’s even easier to do than paying in cash.

At the start, Catan found that it was not that easy to culture earthworms. The first few batches he received were failures. The worms died or they escaped their growing bins. He had to attend different seminars on the subject and then conducted his own research. He found out that the worms require special feeds that will make them multiply and do their task of transforming their food into organic fertilizer.

Today, he claims he has mastered caring for the earthworms. He has formulated their feed using various raw materials that are available, including spent tea leaves from a local tea factory (eight tons a day), grasses, rice straw, water hyacinth, "buko" waste and others. These are shredded, inoculated with beneficial microorganisms and enzymes,and then extruded to form what he calls "vermilogs." Different feed formulations are made, depending on the intended crops to be fertilized. Leafy vegetables, for instance, may require more nitrogen so ipil-ipil leaves may be included in the formulation.

**** **** ****

SEMINAR ON HERBS. A half-day seminar on "All About Herbs," both medicinal and culinary, will be held this Saturday, September 13, from 8:30 to 12 noon, at the AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

AQUA-KAPIHAN ON SUNDAY. On Sunday, September 14, there will be an Aqua-Kapihan at the same venue as above, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. This is open free to the public.