A lot of readers have noted the practicality of the production of liquid nitrogen from kakawate leaves which we featured in our column last Thursday. Readers have told us they will be extracting their own liquid nitrogen from legume leaves.
Well, here’s another one you should try, also from Gil Carandang who is developing an ecological farm in Calamba City. This one is a growth promotant for your favorite plants. Carandang said he learned the technique from a Korean organic expert.
To produce your home-made growth promotant, you have to gather the growing tips of fast growing plants. These could be the tips of cucumber, kangkong, ubi, malunggay and the fast growing vines that are usually a menace in orchards. Just like in extracting the liquid nitrogen, you can gather 3 kilos of the growing points of the fast- growing plants. Put them in a suitable container such as a plastic bucket and add just enough water to submerge the leaves. To that you also add a kilo of molasses or brown sugar. Cover the container with a piece of cloth that will allow the entry as well as the exit of air. That will allow the beneficial organisms in the air to get into the fermenting concoction. Put the covered container in a shady area that is well ventilated. After one week, you can already extract the liquid from the bucket.
Press the leaves to extract as much juice as possible. The extracted liquid is then strained and stored in a bottle. You can mix two to six tablespoons of the juice per gallon of water and use that for spraying your plants. According to Carandang, the sprayed plants will grow much faster. You can spray your plants with the extract once or twice a week.
Why don’t you give it a try? If it works, you can even produce the growth-promoting concoction for sale to others who don’t have the inclination to make their own growth-promoting extract.
**** **** ****
NEW PAPAYA DISEASE. There is a new papaya disease that has struck the plants of Tony Rola’s client in Tanay, Rizal. The symptoms are different from those of the ringspot virus. Affected plants lose their crowns very fast. Rola is calling the attention of scientists. He is wondering if the malady could be caused by the dreaded bacterial phytoplasma found only in Australia.
**** **** ****
PILOT FARM IN MABALACAT. Not known to many is a pilot farm of 1.2 hectares in Mawake, Mabalacat, Pampanga which is testing different varieties of vegetables, culinary herbs and corn from China. The project is under the auspices of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the Pampanga Agricultural College headed by Dr. Zosimo Battad and the Bureau of Agricultural Research. Elpidio Duca is the moving spirit on the part of the FFCCCI.
Started in 2003, the project has already tested various crops such as eggplant, tomato, chives, sweet corn, dwarf papaya and many others. Some interesting results have already been obtained. All eight varieties of eggplant planted have surpassed the average yield of local varieties. Variety No. 6, for instance, yielded an average of 13 tons per hectare compared to 10 tons of the local variety.
New techniques are also being done in the production of kutsay or chives. To produce white kutsay, they cover the growing plants with different materials. For covering entire plots, they use woven buri mats. White kutsay commands a much higher price in the market. While the green variety may be sold at R40 to R70 per kilo, the white kutsay costs a few hundred pesos per kilo.
**** **** ****
AGRI-KAPIHAN ON FEB. 29. There will be an Agri-Kapihan at the parking lot of radio station DWWW on Sunday, Feb. 29, from 8 to 11 a.m. This is located at 23 E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City. The Agri-Kapihan is a project of the radio program "Kaunlaran sa Agrikultura" co-hosted by Anne Bernardino, Tony Rola and Zac B. Sarian. The Agri-Kapihan is open free to the public.
