Go Organic! Philippines leaders and mayors of several cities and towns are ready to apply the “bokashi” organic fertilizer system in 10 percent of all arable lands in the country set aside for natural agriculture.

Lawyer Efren Moncupa, Go Organic! spokesman, and La Liga Policy Institute (LLPI) executive director Roland Cabigas said the natural agriculture movement would certainly benefit from the system perfected by Dr. Teruo Higa of Okinawa, who developed the practical use of effective microorganisms (EM) to do away with petrochemical-based fertilizers and pesticides.

Higa, originally trained as a plant breeder, started using EM in 1982 and succeeded in growing cherry trees and bananas in what were earlier deemed to be barren areas of Okinawa.

The microorganisms he had goaded into acting as soil inoculants nurtured vegetables, fruits, and trees on the island, and the system was applied in many areas of mainland Japan as well.

Moncupa, Cabigas, and peasant leader Jaime Tadeo are leading the campaign to promote organic farming all over the country, along with Alaminos City, Pangasinan Mayor Hernani Braganza, a former agrarian reform secretary, and Guimba, Nueva Ecija Mayor Jose Francis Stevens Dizon.

They are working with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to intensify the production of organic fertilizer nationwide and have cut deals with local markets and food chains to utilize their waste as primary ingredients for organic fertilizers.

Higa’s system uses phototrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and actinomycetes for EM. These microorganisms have been proven to be good for sustainable agriculture, livestock health, odor control, human health, and even environmental remediation.

Moncupa, Cabigas, Braganza, and Dizon stressed that Higa’s “bokashi” is gaining adherents in the country, with some farmers in Bulacan and other provinces affirming the capability of the microorganisms to improve soil quality, crop growth, and yield.

“Bokashi,” which carries the microorganisms on a base of molasses and water, is added to kitchen and dry waste, rice hulls, banana peels, citrus rind, discarded yams, and other biodegradables to create compost in a matter of weeks rather than months.

“Bokashi” was the same solution provided by Higa to the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States when the agency encountered problems with plants carried on board space stations that were eventually found to be the cause of headaches and colds that afflicted astronauts.

Higa pointed out the imbalance of the microorganisms on the plants borne by the spacecraft and used his “bokashi” to restore the biological equilibrium of the plants carried to space for some experiments.

The success of Higa’s “bokashi” has been replicated in London and in other places where ordinary household wastes are stored, heated, and transformed into compost, thus reducing trash and eliminating nasty odors from garbage.