Certified Organic by Mother Petra

Mother Petra needs no certification from the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP), and has no plans of going through the lengthy and expensive process of getting one. She has been practicing traditional organic agriculture her whole life, and has put to good use the practical traditional knowledge (TK) she learned in her hometown Mainit, Mountain Province (named after its hot springs) and also from her visits to demonstration farms of the Montanosa Research and Development Center (MRDC).

Ten hours away from Baguio city is Mother Petra's farm in Maligaya, Nueva Vizcaya Her crop is rice, and she has succeeded in convincing her neighbors that farmers do not need to buy chemical inputs to have a good harvest. Such a radical idea, but proven right by many seasons of bountiful harvests that continue to improve as years pass.

Instead of chemical fertilizers, Mother Petra scatters taep or rice husk after planting. She goes to the rice mill to ask for or buy so many cavans of taep to fill a kuliglig (tractor), and she applies 10 - 15 cavans per hectare each season. It if food for the bisukol (edible snails living in the rice paddies), and when it rots, it is organic fertilizer. Applying the rice husk is laborious, and it helps if there is a wind which can carry it further. Only thing is, her face gets covered with the rice husk powder which makes her look like al-alya! But no problem. What is important is that her land continues to get more fertile, her expenses are low, and she has a stock of organic rice, which she shares with her fortunate family and friends. 

Mother Petra is now 76, still going strong, as she makes her rounds to visit her children and grandchildren to give them their supply of organic rice, in Baguio, Bontoc, and Metro Manila. Asked about her secret to good health, she answered: Eat organic, work, and when you are tired, rest. Words of wisdom which I should pay heed to...