ZAMBOANGA CITY— An agriculture institute based in the province of Zamboanga del Sur is offering a short course on organic agriculture to other local government units (LGUs) to spread its principles and practices.

Dumingag Institute of Sustainable Organic Agriculture (Disoa) executive director Jesus Simene said the short course includes community organizing, culture mapping, organic fertilizers and farm management, vermiculture and rice duck farming.

Disoa is run by the municipal government of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur.

Simene said the two-week course also includes workshops, farm exposures and field work aside from the usual classroom instruction.

Simene said the number of participants in the two-week course is only limited to a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 30.

In community organizing, Simene said the participants will be trained on how to arouse, organize and mobilize the community for synchronized organic agricultural production.

He that the participants will be trained to conduct culture mapping in which indigenous knowledge, skills and practices are reviewed by the community to boost organic agricultural production. He said the participants will be taught on how to produce organic-based basal and foilar fertilizers and apply organic-based pest and weed management.

In vermiculture, they will be taught how to set up and maintain vermi-bins for African nightcrawlers, a type of earthworm that produces vermicast, a very potent basal fertilizer.

In rice-duck farming, the participants will learn how to raise ducklings used for weeding and managing of pests in the farm, he said.   

The first LGU to enroll at Disoa is the municipality of Siayan, Zamboanga del Sur, Simene said.

He said the course for the Siayan enrollees started on June 6 and was set to be completed on June 20.

He said the second to enroll is the LGU of Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental, wherein the training will start next month.

Disoa is the first and only organic-agriculture training institute in the country.

Disoa trainers are actual organic-agriculture practitioners and graduates of Southeast Asia Trainors’ Training on Sustainable Agriculture.

The Disoa is a member of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.