WITH WATER, MARGINAL LANDS
BECOME PRODUCTION FIELDS
Two weeks ago, I personally led a team from the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) on a long trip to Negros Occidental to check on an 11-year-old Hydraulic Ram Pump which provides water to an upland village in Murcia town.
The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) team and a farmer leader from Bukidnon were led by Ramon Magsaysay 2011 Awardee Auke Idzenga to the mountain village Sitio Ananggue, Buenavista to see the Hydraulic Ram Pump in actual operation.
The Hydraulic Ram Pump is one of the interventions we plan to provide to vegetable and high-value crop farmers in the four upland towns of Bukidnon to increase their productivity and improve the quality of their produce.
What we discovered on that trip was not only the effectiveness of a mechanical invention introduced by a French inventor 240-years ago but also an interesting upland agricultural activity which was developed because of the availability of water.
Water from the Ram Pumps is used in the cultivation and processing of Lemon Grass, the lowly Tanglad, which is planted in the mountain village.
Instead of bringing down the harvested Lemon Grass, Auke and his Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc., established an Oil Processing Facility right in the village powered by burning bamboo or wood.
The equipment, designed by Auke Idzenga himself, costs only P300,000, including expenses incurred in setting up the facility.
The Australian Government has extended a P1-M development assistance and the farmers are now building a concrete structure to serve as their processing facility, laboratory, and office.
The farmers produce Lemon Grass Oil which is sold at P2,500 per liter and Hydrosol, healthy water produced during the distilling process, which is sold for P3,000 per plastic jar.
Every month, Tanglad farmers in the area generate P100,000 from the Lemon Grass oil with additional earnings from its by-product, Hydrosol.
The Lemon Grass Oil is used as the main ingredient for massage oil and also for cooking and food flavoring.
The Hydrosol, on the other hand, could be mixed with natural water or coffee.
It is said to be effective for "hydration, soothing inflammation, healing, and regeneration, balancing sebum and astringing (astringing is constricting small blood vessels, it's more commonly known as 'toning')."
Planting Lemon Grass up in the mountains also has environmental benefits because it prevents soil erosion since only the leaves are harvested.
Since the mother plants are allowed to ratoon or regrow, the roots hold the soil preventing soil erosion.
Auke, however, said that the lack of knowledge on the benefits of Lemon Grass Oil and Hydrosol prevents farmers from expanding because of its limited market.
"It's a niche market so we could not expand because it would saturate the market and depress prices," Auke said.
Given the needed exposure to its benefits and its contribution to environmental protection, I believe that Lemon Grass Oil and Hydrosol would gain popularity and create a bigger market.
"Travel makes you realize that no matter how much you know, there's always more to learn."
#TravelIsTheBestTeacher!
#FarmIsTheBestClassroom!
#LessonsFromTheMountains!
(The video material was produced by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Media Team using actual footages of the Tanglad Farm in Sitio Ananggue, Buenavista, Murcia, Negros Occidental.)