My farm started in 2003.
Before that, I was a conventional farmer.
At first, I couldn't believe that farming
is possible without fertilizers and pesticides.
But an NGO came
and introduced organic agriculture into my life.
That's how I began to practice it in my farm.
At first, I said, "To see is to believe."
I want to see for myself if the plants will
survive without pesticides.
Months passed and I started to see the many advantages of organic farming practices.
Through the trainings given by the NGO,
I learned how to do it properly.
When we stopped using pesticides, my farm recovered and gradually improved.
However, one problem we had 
to contend with was the marketing of our products.
We had limited outlets, so my wife tried to
sell our produce to the employees
at our municipal office and hospital in Buguias.
She also sent some to BSU and to the Benguet
Provincial capitol.
Still, these were not enough so we decided
to join a marketing cooperative in La Trinidad.
Since then, we now have a stable market and I started to earn a little
- enough to buy our kitchen needs.
Another thing, my body feels a lot better
since I stopped using pesticides.
This is the most important thing that I gained from my organic farm.
When it comes to fertilizers, they taught us how to produce composts.
The NGO also gave us a shredder so we could just shred the weeds and stack them to decompose.
This process worked out well and we were able to produce our own compost.
Organic farming is laborious.
You really have to use your knowledge because you no longer depend on chemical inputs.
My natural pesticides are the spiders - they help a lot in controlling diamond backmoth.
The cobwebs can trap this pest.
You can also also handpick the worms at 10 o'clock in the evening.
With this type of farming, I believe it can
improve the health of the people here in Buguias.
If all my townmates will shift to organic farming, the pesticide companies may lose their income.
But this is for the good of the people and
the environment.
There will be no more pesticides and pesticide residues that  pollute the air.
That's all I can say about organic farming.
As I said, your health will become better
and the vegetables you sell to your neighbors are safe.
That's all I can share.
