Small Scale Composting Facilities

Components
“ Organic agriculture is a healthy culture”

Department of Agriculture
BUREAU OF SOILS AND WATER MANAGEMENT
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City

Shredding Machine
7 HP (Horse Power)
V. Monitoring System
BSWM will monitor the operation of small- Organic Fertilizer Production Project
scale composting facilities within two (2) years after
establishment. After that, the monitoring of facility
will be turned over to Regional Field Offices

1. Recipient should keep records of their operations

in terms of: 15 kilos of Vermi or ANC
(African Night Crawler)
- kg shredded/month;
- kg produced (vermicompost/vermi)/cycle;
- substrates used (ratio of nitrogen source an
carbon source);

- utilization of vermi-compost, vermi-tea and

African Night Crawler (ANC) (users, how
much /kilo/bag);

2. Regular monitoring/visitation of AT’s, DA- Vermi-Tea Brewer (15 Liters)

RFUs and BSWM technical staff (frequency of
BSWM CUSTOMER CENTER
visits, problems encountered, solutions/ SRDC Bldg., Elliptical Road, cor. Visayas Avenue,
recommendations). Diliman, QC 1100 SMALL SCALE COMPOSTING
www.bswm.da.gov.ph
3. Periodic/random sampling for lab analysis. bswmclientcenter@yahoo.com FACILITIES (SSCF)
FB Page @theBSWM
https://www.facebook.com/theBSWM/
Tel. # (63-2) 332-9534
I. RATIONALE
In 2010, the Republic Act 10068 was signed to promote
and further develop the practice of organic agriculture in the
Philippines. Several provisions of the law emphasized soil
quality and health and organic fertilizer production as the
basis of sustainability of organic agriculture. In Section 2 of
the Organic Agriculture Act, the policy statement highlights
the importance of enriching the fertility of soil and the need
to undertake a comprehensive program for the promotion of
community-based organic fertilizers together with a nation-
wide educational and promotional campaign for the use and
processing, as well as the adoption of organic agricultural
system as a viable alternative to conventional production sys-
tem. Moreover, in Section 4, it is encouraged to establish fa-
cilities, equipment and processing plants that would catalyze
the production and commercialization of organic fertilizers.
III. Criteria for Site and Beneficiaries Selection
With these provisions in the law, the BSWM plays a
pivotal role in conducting researches and promoting different
soil management strategies and production inputs, particular-
ly, fertilizers, microbial inoculants and soil amendments. It is
an active implementing agency of the National Organic Agri-
culture Program (NOAP). Under the OAP of the bureau
starting CY 2013, one of the activities is the establishment of
small scale composting facilities inasmuch as the vermicast/
vermicompost is regarded as a high quality source of nutri-
ents and contributes in the improvement of soil physical con-
dition and biodiversity.
Each small-scale composting facility is composed of 15
kilogram African Night Crawlers (ANCs), shredder machine
and a unit of vermi-tea brewer (production of vermitea as
foliar fertilizer). To increase the accountability and responsi-
bility of the beneficiary, the organization must provide vermi-
beds with sheds, land and labor as counterpart. The facility is
expected to provide the needed vermicast/vermicompost of
farmer beneficiaries within the target 100-hectare cluster
farms. This will ensure higher profit because of the significant
reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers resulting to im-
provement of soil quality and biodiversity without adverse
effect on yield of crops. This sustainable approach to produc-
tion will encourage the agricultural sector to engage in or-
ganic farming.
II. GOAL
To provide support service in the form of small-scale
composting facilities and contribute to the attainment of 5%
(hectares devoted to organic farming out of the total agricul-
tural land area) target of the NOAP.
OBJECTIVES: IV. Guidelines in the Establishment of SSCF
1. Strengthen the institutional capacity of Local Govern-
ment Units (LGUs), Farmer Cooperatives and Associ- Pre-establishment:
ations in collaboration with State Universities and 1. Observe proper protocol/coordination
Colleges, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other with the collaborating agencies.
government organizations to produce vermicast/
vermicompost & vermitea; 2. Proposed sites will be evaluated by
BSWM-SWAC in coordination with DA-
2. Promote the use of vermicast/vermicompost & ver- RFU–Organic Agriculture Program Fo-
mitea in combination with other available organic fer- cal Person, CA/CAO, or MA/MAO to
tilizers and bio-fertilizers not only in rice, but also on
ensure that all criteria are met.
corn and high value commercial crops such as fruits
and vegetables; 3. Key officials of the requesting organiza-
tion or entity must be present during
the conduct of site evaluation.
 SITES 4. A MOA will be presented to proposed
beneficiaries for signing.
1. Accessibility and availability of materials for com-
posting such as rice straw, corn stubbles, banana
stalks and all other indigenous biodegradable materi-
als; Establishment:
2. Must have readily source of water (water system or 1. Vermi beds with durable sheds must be
artesian well); provided, partially decomposed raw ma-
terials for composting collected and pre-
3. The proposed project site must be flood free;
4. Peace and order pared prior to delivery/awarding of the
composting facility;
 BENEFICIARIES 2. On-site demonstration and training will
be conducted prior to the awarding of
1. Recipients must be an active organization, (i.e. CSOs,
the composting facility to the intended
POs, Cos, FAs, Cooperatives), SCUs and LGUs. High
priority will be given to vermi-composting practi-
tioners;
2. If the beneficiary is LGU, it must have the Provin-
cial/City/Municipal Local Technical Committee on
Organic Agriculture;
3. If the beneficiary is an organization, it must be duly
registered with DOLE, SEC, CDA and/or recognized
by the Department of Agriculture;
4. Must be willing to provide counterpart (i.e. land,
labor, vermi-beds with sheds);
5. Willingness to be trained and sustain vermicast/
vermicompost production and its utilization;