Tag: cow

Brick fuel from Manure

Brick fuel  from Manure

In an economy on which fuel like gasoline and LPG is on a constant rise alternatives should be considered.

Most countries are now into alternative energy like  solar power, wind mill, hydropower and biogas.

In our country we could use manure of cattle and carabao as a source of energy.

What do you need for this investigatory project?

  1. Fresh carabao or cattle manure
  2. Rice hull
  3. Saw dust
  4. Molder

Get 300 grams of fresh cow or carabao manure then mix it thoroughly with 300 grams of saw dust  and 300 grams of rice hull. Be sure that you have an even mix. The cattle or carabao manure will serve as the binder, uneven mixing will make your brick unstable/crumble. After mixing you need to put it in a molder. A molder could be a simple square box,  kawayan (cut into half) or halves (cut into half). Put the mix in the molder and sun dry it for 3-5 days. After sun drying you could use it now as “Panggatong” or alternative for  uling or gasul.

CARABAO/COW DUNG FLOORING

CARABAO/COW DUNG FLOORING

 

Carabao or cow dung flooring is an age-old technology applied in the rural areas. “Bastiya,” as it is locally known, took a back seat to cement during the peak of the latter’s popularity but is currently making a quiet comeback due to the prohibitive cost of cement. The procedure for making the dung mixture herein presented is the one followed in and around the environs of Antipolo (Rizal) where the ground leaves of “puso-puso” (litseaa glutinosa) are used as a binder. It is known that in Central Luzon, “dayami” or dried rice stalks are added as filler material. The distinct advantage of carabao or cow dung flooring over simple packed earth is that the former does not give the rise to dust.

 

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Cashew and cow, anyone?

Cashew and cow, anyone?

By Likha Cuevas

Bar Today- april-june 2002

It started out as a forested area. Then farmers slashed and burned the trees to make way for rice and corn. Later came soil erosion. This was the situation in Barangay Luzviminda, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan where the land is slightly undulating and hilly. In 1988, the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in Brgy. Luzviminda received an average of one to two hectares of land. These farmers’ main crops were rice and corn and practiced one cropping per year. In 1994, the Department of Agriculture Southern Tagalog Integrated Agricultural Research Center (STIARC) conducted a Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and found that there was serious soil erosion brought about by continuous cropping. Even though these farmers knew that erosion was a problem, they were not receptive to the idea of contour farming to lessen soil erosion. The farmers thought that planting permanent crops and hedges along contour lines lessened their area for crop production. Farmers were not also applying fertilizers to their crops.

To solve this problem, Ms Librada L. Fuertes of DA-ROS Palawan headed a project that integrated crop and livestock to help increase farm productivity and profitability of hilly-land areas.

Four farmer-cooperators trained on contour farming, cattle production, compost-making, and cashew production. Each farmer devoted 0.25 ha of his farmland to this experimental cropping system. After establishing the contour lines of the hilly farmlands, they planted napier grass (Pennisetum Purpureum) and ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) as contour vegetative barrier (used in terracing) for erosion control. Napier grass also served as fodder for the cattle that provided the farmers with extra source of income (milk production) while ipil-ipil served as a source of organic fertilizer.

The farmers planted cashew (Anacardium occidentale) as a permanent crop to control soil erosion while glutinous green corn and mungbean were planted in rotation between the contour lines known as ‘strips’. Aside from providing the farmers with a source of income, mungbean enriches the soil with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and it is easily cultivated. Organic fertilizer from corn stover and hedge trimmings was applied on the corn and the mungbean.

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