In early October, Ric Patricio and Vic de Paz, agricultural consultants at the Goducate Training Centre in Iloilo visited the Goducate Model Farm in Laguna to assess conditions there. About a week later they were back at the model farm to conduct a 3-day training session.
The first day of training was spent indoors, with Ric teaching about the importance of agriculture in daily life and about soil. Vic taught on methods of planting and dealing with pests and diseases.
Practical lessons started on the second day, on hydroponics and container gardening, on drainage systems, on measuring out plots for various crops, and on how to prepare carbonized rice hull (CRH), for mixing in with the soil before vegetables are planted. Rice hull has long been considered waste material left behind after milling of rice, but now CRH has been found to have many uses, one of them as a good soil conditioner and organic fertilizer. It is prepared by partial burning of rice hulls under low-oxygen conditions. The high-heat burning it undergoes makes it a sterile product.
