OISCA visit helps students

- July 03, 2018

PNG UNRE students visited Organization for Industrial Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA) International - Rabaul last Thursday.
The 16 students, who are presently on Semester break, took time from their holidays to learn about sustainable farming, specifically how farmers can adapt to Climate Change.

The visit, which was initiated by male student warden Scott Akena, was aimed at helping them understand and learn more about Climate Change and its effects on farming and how different agricultural institutions have come up with research techniques to address the issue.

Mr Daniel Joseph talks to students.

OISCA’s Farm Manager Daniel Joseph and Vegetable Instructor Derick Gare were very helpful to students, who found out that OISCA is very effective in organic farming. The crops grown looked very healthy without much attack from pests and diseases.

Mr Joseph told students that it took them 30 years to create a sustainable farm.

“The secret to sustainable farming is to create an ecology which is conducive to everyone and not you alone as a farmer. You have to know that there are microbes in the soil. Not all insects are bad and not all weeds are supposed to be taken of the farm. If we all can see agriculture in this way, then we can do farming sustainably,” said Mr Joseph.

He told students that one of the basic principal for sustainable farming is not to eradicate all weeds from the farm because weeds help to build soil.

“OISCA’s agriculture is about building the soil first, making the water source stable and make sure there is forest around the farm. If you practice organic farming but get input from outside in, then that’s not organic farming. That is still part of conventional farming. In an organic farming system, everything is met on the farm for inputs,” he explained.

He said the 5.4 hectares of land in OISCA used for farming has been used for the last 30 years producing rice, vegetable plus the other tuber crops.

Mr Joseph said using this system, he has created his home into a small complete system that sustains his family. There is cocoa, all sorts of planting materials for food, for timber, for fibre and others.

“A family must be resilient at all times. For example, if disaster strikes, you don’t have to wait for food donation because you already have food in place and this is how we can live in this time,” said Mr Joseph.

Derrick Gare explains to students why plants like
lemongrass are planted in the farm.

He also explained to students that trees are also significant for sustainable livelihood; they are important component to organic farming.

“Where there is leaf litter from trees, you have microbes that would sustain the fertility of the soil,” he said. For instance, they have not used any fertilizers on the rice farm. They are using nutgrass as the natural micronizer. He cultivates the nutgrass and then inoculates the rice.

“What the micronizer does is, it breaks down NPK and supplies to the rice plant and that’s where sustainability is. When you practise an agriculture that you care less about the organisms that lives in the soil, then you destroy everything. The basis to organic farming is about flora and fauna of the soil. A soil is a living thing and it will be dead substance when you take out the microbes,” he said.

He told students that one of the best way to mitigate climate change in sustainable agriculture is to keep all planting materials for the food you need and not to plant only one type of crop.

“Mono-cropping is an exploitive type of farming system that is profit-driven and not for livelihood. If you are serious with livelihood, then there must be diversity in farming. Mono-cropping practice all over the world is meant for profit and it’s too exploitive, it mines soil and it depletes nutrients. When you have balance of all crops on the farm, symbiotically they can provide for each other,” he said.

“OISCA do not believe in profit driven agriculture, we believe in sustainable livelihood. You produce what you need first then sell the surplus. Cash is something that it comes and goes but the planting materials and the food you have on the farm is what you need every day,” he said.

He explained that when it comes to mitigation of climate change on an organic farm, farmers must make sure that all the carbons are stored in the soil through crop rotation. The alley cropping with trees on the farm also helps to get all the carbon and stored to the soil because when you take out all the carbons from the soil, it goes back to the space.

Gon Leo, a first year Agriculture student said: “OISCA is a naturally sustainable environment. The environment is balanced in an evenly way, from the smallest micro-organism to more micro-organisms.”

First year Fisheries and Marine Resource student Sammy Abagawa said: “Since OISCA is practicing sustainable farming, I recommend OISCA to more people and organisations to take part in this program to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. This farming system should be practiced everywhere in PNG.”

Final year Bachelor of Tropical Agriculture student Jimmy Uri said: “I think UNRE must follow OISCA in allowing students to be more practical when it comes to sustainable agriculture. This will enable food security for the family and the country as a whole.”