'Permaculture: Why it Matters to Sustainable Agriculture' Webinar Hosted by Dream Media/Dream AgriTech

Thank you to our friends at Dream Media and Dream Agri Tech for inviting us to do this webinar on permaculture. Below are some resources to aid you in your permaculture journey:

Permaculture organizations in the Philippines:
Philippine Permaculture Association 
Green Warrior Permaculture
Green Releaf
Cabiokid Foundation, Inc.
Isabela Permaculture Development Center

Permaculture Facebook groups in the Philippines:
Philippine Permaculture Practitioners
Solution: Permaculture
Permaculture and Wellness Club of the Philippines

Permaculture farms, projects, initiatives:
Lorenza' Garden and Food Forest Farm, Isabela
The Justice German Lee Jr. Nature Sanctuary, Cebu
Aloha Natural Farm, Palawan
Alpas, Antique
Kai Farms, Cavite
Layog Country Farm, Mountain Province
Tara Farms, Laguna
Umaleng Organic Farm, Zamboanga del Sur
Glinoga Organic Farm, Pitogo, Quezon
The Pitak Project, La Union
Bukid ni Bogs, Zamboanga del Sur
I-mazingPH

Permaculture Reference Database

YouTube Videos:
UMASS Permaculture
Oregon State University Ecampus (permaculture course)
Documentary on permaculture in the Philippines
Dito Sa Laguna Permaculture Episode

Permaculture Reference Database

Please help us build a Permaculture Reference Database. This will be helpful to students and researchers writing their Review of Literature for their permaculture-related papers.

Please feel free to add, comment, and edit the entries. Journal articles are preferred but you can also add book titles, news articles from credible sources, links to published abstracts, and thesis manuscripts. Thank you! 

#permaculture

Add your entries by clicking this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lxI4JuDzpR2eWH8pVERmXXAk9XAPxCn7vcYV-lePXnA/edit?usp=sharing

Webinar on Permaculture Presented by Dream Agritech Consultancy Services

For the next webinar in our Agriculture 20-20 series, we are going to talk about #Permaculture!

Join us on Monday, May 18 at 3 pm (UTC +8)!

The webinar will be conducted by Jabez Flores from Permaculture Research PH!

Register via this link: https://forms.gle/5JmpvBMdsSZ3hvB6A

See you on Monday! Stream will be live here on FB and on our Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkXb1kgihxzbDAN_kDuSEJQ)! #DreamAgri2020

Roberto "Obet" Verzola on Permaculture

Photo from Philippine Permaculture Association Facebook Page

Here is an article written in 2009 by the late Engr. Roberto "Obet" Verzola in his blog, Ecology, technology and social change: Notes on Green theory and practice by Roberto Verzola. Sir Obet was a visionary, a polymath, and a man ahead of his time. A board member of the Philippine Permaculture Association, he is known as the "Father of Philippine Email."

Permanent agriculture

How does one design a farm so that it is environmentally-friendly and economically viable as well?

To many Filipino farmers, this question has not even occurred. Most tenants and farm workers have little say in running the farms they work in, much less in redesigning them. Even farmer-owners often simply take the existing farm set-up as given, preoccupied as they are in the day-to-day problems of keeping their farms afloat.

Yet, a farm’s design is a key factor in its survival and sustainability. In poorly-designed farms, farmers will always feel as if every day were an uphill climb, because the poor design makes the farmer work against the natural flow of matter and energy in the farm. In well-designed farms, farming will feel like a downhill joyride, as the natural forces and components in the farm themselves do most of the work that the farmer normally shoulders.

A sustainable approach to farm design called permaculture, first developed in Australia, is now proving its worth under Philippine conditions. In permaculture (from permanent agriculture), the farmer carefully lays out a system of water containment and channels within the farm, so that water naturally flows slowly, by gravity, from one containment to the next. Then, the farmer gradually “assembles”, following certain principles and guidelines, an increasing variety of plants and animals. These are laid out in a way that each additional farm component performs one or more functions or provides matter or energy which, in a conventional farm, have to be provided by the farmers themselves. After many years, a well-designed permaculture farm will look like a lush forest of food and cash crops. And this forest will essentially maintain itself. Then, the farmers’ job will consist mainly of tending the “forest” and regularly harvesting its products.

Successful permaculture farms in the Philippines include the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning (CELL) in Silang, Cavite and Cabiokid in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija. Permaculture practitioners and advocates have set up the Philippine Permaculture Association (PPA), which conducts regular trainings and supports those who want to try permaculture in their own farms.

Research on Crop Biodiversity in Permaculture presented at the 9th Biodiversity Forum in UPLB

Poster presentation by Jabez. Photo by Jhong Tolentino

Institute of Biological Sciences
University of the Philippines Los Banos
December 11, 2019

Results of Phase 3 of the "Designing Food Security" permaculture research project entitled "Edible Landscape: Polyculture and Crop Biodiversity in Permaculture Designs in the Philippines" was presented last Friday, December 6 at the 9th Biodiversity Forum in IBS, UPLB. The study identified 71 crop species present in at least two permaculture sites. In addition to crop biodiversity, permaculture sites also have a diversity of functions and services to offer. The research team found an average of 6 different uses per site with the "vegetable garden" being the standard design feature in all sites. 

View the full poster here. Read related article here. 

Oral and poster presentors. Photo by Jhong Tolentino.

Jabez with Forum organizer, Prof. Marj Delos Angeles. Photo by Jhong Tolentino.

How Do I Influence My Landscape? Environmental Communication using Aerial Photography

Oikos Peace Garden in Bilar, Bohol is a permaculture project that practices organic and bio-dynamic farming methods. Aerial photo taken at an altitude of 24 meters by Tello drone.

Permaculture design is about individual action and making positive change in the landscape. And what better way to see our impact than from the sky!  

We're advocating the use of aerial photography for documenting how common people are influencing their landscapes with permaculture. A single aerial photo speaks volumes. It can inspire you and at the same time makes you aware of your surrounding environment from a view that we only get to see either from a plane or a tall building. 

"How do I influence my landscape?" was a question that popped up while scanning through several aerial photos we took with our Ryze (DJI) Tello drone--a budget UAV that we have been using for research since last year. It's a cheap drone ($99.00) with a 5 MP camera. But don't let the specs fool you! When used for a good purpose, there are many opportunities and applications for the Tello. T3.com even awarded it as the top budget drone for 2019.

Our Instagram account is currently focused on answering the question "How do I influence my landscape?" So we are encouraging people to share their photos and their stories with us on social media by using the hashtags #MyLandscape and #PermaGardenPH.

Aside from documenting landscapes with a permaculture design, some delegates from the recently concluded 3rd Philippine Permaculture Convergence had some ideas for the drone:

1) Citizen science - the general public can provide real-time visual data to scientists and researchers

2) Environment - documentation of land use and land cover change; detection of polluted areas in coastlines, forests, and other ecosystems; detection of illegal activities such as backyard burning 

3) Agriculture - crop and livestock monitoring; farm management

4) Biodiversity Conservation - surveillance of protected areas; monitoring of reforestation projects

5) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management - reconnaissance and aerial survey; search and rescue

and of course,

6) Environmental communication - aerial photos can be used for info dissemination campaigns and public education regarding environmental and climate issues. Students can use the drone for research projects, posters, and presentations.

This aerial photo of a group of people in a forest gave us the idea that Tello can be used to report illegal logging or poaching activities in the forest. The small drone is relatively quiet and can be a useful tool for park rangers. 

Using a 3D-printed mirror clip attachment from PHTek, the Tello can take downward view aerial photos.

While high-end drones with better cameras are available in the market, the price, size, portability, durability, and usability of the Tello sets it apart from other commercial drones. Well, at least until DJI/Ryze releases a new version of the Tello.

You can purchase the Tello at any DJI outlet or you can order it at the DJI store. The drone is also available on Lazada. 

Research Timeline

Kudos to the all the people who have been part of the research team since last year. It's a long process but we will get there. The people we studied...their voices will be heard in due time.

Permaculture research in the Philippines still has a long, long, looong way to go. We really believe that permaculture can be part of the sustainable development agenda here in our country. It's a philosophy that focuses on what we can do right here, right now, with what we have. And this mindset, worldview, and advocacy is manifesting physically in landscapes across the country. We commend all the practitioners here, who in spite of ridicule and hardships, are trying to adapt, to be resilient, to be sustainable. Their landscapes reflect what's in their hearts...it's a heartscape.

We need radical solutions to address complex problems like food security and climate change. Permaculture is radical in a way that it encourages you, the reader, to step up and do something in your immediate environment, no matter how small it is. Of course this is not the solution to everything. But if you know how to cook what's growing in your backyard, then it's a solution to your hunger at the moment. For some this is a huge step, but my goodness, we live in desperate times.