Bio-intensive Gardening for the Future May 4, 2008

Today’s scenario with regards to industrialization has made great effects towards the economic development of the country. However, this progress has also made its dark side, especially on agriculture. The vast land areas, which were once green, filled with rice, and used for crop production, are being replaced by new establishments, subdivisions or real estates, and other infrastructures. Our natural resources are depleting and the government programs in agriculture are not that effective. Since food is the most basic of all basic essentials, these things are among those which threaten national food security, most especially in a country like Philippines where poverty and malnutrition are big problems.

For these conditions, an alternative approach for food production is developed wherein it will be most beneficial to households and small scale farmers by using limited garden space and locally accessible materials, and this is termed as the Bio-Intensive Gardening (BIG) approach.

Bio-intensive approach is a biological form of agriculture in which a small area is intensively cultivated. At the heart of the approach is the effort to improve the soil’s capability to nurture and sustain soil and plant life. This method uses multi-cropping; promotes biodiversity, conservation of natural resources, conservation of plant genetic resources, closed nutrient recycling, water conservation, and ecological pest management; and, conforms to sustainable agriculture.

“Scarcity can be changed into abundance when sustainable, resource-conserving
agricultural practices are used.”