Actually, I have already given the necessary steps of my Lazy Juan’s Formula for “instant fertilizer, organic (IFO)” – new name: “Lazy Juan’s Organic Farming For Pinoys – The More You Think, The More You Earn![1]” (21 June 2021, Brave New World).
My IFO is different from the “indigenous microorganisms” (IMO) that is popular at UPLB, and which Real Organic claims is “the best organic fertilizer[2]” (YouTube). This is what s/he says:
In this video, I will show you how to make a very effective and cost-wise organic fertilizer for your gardens. The fertilizer is called Indigenous Micro-organisms or IMO in short. This will act as a soil conditioner and can make the soil (fertile) again. It can also be used to (make) compost for fast decomposition. It's very easy and fun to do.
Actually, the fertilizer is not called “IMO” – the IMO are the microorganisms that convert the dead plant tissues into organic matter. That means, it takes days before you can apply the IMO-treated plant matter as organic fertilizer.
Nota Bene: I call mine “Instant Fertilizer, Organic” because, really, it becomes organic fertilizer the moment you create it! So, IFO vs IMO. Same results: naturally healthier soil, naturally healthier crop.
For IFO, you rotavate a field filled with grass, better with the crop refuse still there – and instantly, the vegetative matter that has been cut to pieces along with the soil begins to decay because of the attack (actually, feeding) of organisms from the soil (that is, all organisms disturbed), especially bacteria, fungi, earthworms, bugs, insects. Their feeding results in the release of nutrients into the soil from the vegetative matter – so immediately, from my IFO you have organic fertilizer there!
Above, lower image, the field is waiting to be worked on. I am just a visitor there, not the owner. But it’s a good piece of conversation, because it’s waiting for the farmer to work on it. My shadow is long, by which I would like to tell you that this IFO story actually I have been telling for many years, the earliest recorded I can find on the Internet being 13 years ago, dated 16 December 2008 (see “2nd Red Revolution! Red Nuts Grow On Badlands[3],” iCRiSAT Watch). I said in that essay, writing about American Ohio gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner and his book Plowman’s Folly:
Plowman’s Folly (published in 1943) taught me, among other things, that one could build a rich soil from a poor one by continuously incorporating crop refuse into the topsoil, along with minimizing cultivation, thereby simulating the natural cycle of death and life of organisms, something the plowman has either ignored or rejected. His farming method is a modification of green manuring, which every farmer should know anyway.
“Instant Fertilizer, Organic (IFO)” is an original name from a Filipino agriculturist & extensionist; the concept is modified from an American farmer – I added the rotavating. A good idea made better!@517
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