Cervantes, a nationally acclaimed urban farming advocate, now engages in Black Soldier Fly farming.

 

Honorio S. Cervantes, a nationally acclaimed urban farming advocate, is trailblazing yet another agricultural breakthrough in Cagayan de Oro City – Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farming.

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia Illucens) has been making buzz around the globe recently thanks to the many researches postulating its potential as a source of protein, animal feed, and use in food waste management.

The idea of BSF farming rubbed off on Cervantes, a retired Police General who considered himself a farmer by heart, upon learning the many advantages and the surprisingly minimal cost to manage a BSF farm. Not to mention the promising earnings one can possibly gain by growing the insect.

Cervantes was named Outstanding Farmer of the Philippines by the Junior Chamber International Philippines (JCIP) in 2018, for his advocacy in Square Foot Gardening.

As a firm believer in innovation, he finds BSF farming an idea worth the try. His journey in BSF farming started last year with the BSF pupae he was able to source through a waste management program of the City Government of Cagayan de Oro, which advocated the use of BSF.

Cervantes experimented with BSF in his TESDA and Agricultural Training Institute- (ATI) accredited Learning Site for Agriculture, the New Square Foot Gardening Farm in Barangay Pagatpat, Cagayan de Oro City.

From a makeshift production facility, he now owns a solar-powered structure where he grows the BSF larvae, pupae and adult BSF after they are hatched from eggs.

“I am hands-on on this farm. I learn most of the knowledge in BSF farming by reading brochures and through social media platforms,” he remarked.

At different stages of their life cycle, the BSF has its own unique use. When asked how the BSF can be advantageous to urban farmers, Cervantes pointed out three standpoints: production of organic fertilizer, animal feed and kitchen waste composting.

“It is no longer advisable to feed kitchen wastes to pigs today due to the reported diseases, but we can collect kitchen wastes, apply molasses to eliminate odor and feed them to BSF larvae,” he said.

BSF larvae feed on almost any organic waste. This makes them perfect to deal with discarded foods or agricultural wastes. “You can produce organic fertilizer with BSF larvae’s frass and by powdering dried adult BSF and its pupae’s shedding,” Cervantes explained.

He said this is helpful for farmers to save on the cost of commercial fertilizer and earn extra income by selling organic fertilizer in their community. For now, at a small-scale BSF farming, Cervantes was able to produce ready-to-use garden soil and frass as organic fertilizer he is selling at Php200 per kilogram.

In his farm, Cervantes fed the BSF larvae to his chicken and catfish, allowing him to cut on some farm expenses with the help of the BSF, which he grew with nothing more than kitchen disposals.

As he is optimistic about the economic and ecological value of BSF farming, Cervantes has his eyes set on operating his BSF farm at a bigger scale in the coming years by massively producing organic fertilizer and animal feeds.

His business model is anchored on a community livelihood approach by sharing the BSF farming technology with his community as co-producers of BSF and its by-products.

In Cagayan de Oro, wastes is one of our challenges. We can help eliminate the problem by teaching our neighbors to get rid of their household wastes with their BSF…then we can buy their BSF larvae so they will be encouraged to practice zero waste in the respective households,” he averred.

By advocating a rather oddly new urban farming technology, Cervantes is thankful for the support provided by the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture. He expressly hopes for more embracing support from the farming communities as he is determined to make BSF farming a mainstream agricultural idea in Northern Mindanao.

“Kung walang tiyaga, walang nilaga” Cervantes asserted, underscoring his point in venturing to BSF farming.# (ATTalib/Photo credits: RDMElloren)

To learn about BSF farming, you may coordinate with Mr. Honorio S. Cervantes through DA-Region 10 or ATI-Region 10.