Ecologically-Sustainable farming or Ecosus is a project initiative of SIBAT with Capas farmers in 2009 described through technological features of a garden plot that is well-prepared or cultivated soil; enriched with biofertilizer nutrients and spraying of home-made nature farming concoctions ; installed with an efficient drainage system and UV plastic as protection against weather fluctuations and changes. The use of proven organic seeds and non-use of any chemical or synthetic inputs are also among the farming features that slowly evolved 3 years ago when COFPC started.
The present Ecosus as compared to the previous 1X6 meters or 6 square meters garden plot has now a size of 4X6 meters or 24 square meters 4 covered garden plots resembling the features of a mini-greenhouse. The effective or productive surface areas taking into account the alley distance between plots is about 20 square meters. One crop cycle of lettuce for example if planted simultaneously would yield about 20 kilograms in about a month or 1 kilogram per square meters. And with a farmgate of P80 per kilogram, will translate to P1,600 income for 1 Ecosus Mini Greenhouse. The farmer will also do relay cropping in order to continuously earn at least 400 pesos per week.
The cost of building a steel-framed Ecosus Mini Green house with a size of 4X6 meters as per experienced by SIBAT is P12,000. Thus the payback period for the Ecosus Mini-Greenhouse infrastructure is only about 8 months.
