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TAYABAS, QUEZON What started out as an ingenious solution to dispose of chickenmanure grew to a productive system that not only eliminates waste but also grows fishes and

plants.

Andy Alquiros, owner of Gallalis Integrated Zero Waste Farm in Tayabas, Quezon, first had the

idea of using vermiculture to help solve the problem of disposing tons and tons of manure from90,000 broilers in his poultry business. Later on, he was able to integrate aquaponics and organicfarming to further improve the operations in his farm.

Vermiculture is a method of composting using earthworms to speed up the process. In 2007

Alquiros started doing this technique with 2 kilos ofAfrican Nightcrawlers (Eudrilus euginae), aspecies of earthworms that normally matures in six months and quickly reproduces. Now, he

grows about a ton of them.

The worms feed off chicken manure mixed with other biodegradable materials such as leaves,

paper and rice straw. The vermicast is the byproduct that earthworms excrete and compost when

they digest food. It is considered one of the best organic fertilizers.

Alquiros was engrossed by the unstinted benefits of the system. Not only does it effectively

eliminate waste, it also gets rid of the foul smell in his farm. Extending the many benefits of hisvermiculture process, he decided to adopt two new technologies aquaponics and organic

farming.

Aquaponics is the combination ofaquaculture and hydroponics. It is a process that uses highlynutritious fish effluent that contains almost all the required nutrients for optimum growth. In a

6m x 4 m tank containing 50m3 of water, Alquiros grows about 2,500 fingerlings of creamdory fish. Water lilies, which also serve as food for the fishes, thrive in this tank.

In his own aquaponics system, water from the fish tank is continuously pumped over media filledbeds where plants grow in the gravel medium. The plants serve as filters. Roots extract nutrients

and elements from the water which they need to grow but are harmful to fishes, like nitrogen.The water that passes through the beds comes back to the tank clean. It is a self-sustaining flow

cycle that efficiently runs on a half horse power pump, twelve hours a day. On the beds, differentkinds of vegetables and herbs are abundantly growing.

According to Alquiros, all three technologies are very well integrated such that nothing is

wasted. Hence the name, integrated zero waste.

The fish, I feed with the mortality of my chicken. I just boil it, grind it and then feed it to them.So then, the food of my fishes is free. The water lilies, aside from being a source of food to my

fishes, I use as an additional component in my vermiculture. And then finally, I use the vermicastof my worms as fertilizers for the plants that I grow. When the worms become too much, I also

feed them to my fishes.

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Alqurios devised a system that has very little input yet produces a lot of benefits. In growing hisplants, the water from the fish tank serves as the main nourishment. No other chemicals or

fertilizers are added. The fishes thrive because the water is always clean and food is abundant.

Cost is very minimal. Alquiros said he doesnt even spend on water because it is re-circulating

and only a negligible amount is lost. It only takes three people to maintain the 700 sq.m. garden.They are mainly in-charge of feeding the fishes and planting the seedlings.

Alquiros has a total of four vermiculture in his farm which produce an average of 100 kilos ofvermicast a day. He sells this at P10 per kilo. A number of herbs and vegetables are also growing

in his garden. Among these are lettuce, onions, lemon grass, carrots, buttercup, romaine,tarragon, oregano and basil. He even grows around 80 dwarf lemon trees which are very

expensive in the market. Alquiros also uses herb extracts as additives to his chickens whichreplaced their chemical vitamins. He said these make the chickens bigger and healthier.

All these technologies Alqurios learned through years of research and practice. He said it was

never easy applying the technologies.

When I started before, all my first batch of worms died, and so did my fishes. Sometimes, its

really different when you study it on paper. When you actually do it, whats supposed to happendoesnt always happen. So, practice really makes perfect.

Alqurios added that consistently studying about these processes is key.

Some people think that if you go into business, you invest in it, you get money right away. Butactually there are a lot of things you have to learn about it. And, you can easily find a lot of

information in the internet.

For the past two years, Alquiros said that what hes basically been doing is all experimentation.He continually finds ways on how he can improve the system thus, better benefit from it. In fact,

he plans to expand his project by getting more worms and putting up three or four more tankswhere he would grow tilapia and ulang (freshwater shrimp).

Gallalis Integrated Zero Waste Farm also sells the following products: 1) vermicast (P10/kilo);

2) organic foliar fertilizer (P500/liter); 3) organic pesticide (P500/liter); 4) Organic acids forlivestock (P500/liter); 5) organic vegetables (P100/kilo) and; 6) organic fertilizer (P20/sack).

The farm is located at Brgy. Anos, Tayabas Quezon and may be contacted at (042) 797-0150 or

0917-5600-168.