BSU-BAPTC compost facility lessens farmers’ problem on veggie waste

AGGIE TRENDS

Maria Alexis Go

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center headed by Benguet State University (BSU) installed a composting facility to lessen vegetable waste of the province.
    After the Dept. of Agriculture’s handling of operations of Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC), the local government of La Trinidad assigned Benguet State University (BSU) to take over BAPTC operations agreed upon last year.
    The general services unit of Benguet State University-Benguet AgriPinoy Trading Center (BSU-BAPTC) said they monitored around 1,500 metric tons of vegetable waste daily which triples during holidays.
     “Up to five percent to ten percent of the total volume of vegetables is considered waste. This is produced from the trimmings after cleaning the vegetables before being packed for transport,” said BAPTC marketing specialist Jay-R Sacley Diwas. Diwas added said waste include trimmings from vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and potatoes.
    The local government here helped collect waste but only non-biodegradable waste.
    Trimmings are at the trading post which got the attention of BSU-BAPTC led by Chief Operating Officer Jesson Del-amen to establish a composting facility for biodegradable waste in 2017 which at present is in operation.
    Even though the rotary composting facility for biodegradable waste is open and functional in a daily basis to lessen the vegetable waste of farmers, there is only one available rotary composting facility and shredder at the BAPTC, reason why waste are still piling up.
    The process takes time since the capacity of the rotary composting facility can only accommodate a ton or less.
     “This rotary composting facility turn trimmings into compost that can be used by the farmers. Additional facilities are needed to maximize the potential of biodegradable waste for compost, still personnel from BAPTC started the composting process by using the available equipment like shredder and rotary composter which is done in the premises of BAPTC,” Del-amen said.
    He added trials were done to neutralize foul odor produced during composting process which is subjected for further analysis since it is the main concern of the public.
    However, the finished compost product is no longer foul-smelling which is then distributed to local farmers to use as fertilizer.
    Kevin Calion, a 44-year-old local farmer, said trimmings from vegetables they brought to BAPTC were not well disposed of due to transportation and lack of equipment to accommodate the accumulated vegetable trimmings.
    Composting trimmings of vegetables lessens waste, he said, adding
processed compost can be a substitute as a fertilizer rather than using chicken dung which contains lots of bacteria that may cause harm to the plant and the soil.
    On the other hand, Melita Cocoy, farmer, said ever since she started to use vegetable trimmings as compost, it has made her life easier and helped her to save money.
    She added chicken dung may contain harmful virus or pests that may contaminate and even kill crops. But now when the BSU-BAPTC introduced its compost it actually made her plants or soil pest and virus free.