This is the Study 5 of the project "Development and Assessment of Organic Production Management Technologies for Rice-based and Upland Agroecosystem".

This study will be conducted in a formerly conventional rice-based farm at the MMSU experiment station. In farm 1, different rates of organic fertilizers (OF) will be evaluated to determine the performance of the different cropping patterns during the transition period. In this set-up, there will be an abrupt shifting from conventional to organic wherein, all inputs are pure organic from the first year onwards. Application rate will be modified yearly based on soil analysis. Appropriate cultural management practices will strictly observe. 

In farm 2, different combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizer will be evaluated to determine the best transitional rate of OF application during the conversion period. Application rate will be modified yearly with gradual increase in OF while gradual decrease in inorganic fertilizer until it will be fully converted to organic. Appropriate cultural management practices will be strictly observed.

Pest samples and natural enemies will be taken from ten randomly selected plants from the inner rows/replication/treatment within the experimental area. Visual counting will be done three weeks after transplanting and will be followed at panicle initiation and soft dough stage for rice, flowering and fruiting stage for finger pepper, tomato and eggplant, bulb formation stage and maturity stage for garlic, silking and maturity stage for corn and late vegetative and flowering stage for cauliflower. Unidentified insects will be taken to the laboratory for further identification.

Different management strategies will be developed and evaluated with the hope of coming up with an organic management strategy for the control of weeds, insect pests, and diseases. For the control of weeds, hand weeding, mulching and zero tillage will be employed. In addition, efforts will be made to identify biological sources of herbicide, which will be called bioherbicide. On the other hand, possible materials that could be used as trap crop, baits, and biopesticides will also be explored for the control of insect pests and diseases.

 

The relative effect of the different management strategies will also be studied in order to develop an integrated organic pest management technology that could be employed not only during the transition period but also in the maintenance of a fully converted organic farm. This component will be superimposed (integrated) to studies 1 and 2.

 

Strategies to provide the nutrient requirement of different crops will be evaluated. Among of which is the application of solid organic fertilizer, liquid organic fertilizer in varying forms (fermented fruit juice, fermented plant juice, tea manure/compost tea), green manuring, and the incorporation of crop residues and animal manure. The best source of FPJ and FFJ will also be identified, with special consideration on the effectiveness and availability of the raw materials in the locality. This component will also be superimposed as part of Studies 1 and 2.

The following are the expected output of the study: