Natural Farming: How to Prepare a Natural Pesticide

P. Regoniel FOLLOW How prepare a natural pesticide useful in gardening and natural farming.

Those natural things we find around us can serve many purposes. Plants, in particular, are remarkable wonders of nature that possess many properties beneficial to man. As man tried to figure out ways to survive, plants have always served as a vital component of the various life support systems. As a result, indigenous knowledge on the use of beneficial plants evolved for thousands of years. Indigenous knowledge on health-giving herbs undoubtedly helped many generations survive and cure many ailments. Many of these herbs which have curative properties were gradually lost due to the propensity and ease of taking antibiotics and other medicine in its modern form, i. e., in the form of capsules. Aside from curative and health-giving services, herbs are also useful in natural farming. Natural farming is a good way to prevent the many side effects associated with agricultural chemicals sold in the market. This author earlier posted an article about the efficacy of five roots namely ginger, onion, garlic, ginseng and tongkat ali (see Five Sexually Energizing Plant Roots). These roots are not only helpful to sexual health but also could serve other purposes. In this instance, a concoction of ginger or garlic can be prepared to serve as pesticide useful in gardening and agriculture in general. Aside from these roots' insecticidal property, ginger or garlic can also help boost the immune system of plants and domesticated animals. How To Prepare The Natural Pesticide

Oriental herbal nutrient (OHN) is the term given to the pesticide preparation. Details on how to prepare the natural pesticide is given below: Materials

5 kilos of ginger or garlic clay jar beer crude sugar gin hot chili (preferably, the small, chili pepper)

Procedure 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Chop five kilos of ginger or garlic. Put the chopped roots into a clay jar. Add beer up to a level of about a third of the jar. After 12 hours, add one kilo of crude sugar. Let stay for four to five days to allow the mixture to ferment. Add gin up to the neck of the jar. After 10 days, extract the same amount of liquid for use as the gin that was added.

7. 8.

Replenish the lost gin by adding gin again up to the neck of the clay jar each time. To maintain potency, crushed small, chili pepper and neem tree fruits may be added after the 4th and 5th extraction.

How To Use

1. 2.

Mix two tablespoons of the mixture to one liter of water. You may add the liquid to the indigenous microorganism concoction (see How To Make a Concoction of Indigenous Microorganisms) and fermented juice mixture.

3.

Spray the resulting mixture on plant leaves and the soil every week.

Gardening or engaging in agriculture using natural pesticides will be sustainable and environment-friendly in the long run. Certain toxins found in commercial pesticides will also be avoided and their ill-effects prevented. Harmful ingredients in conventional pesticides have the tendency to bioaccumulate in the human body and biomagnify in the food chain which could cause a lot of different illnesses and even death. Knowledge about these things can help people survive and counter pollution confronting the modern world. Reference

Lim, A. K., 2005. Handout on natural farming system and technology seminar. Davao: Tribal Mission Foundation International, Inc.