DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines--Negros Oriental Gov. Emilio Macias II has identified organic farming as one of the province’s key programs for 2009.

During his yearend press conference, Macias said the provincial government allocated P3 million for the organic farming program, specifically to fund the production of organic fertilizer.

The amount would be used to buy earthworms called the African night crawler and for the training of farmers, he said Monday.

Earlier, Negros Oriental provincial agriculturist Gregorio Paltinca explained that these earthworms would be fed with leftover or discarded materials, such as vegetables and fruits and their manure would be used as fertilizer.

Macias said the provincial government had adopted the natural method of farming using organic fertilizer, indigenous microorganism and the naturally fermented solutions through the Negros Oriental Go Organic-Nutrients of Worms (NEGORGANIC-NOW).

He added that farmers from at least 135 barangay (villages) all over the province were trained on vermi composting.

Aside from being friendly to the environment and health, organic farming would help rehabilitate and restore the fertility of the soil, Macias said.