CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines?Water lilies that have rotted for centuries in the Liguasan Marsh, graveyard for combatants in an unending rebellion for self-rule by Moros, are offering farmers a glimmer of hope in their search for an end to their dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The mound of dark earth holds what could become the farmers? alternative to the costly farm inputs that often leave them heavily indebted?water lilies that for centuries played the role of natural sponge for minerals and nutrients from rivers that drain into the Liguasan Marsh.

At least 300 rice and corn farmers from the towns of Midsayap and Pigcawayan in North Cotabato are now using decomposed water lilies to fertilize their farms. The results, according to Jerry dela Calsada, a farmer from Barangay Manuangan in Pigcawayan town, are encouraging.

Dela Calsada?s four-hectare farm is now reliant on water lily-based fertilizer. The fertilizer was introduced to him in June.

The fertilizer is simple. It is a mix of decomposed water lilies?composed of 65 percent of the mixture?guano, phosphoric rock, and enzymes [from fruits, vegetables, and sugar].

Engineer Remegio Matalubos, an official of the Grassroot Integrated Development Initiatives (Gidi), a group that introduced the use of the fertilizer, said the mixture?s life-giving elements set it apart from the synthetic chemicals that are hazardous to human health and the environment.

?This is a complete fertilizer that does not only expel unfriendly pests but also promotes microbial activities while enhancing or [eventually] reviving soil fertility,? Matalubos said.

The fertilizer is labeled Gidi Natural Organic Fertilizer and marketed by Gidi Natures Organic Products.

Since the group has fully developed the technology in 2000, after seeing the effects of El Niño on farmers in Central Mindanao, at least 600 hectares of formerly chemical-laden rice farms have already been converted to organic farms, with the water lily-fertilizer as the stimulator for yields that would put to shame those generated with the use of chemicals.

Matalubos said the organic fertilizer is also being used to fertilize rubber, corn, sugarcane, bananas, and vegetables.

For Dela Calsada, the shift was a swing so sudden and so complete, perhaps borne out of frustration over the uncontrollable increase in costs of commercial farm inputs that, according to him, do not only impoverish farmers but also permanently injure the soil.

It was the time when many farmers and farm groups in North Cotabato were going gaga over environment-friendly, health-oriented agricultural practices and when a bag of urea costs P2,000.

?I was impulsive when I made that decision. I felt that something must be done and since we are not the ones controlling the prices of these modern agricultural inputs, we might as well find alternatives. Lucky for me, for us, that the best option to these chemicals can be found close to us, right in the Liguasan,? Dela Calsada said.

Each hectare of Dela Calsada?s farm produces 90 sacks of rice, averaging 74 kilograms per sack. When he was still using chemicals, each hectare only produced about 80 sacks.

?My experience is enough testament that sudden shift is not harmful. There is no truth to what is popularly believed that the changing practices will make farmers suffer on the first harvest. In my case, good harvest came immediately ? as immediate as my decision to shift,? he said.

Before this, Dela Calsada would spend around P20,000 worth of chemicals and fertilizers per hectare [including payment for labor] but now, this huge investment was cut to half with a bag of the water lily-based fertilizer only amounting to P250. For every hectare, a farmer would only need about 20 bags of the dark earth.

Also a rice trader and someone who finances the farm operations of other farmers, Dela Calsada has under his care about six more hectares of rice farm?all of which are now using the water lily-based fertilizer.

Fely Collado, also a farmer-financier from the town of Midsayap, said one incentive for farmers is financing from Gidi.

?If they continue using chemicals that are too costly and refuse to shift, we no longer give them the financing that they ask for. They have to adapt to this or get nothing from us,? Collado said.

While the use of the organic fertilizer has resulted in good yields, hundreds of residents of Liguasan Marsh are also benefiting from it. Directly involved in the production of the organic fertilizer are about 500 Moro inhabitants of the marsh. These are the same people in the path of the rebellion.

Datu Khadafy Delangalen Blao said the production of the fertilizer involves residents of the villages of Tugal, Nabalawag, Kadingilan, Katimpilan, Sambulawan, Damatulan, Lumubog and Madsing, all in Midsayap town.

Saida Indayla, a resident of Katimpilan, said fertilizer production helps the family with its daily needs. Gidi pays P10 in royalty for every sack of water lily to families who own the land and pay P10-P13 per sack for haulers and P3-P5 per sack for sackers.

?I was able to buy a carabao and a motorcycle from this,? said Nasser Ismael, 25, a resident of Nabalawag. Jeffrey M. Tupas, Inquirer Mindanao