The Aloe Vera plant has been around for thousands of years. It is known to have medicinal value and is widely used as a main component in pharmaceuticals and in cosmetics. The Aloe Vera plant consists of 275 species and it is divided into two families:
* Cactus- which is regarded as false aloe, has 32% -38% medicinal potency
* Liliaceae- which is regarded as the true aloe, has a 100% medicinal value and it has 200 bio-active nutrients.
You might ask, “What is the role of Aloe Vera in organic farming?”
In the Philippines, hundreds of rice farmers now use a multi-purpose detergent, which has Aloe Vera as its main ingredient, in spraying their rice fields instead of using harmful pesticides, with amazing results.
• It is biodegradable and environment friendly
• Loaded with bio-active nutrients which enhance soil health
• Non-health hazard to farmers
• Proven improved harvest yield
• Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers by 50%
• Reduces soil acidity
It is found to be effective against rice pests such as the brown plant hopper, stem borer, green leaf hopper, rice bug and defoliators such as army worms and rice leaf folders because of the presence of Thiamine, which acts as insect repellant. This disinfestant/disinfectant action works in three ways:
• Systemic action--because of the lignin, which is a deep-penetrating agent, surfactants and solubilizers
• Contact action--because of the thiamine, surfactants and solubilizers
• Stomach action--because of the surfactants and solubilizers
Method of application:
Time is a major factor in the method of applying the detergent in the rice field. The ideal time to spray is at 4pm or when the sun is low on the horizon and the temperature cools down. Many farmers who did their spraying in the morning soon found out to their horror that the sun’s rays burned the detergent-drenched stalks which turned yellowish in color. Consequently, their harvest yielded a low average per hectare. In addition to that, farmers soon learned and refrained from spraying the detergent during the flowering stage because the spikelets tend to fall away from the panicles.
Economical:
One to two bottles(at 1.89 li/bottle)of multi-purpose detergent per hectare is good news to rice farmers because they don't have to buy costly pesticides and fungicides anymore. All it takes is one cap-full of detergent per 16 liters of water inside a back-pack type sprayer which is commonly used by farmers throughout the Philippines.
A farmer friend of mine whose PSB Rc82 variety previously yielded only 80 cavans per hectare became a convert when her rice harvest improved to 148 cavans per hectare after she used the multi-purpose detergent.
The presence of minerals in the detergent such as potassium, magnesium, iron, sodium, carbon, zinc, manganese, copper and chromium makes it a good substitute for liquid fertilizers.
Furthermore, it has anthraquinones, monosaccaharides, polysaccharides and enzymes that make it a good resistance builder and highly effective in combating rice diseases such as tungro, rice blast, stem rot, downy mildew, leaf spot, and dieback.
This multi-purpose detergent, which is made in the USA, is marketed in the Philippines as , you guessed it, a multi-purpose detergent.
Ultimately, it is the farmer, being the end user, who has the final say on whether or not what he sprays on his rice farm is beneficial to him and his environment.
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