1. Rice hull ash protects mungbeans from bean weevil.
Burnt rice hull (ipa) contains silica crystals that are
microscopic glass shards capable of penetrating into the conjunctiva of the
bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus. Once lodged, the crystal causes more damage
as the insect moves and struggles, resulting in infection and desiccation, and
ultimately death.
This is the
finding of Ethel NiƱa Catahan in her masteral thesis in biology at the University of Santo Tomas . Catahan tested two types of
rice hull ash, One is partly carbonized
(black ash) and the other oven-burned (white ash). Both were applied independently in very small
amount as either mixed with the beans or as protectant placed at the mouth of
the container. In both preparations and methods, mungbeans – and other beans
and cereals, for that matter – can be stored for as long as six months without
being destroyed by this Coleopterous insect.
2. Bagging is effective way to control fruit flies.
Mango fruit flies
(Dacus dorsalis) and ampalaya fruit flies (Dacus cucurbitae) are a scourge on the
farm, and these insects are cosmopolitan – they attack oranges, apples,
jackfruit, cucumber, upo (Lagenaria
leucantha), patola (Luffa acutangula,
L. cylindrical), watermelon, melon, and a host of other crops in the tropic
and temperate regions.
Fruit flies are
different from the popular “fruit flies” – the Drosophila flies hovering around over ripe fruits and vinegar
fermentation. Nonetheless they both
belong to Order Diptera. The female
fruit fly lays eggs with a sharp ovipositor into the fruits usually at their
early and juvenile stages. Soon the eggs
will hatch into maggots that tunnel and ruin the developing fruits. So massive can infestation become, that whole
farms and orchards are deprived of harvest during the fruiting the season – and
even in the next.
To save the
crops, farmers use the most powerful chemical pesticides - the chlorinated
hydrocarbons and phosphatic compounds, many of them are classified systemic. It means that the chemical is absorbed by the
plant and is carried into its system, rendering its sap in all parts – root,
stem, leaves and fruits - poisonous to any insect, biting and sucking - and
particularly those ensconced in the plant itself. It is like introducing drugs
into our blood which distributes them to all parts of our body. The big difference though is that systemic
poisons in plants stay for a long time, protecting the fruits even after it is
mature and ready to harvest. Thus the
residue of the poison is passed on to humans and animals that eat them.
Continuous use of
strong poison particularly on tough insects like the fruit flies, favors
mutation, that is the development of resistant strains. To overcome this, stronger dosage and more
potent brands are resorted to, and the battle rages on. To date, fruits flies,
and many insect pests for that matter, have acquired resistance to many
commercial pesticides. And it is our health and that of the environment that
are at risk, while the pesticide industry is a happy lot.
This is where
folk wisdom comes in. Traditional farmers use old newspapers and notebooks to
wrap developing fruits before they are attacked by fruit flies. Plastic is
discouraged because it is hot under the sun and trapped moisture favors fungal
and bacterial infection. All you need is to lower the trellis, or avail of a
ladder for fruit trees, and patiently wrap the fruits individually. Premium mango fruits are produced this way –
they are not only free from fruit flies; they are unblemished and bright
yellow. Ampalaya fruits are straight and
full and less bitter, their color pale green which is preferred by many
housewives. Patola are likewise protected by wrapping. So with upo. Watermelon is difficult to wrap
so that farmers resort to covering the growing fruit with rice hay (dayami), often digging a hole under the
fruit to keep it cool under the summer sun. Combat fruits flies as your mango
tree blooms and your cucurbits flower simply with old newspaper and a stapler
at hand, and you will save lives and help the environment her Nature restore
its balance.
3. Incense rids chicken of lice. It also calms them down.
I learned this
practice from my father when I was a farmhand. We raised native chickens on the
range. In the evening, we would
occasionally smoke the fouls in their roasts under the house. “That would rid
them of lice (gayamo’ Ilk),” my
father assured me. “And pick a cull for tomorrow’s dinner,” he would add.
I would sprinkle
powdered incense into live charcoal and you could see the column of smoke
rising and filling the roasting area.
You could hear the fowls cockle feebly, slowly loosen their feathers and
pry their wings as if to allow the cloud of smoke to bathe them. Soon they are
lulled to sleep or go into a kind of trance; you could pick them up without any
sign of resistance. Without this calming power of incense, the slightest move
you make on a roasting chicken would send it squawking in the night.
This fumigation
technique was reportedly used in Europe during
the Middle Ages to ward off the carrier of bubonic plague (black death), the
flea Psynopsella cheopis that resides
in mice and people’s dwellings. Incense candle are still used in temples and
churches today.
But does incense
also have the same calming effect on humans? Imagine the faithful in deep
prayer as the priest trains the ciborium (incense vessel) on them. My theory is
that incense smoke, or any smoke for that matter, slows down breathing, and
some people find breathing difficult. Smoke also carries carbon dioxide and
burning itself consumes oxygen in the immediate surroundings for which
prolonged exposure is inadvisable.
Try incense
fumigation in areas where vermin is prevalent like storage room and rest room,
and try it too, in poultry house just what I did many years ago.
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