Biol workshop

Biol is an aneaerobically produced, organic fertilizer that can be applied to the soil or to foliage. I had some experience making it in Ecuador and teaching fellow volunteers how to make it.

In fact, one of my friends helped his community create a factory to produce up to 300,000 liters per year.

I was telling Marcio about it during lunch, and he asked me to write down the instructions for how to prepare it. He said he was going to make a trial batch the next week.

As we were finishing lunch and cleaning up the dishes, Marcio's neighbor came over and explained that some extensionists from the government's agriculture assistance would be arriving in the next hour to make biofertilizers.

I looked at Marcio, and we started laughing. He claims to have had no idea about the workshop. And I actually believe him.

This was a great opportunity to take advantage of Marcio's enthusiasm for this new idea.

Two weeks without a blog post and the first picture you get is a barrel of cow manure.

Marcio said he was going to use the workshop as a test to see if I knew what I was talking about. The extensionists arrived and explained the uses, preparation, and application for biol.

Every time they confirmed something that I had said, Marcio would look over at me with a big grin on his face.

The list of ingredients that the extensionists used in their biol were a little different than the ones I had, but the principle was the same: Let manure ferment with sugar and milk for a month and half in an anaerobic environment.

Marcio said he was going to try with my recipe and compare the results. If he achieved good results, he planned on exploring the possibility of selling the biofertilizer commercially.

Anyone who has worked with biofertilizers has many hilarious stories about mishaps. I have my own fair share, and I have heard some classics from other PCVs. Peace Corps fertilizer stories would make a great book.