Organic fertilizers: an alternative for small farmers in the province of Guavio Cundinamarca

Abstract

In the province of Guavio, department of Cundinamarca, the economy is based on agricultural activities, which leads to protect and harvest the different products; So farmers use a lot of agrochemicals, these present risks to health and the environment. Objective: Sensitize small farmers in alternatives to the use of organic and natural fertilizers to improve the quality of life, good agricultural practices and the use of individual protection elements. Methodology: descriptive and exploratory study with a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative variables with a sample of 64 crops of different agricultural products. Results: farmers with 52.9% implement fertilizers of a mixed nature (organic and chemical) in the crops. Expectations regarding the role of organic fertilizer is of 55.9% state that due to climate change, pests and diseases in crops do not obtain optimal results only with organic fertilizer for this reason it is agreed to use chemicals. Conclusions: The pedagogical strategy used to raise awareness about the adverse effects of agrochemicals was based on examples and real-life cases. Farmers prefer the use of chemical fungicides in large crops because they obtain better results.