Flowering Fertilizer | All Natural Fertilizer

Guano, from the Qecha Peruvian word “wanu”, has a long history as a high-performance organic fertiliser

When you see the effect it has on your plants you will know why wars have been fought and fortunes made and lost because of guano

Bat guano is a particularly powerful fertiliser as it is generally deposited in caves and is not leached by rain.

It consists of the remains of insects and other bat food sources and the remains of the bats themselves. It decomposes rapidly and builds up in a slightly acidic layer on the cave floor.

Our Guano

Guano lost popularity as a fertilizer with the advent of cheap chemical fertilizers in the last century but it is regaining status as the environmental damage caused by chemicals becomes increasingly evident.

Our guano is completely environmentally friendly, significantly improves any soil to which it is added and increases the flavour and quality of produce as well as increasing disease resistance. High-phosphate guano is particularly prized as a flowering fertilizer, greatly improving flower and fruit set and final yield.

Our guano is specially selected and is among the richest in the world. It is very high in calcium and phosphorous and has significant amounts of nitrogen and potassium as well as a broad range of other essential nutrients.

Madagascar and its bats

The island country of Madagascar (or Republique de Madagascar) is situated approximately 400 kms of the east coast of Africa and at 592 800 square kilometeres, it is the world’s second-largest island country and fourth largest island. Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. It is a biodiversity hotspot and over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on earth.

Along with lemurs, Madagascar’s bats are one of its major mammal species and they are found throughout the varied topography of the island. New species continue to be discovered and at last count there were an astonishing 46 different species of bat on the island, although it is suspected that the true number is significantly higher.

Most bats have their origins in mainland Africa but 3 species have colonised Madagascar from Asia. Although similar to their mainland cousins, 36 of the 46 species are endemic. The Madagascan Flying Fox is among the largest bats in the world. Simply put, there are a LOT of bats in Madagascar.

Environmental Sustainability And Community Development

Our partners have access to a large number of guano deposits across Madagascar

Before any deposit is harvested all surrounding local communities who may have an interest in the site are consulted and members of the community are employed in the labour-intensive harvesting process. Only hand-tools and no heavy or motorised machinery are used and harvesting is done only at night when the bats have left the cave.

The communities are paid royalties

Both in money and in a portion of the guano harvested enabling them to greatly improve their own farming practices

One such community has recently been organically certified to export its produce to the European Union. In 2017 our Madagascan partners held a competition among a local community. The rules were very simple, every farmer was given 500kg of guano to use as they saw best. The winner harvested a record 10 tons of rice from 1 hectare of paddies. The average is 2 tons. (Rice is the staple diet of Madagascar.)

As this process continues and communities start to realise the financial advantage of the guano and the local bat populations, they actively protect their bats.