Organic Agriculture and Certification now pushed

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

Two years after Executive Order 481 was signed and declared that it is a national policy to promote organic agriculture nationwide, the Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of   Soils and Water Management (BSWM), now appears to be all out in the promotion of organic agriculture.  At the same time, the Organic Alliance of the Philippines has started to train trainers on organic agriculture and certification.

In his speech during a training at UP Los Banos, BSWM director Silvino Tejada said this sudden shift in agricultural production policy was caused by a number of factors.  First, the Green Revolution in the mid-sixties failed to sustain production targets to cope with the rapidly burgeoning population.  Secondly, the rising costs of agricultural inputs, primarily inorganic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, exact a heavy burden on our farmers.

He added that for sustainable agricultural development to proceed, the importance of soil ecology must be recognized and production systems must be harmonized with sound environmental principles.  Likewise, local resources must be harnessed to save on foreign exchange and “return back to the soil what we got in the first place”.

Furthermore, “we contribute to decreased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere” to help “prevent global warming and climate change” by converting rice straw and other agricultural wastes into compost instead of burning them.

Dr. Tejada said, however, that a major bottleneck in organic agriculture is the lack of sufficient farmer knowledge on the hazards of agricultural chemicals on the environment as well as on the farmers.  “We count on the support of the private sector to propagate and disseminate the principles of organic agriculture to our farmers,” he said.

He added that there is a need to look back at farming wisdoms that are slowly lost by modern farming methods, and “invigorate them with scientific practices”.  For instance, composting practices can now be hastened by using decomposition enhancers “like Biosec” or new modalities such as vermiculture.

Dr. Tejada added farmers must be encouraged to go through organic certification to be globally competitive.  In other words, their products must be certified to be organically produced to enjoy higher prices in the global market.  For one thing, the prices of organically produced products are 20 to 50 percent higher than non-organically produced products. 

Secondly, the market for organically produced products consists of the health-conscious, the affluent, and those with a strong concern for the environment.  The local market may be limited but the global market is enormous. Dr. Tejada said organically produced products from the Philippines could be globally competitive with those from China, Korea, and India, which are the world’s top producers.

However, it would be difficult to attain global competitiveness if some producers of organic fertilizers mix inorganic fertilizers with their organic materials.  A system of “policing” the producers of organic fertilizers must be put in place so that the bright prospects would not be derailed.

By the way, let me emphasize again that there is no such thing as organic rice, organic corn, organic fruits, organic sugar, etc.  Principles in chemistry are being violated by these terms. For those who are already in the market and are using such labels, they may as well label their products as organically produced rice or something to be honest and appear knowledgeable.

(Readers may reach columnist at spablico@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/harvest-time/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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