DA to allocate P900 M for organic farming

BACOLOD City, Philippines  – The Department of Agriculture (DA) will allocate P900 million to promote the sustainable organic agriculture program next year, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said. 

In a message read by Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat on his behalf at the opening of the 5th Negros Organic Farmers’ Festival at the provincial capitol last Thursday, Alcala said the fund – the biggest the department has set so far for this purpose – is part of the National Organic Program under Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act.

Alcala, principal author of RA 10068 when he was a congressman, said the organic agriculture industry is expected to flourish because of the growing demand of consumers for safe and nutritious food.

Alcala said the advocacy on organic agriculture becomes stronger, wider, and faster as the law supports it.

Last month, Alcala signed the implementing rules and regulations of RA 10068 that paved the way for “institutionalized funding” for organic agriculture.

The new law will also involve an intensified campaign to educate both farmers and consumers on the benefits of organic farming and its products, secure more fund sources to support the expansion of organic farms, and hasten the delivery of appropriate assistance to stakeholders, Alcala said.

In the Philippines, an estimated 0.12 percent of agricultural lands are devoted to organic farming. For example, if the country has 13 million hectares of farmlands, 1.56 hectares is being used for organic farming, mostly for organic rice, Alcala said.

In 2000, the country’s organic agriculture industry had an output of about P250 million: P100 million in domestic production and P150 million in imports, he said.

The DA assured Negrenses that it would continue to push for the entry of organic muscovado sugar in the international market, as it believes in its export potential, Alcala said.

Alcala said they expect Negros Island, composed of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, to “solidify its niche as the country’s leading producer of organic farm products” and as “Asia’s emerging organic bowl.”   

“And this is one opportunity that we want Filipino producers, processors, and exporters to take advantage of,” he said