Negros: United and organic

MANILA, Philippines –  There has been a rapid rise in popularity for organic farming in recent years, steadily transforming from a niche market to a mainstream agricultural system that is being practiced in almost every country in the world.

In the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is allocating P900 million this year for the promotion of organic agriculture, the biggest budget so far that it has made for such purpose, in accordance with the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010. Authored by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, it requires that two percent of the DA budget must be set aside for organic agriculture.

But long before organic became a trend in the country, Negros – with agriculture as the backbone of its economy – has already been adopting organic farming practices.

Negros is a trailblazer in organic farming in the Philippines and its program is being emulated by other provinces, lauded Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat.

Non-government organizations like Alter Trade Corporation and Broad Initiatives for Negros Development as well as the Buro-buro Vermi Farm in Talisay City were among the pioneers. Other local farmers turned to organic agriculture when the sugar industry of Negros was plunged into crisis in the 1980s. 

The picturesque Fresh Start Organics farm in Negros is a popular agri-tourism destination. Miss Earth beauties learn about organic farming.

While organic farming is also being widely practiced in the country’s mountain provinces and in the islands of Bohol and Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. believes that “our advantage really is how we have organized and consolidated our efforts.”

It was in 2005 when the consolidation of efforts started. During the term of then governor and now congressman George Arnaiz of Negros Oriental and the late Gov. Joseph Marañon of Negros Occidental, a memorandum of agreement was signed to forge a partnership between the twin provinces to harness the island’s potential in organic production, sustainable agriculture, bio-security, and rural development. The ultimate goal is to be the “Organic Food Basket of Asia.” 

The Negros Island and Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development Foundation, Inc. (NISARD) was established to promote and provide support for the implementation of sustainable agriculture and rural development in Negros. The early organic farming practitioners then banded together to form what is now called the Organic Producers and Retailers Association (ONOPRA), which secures and manages marketing outlets for small organic farmers such as the organic market and restaurant at the back of the provincial capitol in Bacolod City.

Marañon adds, “The beauty of this is that it helps small farmers, not the big farmers. This is because organic farming is really for the small farmers. It provides more employment because it is labor-intensive.”

NISARD chair Edgardo Uychiat agrees: “It’s been a good program for poverty alleviation at the same time differentiating the island from the rest of the country. It’s also one way of looking at Negros as one island and not separated by regions.”

NISARD, through its certification arm Negros Island Certification (NICERT), recently certified as organic the operations of over 20 companies, including smallholder groups, covering nearly 1,000 hectares and totaling over 600 farmers.

As of late 2010, 11 more companies and smallholder groups with a total farm size of 761 hectares have applied for certification.

NICERT is a localized yet competitive and independent third party guarantee system equivalent to national and international organic standards and tailored to fit the island’s unique conditions. Apart from the organic certification services, NICERT also does handling, retailing and production of processed products.

“The certification program is really in response to the growing needs of various organic producers in Negros seeking organic certification for both the local and international organic market. This is also to protect consumers against products making false claims that they are organic,” explains NISARD administrator Rommel Ledesma. “[Organic farmers] still make up a very small percentage in the whole agricultural landscape, but it’s growing.”

Another bold step that Negros has taken to reinforce its “go organic” campaign is the banning of genetically modified organisms (GMO), except for some items like medicine with GMOs. Man-made and patented, GMOs are organisms created in a laboratory through genetic engineering. However, there are scientific studies stating that GMOs pose risks to health, property and environment. 

Marañon says, “The provincial board has passed the resolution declaring the province as a GMO-free area. The resolution has been in place for four years now. [Its success] has been a matter of monitoring and political will, because how come in Japan, GMO is banned, and in Europe, it’s banned? So, why can’t we do it here?”

Such efforts also owe their success to support from the private sector and the farming innovations being devised by Negrense farmers to prove that organic farming is, indeed, doable and sustainable. 

If other destinations in the Philippines have pushed for adventure tourism or eco-tourism as a come-on to visitors, Negros also offers agri-tourism through select working farms, where tourists can enjoy a leisurely and educational taste of authentic farm life, natural rural beauty, plus farm-fresh bounty. In 2010, a reported 924 agri-tours and 1,875 direct bookings were made to agri-tourism destinations and various organic farms and parks in the province.

Noteworthy among these farms is the Peñalosa Farms, the island’s most visited agri-tourist destination in 2010, according to figures from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

The farms, run by the farmer-scientist Ramon Peñalosa Jr., are located in Manapla and Victorias.

Peñalosa’s farms showcase an integrated farming system that’s environment-friendly, doable and replicable, as well as productive and sustainable since farms are still a business.

Peñalosa says, “We have enough raw materials, researchers and research materials [to make this possible]. No Filipino should go hungry in his native land, there’s no unproductive soil but only a non-productive farmer, and there is money in the countryside.”

Another agri-tourism destination is Fresh Start Organics, which started as an organic fertilizer producer. It has since branched out into organic vegetables and fruits, organic cuisine, essential oils, soaps, lotions, shampoos, among many others, and takes pride in producing the most diverse range of organic products, says owner Ramon “Chin” Uy Jr.

Chin founded the Eco-Agri Foundation with his father, Ramon Uy Sr., current president of ONOPRA and owner of RU Foundry, an agri-support business. The foundation assists farmers in gaining access to seedlings, organic fertilizers and small farm equipment, links farmers to the market, government, funding institutions, and gives technical assistance in the implementation of organic practices.

Chin says, “We do not compete with each other because the market is so big. Before kanya-kanyang lakad. But the first organic festival was the start when we all banded together. That’s how serious Negros is about going organic. The impact is truly bigger if both private sector and government lobby together.”

This year, Negros will continue to intensify its campaign. Two years after NISARD introduced the Negros Island Rainforest Coffee, grown in the forest communities of Sag-ang, La Castellana, Yubo, La Carlota and Canlusong, the provincial government will be purchasing this year 1 million seedlings of Arabica from Bukidnon to be planted in the Mt. Kanlaon range and North Negros Forest Reserve to augment the current coffee production. Other plans this year include extension work for organic rice production.

NICERT is also currently seeking accreditation with the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Products Standards of the DA in compliance with the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, so it can have the license to certify farmers from other islands.

Says Marañon, “We are still in the learning process [on how to expand organic farming in the province]. But our target is that by 2016, 10 percent of agricultural products will be organic.”