Thursday, April 26, 2007 DA eyeing global organic food market
EYEING the global market for organic food products to raise revenues for farmers, the Department of Agriculture (DA) asked the country's chemists to come up with food production measures that conform to international standards.
"The demand for organic foods is fueled not so much by the expected low levels of chemicals in these products but by their association with environmentally friendly production," Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap said.
"The marketing of organic foods shows us that we can create high-value niche markets on the basis of safety and environmental considerations," Yap said.
Yap said for the country's agricultural exports to penetrate more markets across the globe, these items should conform with internationally accepted safety, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, as what the DA had done for Philippine mangoes in Hawaii and Guam.
He noted that the global market for organic foods alone is growing at a rate of eight percent annually, considering that organic products can be 30 percent more expensive than regular and processed food items.
Yap said the department's $4-billion revenue target from agricultural exports can be easily achieved or even surpassed if the country’s chemists can develop cost-effective technology controlling food quality and safety.
Of the Philippines' top agricultural exports, nine are food products. Coconut oil is the country's top farm export, with sales abroad reaching $886.33 million in 2006, followed by fresh bananas with exports totaling $409.72 million, and pineapples and related products at $231 million.
