ONLY nine percent of the total agricultural area in Northern Mindanao is allocated to organic agriculture, an official of the Department of Agriculture in Northern Mindanao said.
Samuel Natindim Jr., organic agriculture focal person, said only 3,248.02 hectares of land area is devoted to organic farming, out of the 37,345.05 hectares total land area, which the agency wants to go organic.
"Dili pa gyud ingana kakusog ang organic practice dinhi sa atong rehiyon pero (Organic practice is not yet prevalent in the region but) we are trying to spread the word that going organic has its benefits that can makes our lives better," Natindim said.
Natindim said among the benefits, is its effect to a person’s health since an organic product is equivalent to healthier and safer food which means less diseases for consumers.
Aside from its health benefits, Natindim said practicing organic farming helps reduce global warming.
"Organic farming is also equal to green farming, ang mga pesticides, mga aerosols, we all know this can contribute to depletion of the environment, including soil erosion, these are factors nga maka-contribute sa climate change, with organic farming, friendly siya sa environment and mas healthy for us consumers," he said.
To go organic, farmers can start by changing their commercial fertilizers to natural through the simple use of weeds.
"It’s up to the farmers really to convert their farm to organic, they can start of course from changing their fertilizers to organic, like kining mga sagbot sa palibot, mga dried leaves, manure, pwede nila mahimo kining fertilizers instead of using the commercial ones nga makadaot sa environment (like the weeds in the surroundings, dried leaves, manure, they can use these as fertilizers instead of using the commercial ones, which is harmful to the environment)," he said.
Natindim said, farmers can approach the department’s technician, specially trained for organic agriculture, for additional information.
For Kaloy Torres, a farmer in Opol, Misamis Oriental, organic farming produces much lower yields which in turn decreases the availability and increases the price of the products.
"Medyo gyud mo-mahal ang prices compared sa non-organic kay dili man kaayo siya ingon ana ka grower, hinay siya so wala gyud mi mahimo kay ang mas prefer man sa tao syempre ang mas barato (It’s [the products] a little bit expensive compared to non-organic because it yields slow, we can’t do anything about it, since people prefer the cheap ones)," he said.
In the region, most of the local government units (LGUs) in the five provinces has its full support to organic agriculture programs, but the problem, Natindim said is that it is never the first priority for the LGUs.
According to DA, about 68 LGUs in Northern Mindanao has organic agriculture programs, with 16 municipalities in Bukidnon, 3 municipalities in Camiguin, 14 in Lanao Norte, 11 municipalities in Misamis Occidental, and 24 in Misamis Oriental.
There are also about 2,684 recorded organic farmers producers in the region, 69 organic input manufacturer/organic food and non-food producers and 22 retail stores, supermarkets, restaurants that serve organic food products.