THE Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), is stepping up its efforts to scale up organic agriculture in Negros Occidental.
Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino, on the sidelines of Organic Agriculture Symposium at the Provincial Capitol's Social Hall in Bacolod City on Friday, said there is a need for an aggressive campaign to boost organic agriculture production.
Masculino said farmers who would like to shift from conventional to organic farming should be given assistance, not only technical support but also inputs like fertilizer.
"Organic fertilizer is the most limiting factor," he said, adding that "so farmers must be given assistance even at least as a startup input."
The one-day symposium was initiated by the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental and Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Foundation Inc. (Nisard).
It was attended by at least 100 organic farming practitioners and representatives of local government units (LGUs) and other organizations in the province.
The province tapped the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (Ifoam), which has been helping local organic farmers to scale up.
Ifoam former president Andre Leu, who is now the director of Regeneration International, underscored the potential organic market for Negros Island producers.
He also talked on how organic agriculture can feed the world to further highlight the importance of organic farming and its huge market potential.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, in his speech, said developing agriculture and uplifting the lives of farmers are among the main and important thrusts of his administration.
"We need to be reminded that agriculture is the foundation of our food security, the foundation of our survival," he said.
Lacson stressed that it must be the province's primary goal to enhance the market potential of organic products.
"Further, we must also strengthen our crop insurance and protection measures to reduce crop losses," he added.
The governor cited that in Negros Occidental, an organic fair is held annually to highlight the farmer-practitioners and advance public awareness.
This is on top of various symposia, seminars and food exhibits as well as linkages established by Nisard with national and international agriculture advocates and practitioners.
"Think of agriculture as more than just a farmer planting a crop or raising livestock --- agriculture is our tool for lifting people out of poverty, our tool for food security and sufficiency, and most importantly, our tool for survival," he noted.
OPA records showed that there are at least 17,000 organic farming practitioners in the province with about 16,000-hectare farms of various organic crops.
Masculino said given that the province has vast agricultural areas, these organic farming communities are not that much visible yet.
"The growth in terms of expanding our organic agriculture is not that fast thus, there's really a need to scale up local farmers," Masculino said.
Scaling up farmers also mean providing them of technical assistance including knowledge and training, as well as other support like making the certification affordable, he added.*