ORGANIC VEGGIES. Produce of organic agriculture farmers are on display at Casa Real de Iloilo on Tuesday (Sept. 17, 2019). The National Organic Agriculture Program of the Department of Agriculture cited Western Visayas as the top region for organic agriculture, with 28.9 hectares of organic area in the first semester of 2019. (PNA photo by Gail Momblan)
ILOILO CITY -- The National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has cited Western Visayas (Region 6) for being on top, almost reaching the target on organic agriculture area this year.
“We are proud of Region 6 because they have reached the 90 percent of their target. We set target each year, target areas that we would like to convert into organic (areas). They are the top one among all the other regions,” said Julian Nicole Garcia, project assistant 3 of the DA national office, in an interview on Tuesday.
Out of the 460,456 hectares dedicated to agriculture in Western Visayas, the region targets to convert a total of 32,231 hectares for organic agriculture.
For the first quarter of 2019, the DA Field Office 6 reported 28,976 hectares of organic area or equivalent to 89.9 percent of the target, she said.
Garcia said the organic plantations are distributed in the region.
The NOAP provides regions with support to farm production inputs like seeds and fertilizers; machinery and equipment; production facilities; and irrigation network services.
“The regional office is also given funds in order to conduct training that would capacitate farmers and stakeholders,” she said. Garcia also assured that organic farmers were also assisted in marketing their produce.
On Tuesday, the DA Field Office 6 conducted the Regional Organic Agriculture Congress at Casa Real de Iloilo. “This aims to promote organic industry here in the Philippines. There are some farmers and consumers that are not fully aware of this,” Garcia said.
Farmers in the region also exhibited their produce during the congress.
McAlter Lanzon, project assistant 4 of DA national office, has encouraged farmers to shift into the organic way of growing vegetables and other plants.
“Organic agriculture is a very important thing in terms of lifestyle and benefits since organic is healthy. Being fully fed by organic products is a highly essential nowadays since the length of our lifespan became shortened. (This is a) Big factor to increase the life of Filipino people,” Lanzon said. (PNA)
