BAGUIO CITY – In its effort to encourage farmers to undergo the process of the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) or a locally focused quality assurance system that intensifies Organic Agriculture (OA) certification for the integrity of the OA produce, eight farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) with six coming from the province of Benguet, one in Mountain Province, and one from Ifugao attended the first PGS summit held at the Department of Agriculture Cordillera (DA-CAR) last November 22, 2023.
In her message, DA-CAR OIC-Regional Executive Director Atty. Jennilyn Dawayan reiterated to the participants to continue to encourage other farmers to join Participatory Guarantee System-related activities with Good Agriculture Practices being part of this endeavor with the number of farmers in the region transforming to GAP increasing.
“One entry point that I am looking at is advocating certified products, maybe we might have a window for PGS, organic, and PGS certified because PGS is a second-party organic certification anyway,” Dawayan said.
PGS is the mechanism by which small farmers/fisherfolk and their farms/associations shall be certified as engaged in organic agriculture and are producers of organic agriculture products.
The function of PGS is to certify producers based on the active participation of stakeholders and is built on a foundation of trust, social networks, and knowledge exchange.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10068 as amended by Republic Act No. 11511, otherwise known as “Amendment to Organic Agriculture Act” was passed in 2010, referred to as the “IRR of Organic Agriculture Act as amending RA No. 11511”.
Under RA.11511, it will be the policy of the State to promote, propagate, develop further, and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the Philippines that will cumulatively condition and enrich the fertility of the soil, increase farm productivity and farmers’ incomes, reduce pollution and destruction of the environment, prevent the depletion of natural resources, encourage the participation of indigenous organic farmers in promoting their sustainable practices, further protect the health of farmers, consumers, and the general public, save on imported farm inputs and promote food self-sufficiency.
A comprehensive program for the promotion of community-based organic agriculture systems which include, among others, farmer-produced organic soil amendments, bio-control agents, and other farm inputs, together with a nationwide educational and promotional campaign for their use and processing shall be established.
Likewise, a nationwide educational and awareness campaign among consumers on the benefits of consuming organic products to boost local production of organic food and non-food products, as well as the adoption of an organic agricultural system as a viable alternative shall be undertaken.
Dawayan also asked the participants to formulate and identify their short-medium and long-term dreams that will serve as the baseline for identifying institutional partners that would be the buyers of their produce. The thirty-five (35) Organic Agriculture farmer participants coming from Benguet were reminded to look at the volume of PGS-guaranteed organic products being produced.
“Identify your possible expansion, what are the climate resilient technologies, and what are your dreams in your respective organizations. Our Secretary is a businessman meaning he is into an industry in a business manner, and he has said that it all boils down to production. Please continue to be the news bearers of the programs and projects of DA-CAR including the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), and the Farmers and Fisherfolk Enterprise Development Information System,” Dawayan added. By JTLanes