Organic farming promotion efforts targeting One Asean markets

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Central Luzon has been asked to patronize organic food, both to sustain organic farming, which the government is trying to promote, and to make farmers competitive once economic integration opens up food trade in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

During the 2nd Regional Organic Agriculture Congress and Trade Fair, the Department of Agriculture in Central Luzon announced that it had allocated P30 million this year to improve organic farms. The said events were designed to introduce organic products to a larger consumer market.

Andrew Villacorta, DA Central Luzon director, said organic products had higher potential of being sold in the global market, particularly when the Asean integration takes effect on Dec. 31 this year.

“We are preparing for the potential 600 million consumers in Southeast Asia as part of the integration and we want our farmers to be competitive,” Villacorta said.

Based on records compiled by the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP), the country has 107,911 organic production areas with 43,470 farmers.

The opening of the markets in the Philippines to its Asean neighbors should not be considered a threat to local farmers, said Carolyn Castro, chief of DA’s market development division.

She said sectors were worried about cheap imported goods flooding the local market when the tariffs on these products were lifted. But tariff liberalization in the country is being enforced gradually to protect local food producers, she said.

“The removal of significant tariffs started in the 1990s. In 2010, majority of the tariffs were removed except for rice and some products,” she said.

To compete with imported food, local organic food producers must seek ways to become efficient to reduce prices, Villacorta said. “As of now organic products are costly. For them to be competitive we should at least bring their prices closer to those of conventional products,” he said.

He also said the organic agriculture sector needed to invest in research and technology development.

The DA allocated P300 million to strengthen the food producing sector against the impact of extreme weather, he said.

“We have small water impounding facilities, which are used during flash floods, as well as drought and flood-resistant rice varieties, which are now accessible to farmers,” he said.