By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff Reporter
LAOAG CITY—Members of the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) in this province is moving to institutionalize
the practice of organic agriculture in the province to ensure healthy foods and
cope with the international organic agriculture movement.
A draft provincial ordinance
no. 2014-06-025 was passed for second reading at the SP session hall to
encourage all farmers in the province to adopt a sustainable habit of organic
farming which will eventually pay off in the long run.
This is also in support of
Republic Act 10068 or the so-called Organic Agriculture Act 2010, which aims
to “cumulatively condition and enrich the fertility of the soil, increase
farm productivity, reduce pollution and destruction of the environment, prevent
the depletion of natural resources, further protect the health of farmers,
consumers, and the general public, and save on imported farm inputs.”
Provincial agriculturist
Norma Lagmay, who was invited as resource speaker during the deliberation of
the passage of organic agriculture ordinance said the institutionalization of
organic farming in the entire province of Ilocos Norte is in support of the
Department of Agriculture’s promotion of organic farming as a way helping
farmers reduce cost of farming inputs and at the same time protect the environment
and welfare of the public through the consumption of chemical-free agricultural
products.
With the vast potential of
organically-grown commodities in the world estimated to be a $70-billion
industry, Lagmay said it is high time that the government intensify its efforts
enable farmers to shift to organic agriculture, which President Aquino
described as “a solution to alleviate poverty, mitigate hunger and address the
growing food requirements of a ballooning population.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Lagmay has
also cited a World Health Organization survey that Filipinos are one of those
who have the shortest life span in the world due to wide use of chemical
fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides in growing plants and animals, posing
health hazards to people who regularly eat meat, poultry and fish from animal
and aquaculture farms using synthetic substance.
To do away with chemical
farming, Ms. Lagmay said an ordinance meant to institutionalize the adoption of
organic farming here and providing funds for the implementation of such
ordinance will ensure sustainable agriculture development in Ilocos Norte.
Under the proposed ordinance
jointly sponsored by Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Eugenio Angelo M. Barba, SP member
Albert Chua and the Committee on Agriculture, all farmers in the province shall
be retrained to become updated about the latest technologies on organic farming
and to set up demonstration farms on organic farming.
Also, an initial budget of at
least P500,000 shall be allotted by the provincial government to jumpstart the
program with a financial counterpart from the DA.
Said resolution however was
deferred later to finalize the salient features of the said ordinance.
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