Tuguegarao City – In support to Republic Act No. 10068, otherwise known as the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 and the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) 2012-2016, the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office No. 2 (DA-RFO2) conducted a three-day regional congress on organic agriculture here in the City from June 14 to 16, 2016 at the conference hall of its state-of-the-art Cagayan Valley Integrated Agriculture Laboratory – the very first integrated agricultural laboratory in the Philippines.

Said congress was conducted to provide a platform for sharing and learning about best practices in organic agriculture, including the technologies and marketing strategies.

Regional Executive Director Lucrecio R. Alviar, Jr., regional head of the DA-RFO2, said that organic agriculture is the key to address hunger and attain food security. “It is a mechanism to increase farm productivity while protecting the environment,” he quipped.

The congress was highlighted with an exhibit that showcased the various organic products of farmers in Region 2. Several best practices in organic farming were also shared, together with the investment opportunities for organically grown products, both in domestic and international markets.

RED Alviar said that the congress is significant for the region given the rising demand for organic products.

Learning more about new technologies and best practices in organic production would prepare the region in meeting the organic certification standards, which would broaden the region’s market edge and competitiveness, he added. His conviction holds true especially so that the Honorable DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala issued a moratorium prohibiting the use of the term “Organic” on product labels of farmers who were not able to secure a third party certification as of April 2016. They, however, will only be allowed to label their products with the term “chemical-free” or “naturally grown”.

Given the low adoption of organic farming despite the demonstrated benefits, RED Alviar challenged all the stakeholders in attendance to continue their information dissemination campaign until such degree of awareness is achieved, enough to convince and push every farmer to embrace organic farming.

The congress was well participated in by various agriculture stakeholders from the national/ regional line agencies, local government units, the academe, and the media. Organic agriculture practitioners and enthusiasts were also present, with Colonel Francisco D. Millare, Commanding Officer, 77IB, 5ID of the Philippine Army, an outstanding advocate of organic agriculture gracing the event.