“We have this notion that organic items are
mahal (costly),
sosyal (upscale), and for the diet freaks only, when they should not be,” said organic produce advocate and Quezon City Vice-Mayor Maria Josefina “Joy” Belmonte during the Organic Fiesta attended by organic farmers, sellers, and advocates on July 12.
The Organic Fiesta, organized by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) IBON Foundation, sought to celebrate organic products, inform the public of their health benefits, and broadcast a plea to make organic produce more affordable to the public.
The mini organic market showcased products like coconut syrup, virgin coconut oil, honey,
pili oil,
luyang dilaw (turmeric) brew, ginger powder, fresh
salabat (ginger tea) and
calamansi juice, and cane sugar, among other organic goodies. But they all came with a hefty price tag. Organic ginger powder in a small container, for example, costs P200.
WHY ARE THEY EXPENSIVE?IBON Foundation Director Sonny Africa said organic items are pricier because of an expensive and extensive certification process, steep competition, and the lack of government support.
“It isn’t impossible to lower the prices of organic products if there is a comprehensive government support, aids in terms of marketing, and grants of land ownership,” said Mr. Africa.
He added that a regular backyard farmer is “at a disadvantage because the expenses are oppressive.”
EXPENSESOrganic farming is a system of agriculture that uses natural inputs instead of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms. It is cheap, revives the nutrients in soil and environment, and reduces climate change, said Mr. Africa.
“The conclusion is that organic farming is important in alleviating the health of consumer and the lives of ordinary farmers,” he said.
Packaged organic items are more expensive than conventional ones because of the effort that goes with every product. For instance, turning organic ginger manually into a powder and then packaging it, is an arduous process. An ordinary farmer doesn’t have sophisticated machines to make the work easier. The farmers also invest on the packaging, which adds extra costs and thus make them a bit pricier.
Organic products like vegetables and fruits are also harder to market because they aren’t as pretty and glossy as their fertilizer-fed and pesticide-protected competitors. Majority of customers buy unblemished fruits thinking that they are more nutritious. “The ugly banana is perfect in its imperfection,” health advocate Millie Davis once told this writer. She said a perfect fruit might have undergone chemical treatments.
Organic produce is supposed to have a number of health and wellness benefits, among others, because the products are not exposed to chemicals and are said to contain more antioxidants, enzymes, and polyphenols (micronutrient believed to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease). But this method of production also adds to its cost. According to IBON Foundation researcher Jennifer Guste, an organic farmer factors into his pricing the “production losses.” Tillers of the majority of the agricultural land in the Philippines use fertilizers and pesticides. Ms. Guste said it takes five to 10 years before a piece of land completely becomes organic and healthy. As a result, farms yield fewer crops, and farmers are forced to hike the prices.
Farmers need to have their products certified as legitimate organic items before they can sell them as “organic.” An annual certification costs at least P10,000 per product. As a farmer usually doesn’t harvest just one product, a farm can produce a number of items from vegetables and fruits, to rice and packaged items. Each has to be certified so the total cost can be steep.
ORGANIC FERTILIZERWhen it comes to expenses, there is one thing that is definitely in an organic farmer’s favor -- the cost of fertilizers.
IBON’s Mr. Africa said that if farmers owned their land, they will start shifting from chemical to organic farming because maintaining it is cheaper, albeit it is a more painstaking process. Organic farmers make their own fertilizer using compost. Still, the majority of farmers use chemical-based fertilizers. According to the June 2015 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, regular non-organic fertilizers range in price from P600-P1,200 per sack depending on the brand.
“
Halos hindi na kumakain ang mga farmers just to buy expensive fertilizers. (The farmers almost don’t eat just to buy expensive fertilizers),” said Kris Valdez of Nueva Ecija during the Organic Fiesta open forum, which was attended by farmers and sellers from Metro Manila, Pangasinan, the Cordillera Region, Tarlac, Bulacan, Quezon, Bicol, and Marinduque.
From a family of farmers, Ms. Valdez said that ever since they shifted to organic farming, their fertilizer needs have lessened -- from having to buy 10 sacks of chemical-based fertilizers, they now use only six sacks of organic fertilizer. Organic farmers use less fertilizer because “an organic, healthy soil does not exhaust all of its nutrients. The natural microbes found in a soil thrive more in organic soil, which adds to the fertilization of the soil.”
ORGANIC FARMING LAWThe Philippines actually has an organic farming law. Approved on April 6, 2010, Republic Act No. 10068 -- also known as the Philippine Organic Agriculture Act -- declares the state has to “promote, propagate, develop further, and implement the practice of organic farming in the country...”
The law mentions the benefits of organic farming to the environment, consumers, and farmers. In addition, “the state recognizes and supports the central role of farmers, indigenous people, and other stakeholders at the grassroots.”
But this same law provides one of the major stumbling blocks in the way of organic farming.
According to the organic law, the government needs a third party, which is a semi-government body, to certify if produce is organic before farmers can sell it. There are two recognized certification parties in the country, the Negros Island Certification Services (NICERT) and the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines.
“The government wants NICERT to certify [farmers] first,” said IBON Foundation research head Rosario Bella Guzman, who is also at the helm of the foundation’s newest book,
Green Works, about organic farming in the country. “To get the certification, NICERT will visit your farm and show your papers that you follow the organic farming system.” As of press time, the NICERT Web site (
www.nicert.org) isn’t working.
“Most of the farmers, however, are backyard,” said Ms. Guzman. They are advocating the use instead of the participatory guarantee system (PGS) “wherein if [farmers] say that a product is organic, it must be organic. MASIPAG, for instance, asserts in the Congress the PGS, which means that if the cooperative guarantees that the product is organic [it must be organic],” said Ms. Guzman.
MASIPAG stands for Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura, an NGO of farmers and scientists working for empowerment and sustainable living. Formally registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1987, it is pursuing the PGS, where small farmers can participate in creating standards and deciding on the system of certification. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement recognizes PGS. The group wants to abort the certification process in exchange of the PGS.
Through a signature campaign, the Organic Fiesta event gathered support for legislation to “improve the participatory guarantee system toward making organic food affordable.” One of its staunch supporters is Ms. Belmonte.
“This is a national government concern. Maybe we can lobby to make it cheaper,” Ms. Belmonte told the
BusinessWorld. “This is a democratic way to secure food security because anyone can do organic farming anywhere. It’s simple, especially if it is integrated in the solid waste management program. It shouldn’t be expensive.”
“If our government is serious to alleviate hunger and poverty, it should promote organic farming. The problem, however, is the strong support of chemical-based farming,” she said.
Rony Villaflores, a Mindoro native and an advocate of organic farming since 1997, couldn’t say it any better. Banking on its health benefits (he said he doesn’t feed his family with chemicals) and savings (he said organic farming is cheaper than chemical-based farming in terms of savings in fertilizer costs), he concluded: “Do you love your family? If yes, patronize organic farming and products.”
Ms. Belmonte -- through her campaign “The Joy of Urban Planning” which started in 2010 -- advocates the development of green thumbs among city dwellers.
Right in the Quezon Memorial Circle are rows and rows of vegetables planted in a 1,500 square-meter area.
“Quezon City is lucky that places, especially in Fairview and Novaliches, still have a province-like ambiance. We have organic piggeries and chicken farms. As long as you’re not near streets, even if you’re at the slumps, you can grow organic produce,” said Ms. Belmonte.
She credits Mayor Herbert Bautista because “he started it in 2010 [with a program] called Halamanan sa Bakuran (Backyard Gardening), I only continued and grew it. This is the most well-funded in all of my projects because I really believe in it.”
HOW VIABLE IS URBAN FARMING?
“When I started the program, the problem was the mind-set that farming isn’t compatible in the city. It’s all in the mind-set. You can do vertical garden or start with small containers,” said Ms. Belmonte.
She said residents, like senior citizens who find it therapeutic, are interested in organic farming. “They write us a letter, we check if they are sincere and check their space. We give them farming materials, the soil they need, and unlimited seminars. We assign an agriculturalist and a provide greenhouse,” she said.
The city currently has 68 farms of various sizes found in barangays, public elementary schools, daycare centers, parishes, and nongovernment organizations. The city works with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, which provide financial grants.
But even if city farmers fail to bring their items to market, urban farming is still a win-win situation.
“If they don’t produce [enough] for selling, as long as they can eat their products to decrease the issue of malnutrition, it’s already a triumph,” said Ms. Belmonte.
Urban farming can also be a matter of self-suffiency, especially when calamity strikes. “We still rely on the provinces to deliver our food. [The produce is delivered by] carbon-emitting vehicles that only add to climate change.”
Ms. Belmonte is also eyeing the city’s unused property. She said she was inspired by Cuba, which encourages organic farming on idle lands in cities.
“We have a law called Idle Land Taxation, which means that owners of an unused land will pay taxes to the city. I want to follow the steps of Cuba. I am still convincing our mayor and treasurer.
“If the law [is] pursue[d], the city wouldn’t be able to collect taxes from [the idle land], but my argument is that the returns are savings from the subsidy from malnourished kids and support for livelihood. At least, the produce goes straight to the citizen, unlike in taxes where you’re not sure where it goes.”
