sustainable organic farming in the ph-history and success stories

8/11/2019 Sustainable Organic Farming in the PH-History and Success Stories

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SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC FARMING IN THE PHILIPPINES:HISTORY AND SUCCESS STORIES

Rodelio B. Carating and Silvino Q. TejadaSenior Science Research Specialist and Director, respectively

Bureau of Soils and Water Management,Elliptical Road, Diliman,

PHILIPPINES

Abstract

The beginning of modern organic agriculture movement in thePhilippines can be traced in the midst 1980s as the study on The Miraclesthat Never Was presented in the national farmers convention and followedby protest rally against IRRI. The farmer-scientist partnership, calledMASIPAG, was eventually organized. Other organic movements andnetwork followed. At the international trade fairs, demand for organicproduce from the Philippines surfaced but with the lack of certification, itbecame a necessity to organize both producers, processors, and marketers tocome together for the country to penetrate the huge global organic market.The Philippine hosting of the 1999 IFOAM Asia Scientific Conference and

General Assembly in Tagaytay City consolidated the organic movement inthe Philippines. From here on, it was moving forward with the establishmentof the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines in 2001 culminatingwith the enactment of the Organic Agriculture Law in 2009. Four types oforganic agricultural cases were examined indigenous, traditional, large-scale commercial, and the small-scale subsistence. Sample cases werediscussed, especially for the large-scale commercial and the small-scalesubsistence farming to assert the economic profitability of organic farmingsystems.

The Philippine Agricultural Geography

The Philippines consists of around 7,100 islands and cover some 30 million hectares.About 11 million hectares is the current extent of agricultural lands. In the context of Philippineagricultural geography, five crops form the bases for all regional patterns rice, corn, root crops(yams and sweet potatoes), banana, and coconut, the so-called all-purpose plant. Regionalspecialization adds one crop or group of groups to the base crops, such as rice-banana base,either as locally dominant item or shared complements (Wernstedt and Spencer, 1967). In theVisayas, southeast Mindanao, and northeast Luzon, corn replaced rice as the primary food item.


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Sweet potatoes joined yams both in use and regional concentration. Papaya and avocado spreadwidely to join the jackfruit, pomelo, but none of the fruits rival the bananas to the status of

primary crop in regional context. With this summary, Wernstedt and Spencer described theagricultural patterns in regional landscapes: Northern and western Negros Island has sugarcaneassuming dominant status, with rice, coconut, bananas, papayas, and mangoes as compelements.Sotheast of Manila, coconuts dominate the landscape and complementary crops show up in

patches, gardens, and homestead plantings. Corn and coconut appear to dominate the landscapein much of Cebu in central Philippines whereas the rootcrops present an open landscape in thetyphoon-belt northernmost islands of the Philippines. It is quite significant that by this timewhere almost four decades had passed since Wernstedt and Spencer wrote their book, we couldstill relate with the agricultural geology they described despite significant changes like theexpansion of irrigated areas backed up by large reservoir in the 1960s and 1970s, the current

thrust on small scale irrigation projects, construction of farm to market roads, and other productivity enhancing efforts of the government.

The Beginning of Modern Organic Agriculture Movement in the Philippines

The modern organic agriculture movement in the Philippines can still be considered in itsformative years despite decades of being on the agricultural landscape. It is generally privatesector-lead, started as a militant movement against the so-called Green Revolution Movementinthe eighties. As for government initiatives, it is interesting to note that the beginning of growthof the organic agriculture in the Philippines can be traced from the efforts, not of the Departmentof Agriculture, but of the Department of Trade and Industry way back in the early nineties.Obviously, the major reason was for the Philippines to capture the sizeable global organic tradeand market as the efforts were undertaken by the Natural Products Division of the Centre forInternational Trade and Exposition Missions (CITEM). These early government endeavors werefocused on processed organically grown products, not on agricultural production systems as theDepartment of Agriculture was still enmeshed in conventional agricultural practices at this time.Expectedly, the major accomplishment for this period was the organization of a certifying body,too expensive for an ordinary subsistence farmer to afford.

But back to the beginning of modern organic agriculture movement in the Philippines: In1980, a rural development NGO, Farmers Assistance Board, lead by Noel Mondejar, publishedProfits from Poison which bared the negative impacts of chemical-based agriculture on ricefarmers while multinational agribusiness raked profits as a consequence of the Green Revolution.This was followed in the mid-80s by The Miracle that Never Was by the Agency forCommunity Education and Services showing that the farmers were better off before they shiftedto the intensive monoculture of high yielding varieties. Ironically, this study arose from theinitial contract of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) with the agency for a


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community-based pilot project using participatory strategies intended as a model on how productivity could be enhanced through high yielding varieties.

This study was presented at the National Convention of Rice Farmers held at theUniversity of the Philippines Los Baos (UPLB) in July 1985. This was soon followed by thevery first protest rally of rice farmers against IRRI. In the succeeding year, May, 1986, thefarmers convention initiated the Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Agricultural Developmentwhich is known as MASIPAG (Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Ikauunlad ng Agham Pang-

Agrikultura) . This NGO pioneered on teaching farmers rice breeding to allow farmers to selectthe parent materials based on desired plant characters at zero chemical (fertilizer and pesticide)inputs. Subsequently, several other projects emerged. MASIPAG, the pioneer of all the organicagriculture NGOs in the Philippines, is a member of ANSOFT-Philippines Network.

In 1986, CITEM of the Department of Industry participated at the Biofach, the WorldOrganic Trade Fair at Nuremberg, Germany. The range of products on display ranged from

processed and frozen organic food, natural products, household supplies including organic petfood and toys, organic agriculture and marketing, media services and green finance. It was thenrealized the potential of the organic sector and the added export avenue for the Philippine

produce. Prospective buyers inquired about organic products from the Philippines but thevolume of internationally certified organic products was not sufficient. To be certified organic, afarm or a processing facility had to be inspected by a third party to verify that the requirementsof that certifying body are adhered to. Because of this significant trading opportunity forFilipino exporters eluding their grasp, for the first time, a national government office pushed toorganize both the producers and traders of organic agricultural products to gain a foothold in theexpanding multi-billion dollar global organic market.

The Decade of the 1990s and the Consolidation of the Organic Prime Movers

The low-external-input-sustainable-agriculture (LEISA) global movement found itsactive adherents in the Philippines as we moved on to the next decade. In 1990, the SustainableAgriculture Coalition was founded by 15 NGOs and they organized sustainable agriculture fairs

in different parts of the country. Another network of four NGOs organized the Philippine Forumfor Sustainable Agriculture in 1991 for exchange of experiences among them and their partners.With the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit having taken place in 1992, Xavier University set up theSustainable Agriculture Centre (XU-SAC) under the leadership of Bishop Antonio Ledesma.XU-SAC is also a member of the ANSOFT-Philippines Network. It was in 1993 that theDepartment of Agriculture launched its Integrated Pest Management Program as part of itscommitment in the Agenda 21. The UPLB College of Agriculture initiated new courses onfarming systems that was oriented towards sustainable agriculture. As we moved towards mid-1990s, organic movements and conferences that promoted environment friendly and non-


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conventional agriculture increased but the adoption by farmers remained to be seen. A numberof sustainable agriculture practitioners stayed dependent on agro-chemicals by applying below

recommended rates, showing that these advocates were not aware of the social, economic, andecological objectives of organic agriculture. We can cite for example the Pangasinan-based NGO, AGTALON, defining LEISA for rice production as applying at least 10 bags of organicfertilizers plus a maximum of two bags inorganic fertilizers instead of the recommended 8 to 10

bags under the conventional practice, and no pesticides at all. Inevitably, LEISA adoptors foundthemselves in conflict with organic growers in the sustainable agriculture definition.

By 1995, China lead the example to show that there need not be a conflict betweenorganic agriculture and LEISA as production processes and farm systems could be certified asorganic and organic products while those grown on LEISA farms could be certified as green

food.

In 1996, Filipinos who attended the 1995 IFOAM-Asia Conference in Seoul, Republic ofKorea formed a coalition called FOODWEB to produce a Philippine Standards for OrganicProduction and Processing based on IFOAM standards. A consultation process involvinginformal network of sustainable agriculture advocates conducted in three regions of the countryand at the national level to review the draft on Philippine Basic Standards for OrganicAgriculture and Processing as a starting point for a national certification program. This wasspearheaded by key Filipino members of the IFOAM-Asia and funded by MISEREOR. Keystaff of CITEM joined the Organic Industry Technical Working Group.

Aside from MASIPAG, key actors in the Philippine organic movement were OPTA(Organic Producers and Traders Association), SIBAT (Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya, also amember of ANSOFT-Philippines Network), and a host of networks of organic agriculturenetworks KALIKASAN-Nueva Ecija, ALTERTRADE, AVDF, PDAP, ROAD, VCOP, just tocite some of the key organic agriculture players in the Philippines. This was a mix of NGOs,

producers, and traders unified in their organic advocacy. The Philippine organic movement wasgrowing and at the national level, the prime movers were not only NGOs working with farmersfor organic production system but also had organizations involved with food processing and

marketing of organic products. The government sector was also beginning to be involved. New players, both private and government, were beginning to emerge.

It was in 1997 that the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) under the Department of Science andTechnology (DOST) sponsored the national consultation on organic agriculture with organic

producers and members of IFOAM invited to interact with government researchers. In 1998,PCARRD provided the funds for a two-year study on organic, LEISA, and conventional farmingin selected villages. The results of the study showed that net income per year could not be the


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sole basis for comparing farms; and that organic farms that recycled farm wastes had higherreturn on investment values than the LEISA and conventional farms. The organic farms that

were dependent on commercial organic fertilizers had low return on investment. In 1999,PCARRD also funded a five-year R and D program on organic vegetable production.

It was in 1999 that the modern Philippine organic movement was consolidated when ithosted the 4 th International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) AsiaScientific Conference and General Assembly in Tagaytay City. A seed fund was raised toestablish a National Certification and Inspection body.

As a result, NGOs and POs expanded with their programs oriented on LEISA and organicagriculture. Sustainable agriculture was beginning to be a catch-word. It was at this point that

the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Soils and Water Management introducedthe Balanced Fertilization Program, a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers for rice

production. With Integrated Pest Management Program that focuses on spraying based onthreshold index for pest damage, there is now increasing awareness on the need to beecologically conscious and the benefits of soil quality through raising the soil organic mattercontent.

The New Millennium and the Organic Agriculture Advocacy

The value of the domestic organic industry, as of 2000 was estimated at PhP100 millionand imports of processed organic food products was placed at PhP150 million (FAS/USDA,2000). The growth rate is about 10 to 20 percent annually, and the organic products aregenerally priced 20 to 30 percent higher than their non-organic counterparts.

As for the domestic organic market, it is described as a niche market since organically produced agricultural products are available mainly in weekend markets frequented by urban,upper middle class and elite shoppers including many expatriates who adhere to health-and-wellness lifestyles. This trend conforms with the studies in other countries that characterizedorganic consumers as affluent, well-educated, and concerned about health and product quality

(Lohr, 2001, citing several studies). Lohr further described the regular consumers as generally parents of young children who favor locally grown organic products, when available, in an effortto support local farmers and ensure freshness.

It was in December 2000 that the first orientation training on Organic Certification andInspection was held with consultants from FiBL, a Swiss research and training institute on

biological agriculture and IFOAM member, and Bio.inspecta, Swiss-based internationalcertifying agency, conducting the training.


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The Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP) was organized and theOrganic Certification and Inspection Program was launched in June 2001 when the National

Organic Congress was organized by the Organic Industry Technical Working Group. Besidesthe OCCP, the significant outputs of the congress included action plan for the promotion oforganic agriculture and an organic pavilion at the exhibit area. A month earlier, in May 2001,then Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor issued a Special Order creating the NationalTask Force for Organic Agriculture.

CITEM remains active in the Philippine organic movement by providing contacts withorganizers of FOODEX in Japan, BIOFACH in Germany, and the United States Organic TradeShow for participation of Philippine organic products at international expositions relating toorganic trade. But the major constraint remains that some products are not certified organic.

The Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP) is the only body authorized by thegovernment to certify organic products in the country. OCCP has arrangements with Swissconsultants not only for the training of OCCP members but also for the certification of organic

products that would pass their inspection process. It needs at least 3 to 6 months to complete theinspection of organic farms before it can issue a certificate which costs around US$297(PhP12,500) and valid only for one year. There are few certified organic farms in the Philippines,not even exceeding 100 hectares. Since there are many non-certified organic farms, reliablestatistics on the extent of organic farming in the Philippines is quite difficult to obtain.

In 2002, the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) adopted aPhilippine National Standard (PNS) for Organic Agriculture. Government research institutions

began conducting R and D and extension projects on recycling of farm-generated biomass toimprove soil organic matter, vermiculture, and the use of biological nitrogen fixers in addition toIntegrated Pest Management and Balanced Fertilization Strategy. Still, there is pervasive attitude

both in the academe and in the national agricultural system that organic agriculture will turn backthe scientific gains into subsistence farming considering the reductionist philosophy and thinkingof the agricultural scientific community.

In 2004, the First National Organic Agriculture Conference was held in June at the

National Seed Quality Control Services, Manila.

In 2005, the BCS-certified organic land was 25,310 hectares but these estimates aresubject to validation and official confirmation. In fact the 2006 IFOAM statistics for thePhilippines is 14,134 hectares of organic farms. The organic products exported are muscovadosugar to USA and Europe, banana chips to Europe, dessicated coconut to USA and Europe,virgin coconut oil to USA, Europe, and Australia, dried banana leaves to Japan, pineapple toJapan, and fresh Cavendish banana to Korea, Japan, Singapore, and New Zealand. Some

products are exported under fair trade lables including fresh balangon bananas shipped to Japan,


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rice to Switzerland, virgin coconut oil to Europe and USA, and fresh mango to Europe. Allexports of organic products are certified by international CBs. Among those operating in the

Philippines are ECOCERT, CERES, Naturaland, SGS, and DoalNara (Korea-based, IFOAMBasic Standards).

In 2005, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Executive Order 481 which intendedto promote, develop, and sustain organic agriculture as a farming technology by establishing aneffective networking and collaboration with stakeholders and develop the roadmap for the inroadof organic agriculture industry in the country. The National Organic Agriculture Board wasestablished.

From here on, organic agriculture was mainstreamed into the government bureaucracy as

part of the national food production program. The Bureau of Soils and Water Management(BSWM) promotes the use of compost fungus activator to speed up in-situ farm wastedecomposition and nutrient recycling, and currently implements a community-based organicfertilizer production program using vermiculture for the rice and corn program. The promotionand commercial marketing of biological fertilizers like nitrogen fixers is also put in place. Other

bureaus within the Department of Agriculture had their organic agriculture-related initiatives in pursuit of their mandate. The Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) for instance, conducts severalorganic agriculture training courses. The Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) funds severalorganic farming researches and projects. The Sugar Regulatory Administration assists sugarfarmers in organic fertilizer production and use of beneficial microorganisms (MBO)independent of those services provided by BSWM as part of their production support services.The Philippine Coconut Administration (PCA) has funding assistance for organic and bio-fertilizer support to keep coconut plantations under organic production system. The list goes on.

By 2007, organic agriculture is thriving as small and fragmented land holdingsthroughout the country. Several local government units even declared their areas as organic.Among those areas with active organic movements are Batanes, Abra, Kalinga, Ifugao, Benguet,

Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Rizal, Cavite, Quezon,Laguna, Batangas, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Palawan, Antique, Iloilo, Negros Occidental,

Negros Oriental, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Compostela Valley, Sultan Kudarat, SouthCotabato, North Cotabato, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur. The 4 th NationalOrganic Farming Congress was held in Iloilo City, organized by BAFPS.

In October 2008, the 5 th National Organic Agriculture Congress was held in Davao City.The conference was held in line with the celebration of the World Food Day and a parallelOrganic Trade Fair and Exhibit was organized.


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In 2009, Republic Act 10068, also known as the Organic Agriculture Act was enacted byPhilippine Congress. It was now declared state policy to promote, propagate, develop, and

further implement the practice of organic agriculture in the country to improve soil fertility,increase farm productivity, reduce farm-source pollution, further protect the health of farmers,consumers, and the general public, as well as save on imported farm inputs. The NationalOrganic Agricultural Board, earlier established by the Executive Order, was affirmed.

Private initiatives were launched to push organic agriculture among its network members,and we have for example Go Organic Philippines (later on was re-launched as One OrganicMovement) organizing its 3 rd Pinoy Organic Festival in Quezon City in May, 2010 with publicforum and trade show to instill the organic consciousness in the minds of the general public. Inthe same year but earlier, February 2010, PCARRD organized the first of the four Organic

Agriculture Forum Series. The organic advocacy momentum has grown by leaps and bounds, it becomes difficult to keep tract of every programs, projects, and activities relating to the promotion of organic agriculture in the Philippines.

In 2011, the Philippine Organic Agriculture website was launched by BAFPS. It is alsoquite significant that President Benigno Aquino III reiterated his administrations commitment todevelop organic farming in his keynote address during the 8 th National Organic AgricultureCongress in Tarlac City, November 8, 2011 held at the Hacienda Luisita.

It was in 2012 that the Organic Agriculture Program was formulated to guide thenationwide implementation of the organic agriculture. February 2012 of course is historic forAFACI-ANSOFT Philippines as we hosted the First Mindanao Sustainable Organic AgricultureCongress and Agro-Tourism Fair in Dumingag, Mindanao. By May, 2012, the BAFPS-Philippine Organic Agriculture website stated that we have a total of 688,220 hectares certifiedorganic farms.

A Case Study on the Indigenous Organic Agricultural Practices: the Cordillerans

In the Philippines, we still have several indigenous tribes whose culture was not

assimilated with the Islamization and later on Christianization of the country. They have adistinct set of agricultural traditions that can be characterized as organic acquired throughaccumulation of experiences, informal experiments, and intimate understanding of theenvironment through the centuries. Many of these practices are intertwined with their culture,way of life, and belief systems. Nevertheless, modernization and the advances in communicationand transportation have threatened the extinction of these indigenous practices among the tribal

people. The agricultural practices of the Indigenous Peoples (IP) of the Cordillera highlands inLuzon can be categorized as indigenous organic agriculture.


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special gift given by grace, water, the sun, the gods, and the ancestors who worked in the fields before them.

The start of the sowing season is marked by a village holiday, and a woman of prestige isassigned the task of opening this phase by sowing the first seeds in her seedbed after which shewill confine herself to her house to fast for a day. After the holiday, the others start sowing.(Khor and Lin, 2002). In the Ifugao province, the land owner asks a person to perform the riteusing seeds in his granary, and then sacrifices two chickens. A woman relative of the land owner

plants the seed in the mud and water is put in the seedbed to as part of the ritual.

Canals and dams are inspected and repaired for any damages. As the seeds germinateand the water is assured, land preparation begins, usually, the end of the rainy season and the

field is flooded. Surrounding areas are cleaned to ward off rats, weeds removed, and the soil isfertilized using sunflowers plowed in together with rice stubbles. Macale-Macandog (2012)noted that Tithonia diversifolia (sunflower) is widely used as organic fertilizer in many farms inBenguet and Ifugao. They have observed that rice plants fertilized with sunflower cuttings have

better growth, robust stalks and higher grain yield. Key informants interviewed in Kalinga alsonoted that they used sunflower as organic fertilizer though not as widely used in Benguet andIfugao.

A common practice is to allow a standing period after the first plowing and allow anyvegetation to regrow in the field. A second plowing is then done in order to finally fold in thenew growths and complete the process. A week before transplanting, the field must be smoothand without any growth appearing.

Transplanting is a very important event and a village holiday is declared. A council ofelders identifies a woman of prestige to wake up early on the appointed date to go to her ricefield to plant taro to signal the start of the planting season.

In some villages like Sagada, elders meet and decide the planting ritual and no one worksin the field on that day. The next day, the bangan or the ritual transplanter who inherits this role

from her ancestors, dresses in red, abstains from all worldly indulgences days before, and startsto plant. Three days later, her children will start to plant their fields, and then the rest of thevillage follows. Transplanting is a womans job and seedlings are often shared when somefarmers run out of planting materials. It is unthinkable to refuse to share extra seedling materialswith those in need.

After transplanting, the maintenance work is left to the women, especially weeding. Asthe rice growing season progresses, the farmer is considered to be the protector of the field tocheck the water level, keep away insects and other pests, and perhaps perform other rituals that


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call on past ancestors to protect the field. Scarecrows and other capturing or repelling devicesare made to protect the crop from birds.

Harvesting comes about two months later, at the end of the dry season. As harvest timeapproaches, a taboo sign is placed in the middle of the town and the town elders declare a rest

period to show respect for the soil and the rice plants lest good fortune leave them. Both menand women are involved in harvesting using indigenous harvesting knife made of steel mounted

perpendicular to a wooden frame. After a handful is cut, the leaves are removed and the stems bundled, the size varying according to the culture of the place. The most experienced womensegregate the best heads as seed materials for the next cropping.

Sweet potato, cabbage and green onion are other crops that can be grown in the terraces

after rice harvest. The sunflower leaves and twigs are only applied before rice cultivation. Nofurther application is done for the second cropping (sweet potato) because farmers believe that itis not necessary due to the residual organic fertilizer from the rice crop. This process allowedslow release of nutrients from the decomposing sunflower leaves and twigs thus farmers believedthat their crop production in payew is sustained. They also believe that the practice ofincorporating sunflower helps rejuvenate the soil that results to vigorous crop growth, loosensthe soil and prevents rotting of sweet potato (Magcale-Macandog and Ocampo, 2005).

Dry Rice Cultivation in Shifting Swidden

In the Cordilleras, shifting cultivation is a common practice in the uplands as a system offood production. Shifting cultivation or swidden farming is the practice of subsistence uplandfarmers in cultivating food crops in a patch of cleared forest area (Miguel et al., 2006).Continuous cultivation of forest area usually last from 2 to 3 years. The land is left for fallowwhile the farmers shift to other areas to grow crops. Indigenous people are aware of theimportance and value of trees and forest litter in soil fertility and do careful selection of forestareas to be cultivated (See and Sarfati, 2003). Generally, forest areas with secondary growth areselected for cultivation while those areas with fruit trees, lumber and other valuable plants areavoided from burning. Costales (1993) as cited by See and Sarfati (2003) defined burning as the

controlled application of fire to wild land fuels in either a natural or modified state and underspecific environmental conditions which allow the fire to be confined to a pre-determined areaand at the same time produce the intensity required to attain planned resource managementobjectives.

Among the Bontocs, as well as other indigenous people of the Cordillera, this method haslong been part of their indigenous knowledge and agricultural system. The people use themethod for site preparation, for improving the growth of mature grasses, for hunting and toefficiently eliminate weeds and poisonous plants or vines that may harm them. Prescribed


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burning also improves soil fertility and makes it easier for them to shape their mountains intofarms.

Uma is a rainfed upland shifting cultivation found in the sloping areas of the mountainthat cover at least 500 m2 of land (Magcale-Macandog and Ocampo 2005). In the province ofKalinga patch cultivation is the common term for shifting cultivation (Miguel et al., 2006).Farmers choose sites that are not stony, sloping but not too steep and where trees are more than20 years old (Magcale-Macandog and Ocampo, 2005). All trees are cut while the cleared area is

burned to easily remove weeds and shrubs. The wood from the cut trees are used for building thefarmers house and storage room for the crops to be grown. In Mt. Province, chosen uma fieldsare usually heavy or clayey soils to resist soil erosion and are planted to sweet potato, squash,millet, beans, peanut, maize and onion. Woody shrubs such as Tithoniadiversifolia (sunflower)

and Gliricidiasepium (kakawate) are planted as boundary fence of the uma field to protect thecrops from stray animals (Magcale-Macandog and Ocampo, 2005).

Forest Management Strategies:

In the mountainous areas of the Cordilleras, muyong or pinugo is an important part ofagroforestry system to protect the farms below from erosion and runoff, maintaining soil fertilityand biodiversity (Serrano and Cadaweng, 2005; Abannag et al. 2006; Comia, 2000). It is theunique way of life of tendering forest practiced by the Ifugaos that is internationally recognizedto be an ideal resource management strategy (Butic and Ngidlo 2003). In other areas in theregion, it is known as lakon or komunal (Mt. Province) and imung (Kalinga) (Abannag et al.,2006).

In the woodlots of muyong , agroforestry system can be observed. The practitioners ofmuyong commonly integrate tree crops and herbs with the natural vegetation of muyong (Buticand Ngidlo 2003). The practice is commonly bound to the religious belief system of the peopleand economic values of trees and crops. Muyongs is privately owned, inherited and managed

properties (Butic and Ngidlo, 2003; Serrano and Cadaweng, 2005). It provides food, housingmaterials, home furnishing, firewood/fuel, medicinal herbs at the same time maintains the

biodiversity and ecological balance in the area. However, no records have been found yet toshow when and where the practice began (Serrano and Cadaweng 2005). Three probable reasonsof muyong emergence were documented by Bagong Pag-asa Foundation Inc. (BPFI) as cited bySerrano and Cadaweng (2005): (1) The evidence suggests that the ancestors of Ifugao were wellaware of the relationship between the existence of forests and stable water supplies. In the sameway that the Ifugao people exercised ingenuity and creativity in carving the terraces to supporttheir tribal livelihoods, they also designed and established muyongs to create a stable source ofwater for their payohs (rice field); (2) Muyong establishment was reinforced when it becameapparent that sources of fuelwood near Ifugao settlements were becoming depleted; and (3)


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There are indications that some early muyongs were started by a low caste in Ifugao society thenawotwot as a means of uplifting their economic and social standing in the community.

Ownership of large areas of payohs and muyongs are indicators of high social status or affluencein Ifugao culture.

Batangan or Saguday is an indigenous forest management system in the Mt. Provincewith the primary purpose of source of timber materials (Abannag et al., 2006). In this system, aclan size of 1 to 20 manages a piece of forestland typically with a land size between 0.5 to 10hectares (Pulhin et al., 2005). All members of the clan managing the batangan have equal rightsand direct access to the resources in batangan . This forest management system is governed byfive objectives of living: health, prosperity, abundance, nature and peace (Pulhin et al. 2005).

Batangan is also managed for food, medicine, clean water and cultural values such as wood

carvings for icons. Like the muyong , the management and conservation of batangan is done byselective tree cutting, thinning, pruning, under brushing and weeding. Hardwood and fruit

bearing trees are also planted in thinly populated areas of the batanga n. Most commonly foundindigenous tree in batangan is Pinuskesiya Royle Ex. Gordon (pine tree). Mature pine trees that

bear lesser cones in batangan are more often cut if wood is needed for house construction. Somecustomary laws associated with batangan as cited by Abannag et al. (2006) are: 1) prohibitionand punishment of poaching within the area; 2) non-community members are not allowed toexploit forest resources without permission and consent from the community leaders; and 3)

banning of commercial sale and transport of timber products.

A Case Study on the Vanishing Traditional Organic Agricultural Practices for Rice

The second type of agricultural production practice, free of synthetic farm chemicals andundertaken prior to the Green Revolution of the 1960s, is referred to as the traditional . Rice isthe most extensively grown in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, the BicolRegion, and the Visayas but the Green Revolution introduced many changes in Philippineagriculture as centuries-old practices were modified if not totally eliminated.

The tradition of rice culture in the Philippines probably began along with the search for

Paleolithic sites in the country (Bulalacao, undated). Anthropologists discovered that all majorethnic groups in the country cultivate rice and they believed that wet rice agriculture was an old

practice dating back to pre-historic times. Such long tradition and history of rice growing practices was changed by the Green Revolution.

The growing of rice is interwoven into the peoples culture and beliefs. People observe planting or transplanting rituals for the rice to grow and prosper. Filipinos decide when to planttheir crops according to the monsoon rains. They also follow the migration of birds. In the ricegrowing province of Nueva Ecija, the planting season begins by the sighting of the Kiwing bird.


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Bautista and Javier (2005) mentioned that the pre-Green Revolution best quality varietywas Milagrosa, not a good yielder and its grains were the smallest among other varieties.

Wagwag was named by farmers of Nueva Ecija from the Tagalog word wagwagin meaning toshake off, is also a leading variety because of its superior quality and relatively good yields. TheBureau of Plant Industry (BPI) introduced Raminad Strain 3 (also known as Quezon Rice) aftersuccessfully crossing Ramai and the native Inadhica varieties. BPI introduced also Buenkitan(from Buenavista and Ketan Koetek), Milketan, and artificial hybrids like Milfor and MilbuenSeries (from Milagrosa-Formusa and Milagrosa-Buenkitan crosses).

It is quite interesting that Bulalacao (undated) mentioned in her anthropological researchfor the National Museum several rice varieties: Oryza sativa Praecox (early rice that grows inthe highlands and not in stagnant water which the natives call dumali because it is gathered in

three months), Oryza sativa Quinanda (Quina rice preferred because of its taste and the grainexpands more after cooking and necessarily needs a little bit more water to boil), Oryza sativaPilosa (hairy rice which is a variety of dry rice, not really preferred but they sow it because thisis not easily attacked by insects), Oryza sativa Rubra (red rice which is noticeably sticky to thetaste and usually given to horses who suffer from worms by mixing with chaff, a little water, andhoney), and Oryza sativa violacea (violet rice which grows on high terrain and sought after forits taste).

Rice Cultivation and Growing

The rice production system prior to the Green Revolution is characterized by singlecropping per year. Rice management is less influenced by technology or chemical inputs butonly by the farmers direct experiences and field observations. The varieties used are generally

photoperiod sensitive.

The traditional practice for rice cultivation in Iloilo and Pangasinan provinces is totransplant a photoperiod-sensitive tall rice variety in July or August after sufficient rains havefallen to allow soil puddling. Rice is harvested in October or November. The cropping pattern isrice followed by upland crop, mungo being the most dominant. The field is plowed and planted

to broadcast mungbean in late November or early December. Most farmers owned a buffaloused for tillage and short-distance hauling. (Morris, et.al. 1982)

Traditional Methods of Harvesting

Harvest time is a joyous time and a good harvest means the farmer and his family willhave enough food until the next harvest season.


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Farmers learned over countless generations when to reap their rice crop to obtain a highquality yield. If the grains are harvested too early, they will not mature; if late, the grains will

dry and crack in the sun. As the traditional rice farming practices declined over the years,different types of knives used also diminished. Movillon and Schlosser (undated) made effortsto document their utilitarian role in rice harvesting to preserve them as part of cultural heritage.The traditional method of rice harvesting is accomplished by cutting the stalks with a sharp handtool. The hand-held transverse bladed knife is known by various names throughout the country.A harvesting sickle of smooth or serrated hook-shaped blade fitted with a handle was morelabor-saving. Lingcao was a hooked tree branch with or without a curved knife fastened alongthe handle. The hook is used to gather the rice stalks into bunches with are grasped with the freehand. The tool is then shifted in the hand and the blade is used to cut the stalk midway betweenthe panicles and the round.

In the period 1909 to 1913, the average rice production was 16 cavans per hectare. Itincreased to 24 cavans per hectare in 1919, 28.4 cavans per hectare in 1929 until 1966. In 1968,the yield reached 30 cavans per hectare and by 1970, it was 40 cavans per hectare. Yieldincreases were attributed to the development of irrigation systems. There was an intensivecampaign for planting better varieties after the war, in the period 1946-1951.

Other Traditional Type of Organic Agriculture

Much of the areas devoted to traditional type of organic agriculture are planted to coconutand backyard or small scale fruit orchard. There are also small scale livestock production carabao, cattle, goat, hog, chicken, and duck.

Case Studies on Commercial Farms Converted to Organic Agriculture

The conversion of large scale commercial farms from conventional to organicagricultural system is certainly something that can be considered revolutionary in the Philippineagricultural landscape. Not only farmers, but even government policy makers are skeptical oforganic farming delivering the production targets to assure the profits and attain national food

security goals. But there are success stories on large scale corporate organic farms to prove thatthis production system can be sustainable, environmental friendly, and most of all, a profitableeconomic venture. Three success stories are looked into.

Organic Chicken:

From the UNESCAP Report (2002): The pioneering spirit of A. P. Inocencio shows thatorganic chicken has great potential for large-scale production in various parts of the country.Inocencio pioneered the introduction and breeding of the Sasso breeds in the Philippines. Sasso


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breeds from France are adaptable to the various agro-climatic conditions across the country; theyhave weathered frequent typhoons in the monsoon months as well as hot dry summers. With his

Teresa Farm as the main centre, Inocencio has already established satellite centres in 15 sitesacross Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. He provided breeder layers in each centre and promotesthe production of organic chicken. He encourages local people to breed, select and produce the

promising ones adapted in the area. He observed that the people accepted the Sasso breedseasily because they looked like native chickens; the eggs are also brownish like the native eggs.

The same case study from Philippine Headline News (Vanzi, 2003) :Native chickensused to be grown in backyards and were intended for family consumption only. Hence, there wasno native chicken industry to speak of in the old days.

But Anthony P. Inocencio, who used to be a contract grower for a big food company inthe 80's, decided that native chicken could become a profitable industry, provided someone starts

breeding it with other foreign breeds on a commercial scale. In 1997 he decided to mateimported sasso (an acronym for selectione de avecoledela Sartre etsudouest or selections fromSartre, France and southwest) with local native chickens to produce a superior breed in meat andegg production. SASSO is a cooperative of native chicken farmers in France who bondedtogether and adopted the acronym as the trade name as well. The biggest farm in France

produces 25 million heads a year and the smallest produces 60,000 chicken a year. In Asia,sassos are being bred with the native chickens in Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan with the laterhaving the biggest production at 100,000 heads.

Inocencio said he shifted from white leghorns to native chickens knowing how they are being pumped with so much chemical medicines and preventive antibiotics the residuals ofwhich are eaten by humans making them more prone to allergies and other diseases such as

breast cancer, among others; and b) because free range chicken are healthier since they feedthemselves with more greens that in turn get to be consumed by humans.

Besides, he said, there is room for starting a commercial native chicken industry in thecountry considering that more and more consumers who can afford it are following the

Westerners hunger for organic food and the mounting volumes of scientific and medical researchshowing the ill effects of residual antibiotics and inorganic medicines on humans.With the GATT in place next year, there is no telling how big the organic chicken market abroadis, which could not be filled unless someone starts an industry now. This early, he said, Germanyhas required only the sale of table eggs from free range chicken by 2004 and in the whole ofEurope by 2007. By 2012, the European market will buy only free range (native) chickens.The Inocencio Farm, which used to be called Teresa Farms when it was still a white leghornenterprise, devotes half of its 20 hectares of rolling terrain to sasso chickens, which are kept inexisting houses but are allowed to roam freely for the entire day. Though they are fed with the


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feeds that Inocencio himself formulates, they are left to go around pecking at plants, roots, soiland other things.

The farm contains 10,000 head of chickens at any given time but only 8,000 of this population is for production purposes to produce chicks that would be distributed to othersatellite breeders of sasso in the country. While the price of native chicken is P95 per kilo forlive and P150 to P180 per kilo for dressed chicken versus the leghorns' P80 per kilo dressed,there is a huge local market, which could hardly be filled by local sasso production, Inocenciosaid. Demand for chicken in the Philippines is at 635 million a year. Chicken is the cheapest

protein source.

The breeders produce to four to five times a year and are productive for one to one-half

years with those that have gone past their productive stage being put under rehabilitation or aresold as meat (with trade name Tony's Country Chicken) in organic stores including Landmark. A

breeder can last up to five years. A female can produce 150 chicks with the chicks costing P35 a piece, Inocencio said.

Agro-tourism

Costales Nature Farms prides itself as the Philipines first agri-tourism destinationaccredited by the Department of Tourism and certified organic with NICERT Certification No.

NIC-1201. This article is reproduced from their website found athttp://www.costalesnaturefarms.com/ . The integrated and sustainable commercial farm is located

just below the foot of Mount Banahaw, Barangay Gagalot, municipality of Majayjay, Laguna province.

The farm area consisted of 5 hectares and patterned after the Japanese Farming Systemand the Korean Natural Farming where micro-organisms played vital role in enriching the soiland growing vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, and livestock.

At the center of the property is a farm house with roofs of anahaw leaves, walls and

ceilings of bamboo materials, strategically located to provide a perfect panoramic view of MountBanahaw. There is a man-made waterfall, together with the fishponds culturing organicallygrown tilapia have spring water source. The farm also serves coffee, tea, and coconut juice. Spaand massage services are available to guests.

As come-on to guests, the farm offers unlimited (eat-all-you-can) organically grown saladgreens which guests themselves can personally harvest and select from the vegetable plots.


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The sustainable integrated natural farming practices were adopted from the EffectiveMicro-organisms (EM) technology pioneered by Dr. TerouHiga where the soil is inoculated with

beneficial microbes to attract earthworms. The farm practices no-till. So far, they estimate about80 different species in a bottle of EM-1 which include lactic acid bacteria, actinomycetes, photosynthetic bacteria, yeast, and nitrogen fixing bacteria. EM technology is used in their crop production as soil conditioner, microbial inoculant, foliar spray, composting agent, and asfertilizer. The farm also uses EM in their poultry and livestock as pro-biotic mixed with drinkingwater and to control fecal odor. The farm does not use anti-bioticsnor vaccines. The farm alsouses EM to make mud balls to clean the bottom of fish ponds in their aqua culture operations.

For their organic fertilizers, EM is used for different composting processes like vermincomposting, aerobic composting, and anaerobic composting for kitchen garbage.

Combining the Japanese technology with the Korean Natural Farming system of Dr. HanKyo Cho, the farm ferments its own organic fertilizers, foliar sprays and insect repellants like theuse of fermented plant juice, fermented fruit juice, fish amino acid, foliar calcium, calcium

phosphate, and oriental herbal nutrients. They brew compost and harvest the compost tea forfoliar supplements.

As an integrated or close farm system, every by-products of farm operations are utilized.Organic pigs are fed with excess vegetables and other plant by-products like corn stalks, bananaleaves and trunks. Pig manure is collected to feed into the worms (African Night Crawlers) forvermicomposting. They grow rabbits and the manure is used as a nitrogen source and the rabbitmeat is consumed.

The farm manure and farm left-overs are fed into the worms to produce vermicast as a primary source of fertilizers for the salad greens. The worms are also occasionally fed to tilapiaand the other livestock as protein supplement.

Duckweed is their plant-based protein source for fish, poultry, and livestock. Theydouble their mass in just 2 days and forego purchase of expensive soya meal or commercial feeds.

A kilo of duckweed can fill a hectare of a pond in 56 days, with crude protein reaching from 35to 45%.

It is zero waste farming. Kitchen garbage is collected, mixed with bokashi, fermented inairtight containers for 15 days, and converted to organic fertilizers. Transplanting of seedlings ismade another 15 days after application in the soil.

The farm produces leafy greens (lettuce, cabbage, pakchoi, upland kangkong), fruitvegetables (tomato, eggplant, pepper), crawling vegetables (bitter gourd, gourd, patola,


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cucumber, beans), perennials (Sinta and Red Lady varieties of papaya), and assorted culinaryherbs (different kinds of basil, different kinds of peppermint, tarragon, kaffir lime, fennel, thyme,

sage, gynura, stevia, parsley, viola, gotocola, antenjo, citronella, cats whiskers, old spicegeranium).

The pigs are grown in odorless pens, without using anti-biotics and chemcials. Theirfeeds are fermented with beneficial microbes and they mix their own feed with combination ofrice bran, duck weed, copra meal, greens, EM, molasses, water and ferment anaerobically fortwo weeks. They are also fed with farm vegetable and fruit rejects. The pens are sprayed withmixture of EM, molasses, and water every week to eliminate pathogens and foul odor and

prevent the flies from proliferating.

Organic Peking ducks are fed similarly those given the pigs, adding a fraction oflivestock lime, kangkong, and EM salad consisting of a mixture of 10 kilos chopped vegetables,2 kilos rice bran, 5 ml EM and 2 liters of water.

The farm has organic free range Sasso chickens, and in their shelter, beddings are provided as those given the pigs and ducks. Aside from the farm-formulated poultry feed mix,the chickens are fed with grasses and vegetable trimmings. No chemicals and anti-biotics areused.

The farm has four ponds for culture of organic tilapia with water coming from a naturalspring. They grow their own algae on the pond a month before the fingerlings are put. Bokashiis used to grow the algae that grow profusely and become the feed meal of the fingerlings up tosix weeks. On the seventh week, the algae diet is supplemented by duckweed. Guests usually

bring their fishing rods to catch the tilapia using the farms vermi as bait, and a great bondingtime for father-son and mother-daughter team up.

The farm also provides training and consultancy services. They have transformedcorporate executives into full pledged multi-awarded natural farmers.

Organic Coffee Production

Reproduced from the website: The Dining Room ( http://thediningroom.com.ph/organic-farming-is-making-a-comeback-among-commercial-farmers-in-the-philippines-concern-over-toxin-build-up-in-soil-and-food-chain-is-spurring-a-return-to-sustainable-methods-of-agricultural-product/ and reprinted from Planters Magazine from an article entitled TurningGreen to Gold:


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A visit to Gourmet Farms, of course, isnt complete without a peak at the countryslargest coffee roasting machine. The secret to good coffee is in the grading, sorting and the

roasting process, Escaler says. Coffee aficionados would be surprised to learn that the blendsexclusively served in surprised to learn that the blends exclusively served in corporate boardrooms, five-star hotels, restaurants, fast food chains and coffee shops were processed in thisfacility.

It is important to sort the beans according to quality and state, explains Escaler. A coffee bean is not just a bean. A whole bean will roast differently from a cracked one. The worst thingyou can do is to mix premium beans with cracked or low quality ones.

But thats not all. Packaging and storage are also important. Coffee breathes, says

corporate finance officer Rey Salinas. The packaging that carries our brand has built-in one-way valves that let gases escape but prevent the let contents from coming in contact with outsideair. An added feature of the packaging is the zip-lock seal. Salinas says these features minimizecontact with air, which trigger chemical reactions that would spoil the freshness and taste of thecoffee.

At present, coffee contributes over half of the revenues, completed by their herbal tealines and food products like salad dressing and sauces. Market presence is strong in supermarkets,select restaurants and institutional clients. But Gourmet Farms is more than just these. It is also a

place for solace and well-being. Set apart by walls of greenery is another of Ernest Escalers pet projects. The St. Josephs Sanctuary is a meditation center that can accommodate up to 25 guestsin its ten rooms. Surrounded by trees and gardens, the Sanctuary was established to provideharried city dwellers with a place where they can get in touch with their spiritual selves andcleanse themselves physically through a detoxification regime.

Other commercial farms converted to organic production

Most farmers who shifted from the conventional farming system became LEISA practitioners; some persevered to make their farms both productive and ecologically sustainable.

These are the organic producers of rice, vegetables, muscovado sugar, banana, herbs, hogs,chicken, and dairy products. They generally developed diversified farms with different agro-ecosystems but their numbers need to grow to create an impact on the Philippine economy.

Case Studies on Subsistence Farms Converted to Organic Agriculture

Ara (2002) in his masteral thesis for Kobe University evaluated organic rice productionin the Philippines and noted that most of the small farmers who own three to five hectares of landwere under the control of traders who have big network, marketing power, and capita. Because


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the Green Revolution in the Philippines in 1965, farmers started converting their traditionalfarming to modern farming which involve high yielding varieties and intensive chemical input.

Such small farmers did not have enough cash for purchasing expensive chemical inputs and hadto borrow money from local creditors who offered high interest rates. To pay back their debts,the farmers were forced to sell their products at a low price. As a result, their income stayedminimum or lower than poverty line. To produce for the next cropping season, they have to

borrow again, and thus the vicious cycle.

The motivation to adopt organic farming practices came mainly from NGOs who tried tocut farmer dependence on local creditors and on expensive agro-chemicals. The NGOs are alsoconcerned with the farmers health as pesticides cause chronic eye irritation and the formation of

pterygium that can diminish vision and cause dermal problems like eczema and nail destruction.

Bronchial asthma, neurologic problems like paralysis of arm and leg muscles and kidney problems were also reported.

MASIPAG has been a key player in the history of organic farming in the Philippines.MASIPAG is a network of small-scale farmers cultivating organic rice-based agriculturalsystems. The network aims to improve the situation of resource-poor small farmers to empowerthem. By 2009, it has about 35,000 members. The core of the MASIPAG approach is the openand free access to seeds which are respected as common good. MASIPAG farmers breed theirown varieties of rice from the old traditional varieties, collect and share them, and enhance theiron-farm diversity without agro-chemicals.

The case studies in this paper have been culled from Report on Organic Farming in thePhilippines by Jacob Lundberg and Fredrik Moberg produced with financial support from Sidaand published by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

The Sacada (Sugar Plantation) Worker

Elpidio Jojo Paglumotan used to be a plantation worker without any land of his own.At the sugar plantation, he earned around roughly US$ 3 per day for approximately eight months

per year. For the rest of the year, the family had no income.

After a long-running conflict with the authorities, the members of his farmersassociation on the island of Negros obtained the right to own their land. A number of thefarmers ended up in prison before they finally won their rights from the government.

Today, Jojo owns half a hectare of land, half of which he used for rice cultivation and theother half for vegetables. In addition to this, he has 8 goats, 16 hens, 2 water buffaloes, 3 turkeys,and 8 ducks.


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Jojo is one of the MASIPAGs 65 farmer-researchers who are breeding new varieties of

rice for the organization. He is able to choose the varieties he wants to develop. He uses simple but effective method to keep pests in check without having to spray his plots with expensive andenvironmentally destructive agro-chemicals. One of the main problems for rice growers in thecountry is apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) , but Jojo has had no major problem sinceMASIPAG recommended that he allow his duck to wander around the rice fields. They eat thesnails and also restrict the amount of weeds. Jojos rice fields have numerous dragonflies, thenatural enemy of a number of insect pests and these are example of beneficial insects that isstrikingly absent in crops treated with chemical pesticides.

Eyes Damaged by Pesticides

Eugenio Euni Geraldo is a diversity farmer in Mindanao. After losing his wife inchildbirth, Euni single-handedly raised his six children on five hectares of land. Until 1999, hesprayed his rice and vegetable crops with chemical pesticides to protect them against insects anddiseases. He damaged his eyes and lost some of his sight because of using pesticides.

However, after going on a course organized by MASIPAG, he began to grow organiccrops. Not only because he partly lost his sight, the pesticides also affected the natural pestcontrol system and resulted in the disappearance of beneficial insects and birds. He wanted alsohis children to enjoy more nutritious food.

MASIPAG trains him in the use of new cultivation techniques and rice breeding which hethen shares with other farmers. Euni has a great ecological knowledge and a well-plannedschedule on how the farm should be managed so that the nutrients can be recycled in the best

possible way. His diversity farm includes rice, corn, sorghum, and bananas, as well asvegetables such as haricot beans, aubergines, and tomatoes. He also has half a hectare of forest.

The forest is a source of water for my crops, while also promoting the natural enemiesof pests. From it, I also get coconuts that we can eat or sell in the market.

On the hills around the rice fields, he grows the madre de cacao , a nitrogen-fixing anddeep rooting tree that can extract nutrients from deeper soil layers. He uses the leaves as fodderand the branches for firewood. His cropping system also includes ducks which he rears on croptrash. He also has fishponds where he keeps tilapia and sells some at the market in theneighboring village.

From the MASIPAG website: http://www.masipag.org/Nang Lydia.htm written by Dr. SarahWright in 2004 for the MISEROER Lenten Campaign in Germany.


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A woman from an isolated village in Panay Island

Lydia Macaya is only 35 years old but she is already addressed with the respectful Nang(added before a name) by her villagers. Nang Lydia is a community leader, rice breeder andtrainer in organic agriculture. On her ha plot she is developing a new strain of pest resistant,high yielding, locally adapted rice. She is also testing a new method of growing organic rice,trialing 60 different varieties, and growing enough food to feed herself and her extended family.

Nang Lydia travels throughout the island of Panay and to different islands in the Philippines togive training to other small farmers on breeding and sustainable agriculture. All this from awoman who was forced to leave school at 12 years old because her family did not think shecould use an education.

Nang Lydia was born in the isolated mountain village of Dao in the Philippines. Thecommunity has no electricity or telephones and is not accessible by road during the wet monthsof the year. As a child, life was not easy and she had to shoulder her share of responsibility forthe family from a young age. She saw education as a way to make a better life for herself and herfamily but, unfortunately, she was not given the opportunity to go to high school.

"During elementary school, I would wake up at 4 am to prepare breakfast, to do someweeding on the farm, feed the animals and gather firewood and vegetables to give to the familyto eat. I would leave to go to school at 6am. It was a two and a half kilometer walk through themountains that would take about an hour. During that time, I was so eager to go to school, evenif there was a typhoon or lots of rain I would want to go. I had to miss days sometimes if my

parents asked me to do something like baby-sit my younger sisters and brothers or to take thecarabao out to the farm to let it eat grass. Also we were the ones who did the plowing, so on

plowing time we also had to miss school."

She left school after elementary because her parents would not let her continue. "I had tohelp out the family and my parents thought it would be a waste for me to get more education,"she said. "They thought I would just get married and be of no more help to the family." In

addition to continuing her schooling, Lydia wanted to manage their farm but for the time beingshe needed to go to work to help support the family. Nang Lydia went to Manila in 1988 to lookfor a job. She especially wanted to make sure her younger sisters had the opportunity to finishhigh school and college. In 1994, after her younger sister had finished high school, she moved

back to the community and began working on the farm. It had long been her dream to come backto the community. "It was my will to work on the farm," explains Lydia.

In the Philippines it is unusual for the farm to be managed primarily by a woman.Although women play a major role in agriculture, mostly as unpaid family workers or self-


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Nang Lydia currently grows 60 different varieties of rice in her trial farm which she usesfor ongoing experiments checking adaptability and other characteristics of the different varieties.

Throughout the world, rural women historically have played, and continue to play an importantrole in rice farming systems. Women's role, however, is often viewed as a support role and theircontributions are sidelined. Worse, the agricultural support and extension services offered, oftenexacerbate gender inequality. Nang Lydia is an example of the enormous contribution that can bemade by women if their knowledge is recognized and supported. Although not given the optionof going to high school, the training and knowledge she has acquired through her years offarming and with the help of MASIPAG have allowed her to make a significant contribution toher community and to other farmers in the region. Even her father now recognizes that he shouldhave allowed Nang Lydia to go to school.

"I'd like to thank the German people for giving their support to the MASIPAG program,"says Nang Lydia. "I want them to know that our lives have changed for the better, and thecommunity is a healthier and improved place. It has a good effect on the lives of the people and Ihave gained knowledge that I have been able to share with other farmers and the community."

Issues and Concerns

Efforts to promote organic agriculture, especially in Mindanao, is hampered by the presence of big agribusiness companies that lured farmers to have their lands planted to pineapple, banana, and rubber. Contract farming is initiated as the farmers find the potentialreturns more attractive than current activities; and the level of risk quite acceptable. There is

perception of quick capital , simple storage requirements, assured market and payment.

Acceptance of organically grown products is not yet high among consumers. Althoughthere is some degree of knowledge and awareness about organic products and the ensuing issuesabout organic foods as against those produced under conventional farming practices, there is lackof appreciation by consumers on what it could contribute to food quality attributes, therebyinfluencing the premium price the consumer is willing to pay. The income elasticity of demandfor organic food is generally small. The market remains limited for the highly educated and the

health-conscious.

For the producers, among the key concerns is the cost of third party certification. Smallfarm holders given their limited income have difficulty shouldering the additional cost ofcertification. The duration of the certification is roughly three to six months while the validity ofthe certification lasts up to 18 months. The cost can reach up to US$2,000. The cost of third

party certification for foreign certifying agencies is estimated at US$4,000 to 5,000 a year.Certification is most relevant for organic producers trying to penetrate the export market.


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Domestic consumers, the target market of the small farm holders, are not likely to beinterested on the organic label. IPM and organic produce are oftentimes judged by the presence

of cosmetic blemishes. Presence, for instance, of insect bites in leafy vegetables is an indicationthat no pesticide was used; and would be preferred over the no-insect bite regardless of whichhas the organic certification. Since GMO produce are not segregated from the non-GMOs in thewholesalers market, there is domestic skepticism that even organically certified locally

produced poultry products, for example, could have eaten GMO corn. For the local consumers,it is not the organic certification that matters but the point of origin of the produce as it relates toshelf-life, possible presence of preservatives, and perhaps prevailing agricultural practices in thearea.

Summary and Conclusion

Can organic agriculture feed the country and provide food security? Mainstreamagricultural thinking says no. We need modern agricultural technology to attain yield goals. It istruly hard to believe that the small organic farmers who are backward and unscientific can growsufficient food to feed the nations ever growing population. It is even harder to believe thatlarge scale commercial farms can be agro-chemical free. And we dont have to go back to thoseindigenous as well as traditional agriculture.

The history of organic agriculture in the Philippines is moving forward to prove its pointthat it can be done, and it can be done at sustainable basis. And despite zero agro-chemicalfarming, and turning back on hybrid and GMO seeds, liberating farmers from the shackles ofdebt and poverty, we can have abundant and safe food for all.

We have four types of organic farming in the Philippines. The first are those practiced bythe indigenous tribes, inter-twined with their culture, customs and beliefs as the year is dividedinto various phases of the rice cycle. The indigenous agriculture is basically organic, and despiteits rituals and superstitions, it has sustained these tribes for thousands of years as they remainedisolated and not integrated into the mainstream of Philippine society. Two major waves ofcivilizations engulfed the country Islamization and Christianization, but these indigenous tribes

have maintained their cultural isolation even to these days.

Rice is also the staple of the mainstream Philippines and the second type of organicagriculture is the traditional agriculture, developed also through millennia and centuries oftraditions, basically organic in practices. This was the farming system before the GreenRevolution erased it all not only the traditions and practices, but also the varieties, the croppingcalendar, the dependency on communal spirit and working together, and all others associatedwith traditional agriculture. Even the carabao was replaced by the tractor. But we still havetraditional farmers in certain remote provinces planting traditional varieties in traditional way.


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Yield may be low but it is compensated by premium market price. The traditional varieties arearomatic, have excellent eating quality, and traditionally consumed to mark special occasions.

Despite the Green Revolution, we have remnants of traditional farmers practicing traditionalagriculture, basically organic in character.

The third type of existing organic farms in the Philippines is the large scale commercialfarms, those that would compete with the multi-national corporations and could very well affordthe cost of organic certification. They adopt modern organic practices by doing their own

breeding, fertilizer production, pesticide concoction, vertical and horizontal integration ofoperations by waste recycling as they follow biodynamic and natural farming principles. Theyare not necessarily all on the export trade, as they also focus on the increasing organic

preferences of domestic consumers. Our case studies showed a poultry business with satellite

operations in all the three major groups of islands of the Philippines, an agro-tourism site, and acoffee shop business that produces its own organically grown coffee and salad greens.

The fourth type of existing organic agriculture is the small scale subsistence organicfarms, certainly those who cannot afford the cost of organic certification; nevertheless, theyadhere to sustainable organic agricultural practices because they have proven it to be moreeconomically profitable than the conventional one. Farmers breed their own planting materialrequirements, produce their fertilizers, concoct their botanical-based pesticides, practiced

biodynamic and natural farming principles. They are into multiple cropping, diversified, andintegrated farming so that they are sufficient in their food needs, selling the excess to be able to

purchase those items needed but could not produce in the farm. These are the small time farmerswho felt they have liberated themselves from the shackles of the multi-national agro-chemicaland seed corporations. They have better income, better health, better environment. There will

be no turning back.

References

Abannag, Javelyn G., Jercica C. Annas, R. L. Boadilla, Gina P. Eral, and Shaina T. Langbis.2006. Indigenous plant knowledge and floral conservation practices in Brgy.

Balbalasang, Balbalan, Kalinga. B.S. Thesis. Benguet State University, Philippines.

Andal, Jay-Ar A., and Elbert A. Sana. 2008. Profile of Traditional Rice Cultivars and theirCulture in Nueva Vizcaya. EISRJC (E-International Scientific Research JournalConsortium). [On-line]: http://www.eisrjc.com/documents/Profile_of_Traditional_Rice_Cultivatrs_1325759608.pdf

Ara, Shihomi. 2002. Environmental Evaluation of Organic Rice: A Case Study in thePhilippines. M.S. Thesis. Department of Economcis, Kobe University, Rokkadai-cho,


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Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. [On-line]: http://www.shihomiaksoy.org/shihomi/MAThesis.pdf

Bautista, Euliro U. and Evelyn F. Javier. 2005. The Evolution of rice Production Practices.Discussion Paper Series No. 2005-14. Philippine Institute of Development Studies. 3 rd Floor, NEDA sa Makati Bldg.

Bulalacao, Lolita J. undated. Rice Culture in the Philippines: Crystallized in the NationalMuseum Collection. The Asia Rice Foundation Articles. [On-line]: http://www.asiarice .org./sections/whatsnew/othersd.html

Butic M. and R. Ngidlo. 2003. Muyong forest of Ifugao: Assisted natural regeneration in

traditional forest. In Advancinbg Assisted Natural Regeneration in Asia and the Pacific.Dugan, P.C., Durst, P.B., Ganz, D.J., and McKenzie, P.J. (eds). Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations. Bangkok, Thailand. http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/ ad466e/ad466e06.htm.

Costales, E. F. 1993.Prescribed burning. An Essential Tool in Forest Management, In TheCordillera Gangza, Volume V, No. 3. Department of Environment and NaturalResources Cordillera Administrative Region.

FAS/USDA. (2000). Philippines: Organics Market Brief, 2000. Attached report #RP0015,February 23, 2000,FAS/US Department of Agriculture. [On-line]:http://cnfoodtech.com/English/organic/Philippines.htm

Frei, M. and Becker K. 2004. Agro-biodiversity in subsistence-oriented farming systems in aPhilippine upland region: Nutritional Considerations. Biodiversity and Conservation13:1591 1610. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands.

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1Paper to be presented during the Workshop on ANSOFT-AFACI Pan-Asia Project, 18-20 October, 2012 atGwangju, Jeonnam Province, Republic of Korea.

sustainable organic farming in the ph-history and success stories

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