Valladolid Mayor Ricardo Presbitero Jr. is pushing for the practice of organic farming which he believes will give farmers a better chance to survive and gain profit, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist said.

At the recent graduation rites of farmers from Barangay Lacaron who attended the Farmers' Field School for Diversified Crops, Presbitero said that most of farmers in the municipality could not pay their debts because they are still using costly chemicals.

Organic farming which makes use of bio-degradable wastes will release them from their debts, he said.

He also said that organic farming is the current trend and, in the future, more and more people will consume organic food. He also asked the farmers to share the new farming approach with their fellow farmers, the OPA said.

The FFS was conducted for five months by the National Irrigation Administration under the Bago River Irrigation System Rehabilitation and Improvement Project with funding support from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Collaborators and trainors came from the Municipal Agriculture Office headed by Giovannie Robles and the OPA headed by Igmedio Tabianan.

Japanese consultant Tsuneo Amano of Taiyo Consultants Co., Ltd. of Japan also attended the graduation rites.

The FFS provided hands-on training in the cultivation of high-value vegetables such as cabbage, sweet pepper, eggplant, pole sitao, and other crops using organic farming technology, the OPA added.*

back to top