Given Such Harvest, Given Much Income – Can Organic Farming Help Solve Farmer Poverty?

Don’t just proclaim it – prove it!

According to corporate Business Diary Philippines[1], organic farming is #1 among the "Top 100 Most Profitable Business Ideas" in the Philippines. Wow! (images: organic from LOAMC PH[2], produce from Business Diary Philippines[3])

Organic people, you have to show me, not just tell me!

Yes, I think different – I’m an original; being Ilocano, I am an original aboriginal. So, in business, I agriculturist, teacher and science writer would insist that all these are important for organic farming:

(1) Lower & sustainable costs of production: loans, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, weeding, mechanization of production.

(2) Viable markets & sustainable demands for any farm produce.

(3) Higher & sustainable yields: mechanical harvesting, threshing, drying, milling.

(4) Higher & sustainable incomes: farmer-friendly marketing & distribution.

(5) Sustainable farming: environmentally sound and socially acceptable.

This time, I will tackle only #5. In the news “Organic Agri Town Says Food Sufficiency Addresses Conflict[4]” (05 December 2019. PNA), Gail Momblan says:

The League of Organic Agriculture Municipalities, Cities, and Provinces of the Philippines… said organic agriculture can provide food sufficiency in the country which can eventually address poverty and the insurgency problem.

That is a triple-loaded statement: Heavy!

Unfortunately, Ms Gail’s news of 530 words more or less does not explain how organic farming can “provide food sufficiency,” can “address poverty” and can solve “the insurgency problem.” That is all speculation of the Organic League.

Even Leonie Agri Corp, LAC, “the country’s first and biggest certified organic farm” according to the long, almost 3,000-word report of 3 journalists – Jasper Emmanuel Y Arcalas & VG Cabuag & Dominique Nathanielle M Muli, “Organic Farming In The PHL: Leafing Behind A Chemical Future[5].” They report:

Data from the (National Organic Agriculture Program), an agency attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA), reveals that from 2011 to 2017, total organic agriculture area has hit 349,041.28 hectares, about 4.86 percent of the total agricultural area of 7,165,815.61 hectares.

LAC is one of only 39 farms that have received the Organic Good Agricultural Practices, GAP, Certification. LAC President Antonio L Causing said:

It is wrong to say that organic farming entails higher costs compared to the conventional. Organic farming is cheaper. It is not true that it has a high cost because the materials needed in organic farming are already present in the farm itself. It just takes time before a farmer gets used to it and makes a good harvest.

Question:
If organic farming has lower cost and organically grown food is healthier, why are there only 63 certified organic farms and establishments, according to the August 2019 BusinessMirror report?

Answer:
The authors of that report say that the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards says “the biggest challenge faced by independent organic growers is the expensive certification.” Organic certification costs range from P100,000 to P160,000.

So: Organic farming cannot solve the poverty of farmers because it is too expensive for them to become organic farmers in the first place!@517

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[1]https://businessdiary.com.ph/13978/top-100-most-profitable-agribusiness-ideas/

[2]http://loamc-ph.org/2019/07/22/organic-farming-types-principles-methods-and-importance/

[3]https://businessdiary.com.ph/13978/top-100-most-profitable-agribusiness-ideas/

[4] https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1087906

[5] https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/08/22/organic-farming-in-the-phl-leafing-behind-a-chemical-future/