AT LEAST 500 hectares of agricultural land are expected to be developed for organic farming once the partnership between the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) of Negros Occidental and Central Philippine State University (CPSU) in Kabankalan City will be finalized.
This welcome development came after Negros Occidental Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino met with CPSU President Dr. Aladino Moraca regarding a scheme which is expected to boost the organic agriculture industry in the entire province.
Under the proposed scheme, Masculino says they will be tapping the parents of the current students who are recipients of the P20,000 per semester incentives being provided by the national government.
“These students are actually the children of the beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or the 4Ps. So instead of directly giving their allowances, we are studying the possibility of utilizing the fund for promoting organic farming – either crops or livestock,” Masculino explained.
On the other hand, it was learned from Moraca that the CPSU now has more than 1,000 student-recipients under the program, where around 90 percent of these students are children of farmers.
It is estimated that around P52 million will be needed to implement the project which is expected to propel the organic agriculture program of the provincial government.
Under the proposed scheme, the parents of the student-beneficiaries will be cultivating their respective farms using the allowances of their children for the purchase or development of organic farm inputs.
Following the proposed intervention, Masculino pointed out that this will ensure that the incentives provided by the government will be utilized productively and in order.
The scheme is also expected to contribute largely to expand the organic agriculture production areas in the entire province of Negros Occidental.
“Once implemented, the scheme has the possibility to provide an additional 500 hectares of land which will be devoted to organic farming,” he says.
“Even if some 200 hectares will be converted initially, it will definitely be a good start,” he added.
In an effort to fast-track the realization of the project, the Negros Occidental OPA under Masculino and the CPSU-Kabankalan under the energetic leadership of Moraca are now working closely to finalize the scheme, which is targeted to commence during the second cropping season of 2019.
The partnership between OPA and the CPSU will be an added driving force since the provincial government of Negros Occidental, under the leadership of newly-elected Governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson, is exerting efforts to boost the organic agriculture industry in the province.
It can be recalled that Negros Occidental has long been advocating organic agriculture while many parts of the country remain unwilling to embrace the practice due to different misconceptions which are directly associated with organic practices, like hardships in implementing the method, and the supposed need for large monetary investments.
Despite the supposed higher premiums on organic products, conventional farming can actually be more expensive in terms of the hidden effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used by many commercial farmers in cultivating their farmlands. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
