Ifugao town ventures in organic farming

By Daniel B. Codamon

Monday 13th of August 2012

LAMUT, Ifugao, Aug. 13 (PIA) -- This municipality has started venturing into organic agriculture and mechanized farming to boost agricultural production after having been oriented last year about Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010.

Municipal agriculturist Beda Pasay-an said they have started to implement organic farming in selected barangays of the municipality as a demonstration area for other farmers to observe, learn and follow the farming techniques such as compost and biological pest control, crop rotation, and green manure.

He said they already had started the conduct of rice technology and palay check training in Barangay Panopdopan because of its accessibility and the presence of many rice and corn farmers with a wide area of irrigated rice field ideal for said organic technology showcase.

A compost facility was also established so that the training on the production of organic fertilizer can be demonstrated and taught to the farmers. This will be followed by the purchase of certified seeds from seed banks for the planting season.

In addition, Pasay-an related that they will also engage in intensive mechanized farming to complement this organic farming and boost agricultural production in the municipality to support the ongoing construction of a food terminal which is a barangay-based food depot and distribution center that will directly link the farmers to the consumers.

He said that the farmers have already conducted a meeting to have a tractor pool program for a full blown mechanized farming in the coming months.

The success of these projects is very critical to attract and encourage other farmers to also engage in similar organic farming as it has been seen to offer the most comprehensive response to the sustainability problems facing agriculture and the food production system because it reduces external or commercial inputs such as chemo-synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals, he added.(JDP/DBC-PIA CAR, Ifugao)