FORMER Agrarian Reform secretary Horacio “Boy” Morales Jr. said there are clear social and economic opportunities in undertaking sustainable, organic ecological agriculture or “SOE,” particularly in the poultry and livestock subsectors, with the increasing global demand for healthier food.

Speaking before some 300 veterinary practitioners during the 39th Veterinary Practitioners Association of the Philippines Annual Scientific Conference held at the H2O Hotel at the Luneta Park in Manila on Friday, Morales, president of the La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga), said animal doctors can contribute greatly in revitalizing the agriculture sector by helping the country carve a niche in the fast-growing local and global organic-food market.

Morales said the passage of the Organic Agriculture Law is one of the most recent “exciting” developments in Philippine agriculture, which, he said, should be able to pave the way for the shift from conventional to a more environment-friendly food-production practices.

He noted that the current thrusts of administration of the Department of Agriculture, led by Sec. Proceso Alcala, through the Agrikulturang Pinoy or AgriPinoy program, is heading toward such direction.

Alcala is an organic-farming practitioner himself.

In partnership with several nongovernmental organizations, academe, local governments and farmer organizations, La Liga implemented a national program to promote an organic farming and lifestyle called Organic FIELDS Support Program, under the banner of Go Organic! Philippines. 

 The organic-food market in the Philippines is still small, but it is nevertheless growing fast, Morales said.

According to Morales, the organic-food market is estimated to be around $30 million. The export market, he said, shows a growing potential with market size estimated at over 2$ billion, mainly in the US, the EU and Japan,” Morales said.

“For me, a clear policy and program shift toward sustainable, organic and ecological agriculture is a strategic move toward revitalizing our flailing agriculture industry, and a broad strategy for growth and development in the sector,” he said.

Apart from contributing to agricultural productivity, SOE agriculture also minimizes the health risks of farmers repeatedly exposed to toxic and hazardous materials resulting from conventional chemical-intensive farming practices, he said.

Morales said making available agricultural products from SOE agricultural practices also promotes overall food and nutrition security of the country, citing, for instance, a shift to unpolished rice can have an immediate impact on the rice stock, consequently boosting the achievement of the rice self-sufficiency targets of the country.

With SOE farming and production systems combined with traditional and indigenous farmers’  practice and knowledge, the coping and adaptive capacity of farms in building resilience to climate-related impacts can be increased and the vulnerability and risks can be spread and minimized, Morales added.

To promote on a nationwide scale the shift to sustainable agriculture, the necessary package of public investments must be made available, policy tools implemented and appropriate incentives provided to farms, whether small or commercial, and to agriculture practitioners who will undertake the shift to SOE agriculture, as well as incentive mechanisms for SOE product wholesalers, retailers, buyers and consumers, he said.