RECOGNIZING the need to shift to a more environment-friendly food production model, four local government units (LGUs) are set to institutionalize funding support to promote organic farming in the province of Pangasinan.

Alaminos City Mayor Hernani A. Braganza, Bani Mayor Marcelo Navarro, Burgos Mayor Alberto Guiang and Dasol Mayor Noel Nacar recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) committing funding support for the Organikong Palayan Pangasinan project.

A partnership project between the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit 1, the four LGUs and La Liga, Organikong Palayan promotes the shift to sustainable organic and ecological agriculture, essentially helping farmers veer away from agro-chemical agriculture.

La Liga Managing Director Roland Cabigas said the failed promises of the prevailing agricultural model that is heavily dependent on agro-chemicals necessitates such commitment and support from no less than the local chief executives.

Organikong Palayan Pangasinan is consistent with the food staple-sufficiency goals of the DA and President Aquino’s Agri-Pinoy program, Cabigas said. Organic farming has been part of Alaminos City’s priority programs.

Braganza said organic farming offers a solution to the woes of resource-poor farmers whose income and capacity to do business in agriculture is limited by the skyrocketing cost of petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides.

Alaminos City farmers, he said, are convinced that organic farming helps protect the environment and the natural resources crucial to the city’s tourism industry. Alaminos is home to the Hundred Island National Park, which is attracting more and more local and foreign tourists. 

Bani is batting to become a model “Green City by 2020” and is promoting organic farming as a key strategy. 

Burgos is anchoring its hope on the season-long training component of the project to boost farmers’ income through organic-fertilizer production. 

Dasol wants its pristine water protected for its salt industry, aside from making farming economically viable.

Nacar, who is currently president of the  League of Mayors in Pangasinan, urged his fellow local chief executives in the province to initiate similar programs as a way of offering farmers alternative ways of doing business in agriculture.

Organikong Palayan Pangasinan was set in motion during simple rites, led by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and DA Region 1 Executive Director Renato A. Maguigad, as part of the strategy to attain food and staple sufficiency within the term of President Aquino.