POPA, DA hold Organic Agriculture orientation, farm tour for Iloilo media, bloggers

A seminar-forum with farm tour was recently organized by the the Panay Organic Producers Association (POPA) in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. Held at Orchard Valley Farm in Tigum Pavia, experts briefed journalists, broadcasters and bloggers about organic agriculture and its impact to the community and environment.

POPA President, Dawn Jamandre gave an overview about organic farming and about POPA. “Our organization is actively promoting organic products from Panay Island to the Ilonggos here and abroad ” she said.

"Organic agriculture is not something new to us." she said. "It is how agriculture started and we're just going back to it." When POPA started, she relays, the group has been encouraging households and farmers in Panay to shift to organic agriculture for its health and environment benefits.

The owner of Buro-Buro Springs Vermi Farm in Talisay, Negros Occidental, Pamela Henares served as the resource speaker. “Organic agriculture (and products) sustain and enhance the health of the soil, plant, animals, humans and the planet itself,” she said. She also shared how they survived the early stages their organic farm  business.

Henares also explained the many principles that guide organic farmers in the world according to the standards set by International Foundation for Organic Agriculture (IFOAM), particularly the principles of health, ecology and fairness.

Organic agriculture, she shared, also conserve natural resources, including the atmosphere and climate by reducing erosion and pollution on air, soil, and water through responsible farming practices and to work with farmers and with neighboring community to create more sustainable way of life.

A tour of Orchard Valley followed the orientation as the participants went around some portions of the 31-hectare farm. From the new coffee plantation to vegetable fields to the poultry and apiary (bees), it was a familiarization tour at the same time experiencing it first hand.

It also included a visit to the Cattle farm, where meat and dairy products are sourced. Kurobota/Berkshire pigs also are bread in the farm for their meat or for sale.

The farm has facilities for vermi composting which is being used in the farm.

Orchard Valley Farm is certified organic by the Negros Island Certification Services (NICERT).

As a commitment, participants signed a pledge of support to help promote organic agriculture, patronize organic products, and support agricultural markets and infrastructures that enable small farms to thrive.

/ with notes from The Daily Guardian