DA to give incentives to ‘organic’ farmers

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering giving farmers who switch to organic farming extra perks to encourage them to contribute to the country’s growing number of advocates of non-traditional methods of agriculture.

“We are looking at giving tax incentives to farmers,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said in an interview at the sidelines of the agri-related events, the 3rd Climate Change and Agriculture Summit (CCAS) and the 14th National Organic Agriculture Congress (NOAC) held here on Tuesday, October 24.

He said farmers who are now adapting organic agricultural practices must also be extended with all kinds of support from the government, including the provision of equipment and tools necessary to increase their yields.

“Our farmers need more information, more technology, more support because it’s not easy to shift from traditional to organic method of farming,” Piñol said.

He said organic agriculture is slowly gaining ground in the country as people are now more aware of the food they eat and preference for safe and healthy produce is now becoming the norm.

According to DA, the total land area devoted to organic agriculture as of December 2016 is now 349,041 hectares out of the 9.671 million hectares of the country’s total agricultural land.

The agency also reported that about 525,863 metric tons of organically grown products were produced by 116,558 famers and were distributed to 106 local and foreign destinations, as of last December.

At the CCAS, Piñol has assured farmers the Agriculture department will give them the assistance based on their needs.

He said the agency will release the funds and it’s up to the farmers to make the necessary purchases according to their own specifications.

“We will give them the money, and they can buy the kind of equipment they need,” he said, adding this approach is more practical. In this Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, photo, a retailer arrange her black garments in honor of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)