Cebu organic farmers need produce to be certified

Efforts to set up a local independent body to certify organic products in Cebu is under way by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and the Department of Agriculture.

This is needed for local farmers to market effectively their produce in major food and hotel establishments in Cebu, where there’s a big demand for pesticide-free vegetables and fruits.

Nestor Archival, CCCI vice president for external affairs, said the chamber already started discussing this project with agriculture officials in October when they launched the Go Organic Fair at the Cebu International Convention Center.

Farmers can’t label their produce “organic” for lack of official certification, which is required by major food and hotel establishments.

However, it’s costly to secure certification from the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP) in Manila when farmers aren’t ready yet to invest in a big scale.

Cebu hotels end up sourcing their requirements for fresh lettuce and other vegetables and fruits outside Cebu.

Archival said this was a big opportunity loss for the local farmers here.

“There is a huge demand just here in Cebu will all the restaurants and hotels that we have here. They need organic vegetables and fruits for their salads and they usually just source outside because while we have organic products here, they are not certified,” said Archival.

“With the creation of the accreditation body, we can encourage more farmers to grow organic produce and create a new industry in Cebu,” he said.

Archvial, an advocate of eco-friendly farming, grows his own vegetables, fruits and farm animals in his home in barangay Talamban, Cebu City.

Archival said the CCCI and its partners will push the certification body project aggressively next year and hope to have it ready by by 2013.

He cited the Agriculture Department’s role in the effort under Republic Act 10068.

“Under that law, DA is mandated to help us until 2013, so we have to do this now or we’ll have no choice but to get certification from other certifying bodies, which would cost more,” he said.

“If we can have the certifying body created, we can expect cheaper certification because DA will assist us,” he said.

The Cebu city government and the Cebu provincial government have set aside land for demo farms for organic farming.

Archival said at least P300,000 is needed to set up the demo farms and paperwork needed for the creation of the certification body.

“For this we need to loop some funding from DA. According to Gil Carandang of DA, a 1,000- square-meter lot is enough for a demo farm showing organic practices in growing vegetables, fruits and farm animals like goats, chickens and ducks,” said Archival.

Archival said the creation of the certifying body will just be the start of CCCI’s efforts in promoting organic farming in Cebu under their Cebu Organic Movement initiative.

“That’s where we want to start and the rest will easily follow after,” Archival said.