Five hundred and eight farmers have been trained in the production of non-chemical based fertilizers while another 718 benefited from the establishment of techno-demo organic farms under the organic farming program initiated by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and non-government organizations (NGOs.)

In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) Director Silvino Tejada said that under the first phase of the DA’s Organic Fields Support Project, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), a national organization of small farmers headed by former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor, has teamed up with the BSWM in implementing the Development and Promotion of Organic Rice Production Program.

This project, which has an initial funding support of P1 million from the BSWM, has two components -- the training of farmer-technicians on organic fertilizer and botanical preparation and the establishment of techno-demo organic farms.

Tejada reported during a recent DA Management Committee meeting that 88 farmer-technicians from the 21 provinces covered by the project took part in three cluster training programs conducted in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The training focused on the basic concepts and practices in organic agriculture.

A total of 79 organic rice techno-demo farms with a consolidated area of 107 hectares, or an average of 1.4 hectares per farm, owned by 578 farmers in 21 provinces were established.

Most of these farms were organized during the November 2008 to January 2009 planting season, he said.

In a separate project, Tejada said the DA has also teamed up with the Centro Saka, Inc. headed by Romeo Royandoyan, in conducting training programs on organic rice farming technologies, establishment of organic rice techno-demo farms and setting up of a composting facility for the production of organic fertilizers.

A total of 11 sessions with 420 farmers as beneficiaries from 11 provinces in Mindanao were trained on organic rice farming production.

Tejada said a total of 120 hectares of techno-demo farms owned by 140 farmer beneficiaries were also established during the 2008 dry cropping season. Of these, 20 hectares are upland palay farms located in Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan.

The composting facility set up under the project is located in Tago, Surigao del Sur, managed and handled by the Surigao del Sur Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (SUFAC).

Tejada said the initiatives by the DA and NGOs have yielded a total of 508 farmers and farmers/technicians undergoing training in 14 session in 32 provinces.

The establishment of techno-demo farmers covered 225 hectares under two separate organic farming projects, benefiting a total of 718 farmers in the 32 provinces.

Last year, the DA and BWSM forged a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), La Liga Policy Institute (LLPI) and Mayor Hernani Braganza of Alaminos City in Pangasinan on the launching of the Organic FIELDS Support Program (OFSP) in six cities and towns in Luzon.

Under the MoA, the DA and BWSM will provide financial and technical support to OFSP to carry out the program’s first phase in three cities and three municipalities for the benefit of at least 600 farmers combined who will get hands-on training over a four-month period (November 2008-March 2009) on the methods involved in the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) production, Organic Fertilizer Production and Nature Fertilizer.