An organic farming system may boost Philippines’ ability in herbal drug discovery, now a worldwide boon, as the country is one of world’s 19 mega-diverse country in bio-diversity resource.

While organic farming particularly for health products or in the herbal medicine sector is not yet widely practiced, this would nurture a homegrown indigenous pharmaceuticals industry.

This is a healthful trend that is aligned with the thrust of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to support organic farming

“Organic farming is a good option in growth health-benefiting food plants,” according to the “Nurture Nature: A Key to Good Health” by Lourdes B. Cardenas of the Institute of Biological Sciences.

Cardenas said it augurs well for the Philippines to explore opportunities in food supplement, functional food, and herbal therapeutic medicine markets as this is seen to be a continuing global trend.

“In recent decades, a new role of plants was brought to fore. Plants are recognized as sources of substances (phytochemicals) for preventive medicine. This idea jibes well with the new outlook on human medicine,” Cardenas said in her paper delivered at the 10th Science Council Association (SCA) Conference.

DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said government is considering to support organic farming by providing for zero-interest credit. This will ensure farmers will plant crops and will help boost crop production to satisfy local demand and potentially international farm produce needs. A credit program for farmers will be along with a program to adequately develop a good farm insurance program.

The development of organically-grown herbal products even harmonizes with another trend called P4 Medicine which has occurred since the sequencing of the human genome, Cardenas said.

P4 stands for predictive, personalized, preventive, and participatory.

Through the sequencing of the human genome, experts are able to personalize treatment of diseases with the participation of the patient since the determination of an individual’s genes can predict for him what diseases he may likely contract in the future.

This leads to predictive and preventive medicine.

“The new field of epigenetics also indicates that factors like diet and smoking can affect the expression of genes. Some of these genes are disease-causing while others are disease-preventing,” stressed Cardenas.

Epigenetics involves the study of changes in an organism’s gene behavior based on non-genetic factors.

Organic farming may likewise support the development of drugs that are non-toxic. In the past, fast-growing herb plants have been found to be also fast in picking up heavy metal contaminants in soil water. Organic farming may be the way to prevent plants’ absorption of toxic substance.

While the country is a mega-diverse country, its bio-diversity also needs mapping and protection as the country is also an “urgent botanical hotspot” whose flora resources are depleting fast.

Another trend, Cardenas said, that is supporting the potential thrust toward plant-based drug discovery is influenced by Pharmacognosy, a study of medicines from natural sources.

This is a field of study of medicinal plants that develops preventive drugs such as nutraceuticals which in a way is already an accepted commercial field in the country. It is estimated that 250,000 flowering plants worldwide have yet to be studied for their potential as drug source. And majority of the plants believed to have medicinal value are found in tropical countries such as the Philippines.