Organic farming advocates on Monday called for an effective support system among local government units and the private sector to help promote organic farming and boost countrywide rural development while promoting better health and environmental sustainability.

Efren Moncupa, lead convenor of Go Organic! Philippines, said institutional support from LGUs as well as the private sector, particularly rural banks and other credit financing institutions, is necessary to promote environment-friendly farming.

Moncupa, a former agrarian reform undersecretary, said such support system can be in the form of technical assistance and subsidies for seeds, organic fertilizers and organic pesticides, or by offering low interest rates on loans, credits and financing to encourage farmers to shift from conventional to organic farming.

"For farmers to shift from conventional farming to organic farming, LGUs and private sector need to provide adequate support," Moncupa said.

Rural banks and other financing institutions, on the other hand, can offer low interest rates on loans to allow farmers to cultivate idle land that remain uncultivated because of lack of capital, he said.

This was echoed by Jaime Tadeo, President of Paragos-Pilipinas and spokesperson of Go Organic! Philippines, who said farmers will be only be encouraged to shift to organic farming "if and only if" adequate government and private sector support are available.

Organic farming, Moncupa said, benefits not only to farmers in terms of income but also consumers in terms of better health and environment.

With organic farming, there is a substantial reduction in chemical inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides that pollutes the air, soil and water, he said, adding that LGUs can promote environmental sustainability by supporting the practice.

An expert from the International Rice Research Institute predicted that another rice crisis is expected to hit poor Asian countries like the Philippines because of the global financial crisis, and it would mean hunger and poverty in rural communities could worsen.

The Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Soils and Water Management launched last year the Organic Field Support Program to promote organic farming in the Philippines.

Go Organic! Philippines, a consortium of non-government organizations and advocates led by the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement and the La Liga Policy Institute, is taking the lead in implementing Phase I of OFSP in preparation for the conversion of 10 percent of 1.9 million hectares of rice fields into organic farm sites by 2010.