Sitio Civoleg, Barangay Lunotan, GINGOOG CITY--- To effectively implement one of the extension activities needed in support to the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, a Training of Trainers (TOT) on Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) was conducted recently to serve as an avenue of opportunity for small and medium farmers who want a sustainable and environment-friendly organic produce and practice through PGS. It is a locally-focused quality assurance system which is developed and practiced by people engaged in organic agriculture. It is built on a foundation of trust, social network and knowledge exchange used to certify producers and farmers as actual and active practitioners of organic agriculture.
The Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 or Republic Act No.10068 is a legislation aimed at the promotion of organic agriculture in the country, with the goal to make organic produce more accessible and affordable, by having the government fully subsidize their international certification for a year.
In accordance with this act, the Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center X (ATI-RTC X) recently conducted the Training of Trainers (TOT) on Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) which aims to enable farmers, and Agricultural Extension Workers (AEW) to establish their PGS, and operate in their respective city and municipality, consistent with the organic agriculture standards and corresponding technical regulations. The City Agriculture Office (CAO), organic farm practitioners from Gingoog City, and LGU Claveria’s AEW participated in the training held at the Lorenz International Skills Training Academy (LISTA) in Gingoog City.
"Thank you, ATI, for conducting this activity here in our city, usa sa mga priorities nato ang agriculture. To create a PGS office for the benefit of the members of the organization and to provide them with a resourceful information corner is what we intend to do. Through this training, we hope that everyone in attendance should learn everything they need to know, and apply it to their individual farms”, City Agriculturist Miriam dela Plaza said during the opening program, as she welcomed the attendees, resource persons, and facilitators.
Partnership and Accreditation Services (PAS) Chief and Senior Agriculturist Javier P. Andalan, who is also the training facilitator and resource person, gave the overview of the training course and covered Module 1: Organic Agriculture Act, its Amendments, and the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR).
The National List of Permitted Substances for Organic Agriculture (Session 1–10) and Module 2: Organic Agriculture Standards were the topics covered by Marnie Suarez of DA-RFO 10 on the second and third training days. The participants afterwards participated in a number of workshop sessions where they presented their findings regarding the correct labeling of products and their purposes.
On day four and five, the presentation of Module 3: (Establishment and Operations of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)) (Session 1-7) was discussed by Engr. Irene D. Santiago of DA-RFO 10 and Javier P. Andalan in a stand-in capacity. They discussed the key components, features, characteristics, internal standards, roles, and regulations, as well as the sealing evidence of organic marks which adheres to the requirements of the relevant current Philippine National Standard (PNS).
A series of workshop sessions followed which enabled the participants to assess their abilities and skills in developing their own PGS standards, as well as the range of capabilities they have developed, including leadership and communication skills. (written and submitted by: Joebert Apdian, Technical Support Staff)
