Organic agriculture practitioners in the province of Quirino are now working for the accreditation of their two newly organized Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) groups to improve their produce and provide assurance to consumers regarding the integrity of their product.

This is the offshoot of the 10-day Training of Trainers on Participatory Guarantee System conducted by the Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center 02 in partnership with Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 02 and Office of Senator Cynthia Villar. It was held on March 13-24 at the DA- Quirino Experiments Station, Aglipay, Quirino.

There were 22 organic agriculture practitioners and implementers who successfully finished the training course.

The 10-day training is composed of 5 modules with break-out sessions/group activities. The participants were oriented on the implementing rules and regulations of the Organic Agriculture Act as amended by RA 11511 on PGS and on the current Philippine National Standards for organic agriculture.

The participants were able to know the requirements and procedures for accreditation of PGS group and the conduct of peer review and certification protocols.

Initially the participants formed two groups—PGS DACS for the municipalities of Diffun, Aglipay, Cabarroguis, and Saguday and PGS COA (Community of Organic Agriculture) for Maddela and Nagtipunan.

The two PGS groups were able to prepare their Internal Standards and operational Manual, and conducted a hands-on activity on field inspection.

In 2020, the Republic Act No. 11511 or the Act Amending RA 10068 (Organic Agriculture Act of 2010) was enacted to recognize the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) as an option for organic certification.

The ATI-RTC 02 and DA-RFO 02 DA Cagayan Valley is conducting series of TOT on PGS to capacitate the AEWs and farmer-leaders of the region on the establishment and operations of PGS groups consistent with the organic agriculture standards and corresponding technical regulations.