GANDARA, Samar – Compliance to organic standards must be ensured to make certain that products indeed are organic as marketed. DA RFO 8 with ATI RTC 8 has been pushing for farmer associations to become an Organic Certifying Body under the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). For ATI, it has been capacitating its participants on the establishment and operation of PGS groups consistent with the organic agriculture standards and corresponding technical regulations.
IFOAM defines Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) as locally focused quality assurance systems. They certify producers based on active participation of stakeholders and are built on a foundation of trust, social networks and knowledge exchange.
Forging on with the objectives for the organic agriculture industry in region, 5 individual farms from the members of ONE-SAMAR AGRO ORGANIC PRACTITIONER, INC. (ONE-SAOP) in Gandara were pre-evaluated and inspected by the Bureau of Agriculture and Fishery Standards (BAFS) technical staff, DA-RFO 8 Regulatory personnel and OA Focal Person, and ATI OA Point Person on June 25-28, 2022. The objective of the pre-inspection was to check the percentage of compliance of the farmer on the organic standard and to give technical advice if there is a non-compliance.
Divided into 2 teams, the pre-inspectors started the activity with an opening meeting with the involved farmers. It was followed by field visitation in which farmers where asked about pest management, soil fertility, and other factors. Checking of storage and preparation areas to make sure everything meets the organic requirements were also part of the pre-inspection. Verifying records on farming activities and relative documents that support the organic farming practices was also done. Afterwards, a closing meeting was done where technical advisories and suggestions for improvement also given.
According to the BAFS, the group got 35 major NCs, 5 Minor NCs, and 3 observations, the least among the pre-inspected groups in the country. Mostly of them are for improvements on farm recordings and signage. The 5 individual farms committed themselves to comply on or before the 2nd week of August, 2022.
Looking forward for the application of the PGS group as Organic Certifying Body within the end of the 3rd quarter, the whole team is very positive for the success of the five farmers, namely: Hon. Capt. Dennis Martin, Leonilo Sumalabe Jr., Eddie Reyes, Jonathan Alejan, and Romeo Velarde.
