Iloilo to host 4th National Organic Farming Congress
The 4th National Organic Agriculture Congress opens in Iloilo City on October 17-18, 2007 at the Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center. The theme of the Congress is "Converging Thrusts for the Organic Industry Development in the Philippines."
This event is organized by the Bureau of Agriculture and Fishery Product Standards of the Department of Agriculture (DA-BAFPS), headed by Director Gilbert Layese. The Congress is organized in cooperation with the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) chaired by Prof. Marilou Ang – Lopez, and the Panay Organic Producers Association, Inc (POPA), headed by Ms. Dawn Jamandre. ABS-CBN is the media partner for the event.
The collaborative hosting of the 4th National Organic Agriculture Conference in Iloilo City by the BAFPS, WESVARRDEC, POPA and ABS-CBN is timely and relevant for Region 6 which is known as a major producer of the organic "muscovado" sugar, organic "darag" native chicken, organic "balangon" banana chips and other organic products. The partnership also demonstrates the serious efforts of the private business and government sectors to work together for the promotion of knowledge, technologies and practices in organic farming.
The global growing demand for safe, pesticide-free and naturally-farmed products has triggered interest on natural and organic farming. Still considered as a budding sector in Philippine agriculture, nonetheless, organic food production belongs to the top ten priority sectors for revenue development in the Philippines (DTI, 2006). Thus, the Executive Order 481 aims to "promote organic agriculture development, conserve environmental resources and promote social equity and product access to foreign and domestic markets."
Participation in the Congress is by invitation only. For more information please log on to the website of the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards at http://www.bafps.da.gov.ph or call Lara or Rosemarie at (02)920-6131 or (02) 920-6133.