The 13th Negros Island Organic Farmers’ Festival is a continuing bid of the Negrenses for a green island and maximizes its potential in further developing the local organic agriculture industry not just in the whole province but for the entire Negros Island.
The four-day festival was started on November 28 and will run until December 1 at the Capitol Provincial grounds, Bacolod City. The four-day event was highlighted the exhibits of organic products and by-products, and showcases sustainable innovations and technologies practiced by different organic farmer-producers and advocates in the island.
Some of the lectures that were presented include the rice and coco sugar production, natural farming, organic cacao and chocolate making, food safety, black pig raising; and a lecture from Mr. Eric Drake Weinerth Jr., a farmer from Hawaii, on Nine Natural Farming Solutions and Plant Nutrient Cycle. The festival was participated by farmers’ association, producers’ group, students and academe, organic advocates, civil society organizations headed by ONOPRA, local and national government agencies, and guests from Korea and Hawaii.
The annual festival is one of the activities of the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental to aggressively campaign for organic agriculture development. According to Provincial Agriculturist, Mr. Japhet Masculino, Negros Occidental alone hosts at least 17,000 organic practitioners with about 16,000 hectares devoted to organic farming. He pointed out that greening Negros means going for healthier people, environment and economy. Through organic practices, he said, the health of the people is secured as food products they consume are free from chemicals. The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) has been campaigning for stronger organic agriculture farming as it provides a bigger opportunity for local farmers to increase their income.
source: Organic na Negros! Organic Producers and Retailers’ Association (ONOPRA)Go back