After nearly a decade of work by MASIPAG and PGS Philippines, Republic act 10068 has been amended to recognize the participatory guarantee system as a certifyig body for organic farms. This is a huge step for organic and sustianable agriculture in the country and will make this endeavor much more accesible to small scale farmers.
In years past, one of the biggest costs in starting an organic farm was the high cost of third party certification. While the original RA10068 in 2010 was designed to encourage organic farming, it’s requirement of said certification made it very unfair to smaller farmers who could not afford the nearly P100,000 per variety cost of certification.
The new system allows farmers to train and certify one another’s organic practices. With proper training and communitty, smaller scale organic farmers are now able to put the certified organic label on their products without having to pay such a steep cost.
Read more about the long journey towards this wonderful amendment here : How PGS Changed the Law on Organic Agriculture in the Philippines!