Senate okays Villar's bill on certification cost for organic produce
Saying more Filipinos should have access to healthy and safe farm products, Sen. Cynthia Villar has pushed for a system of organic products certification which small farmers can also afford. In defending the Committee Report amending Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, the Committee on Agriculture and Food said "farmers find the cost of third party certification with the tag price ranging from 42,000 to 150,000 per crop, valid for only one year to be exorbitant." "This amount is way beyond the purse of small farmers who have the perennial problem to access even a small capital for production. Only rich farmers or corporations can afford third party certification. The provision has become a deterrent and a disincentive for small farmers comprising a large percentage of the farming population," Villar said. Villar authored Senate Bill 1911 which proposes the establishment of the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) as an alternative to thi...