The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Central Philippine University (CPU) have collaborated on a series of events to raise awareness of organic agriculture as the nation celebrates Organic Agriculture Month this November.

“Our purpose is to promote the importance of organic agriculture, achieve food security, global competitiveness, environmental integrity, and alleviating poverty,” Dr. Joyce Wendam, CPU outreach program coordinator, said in an interview on Friday.

Wendam said it is important that farmers are engaged in organic farming.

They are required to devote 7 percent of their production area to organic agriculture but it is better if they go higher, she said.

“It is important that we promote the adoption of organic agriculture because of food safety, the sustainable livelihood of farmers, environmental protection, and then there is the promotion of social justice, and disaster risk and mitigating measures,” she added.

The series of activities kicked off on Nov. 18 with the opening of a trade fair, while the highlights were from Nov. 20 to 22.

They included an organic research symposium for students and professionals, an organic quiz bee for students, a folk media (binalaybay and composo) competition for farmers, a poster-making competition, and an organic cooking contest.

She said the activities engaged the students as one way of enticing them to choose agriculture.

“Our students are the successor generation. They have to succeed our aging farmers. The role of our youth is more on agri-entrepreneurship, so there will be value-adding and money in agriculture,” Wendam said.

DA Regional Agri-Fishery and Information Division chief James Earl Ogatis, meanwhile, cited the significance of the folk media competition held on Friday.

Ogatis said participants integrated organic agriculture technology practices in their songs (composo) and short poems (binalaybay).

“We have proven that through folk media, we can disseminate and our farmers will understand how to apply the technology and narrate the details of the program,” he said in his message. (PNA)