Rena S Hermoso writes “Knowing the Potentials, Limitations Of Organic Produce And Farming[1]” (17 July 2020, BusinessDiary), and it is not so-good-news:
(In) recent years, organic produce has been gaining attention from the public for its nutritional benefits and being pesticide-free. However, the public must also realize that organic produce has its own set of potentials and limitations. While it is important to know the benefits of consuming organic produce, it is also equally important to learn its limitations to mitigate its negative effects and maximize its full potential.
This is journalistic hyperbole that media serve and people relish so they buy more print copies or surf the media websites more often. That first paragraph makes it appear that organic farmers do not really care about their customers except as buyers of their farm produce.
This perceived threatto health of organic consumers is explained vaguelyby Miss Rena in these words:
Just like how pesticide residue or contamination threatens the safety of conventionally-grown produce, microbial contamination is the threat to the safety of organically-grown produce. This is primarily due to the use of animal manure in organic production. More so, microbial contamination cannot just occur during the production stage but in every stage of the handling-distribution chain.
That is based on prejudice and not from a scientific study. Miss Rena did not do enough background research on this one to know that organic fertilizers are produced only when the organic materials have decomposed completely – no plant or animal tiny or small are left alive in that converted mass, all microorganisms killed. So, how can the animal manure infect the farm produce growing in the field?
But prejudice is prejudice, and I am sure there are thousands, nay millions who share the same view, if inarticulated.
Well, if I were a farmer and wanted to make honest money from organic produce, I will avoid animal manure altogether. I will grow my food crops with organic mulchinstead. That organic mulch I will build on top of my farm like this:
Farmers hate the weeds – I love them! I will use the rotavator to plow in the weeds and crop refuse (if any) so that in one passing, the soil has been cut to tiny pieces and the vegetation has been cut to tiny pieces – and mixed together in one smooth operation. As I continue to rotavate my field, I will continue to create that organic mulch over my field. When I am done rotavating, I already have my organic fertilizer – man-made, natural.
My organic mulch should be the answer to the challenge, articulated by Dormita R Del Carmen, a University Researcher of the Postharvest Horticulture Training and Research Center, PHTRC, of UP Los Baños, as reported by Miss Rena, for organic farmers to deliver “organically-grown fruits and vegetables that have same safety, quality and shelf-life as their conventionally-grown counterpart.”
Not all organically grown farm produce are equal!@
[1]https://businessdiary.com.ph/15458/knowing-the-potentialslimitations-of-organic-produce-and-farming/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
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