Tublay Organic Farming Coop In Benguet Makes History – “1st Accredited Organic Certifying Body For The Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) In The Philippines”

Singularly, I am the only blogger bragging about organic farming, and now I am the first agriculturist-writer fan of Benguet’s Tublay Organic Farming Coop, the first organic farming certifying body in the country. Upland organic is tops! (Lowland organic, where are you?)

The news comes 16 May 2022 via DA-CAR Press Release 22-60 (c/o Anita Page) on the Tublay Organic Coop Facebook page:

Tublay Organic Practitioners Named The 1st Accredited PGS Organic Certifying Body In The Philippines

Today marks a historic milestone for Tublay Organic Farming Practitioners Agriculture Cooperative (TOFPA Coop) as five of its members were awarded the first accreditation certificate in the Philippines as an Organic Certifying Body (OCB) under the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). The awarding ceremony was held at the New Conference Hall of the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) on 16 May 2022.

The five newly accredited core PGS members are Agnes F Duyao, Anita T Sinakay, Ben S Domingo, Concepcion M Sotero, and Esco C Buslay. They mainly produced upland vegetables, roots and fruit crops.
(Images from Tublay Organic Coop Facebook page, Facebook.ocm)

(Side comment: There are 3 females and 2 males among the 5 core members of the organic certifying body – that tells me ladies are more conscious & conscientious of the many benefits of organic farming!)

The accreditation signifies that the five core PGS members can now certify their farmer-members following the Philippine National Standards. This will be an alternative certification option for small organic farmers and [fisherfolk].

Note: The organic accreditation by the PGS is very much cheaper than that by 3^rd party certification.

On the same occasion, also at the DA CAR headquarters in Guisad, Baguio City, was the awarding of 40 Certified GAP Farms in Benguet Province. (This GAP is Good – GAP is acronym for Good Agricultural Practices.)

My congratulations also to the DA-CAR and Jeff Dulay Sotero, Municipal Agriculturist of Tublay.

Up to now, 3^rd Party Certification of Organic Farming is very expensive – with this 1^st Organic Certifying Body, we will see that the cheaper the farming, the better for the soil, the crop, the farmer, and the climate!

To review our science:

Chemical agriculture (CA) with its fertilizers and pesticides robs the natural richness and health of the soil and crops, as well as generate greenhouse gases (GHGs). CA is agriculture at the expense of the farmers and food consumers, not to mention the environment!

Organic agriculture (OA), with its natural fertilizers and pesticides, regenerates the natural richness and health of the soil and crops, and does not generate GHGs. OA is food producer-friendly, food consumer-friendly, and climate friendly.

(For more, see my essay, “Every Single Day Would Be World Health Day If We Made Our Soils Healthy First, According To Frank A Hilario – The Healthy 7 Of Regenerative Organic Agriculture!” 08 April 2022, Towards A New Eden, Blogspot.com.)

Tublay Organic Farming Coop, you have turned learning upside down – we lowlanders will now have to learn from you uplanders good farming!@517