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LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Farmer-entrepreneur Ardan Copas grew up
in Buguias, Benguet, the country’s tropical vegetable capital, where
chemicals have long been used as quick fixes for crop growth and
diseases. Now, he seeks to break free from chemical dependence
in farming.
“I would say my eyes were finally opened and I’m now enlightened
on the wisdom of organic farming,” Copas says. Only in his 20s, Copas was one of 17 farmers, entrepreneurs,
academics and government employees who on June 30
graduated with a certificate in practical organic agriculture,
a three-month course at the Benguet State University (BSU)
in La Trinidad town. Copas and the other graduates belonged to the first batch
to finish a nine-module course, which covers introduction to
organic farming and farm entrepreneurship, composting
and soil management techniques, organic farm design and
technologies, crop production strategies, pest management,
post-harvest handling, advanced farm entrepreneurship,
and organic certification systems. Trainers included organic farming advocate-practitioners
from the BSU and organic farmers’ groups, such as the
La Trinidad Organic Producers, Benguet Net and the
Cordillera Organic Agriculture Development Council. After completing the course, Copas embarked on a
2,000-square-meter farm in Natubleng, Buguias,
where he plans to produce organically grown lettuce
and other vegetables. Copas’ family spent P2 million
to build two 1,000-square meter greenhouses. If he succeeds, Copas hopes his farm would help wean
other farmers in Buguias from chemical farming. The use of excessive chemicals and monocropping,
or the practice of growing only one crop all year round,
has reportedly caused new diseases such as club root
(a fungal disease in the roots of cabbage), bacterial wilt
(another disease in cabbage and other leafy vegetables),
and pest resistance to even the most potent pesticide. Quick fixes Ever since it became a multimillion-peso venture, the
vegetable industry in Benguet and nearby Mt. Province
has been caught in a “circle of poison,” where farmers
spray pesticides or fungicides for every plant pest or disease. But by resorting to poison, the farmers lost friendly
animals and insects that prey on pests. A study by the University of the Philippines at
Los Baños in the 1980s found that frogs, which
prey on insects, no longer existed in the rivers
and springs of Buguias as these have become
contaminated with pesticides. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dr. Charles Cheng of
the Baguio Filipino-Chinese General Hospital,
and researcher Katherine Bersamira studied
the health and environment hazards of
pesticides in the vegetable district in Benguet. Their conclusion: The volume of pesticides
and fungicides poured into Benguet’s vegetable
pot in a year, if used in a biological warfare,
is enough to kill the total population of the country. In their 152-page study, Cheng and Bersamira
said that in 1992, Benguet vegetable farmers
used 124,933 liters of pesticides, 158,384
kilograms of fungicides, and 216,000 bags
of chemical fertilizers, with a total value of
P165,118,789. Health problems They also noted pesticide-related health problems
of farmers, such as itchy skin, dry lips, watery and
itchy red eyes that last for days, abdominal and
chest pains, muscle cramps, appetite loss, dizziness,
nose bleeding and irregular and discolored nails. Local and agriculture officials then sought to
downplay the researchers’ findings, fearing
that these would damage the vegetable industry. Fearing an adverse implication on their profits,
agrochemical firms launched information campaigns,
telling farmers about the judicious use of pesticides
and saying that the reported health hazards
of pesticide were due to improper handling. Despite the reported education drives in recent
years on the proper use of pesticides and on what
agriculture technicians call “integrated pest
management,” the volume of pesticides and
other chemicals flowing into Benguet’s vegetable
district has remained high. Citing a study, Prof. Jose Balaoing, who heads
the BSU’s soil science department, says
120,000 liters of pesticides and 154,000
kg of fungicides were used in Benguet’s
vegetable farms in 2007. He says 500 to 600 kg of chemical fertilizers
have been used in every hectare of farm.
This volume, he says, is an overdose because
240 kg are enough for a hectare. Voice in the wilderness Aware of the health and environmental hazards
of chemical farming, Balaoing in 1990 asked BSU
officials to support him in launching an organic
farming program. “But at that time I was told
there was no future in organic farming,” he says,
recalling that his advocacy was practically a
voice in the wilderness. Despite the unpopularity of organic farming
even within BSU in the 1990s, he persisted. But though his advocacy was not readily
embraced in his own university then,
Balaoing has been invited to train farmers
in other provinces such as Camarines Sur
and Cotabato, which saw promise in
organic farming. He was thus glad that the BSU finally
launched its new certificate course in
practical organic farming 18
years after he proposed it. “This course is actually overdue,” he says. | 
