Anna Leigh B.

Bambico II-BSAM
MST4-DEBATE

Motion:
“Organic Farming is a better solution to the problem of food insecurity in
the Philippines than conventional farming.”

GOVERNMENT:
1st speaker:

Food insecurity
Food insecurity is a situation that exists when people lack secure access to
sufficient food for a healthy life. It may be caused by the unavailability of food,
insufficient purchasing power or the inappropriate distribution or inadequate use of
food at the household level.

66% of the total number of poor in the Philippines works in agriculture,

fishery and forestry sectors. 68% of the people in the rural areas are poor, while
only 34% of the urban residents are poor. The Philippine National Statistics Board
estimated that one out of five of all Filipinos could not afford to feed themselves.

Based on the Notes on Poverty in the Philippines, 2002 Edition by Clarence

Henderson, 20th August 2002, Nationwide, one can compare the 1997 poverty
incidence rates of 21.5% in urban areas to the 50.7% rate in rural areas. The rural
poor are almost all landless. The landless farm workers account for about 15% in
the Philippines. Farmers experienced landlessness because most of the lands that
were intended for farming were used in building different infrastructures. That’s
why we don’t have enough land used in farming and the production of food is not
sufficient for all of us.

Organic Farming
Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on the techniques such as crop
rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil
productivity and control pests on a farm.

no synthetic fertilizers, pro pwede ang natural fertilizers such as sulfur....

pwede pud ma fertilizer ang mga microorganisms sa manure
no gmo sa organic farming

According to the Conference on International Agricultural Research for

Development organic agriculture in the Philippines has been described to be in its
emergent or incipient phase or, “in its infancy stage”. President Arroyo has signed into law
Republic Act (RA) 10068, the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, which provides for the development and
promotion of organic agriculture in the country through a comprehensive program to be executed by a
newly created National Organic Agricultural Board (NOAB).

The law is a state policy to promote, propagate and further develop the practice of organic
farming in the Philippines which is expected to increase farm productivity; reduce environmental
degradation and prevent the depletion of natural resources; further protect the health of farmers,
consumers and the general public; and help cut expenses on imported farm inputs.
Gmo(genetically modified organisms) -example, crop A kay daghan xa maproduce
pero masakiton kaau...dali lang ma sumthing sa mga pests.. tas si crop B kay
gamay au ang ma produce pero healthy pud lageh..dili daun matablan sa mga
pests... ipang interchange ila mga genes para maka produce og hybrid..na daghan
og gna produce pero helthy pud.

Advantages: environment
Organic farming is better than the conventional farming because:

It maintains the life of the soil, not only for the current generations but
also for the future generations. It is obtained intelligently by rotating crops. It is also
by recycling and composting crop wastes and animal manures, right soil cultivation
at the right time, crop rotation and etc.

Water pollution is reduced in organic farming. Most of the times after it

rains, the water from the fields, which contain chemicals, gets drained into the
rivers. This pollutes the water bodies. In organic farming, since no chemicals or
synthetic are used, water pollution reduces as well.

Biodiversity, The frequent use of under-utilized species (often as rotation

crops to build soil fertility) reduces erosion of agro-biodiversity, creating a healthier
gene pool - the basis for future adaptation. Research into Organic Agriculture
practices has shown that organic systems have the potential to support biodiversity
conservation through increasing the number and variety of wild species found on
farms, supporting high levels of agro-biodiversity, maintaining healthy soils.

Organic Agriculture has been proven to be an effective method for

conserving biodiversity, but more needs to be done to realize this advantage,
including: Support from governments and donors for Organic Agriculture as a policy
for biodiversity.

Organically grown food tastes better too and the nutritional value of
food is largely a function of its vitamin and mineral content.

It also helps in building richer soil by intelligently rotating crops. Since, it

is a rich soil then it shows that the rate of soil erosion is reduced drastically.

Organically grown plants are more droughts tolerant. Organic matter also
increases the soil's ability to take in water during rainfall events, assuring that more
water will be stored.

Control pests, and diseases: By careful planning and crop choice, the use
of resistant crops, good cultivation practice, encouraging useful predators that eat
pests and using natural pesticides. The use of varieties of crop species that are
resistant to pests and diseases. If the crop species has genetically based variations
of tolerance to the pest or disease, then resistant varieties can be developed using
standard breeding techniques.