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MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija – There is money in organic produce, and it is huge.

The global sales of certified organic products is expected by the UN Conference on Trade and Development to increase to 52 billion euros by 2012, up nearly half from the 30 billion euros in 2006, in turn a 20 percent increase over the previous year.

The major markets are North America and Europe and South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Exports from developing countries, including the Philippines, are increasing.

The attraction is that organics are priced higher, up to 150 percent more expensive than conventional products in Europe and 20 percent to 50 percent higher over non-organic products in Philippine supermarkets.

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement says that organic rice and vegetables are grown by nearly 35,000 Filipino farmers in 14,134 has. of land, with an average size of about half a hectare per farm.

While this was a significant increase over the 500 farms and 3,500 has. reported in 2004, it does not even represent 1 percent (0.12 percent) of total agricultural land.

The Philippines lags in hectares devoted to organic produce, behind China (2.3 million has.), India (528,171 has.) and Indonesia (41,431 has.).

The major issues include insufficient supply of quality organic inputs, says Dr. Fe L. Porciuncula, director of the Ramon Magsaysay Center for Agricultural Resources and Environment Studies (RM-CARES) at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU).

Technology know-how is also inadequate; farmers often do not know how to convert to organic mode; knowledge of the market is limited; and organic and conventional products mingle in the market, says Porciuncula, citing a study made by CLSU.

Organic farming is growing at 10 to 20 percent annually and is expected to hit 30 percent in a decade, according to the Organic Producers and Traders Association.

The products include rice, vegetables, herbs, muscovado sugar, banana, coconut, fruits, livestock and poultry, dairy products and fertilizers.

Growing in tandem with organic farming is the organic fertilizer industry which is expanding at 10 to 20 percent yearly, according to an estimate made by the US Department of Agriculture.

There are two types of organic fertilizers. Microbial fertilizers are made of organisms capable of increasing and fixing nutrients for plant use. Organic fertilizers are made of decomposed plants or animals with at least 20 percent organic matter.

According to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, 4,884 tons of organic fertilizers were produced and 4,689 tons were sold in 2006 by over 120 companies, most of them in Metro Manila and Luzon.

Sales are slower than production, with a big surplus recorded in 2002, usually during extensive government subsidies to chemical fertilizers to boost rice production, according to Dr. Clarita P. Aganon, former director of RM-CARES.

For sales, manufacturers and traders depend on government demand, basically from the Department of Agriculture. But government subsidies are limited to rice and corn, the farming areas of which are not expected to expand soon.

While production increased when organic fertilizer was included in a production package for rice and corn, demand did not materialize and a surplus of 9,000 tons out of 40,000 tons produced was recorded in 2005.

This confirms a study by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) that concludes farming communities are still inadequately informed of its proper application and use despite the rising popularity of organic fertilizers.

PCARRD also noted that the organic fertilizer industry is in its infancy. Major constraints are the low quality and the laborious preparation and application of compost.

Organic fertilizer remains attractive because the cost of chemical fertilizers has increased over 100 percent from 2003 to 2008, according to Aganon. A rice farmer, by using organic fertilizer and rapid composting technology, could save up to P8,000 from about P20,000 spent for chemical fertilizer per hectare per season.

Rice and vegetable farmers are the main buyers, combining organic with chemical fertilizers. Sales of organic fertilizer for rice production peak during the planting season from November to January and from May to August, with prices ranging from P140 to P280 per 50-kilogram bag.

Farmers shy away from organic fertilizer when the price is high and when they perceive a slow effect and laborious application. With low sales, many traders in turn shun the product.

Aganon also reported some cases of farmer complaints of the non-effective use of organic fertilizer. As such, it is recommended that a combination of application of microbial fertilizer and organic fertilizer is used.

"Standardization in quality and uniform pricing will benefit key players and make them more competitive," says Aganon. "The reported cases of low quality and non-effectiveness of the use of organic fertilizer, even of reduced yield and income, needs to be addressed."

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