#JuanOrganiko

Let's wrap up the year together! MASIPAG Mindanao looks back on the inspiring stories and significant highlights of the important work small farmers have collectively done in 2024 to promote a fair, sustainable, resilient, and people-centered farming system.

This year's International Day of Rural Women, listen to MASIPAG women in rural communities as they bring experiences from the field in promoting agroecology, their challenges, and inspiring stories of empowerment.

With Special guests Patrick Dela Cueva and Prof. Kim Gargar.

1. Negligible beta carotene content – The current version of the Golden Rice, GR2E contains a negligible amount of beta-carotene (from 3.57 ug/g to 22 ug/g), which the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) also acknowledged, making the product useless in addressing Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in contrast to existing and readily available food sources. Already minimal, Golden Rice’s beta-carotene was also found to degrade quickly after harvesting, storing, and processing, such as milling and even cooking unless the farmers vacuum-pack and refrigerate the GM rice. Farmers from developing countries, however, do not seal or store the paddy rice in vacuum packs, which will make the product more expensive. Electricity also remains scarce in remote farming communities so refrigerating the harvest is unrealistic bordering on the absurd.
2. No meaningful safety tests have been done – Even as the Golden Rice has been approved in the Philippines, there has been no testing done to ascertain if it is safe for human consumption. Meanwhile, the aforementioned beta-carotene degradation may result in toxic compounds causing oxidative stress damage which might lead to cancer. Dr. David Schubert of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA and Dr. Michael Antoniou of King’s College London, state that “there have never been short nor, more importantly, long-term safety testing in laboratory animals (of Golden Rice) and this must be done for several generations in rats to determine if it causes birth defects, which we consider a serious possibility.”
3. Contamination of other rice varieties and wild relatives of rice – Field trials conducted so far have only looked at the agronomic traits of Golden Rice, and not its long-term effects on the environment, including its possible effects on the genetic diversity of the thousands of rice varieties being cared for by small scale farmers and indigenous peoples. While rice is a self-pollinating crop, cross-contamination is still inevitable Contamination can also occur through seed mixing. Such contamination has already happened in the US with the Liberty Link rice scandal back in 2006 that caused US farmers millions of dollars in losses because of the inadvertent contamination of the yet unapproved GM rice.
4. Safer sources of beta-carotene – Being some of the mega-diverse countries, vegetables and fruits that are high in beta-carotene are found in abundance in the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and other target countries for Golden Rice. These foods are available and accessible for people, and contain much higher levels of beta-carotene than Golden Rice.

The worsening land-grabbing and land conversion cases, liberalization of agricultural commodities and increasing control of corporations over agriculture and food, however, are preventing farmers and their communities from having access to these safe and nutritious foods. In developing countries, the challenges described above remain the main culprit of food insecurity and malnutrition. Both the development of biofortified crops like Golden Rice for solving health issues and corporate-led projects in agriculture as ways to ensure food security represents a worrisome push for top-down and anti-diversity approaches to food and health that will ultimately undermine people’s capacities to strengthen their local food systems. By emphasizing dependence on just a few market-based crops biofortification actually promotes a poor diet with little nutritional diversity

Golden Rice is a failed and useless product, and that is why we continue to resist and oppose it. Time and again, huge agrochemical companies, philanthrocapitalists, and pseudo-public agencies have done everything in their power to deny the people’s right to participate in decisions about their food and agriculture. Already, zinc and iron GM rice and thirty other GM rice are in the pipeline, with Golden Rice serving as the Trojan Horse to lure the people into social acceptance and false security.

In line with Green Action Week, Juan Organiko and special guest, Dr. Rose Sambo will discuss the antithesis practiced by organic farmers - Diversified and Integrated farming.

Livestock plays a very crucial role in the natural systems of organic farms. Together with the crop components of organic farms, it helps the natural food-producing machine keep going, helping boost the incomes of resource-poor farmers.

Listen as in this episode, we will be talking about Masipag's guide to the cultural management practices of Organic paddy rice.

In this episode, we will be talking about its importance and how small farmers and producers can improve their local seed diversity by trying out these practical seed-saving tips given by Arnulfo Palma, Organic Farmer and Farm Manager of Imulayan Organic Resource Center. 

This year's theme talks about sustainable consumer and plastic wastes. In this episode, we will talk about how organics can help curb plastic pollution by enhancing local production all the way to ensuring consumer rights by highlighting the importance of the organic seal!

Check this out!

Our guest is Anita Morales, an organic farmer, woman leader, and executive director of the non-profit METSA Foundation.

Nay Nena, as we fondly call her, believes that the involvement of more women in organic agriculture will be a vital component in our drive towards a more sustainable future. Kol-os Ning Bi Libo - Women possess unique strength.  

In the Philippines, thousands upon thousands of agricultural lands have been planted with GM Corns. Used primarily as livestock feed, unfortunately, several communities have taken it for food. To make it worse, it has caused disastrous contamination to Farmer's traditional corn varieties.

The question is, is it safe? Tatay Cris Genosas, Masipag's pioneer corn breeder explains this to us.

This episode, we are honored to welcome Masipag Mindanao's pioneer corn breeder Tatay Cris Genosas as he talks about the technical process of corn production and corn breeding.

After almost a decade of dialogue and lobbying with the national government, PGS Pilipinas, the national network of participatory guarantee systems (PGS) practitioners, receives this news with elation. This is because finally an organic agriculture law was enacted that is inclusive and recognizes the role of small farmers in ensuring safe, affordable, and accessible food. 

With appropriate and suitable implementation, the law would primarily help build a sustainable food system, which is imperative during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. It is for this reason that PGS Pilipinas believes that the law must prioritize small farmers in their recognition and support, and must create a favorable environment to catalyze the adoption of organic agriculture.

The task of building a better, more sustainable future is at hand. The passing of the law is just a mere step, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. In the long run, empowering the small farmers’ sector through organic agriculture capacitation will help foster inclusive progress and rural development.

This Episode aims to discuss how important livestock is not only for farm-level biodiversity but also for everything as well..

Check this out!

Public Health and virulent pathogens come hand in hand. During this pandemic, eating healthy and nutritious food is a trustworthy safety net.

Today, as the world celebrates the World Environmental Health Day, we sill discuss how organic agriculture can help reduce the Pandemic's body count.

We will be joined by long time good food and nutrition advocate, Anita Morales to help us flesh out the benefits of eating healthy to help our bodies handle illnesses.

Basket Composting, Bokashi, Vermi-Composting and etc will be presented by our guest. Play this to learn.

Juan Organiko will discuss the benefits of these methods and how to do them. This episode's guest is Arnulfo Palma, an organic farmer from Davao city. Stay tuned, we will share a formula for a concoction to greatly improve soil microorganisms at the end of the episode.

This episode we will discuss the basics of soils and the threat posed by the excessive use of glyphosate to soil and human health.

This episode, Mr. Alfie Pulumbarit, Advocacy Officer of Masipag will discuss Glyphosate and its consequences.

But they are under threat. Pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids as well as herbicides have contributed to their decline in recent decades.

What must be done?

Environmental Scientist, Entomologist and Masipag Scientistk, Dr, Chito Medina points out important tips in order to preserve this incredibly valuable organism.

No less than the The United Nations World Food Programme has raised the alarm; more than a quarter of a billion people face the threat of starvation this year as a result of the multiple impacts of COVID-19, civil wars, crop failure and climate change.

One this is clear, there needs to be a stopgap. Urban areas need to produce their own food to ease the burden on farming communities, while farmers on the other hand can relatively focus on domestic food security as they market their surplus produce.

This episode, Juan organiko will discuss food security in the present circumstances and the impediments to its strategic application in the Philippine context.

This episode is hosted buy Ed Campos and the special guest is Mr. Leo XL Fuentes, Masipag Mindanao Regional Coordinator.

This is hosted by Eduardo Campos, special guest is GB Villocino of Masipag Mindanao with special participation of Ms. Lucille Ortiz, Research, Education and Training Unit, Masipag National, Los Baños Laguna.