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[av_heading heading=’Go global, Marañon tells organic farmers ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
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BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. wants more farmers and entrepreneurs to go organic.
Opportunities of global scale await them, Marañon said at the opening of the 11th Negros Island Organic Farmers’ Festival at the Negros First CyberCentre on Tuesday.
“There is a huge market for organic food in the global market — more than $100 billion and increasing,” said the governor.
Growing and eating organic produce are not only good for the health, they also help the ecosystem, he said.
Growth in organic farming in Negros will also contribute to the achievement of the island’s aim of becoming the “Organic Food Bowl of Asia,” Marañon said.
When the Organic Farmers’ Festival was first organized, it generated around P500,000 in sales. Income grew tenfold in the last 10 years, Marañon claimed.
In 2015 the festival earned almost P4 million, and the governor believes that will be surpassed this year. “[It’s] because our participants also doubled this year,” he said.
Some 150 exhibitors are participating in the event that will run through the 19th./PN
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