A MULTI-AWARDED Negrense farmer was selected to sit as director of the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB) to represent small farmers in the Visayas.
Jerry Dionson, an organic farming practitioner from Barangay Tabunan in Bago City, has been a recipient of various awards, including the Gawad Saka and Organic Agriculture Achievers’ Award.
He took oath along with other members of the Board of Directors before Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol during the National Organic Agriculture Congress in Cagayan de Oro City on Tuesday, October 24.
Dionson, who replaced Ramon Marañon of Guimaras in representing Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas, said he was recommended by the Provincial Government and later endorsed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas.
He then went through a series of validations by the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP), Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (Bafs), and other DA-attached agencies.
"I will mainly push for the development especially of small organic farmers in the Visayas, especially Negros Occidental," Dionson told VoxPop Bacolod.
He said that to help small organic farmers become certified, there is a need to also push for the implementation of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).
"PGS will provide small farmers more access to organic certification services of the government, which are vital in boosting local products through acquiring better market positions," he added.
Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino said Dionson's representation to the NOAB would enable the province to lobby for more development interventions in terms of organic agriculture.
“We are upbeat that through him, we can raise our issues and concerns directly to the Board and get immediate actions,” he added.
