Research and Development Trends and Information Needs in Organic Agriculture in Bicol Region, Philippines

The platform for organic agriculture (OA) implementation has great potentials in the Philippines. Various researches on OA had been conducted because organic crops are one of the most important needs of Filipinos. A study was conducted to determine the status and trend of the organic agriculture (OA) research and development (R and D) programs in Bicol Region, Philippines. Specifically, it aimed to conduct inventory and determine the trends of R and D projects on organic agriculture, determine the information needs of OA stakeholders and identify research gaps and propose strategies to enhance the OA R and D programs. A survey using purposive sampling was undertaken to 149 stakeholders to know their information needs and secondary data was gathered on OA researches. Result of the study revealed that 46 projects were implemented and most of the researches conducted were on production aspect. Highest percentage (34%) recorded in terms of information needs of the stakeholders were on demand and supply. Research gaps identified were absence of a whole research chain on organic agriculture for a specific commodity, lack of a research with component on developing a centralized, web-based information system, and inadequate research on policy and governance on OA. While considerable effort had been done on researches related to organic agriculture, a more focused action research on market opportunities and market knowledge is needed and imperative to ensure the effective and successful implementation of the OA program in the Bicol region. This should be coupled with continued aggressive information dissemination campaign to firm up appreciation and strengthen awareness of stakeholders on organic agriculture.