A joint inspection by the DA-BAFS and DA-Regional Field Office Region CAR, with support from regional and local agricultural offices, verified the compliance of five Ifugao PGS farmer-members with Philippine National Organic Agriculture Standards, March 25-27, 2025. The inspection was conducted to verify their compliance with the Philippine National Standard relevant to organic agriculture.Representatives from the Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center, Regional Organic Agriculture Program, Provincial Agriculture and Environment and Natural Resources Office-Ifugao, Agricultural Program Coordinating Office -Ifugao and Municipal Agriculture Office of Lagawe, Kiangan and Asipulo assisted in the activity.#OAinspection#Organic Agriculture#PGSforOA#BAFSonthemove#DABAFS  Inspection of Core PGS Farmer-Members, Province of Ifugao April 3, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members at San Vicente, Palawan March 31, 2025 Supervised Certification of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Group March 31, 2025 Sowing Seeds of Equality: BAFS’ Women’s Month Empowerment March 31, 2025 Monitoring of Registered Organic Input in Cebu. March 27, 2025 Supervised Certification Activity was Facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte. March 27, 2025 Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Other Post

The DA-BAFS Compliance Assistance Team, in coordination with the DA-RFO IV MIMAROPA Organic Agriculture Program and the LGU of San Vicente, provided pre-inspection technical assistance in San Vicente from February 24-28, 2025, to aid a group in their organic certification application preparation.#OAtechnicalassistance#BAFS#BAFSonthemove#PGSforOA Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members at San Vicente, Palawan April 2, 2025 Supervised Certification of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Group March 31, 2025 Sowing Seeds of Equality: BAFS’ Women’s Month Empowerment March 31, 2025 Monitoring of Registered Organic Input in Cebu. March 27, 2025 Supervised Certification Activity was Facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte. March 27, 2025 Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 Other Post

A joint effort by the DA-BAFS Compliance Assistance Team, DA-RFO VI, DA-ATI RTC VI, the Provincial Agriculture Office of Iloilo, and the LGU of Pototan facilitated supervised certification for a PGS group in Iloilo from March 19-21, 2025. This initiative provided technical assistance to ensure the group’s compliance with their Manual of Operations (MOO) during the organic certification process.#OAtechnicalassistance#BAFS#BAFSonthemove#PGSforOA Supervised Certification of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Group April 2, 2025 Sowing Seeds of Equality: BAFS’ Women’s Month Empowerment March 31, 2025 Monitoring of Registered Organic Input in Cebu. March 27, 2025 Supervised Certification Activity was Facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte. March 27, 2025 Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Other Post

Sowing Seeds of Equality: BAFS’ Women’s Month EmpowermentMarch is a month dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women and advocating for gender equality. Throughout history, women have played pivotal roles in shaping our world, from groundbreaking scientific discoveries to leading social movements. In the Philippines, this celebration is particularly significant, rooted in legal frameworks such as Republic Act 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women, which mandates the protection and promotion of women’s rights.The Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (DA-BAFS) celebrates Women’s Month by orchestrating a series of impactful events with a diverse range of activities throughout March. The theme, “Babae sa Lahat ng Sektor, Aangat ang Bukas sa Bagong Pilipinas,” emphasizes the vital role of women across all sectors.Recognizing the indispensable contributions of women across all facets of society, BAFS aims to cultivate a more inclusive and equitable environment both within its organization and the broader agricultural sectors. The celebration kicks off with an essential in-house seminar focused on fostering gender sensitivity within the workplace, equipping staff with the tools to champion equality. Simultaneously, the KADIWA Trade Fair serves as a platform to showcase the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative products of women in agriculture and fisheries, highlighting their pivotal role in the sector’s growth. Adding a touch of reflection and inspiration, a special film screening dedicated to National Women’s Month also provides opportunity for collective learning and empowerment. As the month draws to a close, BAFS expresses its gratitude through the distribution of thoughtfully selected bookmarks and gifts, serving as tokens of appreciation for the invaluable contributions of women. Through these diverse initiatives, BAFS not only celebrates the achievements of women but also reinforces its commitment to building a future where gender equality is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the Bagong Pilipinas, ensuring and empowering women as leaders and agents of progress in the nation’s development. #BAFS#WomensMonth#march#GAD  Sowing Seeds of Equality: BAFS’ Women’s Month Empowerment March 31, 2025 Monitoring of Registered Organic Input in Cebu. March 27, 2025 Supervised Certification Activity was Facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte. March 27, 2025 Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Other Post

In line with the Department of Agriculture’s commitment to ensuring the integrity of organic agriculture practices, the DA-BAFS Monitoring Team, supported by the DA-Regional Field Office VII Regulatory Division, conducted a compliance monitoring activity on March 20, 2025. This monitoring activity aimed to verify the continued compliance of BAFS-registered organic input producers to applicable Philippine National Standards and technical regulations relevant to organic agriculture.#OAmonitoring#OAregistration#BAFSonthemove#DABAFS  Monitoring of Registered Organic Input in Cebu. March 27, 2025 Supervised Certification Activity was Facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte. March 27, 2025 Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members March 18, 2025 Other Post

A supervised certification activity was facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte from March 11 to 14, 2025, by the DA-BAFS Compliance Assistance Team, in partnership with DA-RFO V and DA-ATI RTC V. The aim of the activity was to offer technical assistance to the accredited PGS group to ensure that their organic certification process was done in full compliance with their Manual of Operations (MOO). A core element of this activity was the supervised peer review process, meant to assist peer reviewers in ascertaining compliance by applicant farmer members with the group’s Internal Standards (IS).#OAtechnicalassistance#BAFS#BAFSonthemove#PGSforOA  Supervised Certification Activity was Facilitated for a PGS group in Camarines Norte. March 28, 2025 Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members March 18, 2025 New Employee Oreintation and Reoreintation March 14, 2025 Other Post

A monitoring activity from March 11 to 14, 2025, was conducted by the DA-BAFS Organic Agriculture Division and DA-Regional Field Office Region I Regulatory Division Monitoring Team to target certified core PGS group farmer-members in Pangasinan. The activity aimed to ensure continued compliance of these farmer-members with the Philippine National Standard applicable to organic agriculture and to ensure compliance with the execution of corrective action plans to address findings of previous inspections. The Pangasinan Provincial Agriculture Office and Mangatarem Municipal Agriculture Office offered technical support in the monitoring activity. #OAmonitoring #OrganicAgriculture #PGSforOA #BAFSonthemove #DABAFS  Monitoring of Certified Core PGS Farmer-Members March 25, 2025 Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members March 18, 2025 New Employee Oreintation and Reoreintation March 14, 2025 Surviellance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Other Post

The adoption of Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) has provided a milestone to the honey industry, which set of guidelines and parameters to interested parties helping distinguish pure honey from adulterated products.One of the key challenges in the honey industry is adulteration of honey by mixing it with sugar cane or corn syrup compromising its quality and misleading the consuming public. The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) conducted a study which used stable carbon isotope ratio analysis to detect such adulteration. The stable carbon isotope ratio analysis is a nuclear-based technique that identifies the unique isotopic “fingerprints” of authentic honey versus the commonly used adulterants such as sugar cane and corn syrup. Authentic honey comes from C3 plants (such as nectar-producing flowers), which have a carbon isotope fingerprint ranging from -33% to -22%. while sugar cane and corn syrups originate from C4 plants, which have a δ¹³C value between -16‰ to -8‰. Through the analysis of these isotope fingerprints, the purity of honey can be determined, protecting both the consumers and producers from fraudulent claims.In collaboration with the DOST-PNRI, Bureau of Animal Industry, Apimondia Regional Commission for Asia, academe and industry representatives, the said technique was officially adopted in PNS/BAFS 185:2022. Further, FEATR, a platform dedicated to showcasing Filipino agriculture and sustainable practices, has featured the importance of honey quality standards and the role of carbon isotope analysis in ensuring authenticity, raising public awareness and appreciation of this endeavor. WIth these mainstreaming efforts, we are confident that we are moving closer to a future where every sweet drop of Philippine honey is pure, traceable, and proudly local.You can watch the full segment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lKy6fNiIIIf you want to learn more about this PNS on Honey — Product Standards — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) click here: https://bit.ly/4j3yPQV #bafs #directorscorner #pns #honey  Raising the Bar for Philippine Honey with the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on Honey — Product Standard — Specifications (PNS/BAFS 185:2022) March 25, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members March 18, 2025 New Employee Oreintation and Reoreintation March 14, 2025 Surviellance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Other Post

To ensure the continued compliance of Organic Participatory Guarantee System of La Trinidad (OPGSLT) with accreditation standards, the DA-BAFS conducted a surveillance audit in La Trinidad on March 18 to 20, 2025. The surveillance includes office-based assessment and witnessing of their conduct of peer review of two farmer-member applicants for organic certification.The DA Regional Field Office, ATI Regional Training Center of Cordillera Administrative Region, and the Local Government Unit of La Trinidad provided technical assistance for the assessment.#OAassessment#OrganicAgriculture#PGSforOA#BAFSonthemove#BAFS  Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 20, 2025 DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN. March 20, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members March 18, 2025 New Employee Oreintation and Reoreintation March 14, 2025 Surviellance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Survillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Other Post

From February 17-21, 24-28, and March 17-20, 2025, shrimp hatchery and nursery operators from Zambales, Pampanga, Sarangani, and General Santos City participated in Field Data Gathering (FDG) activities.The DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN, as part of the FDG to support amending the Philippine National Standard (PNS) on Code of Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) for Shrimp Hatcheries (PNS/BAFS 280:2019).Technical information collected on current aquaculture practices will be used for the technical evaluation and amendment of PNS/BAFS 280:2019.PNS/BAFS 280:2019 provides measures for stakeholders to prevent or reduce hazards in penaeid shrimp hatchery and nursery operations, ensuring food safety and sustainable production. #BAFS #bafsonthemove #Shrimp #GAqP #StandardsResearch DA-BAFS Standards Research Division (SRD) and Standards Development Division (SDD) conducted in-person interviews, coordinated with DA-Regional Field Offices in Central Luzon and SOCCSKSARGEN, March 24, 2025 Field Compliance Assessment of Ongoing Efficacy Trials March 19, 2025 Preinspection to Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Core Farmer-Members March 18, 2025 New Employee Oreintation and Reoreintation March 14, 2025 Surviellance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Surveillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 Survillance Assessment of PGS Group for Accreditation as Organic Certifying Body March 13, 2025 APO Training Course on Big Data Analytics in the Agrifood Sector March 5, 2025 Other Post