MASIPAG STANDARDS FOR ORGANIC RICE CULTIVATION

Rice farm is guaranteed organic if it has been free from the use of prohibited materials
such as insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, chemical fertilizers, etc. The following are necessary in
organic rice standards:
1. Planting organic and non-organic rice in the same farm or field is not allowed.
2. There shall be a farm plan and complete documented information describing at least the
two most recent years’ production inputs, methodologies and practices.
3. The farm is manage in accordance with the following required practices and using the
approved methods and materials.

EVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
Characteristics of Farms for Production
1. At least 2 meter wide buffer zone is established between organic and
conventional farm. Buffer is also required in split production (organic production in non-
adjacent field).
2. The same rice variety is not to be planted and use both in organic and
non-organic production.
3. Land selected for organic rice cultivation does not adversely affect the
eco-system or habitat of wild species.

FARM CONVERSION PREREQUISITES

 Switching back and forth from conventional to organic farming is not allowed.
 Conversion period is two years from the start of the organic management.

PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS
 Crop rotation, relay-cropping and other organic practices to promote biodiversity;
manage pests and diseases and to maintain or increase soil organic matter and fertility
is encouraged.

1. Choice of Rice Varieties

 All rice seeds should be adapted to the local environment of the farmers and should
come from the MASIPAG Back-up Farms, RCSBs, and trial and verification farms.
 A wide range of varieties and crops shall be grown to maintain biodiversity at the farm.
 Hybrid, conventional, irradiated and genetically engineered rice seeds are prohibited in
organic rice production.

2. Cultivation
 Appropriate seeding time of each variety shall be chosen based on local climate.
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  The most favourable density of seedling transplanting shall be designed in consideration
to those healthy growing plants that have lesser susceptibility to the attacks of insects,
diseases and pressure from weeds.

3. Fertilization
 Green manuring and leguminous materials from the farm shall form the foundation of the
fertility program.
 Burning rice straw is prohibited.
 All synthetic chemical fertilizer is prohibited.
 Well-dried manure of livestock should be incorporated into the soil, to allow some time for
soil organisms to digest them and neutralize any pathogens and detoxify any antibiotics.
 There should be diversification or integrated diversified farming system should be
practiced.

4. Irrigation
 Drainage canals should be fixed to allow the water to run freely into ditches, thus minimising
contaminants from entering the paddies.
 A catch pond should be installed in the field to allow contaminated irrigation water to
subside prior to using the water for irrigation.

5. Pest, Disease and Weed Management

Management of Pest, Disease and weed by;
 Alternative pest management (APM) and other recognized organic practices or farmers
developed and adapted technologies shall be the basis of pest management program.
 Choosing appropriate rice varieties, making appropriate rotation program and selecting
appropriate seeding time.
 Water management
 Natural substances or botanical sprays are allowed. However, the use of Tubli is not
allowed.
 Other cultural management practices such as land preparation, fallow periods, proper
spacing, intercropping and others. If tractors are used for land preparations, make sure that
the machines are not spilling oil.
 Any genetically engineered products are prohibited.

6. Harvesting
 Weed seeds should not be allowed to be mix with the harvested
rice grains.
 Machines or tools particularly for harvesting organic shall not be used in conventional rice.
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 For commercial threshers, thresh two sacks of organic rice to clean the inside of the
thresher.
 Bags of synthetic fertilizers or any prohibited chemicals shall not be used in packaging the
harvested organic products.
 Harvest first the buffer rice crops before harvesting the main organic crops. Separate the
harvested buffer crops to avoid mixing them with the main organic crop.

7. Drying
 Solar drier should be cleaned prior to scattering the grains.
 Drying organic and conventional materials at the same time in the solar driers is not
allowed.
 Drying organic rice on road or any polluted areas are prohibited.

POST-PRODUCTION REGULATIONS
 There should be physical segregation of the conventional and organic products. Proper
labelling should be observed.
 Pallets should be used in piling the sacks to avoid contact with the floor.

1. Processing
 Two to five sacks (depending on size of miller used) of organic rice should be milled first to
clean the mill and which is then classified as conventional.
 Miller should not intermittently mill conventional and organic rice. All organic rice should be
milled first prior to milling conventional rice.

2. Packaging
 Packaging materials must be free of fungicides, preservatives, fumigants, insecticides and
other contaminants.
 Packaging materials must be food grade and must be reusable and/or recyclable.
 Print or label on the packaging material should use non-toxic inks and adhesives and must
not come in contact with the product.

3. Storage
 Conventional products should be stored at separate storage areas to avoid mixing.
 Pest management should emphasize exclusion of pests, good sanitation, and destruction of
habitats for pests.
 Monitoring and inspection should be done regularly to determine the presence and degree
of activity of any insect or other pests.

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4. Transportation
 Do not transport both organic and conventional at the same time using the same container
or transport facilities.
 Clean thoroughly all transport medium prior to loading.

5. Buying and selling

 Proper documentation of organic rice should be present, including the total volume on a
seasonal basis.
 All documents pertaining to buying and selling including receipts should be made available.

QUALITY STANDARDS
 Rice grains should have very minimal breakages, if possible only 5% breakages are
allowed. The products should not contain any seeds of weeds and moisture content should
be at most 14%.
 Clear identification should be placed on the label whether they are ordinary rice, fancy rice,
brown rice, red rice or violet rice.

DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS
 Building a record trail to enable tracing sources and amounts of all off-farm inputs,
date/place/volume of harvest, and all steps between harvest and sale to the wholesaler,
retailer or final consumer is an imperative in ensuring organic integrity. All documents
needed by the certification body shall be made available by the farmers.