Assocham releases roadmap for organic farming in state

V

Veena Annadana

Well-Known Member
Ravi Dayal, TNN Aug 13, 2011, 06.12am ISTPATNA: The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on Friday released its study paper `Organic Bihar, Way to Prosperity' with a roadmap to convert Bihar into an organic state by 2015 through organic farming.

Assocham national secretary general D S Rawat said that with promotion of organic farming in Bihar along with organic farm product, the per capita income of the farmers can be enhanced by 250 per cent. This would lead to accumulation of Rs 1,000 crore wealth, export of organic products worth Rs 500 crore annually and generation of 20 lakh employment, he said, adding that this would arrest migration of people from agriculture farms in Bihar. Rawat said that 35 percent cultivable land in Bihar can be converted into organic farms in the next five years. India exports only 86 organic products worth Rs 100 million dollars to the global market. Bihar is an ideal state for organic farming as it has some unique commodities like jute, litchi and makhana, he said.

Rawat said that the Assocham is ready to bring to Bihar organic farming certification companies of international standard for certifying the organic farm products produced in three consecutive years. He said that the Assocham had suggested to the Central government to form a National Commission for Organic Agriculture to woo participation of all the stakeholders, including the private sector. Rawat said that the Assocham with the Bihar Industries Association (BIA) and the Bihar Chamber of Commerce (BCC) will organize a huge fair christened `Advantage Bihar -- Encashing Opportunities' in October at Patna. Bihar would be portrayed as the `Rising Sun' at the fair, he said, adding that a cluster approach to organic farming and value addition to organic farm products would be stressed with the active participation of the micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.

Bihar Development Council (Assocham) chairman Ravi Wig said that the Assocham will promote enterprises in sugar-based industry and information technology by inviting experts and promoters from outside. He said that the storage capacity of farm produce in Bihar has to be improved under the private-public participation (PPP) mode.

BCC president O P Shah said that the Assocham has become active in Bihar at a time when there is a conducive atmosphere for the industries and good governance in Bihar. Former BIA president K P S Keshri said that in Bihar litchi is produced through organic farming and it needs organic product certification.
 

Farmers turn away from organic as sales dropThe economic downturn means organic

farmers are less likely to reap rewards of premium prices for their produce


Share282 reddit this Comments (210)
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 August 2011 16.40 BST Article history Organic farming: land farmed and land in conversion. Graphic: guardian.co.uk
Farmers have begun to turn away from organic food production in the face of waning interest from the big supermarkets.

The amount of land being converted to organic cultivation across the UK has dropped by two-thirds since 2007, according to statistics released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as falling sales of organic products mean fewer farmers are seeing a reason to change.

Sales of organic products fell by 5.9% in the UK last year, according to the Soil Association, from £1.8bn in 2009 to £1.7bn. That continued a decline from record sales of £2.1bn in 2008, and came amid rising food prices. The amount of organic poultry being produced has also fallen steadily.

But many farmers who have gone organic were defiant after publication of the latest figures, arguing that switching to greener methods has drastically cut their costs and that consumer interest is still strong, particularly when farmers can use sales routes other than big supermarket chains.

"There might be lots of farmers who think they can't afford to go organic, because they think the market is restricted, but if they looked into it they would find it can be cost-effective," said Ian Noble, who represents a 12-farm cooperative in south Devon growing organic vegetables. With little or no costs for fertilisers and pesticides, and – at least on smaller farms – most animals fed on grass rather than expensive grain, organic farmers can make savings at a time of high commodity prices. Adrian Dolby, of Barrington Park, said cutting input prices was one of his key reasons for putting 7,000 acres under organic cultivation in 2005.

"If we hadn't gone organic, we would have gone out of business," added Tom Rigby, who farms 160 acres near Warrington, most of it given over to pasture. "We are a small dairy farm and small dairy farmers are going bankrupt every day. I decided that if I was going to go bankrupt, I would rather do it in the way I wanted."

Rigby knows of larger producers that have quit organic methods, such as some bigger dairy farms that found their margins squeezed even on premium organic milk as they needed to import increasingly expensive feed. His smaller grass-fed herd avoids this problem, and his organically cultivated vegetables will be sold to Manchester University.

Oliver Dowding, an organic farmer near Wincanton in Somerset for more than 20 years, blamed waning interest among farmers on the numbers who entered organic cultivation several years ago, attracted by government grants to convert their land and the offers of subsidies, and who have since reverted to conventional farming as the financial support has dried up. This is a widespread view among organic farmers, and seems borne out by figures from Scotland which show a massive decline in the acreage under organic production since the early 2000s.

Last year, across the UK, only 51,000 hectares were in "conversion" – the process farmers need to go through to have their land and practices certified as organic. That is less than half the amount of land in conversion in 2009, itself down markedly from the 2007 peak of 158,000 hectares.

The rapid decline in "conversion" is not yet reflected in the amount of land in organic production overall in the UK, which has risen slightly. It takes several years to convert land from conventional production to organic production, in part because of the need to free the soil of fertilisers and pesticides.

That time lag, while land that has been in preparation moves into full organic production, created the small rise in the total area of land organically farmed last year – from 619,000 hectares across the UK in 2009 to 668,000 overall. As the decline in farmers entering organic conversion feeds through, the overall figure for organically farmed land is likely to stagnate or fall.

For livestock farmers, the picture is mixed. The number of cattle reared organically has risen steadily, to more than 350,000 last year. But despite widespread publicity by food campaigners on the claimed benefits of choosing free range or organic eggs and chickens, more than half a million fewer organic chickens, turkeys and other poultry were produced in the UK last year.
Amid falling sales overall, some specialists are thriving. Abel & Cole, the organic box scheme, expects a 40% increase in sales this year. Keith Abel attributes this to the same reason he believes organic sales have fallen overall – because the big supermarkets have taken organic products off the shelves to make room for cheaper non-organic goods. "It is a self-fulfilling prophecy: they take them off the shelves, and they sell less," he said. "But that's great news for me."

source: Farmers turn away from organic as sales drop | Environment | The Guardian
 

Kochi gets health-food conscious

MK Sunil KumarExpress News ServiceLast Updated : 12 Aug 2011 11:16:41 AM IST

KOCHI: The pace at which the life in Kochi changes day by day has its reflection on the food habits and health of the denizens who go after the food items which best suit to their fast life.


Most of those residing in the city depend more on the eateries rather than homely food. IT professionals, government employees and even students prefer to go to eateries. Owing to the fast pace of life coupled with the unavailability of fresh items and varying taste, they are unable to have a complete food. So, they depend on food supplements for making good the loss in vitamins, proteins and minerals.

“The concept of nutritious food varies from person to person. It is after considering various factors like age, gender, weight, profession, blood group and genetic nature that dietary food for each individual is being fixed,” said Dr Mumtaz Khalid Ismail, consultant nutritionist with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Kochi.

Earlier, the food habit of Malayalis was to have puttu, idli or appam and tea for the breakfast. Their lunch was boiled rice and curries like sambar and moru. The food items would have pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, ginger, chillies, and mustard. Now, it has changed with a lot of non-vegetarian items and continental dishes being added to the cuisine.

The changing food habits lead to various diseases like diabetes and hypertension. “Cases of hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol are high,” Dr Mumthaz said. “Now, the patients would ask whether there is any food supplements available in the market for their specific cases. Oats are widely used food supplement,” she said. “Oats are high in dietary fibre and it regularise blood sugar and cholesterol. It even reduces weight. But things like sugar should be added to oats,” Mumthaz said.

Many a person skip their breakfast citing that they do not have enough time to spare for the purpose. “Earlier, the offices and schools would start only at 10 am. Now, the time schedule of the offices and schools starts even from 8 am,” she said. “In such cases, we advice them to have a boiled banana, oats and a glass of milk as breakfast,” Mumthaz said. “We also advice the patients to go in for organic food as well,” she said.

"Many of the patients who consult us prefer eating out. When we advice them to impose some restriction on food, they would ask whether they could eat out at least once in a week,” Mumtaz said.

Source: Kochi gets health-food conscious | Health food | | The New Indian Express
 

Japan's 'One-Straw' approach: Zen and the art of farming

Organic farming is the term that most in the U.S. relate to growing food without chemicals, but there are various other terms, including eco-farming, permaculture, biodynamic farming and natural farming.

In Japan, the One-Straw Revolution of natural farming has been under way since 1975, when Masanobu Fukuoka published his book, The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming (New York Review of Books Classics, $15.95, 2009).

One might call it an organic Zen and the art of farming.

Fukuoka believes that natural farming is tied to the spiritual health of the individual, and his growing methods are influenced by Zen Buddhism, Taoism and the Bible. He developed his method of "do-nothing" farming over 30 years. A man after my own heart, he believes weeds are beneficial to the crop, and that reliance on chemicals and poisons is anathema to healthy plants or humans.

His way of farming is based on two main observations:

•Japan grew food for 1,500 years without artificial fertilizer or deep plowing or chemical herbicides, insecticides or other poisons on the same land with excellent results, but these fields "have now been laid waste by the exploitive farming practices of a single generation";

•Left on its own, soil will always be replenished by nature: weeds, animals, brush and trees. There is no need for fertilizer or chemicals to kill insects or weeds.

The success of his method is based on seeing agricultural practices strictly for their utility.

For example, he grows rice on dry land, rather than flooded fields, because he found that he can produce as much without the greater effort. The reason fields had been flooded when the practice began 1,500 years ago was to reduce weeds. He can do the same by planting white clover, with the beneficial result of adding fertility to the soil.

His four principles are:

•No cultivation. It stirs up weed seeds deeply buried and promotes erosion and loss of topsoil.

•No chemical fertilizer or prepared compost. "Left to itself, soil maintains its fertility naturally."

•No weeding by tillage or herbicides. Weeds balance the biological community.

•No dependence on chemicals. "Nature, left alone, is in perfect balance."

Those who practice organic methods will recognize these principles as, essentially, what has been called "deep organic," or growing without chemical inputs of any kind - even those approved for certified organic.

His approach should be enlightening to anyone who seeks to grow food crops naturally.

You should be starting your seeds now for planting in a couple of weeks for a fall garden. Count back the number of days on the seed packet for full fruition before frost (around here, about Nov. 1).

source: Japan's 'One-Straw' approach: Zen and the art of farming | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com
 

Only 2 of 9 crop group members say no to GMOs

Only 2 of 9 crop group members say no to GMOs
By Jefferson Dodge

Only two of the nine members of a county cropland advisory group believe genetically modified foods should not be grown on local open space lands. A straw poll of the members of the county’s Cropland Policy Advisory Group (CPAG) on Aug. 17 revealed that only organic farmers Ewell Culbertson and Richard Andrews favor a complete ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on county-owned open space. “The day is going to come when this technology is going to be exposed as a failure,” Culbertson said, adding that those who develop and use GMOs will be seen as “a bunch of children playing with matches.”

Toward the end of the meeting, two other CPAG members — Emily Prisco and Jeannette Hillery — showed interest in gradually reducing the use of GMOs on open space, but stopped short of endorsing an outright ban. CPAG isn’t expected to issue its recommendations until November, and the county commissioners likely won’t decide on the matter until early 2012.

On Wednesday night in Longmont, the majority of the advisory group expressed support for alternatives that allow for “co-existence” among organic, conventional and GMO farmers. They endorsed creating a county approval process to regulate the use of genetically modified crops on a case-by-case basis. That approval process is still under discussion, but options include basing it on whether “the weight of scientific evidence proves these crops to be unsafe for the community or environment,” or on a “genetically engineered crop rubric.”

Culbertson and Andrews, the organic farmers, agreed that requiring all crops on county land to be grown organically, in accordance with the National Organic Program, would be too extreme. But they questioned their colleagues’ faith in the concept of “co-existence.”

“Organic farmers are threatened by [farmers who use chemicals], but not the other way around,” Andrews told the group, referring to the possible “drift” of toxins and GMOs. “That argument just falls flat for me.” But other panel members disagreed, saying that it goes both ways, and that conventional/GMO farms could be contaminated by adjacent organic farms as well. The advisory group, which was appointed by the county commissioners after a 2009 outcry about a proposal to grow genetically modified sugar beets on open space, has been meeting since February, but only took up the GMO issue last week. The group heard from one critic of GMOs and two pro-GMO experts at its Aug. 10 meeting, and complaints about that imbalance prompted county staff to bring in a fourth speaker, Dr. Charles Benbrook of The Organic Center, to this week’s meeting. When asked about the viability of “co-existence,” Benbrook told the group that all can agree on the concept of “do no harm” to your neighbor, but accidents happen. “The crux is, what happens when despite our best efforts, an adverse impact does happen?” he asked. “What happens then? Who pays?” Benbrook added that the situation can and should be addressed quickly.

“I don’t think this is an unmanageable process by any means,” he said, “but if we put our heads in the sand, it will get worse.” CPAG member Daniel Lisco asked county officials whether they have seen any conflicts or problems related to the 2003 approval of GMO corn on county land, and David Bell, agricultural division manager for open space, replied, “No.” Culbertson agreed with the “it’s a free country” argument raised by conventional/GMO farmers, saying people can do what they want on their private property. But this discussion, he said, is about the county’s public land, which is owned by the taxpayers, and he suggested putting the matter to a vote of the county’s residents.

Jules Van Thuyne said he could see having protocols for rotating glyphosate, the primary ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, but he said it would be wrong to ban or even reduce the use of GMOs because new technologies are constantly being developed, and it would be “taking a step backwards.” Dea Sloan agreed, saying that new technologies could prove to be beneficial to humans, and banning GMOs would lock the county in to a particular outcome. Prior to the CPAG members’ discussion, Benbrook told the group that despite reports of organic farming being outdated and quaint, large-scale organic farming is possible, citing a successful 4,000-acre organic operation in central Washington state. He also said that whatever decision the county commissioners make on the cropland policy will be a “bellwether” for the rest of the country, since Boulder is the “epicenter of the organic food business in the United States.” Benbrook also said that if the problems in the Southeast — where weeds have widely become resistant to Roundup and have prompted farmers to return to more dangerous herbicides — spreads to the Midwest, it will threaten the country’s food supply. He said the alarm has been sounded that Midwest farmers only have a few more years to alter their practices of overusing Roundup and GMOs. “If they keep doing what they’re doing, they’re going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg,” Benbrook said. “If what happens in the Southeast happens in the Midwest, that’s the backbone of our crop supply. And there’s no back-up plan.” He said that even if Boulder County banned the use of Roundup on open space, it’s hard for farmers to find non-GMO seeds for corn and soybeans nowadays, because about 90 percent are genetically modified. “It’s kind of a sweet deal for the seed companies, but not such a sweet deal for the farmers and the environment,” Benbrook said. He added, however, that Roundup is actually a fairly benign chemical and “is not nearly as toxic as some of the herbicides it replaces.” If farmers have to return to toxic chemicals like 2,4-D to kill Roundup-resistant weeds, Benbrook explained, the drift from such toxins could kill crops on nearby fields. The problem is, science hasn’t advanced enough to consistently track when such drift is to blame for crop deaths. “It’s kind of like a crime was committed, but there’s no way to determine what happened,” he said. Benbrook also tipped his hat on which way he leans on the GMO question facing the group. “I think Boulder County should not allow herbicide-resistant plants to be planted on public land,” he said.

Source: Only 2 of 9 crop group members say no to GMOs
 

Indian Organic firms expect to beat slowdown

Indian Organic firms expect to beat slowdownDespite the looming threat of a global economic slowdown, India's organic entrepreneurs are upbeat on the prospects for an emerging industry. In an industry long dependent on exports, these firms are now finding that rising consumption of organic products by middle class Indians is creating a brand new market opportunity.

Rajashekar Reddy Seelam, founder of Sresta Natural Bioproducts, which sells under the brand 24 Letter Mantra is planning to increase acreage under organic cultivation.

"We intend to invest around $15 million next year," said Reddy. Since 2004, when the company was launched, the firm has entered into contract farming arrangements with 10,000 organic farmers. The plan next year is to increase cultivation to 70,000 acres. Reddy's optimism stems from the estimated 50% growth in demand for organic products in India that is providing a buffer in a time of global slowdown.

"We are continuously increasing shelf space for organic products, which is still a small part of our overall business," said Thomas Varghese, CEO of Aditya Birla Retail, who runs the More chain of supermarkets.

The Indian organic industry expects its total turnover, including exports, to go up from 675 crore in 2010 to 4,000 crore by 2012, according to the International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA).

The domestic growth comes at a time when industry players estimate that India's organic exports are growing at 6-7%, down from a pre-recession high of 13-14%. "I don't think things will get worse," said Sresta's Reddy, who along with his peers in the industry are battling multiple issues on the ground as they seek to meet the ambitious growth targets.

Higher prices for organic products are still an impediment. If a household shifts completely to organic food products, the extra spend comes to around 1,500 per month, according to organic producers.

But entrepreneurs justify the higher cost-to-customer as organic farmers need the incentive of higher price since they bear greater risk by avoiding pesticides and incur the cost of certification.

"We have higher per unit transport costs too as our volumes are much smaller compared to non-organic food. Similarly our storage costs are also high," said Bangalore-based Pro Nature's co-founder and CEO Varun Gupta, whose company procures, processes, brands and supplies organic food products.

Started in 2006, by Gupta and his wife Nidhi Gupta, Pro Nature-branded products retail in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai and has 3 crore in revenue.

For farmers who supply to organic retailers the cost of certifying their produce as organic costs 9,500 to 19,000 per man day. Companies are now supporting farmers to get this certification. "We provide farmers with know-how and help in the certification process. We work with them to put the internal controls in place," said a Suminter Organics spokesperson, who did not wish to be named.

Source: Indian Organic firms expect to beat slowdown - The Economic Times
 

Organic food at city milk booths soon

Organic food at city milk booths soon
Parul Pandey, TNN Aug 18, 2011, 10.30pm ISTPATNA: Patnaites would soon be able to buy organic fruits and vegetables from their nearest milk parlour. To make the city residents' healthier, the state's agriculture department has tied up with Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation (COMFED) to sell organic fruits and vegetables at their milk booths.

Both COMFED and agriculture department are working out details of this project, which is likely to be operational by October.

"We have asked COMFED to add one more counter adjacent to milk parlours and sell fruits and vegetables too," said Arvind Singh, director, agriculture, Bihar.

Agriculture department is chalking out details with the authorities concerned for the acquisition of land and construction of vegetable booths adjacent to existing milk parlours. The concept of this project has been derived from Mother Dairy that sells vegetables at its milk parlours in Delhi.

We need to develop sufficient infrastructure for the vegetable outlets. Besides a cabin, we also need to add shelves and crates, to keep fruits and vegetables. Initially, we are planning to sell vegetables and fruits on daily basis only. As per the requirement, we would store more vegetables and fruits in deep freezer," Singh told TOI.

The funds required for the project is being assessed. Prices of vegetables and fruits would be worked out in the light of market price. "It would be a little costly as compared to normal vegetables," he said.

Agriculture department plans to outsource the job of supply of vegetables and fruits to 'Samriddhi' foundation which has a tie-up with many farmers producing them. Earlier, this foundation along with the state's welfare department had undertaken the task of selling vegetables in ice-cooled pushcarts.

Bihar government already has an 'Organic farming promotion programme' running in the state for the cultivation of organic crops and developing 'Organic grams (organic villages)' here.

"It would not be mandatory for all milk parlours to sell these vegetables. It would be purely voluntary," said Singh.

Patna Dairy managing director Sudhir K Singh said, "In the initial phase, we would target to develop vegetable counters mostly near vegetable markets. These vegetable parlours would hold a different brand name and not 'Sudha'. The name for vegetable counters is yet not decided."

source: Organic food at city milk booths soon - Times Of India
 

Better statistics essential for Organic sector

Better statistics essential for Organic sector

As the Government releases the latest UK statistics on organic food and farming a leading sector body has criticised the delay in sharing key market data which it says is stifling business planning. The outcry from Organic Farmers & Growers (OF&G) comes as Defra released the 2010 figures for organic farming - in August 2011. Traditionally the statistics on which the annual report is based are collated from organic control bodies as a snapshot as at the end of December each year and supplied to Defra by the end of the following January. This data is then analysed by National Statistics and released through Defra, but not until around eight months into the following year.

However, monthly reports are also required of the control bodies, which could be used to provide a rolling view of the sector, according to OF&G chief executive, Richard Jacobs, who has called for the release of industry data to be urgently improved. He said: ’Successful businesses know the value of timely and accurate statistics to inform their planning and allow swift responses to market changes. This is as true of a grain trader as a farmer trying to plan the shape of their business in coming months and years.

’This becomes incredibly hard to do if such key information as national organic herd and flock sizes and cereal or vegetable land areas is only made available when it’s eight months out of date. Apart from giving a year-to-year benchmark, this renders the data effectively useless as a planning tool. A farmer or food processor needs to see trends in order to react. ’In these days of connected databases and every person with a smartphone having more computing power in their pocket than NASA had to send men to the moon, it beggars belief that we have to wait months for the numbers to be crunched. We should be getting at least quarterly updates to show everyone where the demand and opportunities lie.’

All of the UK’s government-accredited organic control bodies are required to provide data on their licensees, including monthly figures on those entering and leaving the sector, with the annual report supplied as a snapshot of the figures on December 31 of each year.

Mr Jacobs added: OF&G is fastidious about providing its figures to Defra before each deadline, and I’m sure all of the other organic control bodies are too, but we want to see better and quicker use made of the information. It will require the will on the part of Defra to make it happen and the equal co-operation of all control bodies, but it is hugely in the organic sector’s interest and we believe it desperately needs to happen, sooner rather than later.

OF&G has vowed to take up the issue with Defra, including seeking clarification on why it currently takes so long for reports to be produced.

Source: Better statistics essential for Organic sector - Farming UK news
 

To avoid exploding watermelons, Chinese turn to organic farming

Liu Yujing (left) and Zheng Rong of Beijing's Mothers' Green Alliance food co-operative, where a small but growing number of middle class people are turning to organic foods in response to China's mounting food scandals.

By Bill Schiller
Asia Bureau
BEIJING—Chinese farmer Liu Mingsuo never sought fame.

All he wanted was to plant seeds, tend his fields, harvest his crops and make a profit. But Liu became a national celebrity in May when his fields of watermelons in Jiangsu province exploded like land mines after he had treated them with a growth hormone. On China’s evening news, Liu gave viewers across the country a play-by-play of the week that was.
“I used a chemical on the 6th and found the exploded watermelons on the 7th. I found more than 80 exploded watermelons in the morning,” he said, “and more than 100 in the afternoon. More and more then exploded on the 8th. “And don’t mention the 10th to me,” he said. “I didn’t count anymore — because I couldn’t bear it.” China’s exploding watermelon story captured the attention of the world, unfortunately more as matter of curiosity than concern. But for Chinese consumers who have suffered through a season of one food scandal after another it was no laughing matter. For them it was yet another warning signal that all is not well in the nation’s food industry. ven wedding banquets have proven to be potential danger zones.

In Hunan province, birthplace of legendary leader Mao Zedong, 478 guests at three different weddings this spring were rushed to hospital after being poisoned. At one wedding alone, in Wufeng Village, 286 of 500 guests had to seek emergency health care following post-nuptial feasts. And the scandals weren’t contained to the countryside either. In sophisticated Shanghai, news reports revealed that restaurants were cooking with used, reprocessed cooking oil — some of which had been collected from sewers. Some experts believe that as many as one out of every 10 restaurant meals in China is prepared using reprocessed animal fat or vegetable oil. But Zheng Rong, Liu Yujing and a group of 100 other Beijing mothers may have avoided all of these risks. They read the distant early warning signals of China’s food troubles early. And like a small but growing number of well off, urbanized Chinese, they’ve gone organic, creating their own food co-op known as the Mother’s Green Alliance, dedicating themselves to ensuring that they and their families eat safely.

They research the community of progressive organic farms that have sprouted up north of the city and organize to have them make deliveries two days a week to the co-op’s store in Beijing’s Huilongguan district. “We can’t control the air quality or the environment in general,” says Liu Yujing, “but this is something we believe we can control.” In doing so, they’ve found shelter from China’s seemingly endless tsunami of food scandals and have slowly grown their number. For Zheng Rong, “the turning point — the trigger” was China’s milk poisoning scandal of 2008. That changed her view of food forever, she says.
er son was just 2 1/2 -years-old then and news that at least six children had died and more than 300,000 others had been poisoned by milk laced with melamine left her shuddering.

An industrial compound used to produce plastics, milk producers had added melamine to their milk and infant formula to pump up protein readings — and ensure sales. It was the first, big Chinese food scandal of the new century and represented a major crisis for the government. To this day, many here believe that more children died and more were poisoned than officially acknowledged. Two officials were subsequently put to death.
Yet despite announced crackdowns, jail terms and fines for perpetrators, the Chinese government seems incapable of shutting down the scandals. In recent months for example — three years after the melamine debacle — melamine continues to be found in milk, most recently in Shanxi and Hebei provinces as well as in the mega-city of Chongqing.

Why do food scandals persist in China?

The answer is complex, says Chen Junshi, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a senior researcher at China’s National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety. He believes China’s food scandals have been “exaggerated” by a sometimes irresponsible media. Most of the reporting on so-called “food scandals” are more about food fraud, he says, and do not involve toxic substances or harm to human health. “These two elements must exist simultaneously to actually constitute a food safety issue,” he explains.
But he admits that overseeing the country’s massive and fragmented agricultural and food processing industry is a challenge for China. “It would be abnormal if there weren’t food safety issues,” he says. “Common people have higher standards about food now. Before they never saw food safety as an issue — now they’re quite aware.” But the mothers at Green Alliance contend that the issue might really be about values in a country where an obsession about profit now seems to have taken hold. “Some people nowadays are no longer rooted to the earth,” says Zheng, seated in her storefront space stacked with fresh vegetables awaiting pick up. “They’re more interested in maximizing profit than in food safety.” Liu Yujing, who inspects all the farms that supply the co-op, echoes that sentiment. “We want foods that are free of chemicals, additives and pesticides,” she says. “But we’re also looking for farmers and suppliers with a high sense of morality.”

Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...g-watermelons-chinese-turn-to-organic-farming
 

Organic farming tag for litchi

Ravi Dayal, TNN Aug 20, 2011, 03.05am ISTPATNA: With an international accredited organic farming certification organization, International Panacea Ltd. (IPL), giving certification to litchi, Bihar government has made a headway in its efforts to extend organic farming in the state.

Nafed, a national cooperative marketing federation, collaborated with IPL to assess the organic farming potential of litchi in 1,000 hectare area in north Bihar. Nafed, in collaboration with IPL, will arrange export market for litchi to give more remunerative prices to farmers, said the agriculture specialist, project planning committee, state agriculture department, Anil Kumar Jha.

Organic farming certification of litchi followed the C1 certification given to organic vegetables produced in 500 acres in a vegetable cluster at Sohdih in Nalanda district. Under a vegetable initiative programme of the state government, organic farming is being done on 6,000 hectares of land at Sohdih. Organic farming will not only improve the soil for better productivity but also save the human beings from consuming harmful pesticide-laced farm products, he said. The process for organic farming certification of pulse crops on 16,000 hectares at Mokama tal and riverine (diara) areas in Patna district areas has been started by an accredited agency from Pune.

Learn how to farm organically Books, magazine on crops, livestock www.acresusa.comCertification of organic farming is necessary not only for good business of organic farm products, for which there is good national and international market, but has added another dimension to sustainable farming system. The crux of organic farming is recycling of organic matter in the form of agriculture wastes including shoots and roots that degenerate into the soil improving its fertility, use of vermi compost and bio-fertilizers and other methods to give strength to the soil by improving its fertility, he said.

The agriculture specialist added that under the organic farming programme, farmers are being given end-to-end solution for organic farming. Organic farming certification for quality of the farm products will fetch more remunerative prices in the national and international market. The government has arranged services of the agencies specializing in organic farming to provide training to the farmers. The agencies have also to arrange organic farming certification by accredited international agencies and then facilitate marketing of the organic farm products, he said.

Source: Organic farming tag for litchi - Times Of India
 

Now, a shandy for organic farmers

Now, a shandy for organic farmers
Vincent D'Souza, TNN Aug 20, 2011, 04.14pm ISTHUBLI: A weekly shandy exclusively for trading organic produce has started at Gadag - a first-of-its-kind initiative by the horticulture department under its Horti-Clinic Scheme. The fair, besides intending to boost organic cultivation, will bridge the gap between farmers and organic food lovers. The month-old shandy has already received good response from both farmers and the buyers. The premises of the office of the deputy director of horticulture department hosts to the shandy on Tuesdays, to which only certified growers have access.

Horticulture department deputy director C K Medappa told TOI that Gadag farmers, who are known for innovative farming and have seriously taken up organic cultivation in over 500 hectares, were hitherto forced to go to Bangalore to sell their produce. "Hence, we decided to launch a weekly shandy exclusively for them. Thankfully, it turned out to be a hit," he added. Around 15 farmers from across the district bring to fair produce like brinjal, bhendi, cucumber, tomato, drumstick, leafy vegetables, chilli, coconut, lemon, guava, papaya and banana. Medappa said that though the prices of organic vegetables are bit more compared to others, the customers do not mind it because of their high nutritious content.

The members of Rotary Club, Akkana Balaga, Jagruti Mahila Vedike, and Inner Wheel Club are the major buyers. Nature-friendly farmers use only bio-degradable carry bags while selling the produce. Mallappa Halli, who has been growing a variety of vegetables and fruits at Lakkundi village, said the weekly fair is a boon to organic farmers. Medappa said that they are in touch with Hopcoms (Dharwad) to arrange a regular market for quality vegetables and fruits directly procured from certified growers. "Since public response to the weekly fair is encouraging, separate sales outlet will be shortly arranged," he added.

Source: Now, a shandy for organic farmers - Times Of India
 

Fruitful results of fruits cultivation

Kapil Dixit, TNN Aug 20, 2011, 10.04pm IST
ALLAHABAD: The pilot project of the district horticulture department to cultivate L-49 and Allahabadi Safeda varieties of guava and Narendra-5 and Narendra-7 varieties of Indian gooseberry (amla) through organic farming has yielded positive results in seven blocks of the district. In fact, farmers are enlightened after they were successful to cultivate good quantity of guava and Indian gooseberry in Dhanupur, Saidabad, Bahria, Jasra, Kaurihar-II, Bahadurpur and Shankargarh after investing comparatively less amount in fertilisers.

The 'organic farming promotion programme' for cultivation of guava and amla was launched by officials on February last in seven blocks of the district. For this, the department had imparted training to over 600 farmers under its mission programme with an aim to promote organic farming.

Learn how to farm organically Books, magazine on crops, livestock www.acresusa.com"The blocks where organic farming for L-49 and Allahabadi Safeda of guava was undertaken include Kaurihar-II, Jasra, Saidabad, Dhanupur and Bahria," said PK Shukla, district horticulture officer adding that Narendra 5 and 7 species of amla was cultivated at Bahadurpur, Jasra and Shankargarh. Farmers residing in these nine blocks opted for organic farming. For that, the minimum land requirement was one acre and maximum four hectares. Officials also assured them all sorts of assistance to the farmers growing organic crops.

Currently, farmers in Dhanupur, Kaurihar-II, Saidabad, Bahria and Jasra have preferred to cultivate guava. The farmers have assured that they would be bringing other crops like tomato, cabbage, peas, ladyfinger, carrot, litchi under organic farming in next phase informed Shukla. "We have selected these blocks for organic farming of guava and amla after carrying out a complete study and found parameters like soil, its nature, productivity chances are suitable for organic farming," Shukla told TOI. He further added that under the mission programme, the department is currently apprising farmers about the methods useful for organic farming and they were also told about producing natural fertilisers and insecticides/pesticides.

Experts are of the view that customers are generally attracted towards organic products especially in metro cities. Though organic products are not available in small towns, farmers are being encouraged to adopt organic farming due to its advantages. In other states, the organic crops are available in market for domestic buyers and for catering industry which includes hotels, flights, etc. "We also plan to export the fruits and help the farmers," said Shukla.

Source: Fruitful results of fruits cultivation - Times Of India
 

hai, I want to set up organic dairy farm at Karnataka. I have 20 acres of wet land. Pl. let me know about organic way of milk production.

D.m.Parameswarappa, propreitor, Nandana Dairy farm,
 
Last edited by a moderator:

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top