Seeking second Green Revolution, Bihar turns to organic farming

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Veena Annadana

Well-Known Member
PATNA: After good roads, improving law and order, education and health services, Bihar is turning its attention to popularising and promoting organic farming in the state to usher in a new " Green Revolution" in agriculture.

In a bid to spread awareness about benefits of organic farming among farmers, hundreds of national and international organic farming scientists and experts are expected to gather in the Bihar capital for a two-day conference beginning Wednesday.

"This conference of national and international organic farming scientists and experts will boost the government's plans of attracting farmers to adopt organic farming," R.K. Sohane, director of Bihar Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute here, told IANS.

Source: Seeking second Green Revolution, Bihar turns to organic farming - Times Of India
 

The Organic-Pesticide Battle

Apparently there are converse reports regarding organic farming and pesticides. On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, The Organic Trade Association (OTA) posted a press release stating, “Consumers wishing to avoid pesticide residues in food, water and on farms have a simple choice: choose organic products." But on the same day, The Washington Post reported on a deadly outbreak of E. coli infection in Europe caused by contaminated sprouts grown at an organic farm in Lower Saxony, Germany. The article proceeded to question the safety and superiority of organic farming, but noted the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) updated version of the Dirty Dozen—EWG’s 2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™—that was released just the day before, naming apples as the number one pesticide offender in conventionally grown fruits/veggies tested. When it comes to the Dirty Dozen, i.e., the top 12 fruits and veggies that use the highest amount of pesticides, the EWG recommends buying organic, which brings us back to The Washington’s Post question, “Does Europe’s E. coli outbreak alter your feelings about organic produce?"

It’s hard to say. According to the annual Pesticide Data Program (PDP) summary released by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, there are significant differences in pesticide residue levels measured on organic fruits and vegetables compared with their chemically grown counterparts, i.e., organic fruits and vegetables, on a whole, have far fewer levels of pesticide residues than conventionally grown produce.

"Organic production is the only system that uses third-party inspection and certification to verify that no toxic and persistent pesticides or synthetic fertilizers have been used," Christine Bushway, OTA's executive director and CEO, said.

OTA further promoted organic farming, stating, “USDA's pesticide testing program clearly shows organic is the gold standard for consumers wishing to avoid produce containing pesticide residues."

The reported German outbreak of E. coli from organically grown sprouts could be “splitting hairs" when it comes to the organic versus conventional battle; but it’s still something to take note of.

Do your shoppers lean toward organic or conventionally grown produce? Or does it come down to price for them?

source: The Organic-Pesticide Battle
 

Organic Food Is Often Grown With Organic Pesticides

Well, here's a bit of news guaranteed to make shopping at the Park Slope Food Co-op a little less smug: turns out that even organic produce can contain commercial pesticides.

That joyous tiding comes from NPR, which reported late last week that a U.S. Department of Agriculture produce survey found that 20 percent of organic lettuce tested positive for pesticide residues. Much of it came from spinosad, a pesticide marketed by noted friend of the environment Dow Chemical.

The reason spinosad and certain other pesticides are permitted for use in organic crops is because they occur naturally - in the case of spinosad, it comes from a soil bacterium called Saccharopolyspora spinosa. The EPA considers it, as well as some other substances on the USDA's official list of substances that can and cannot be used for organic farming, "slightly toxic."

Whether naturally derived pesticides are any better for you than their synthetic counterparts is open to interpretation - one expert notes that it depends on the dosage. But however you interpret it, it's probably still better than growing produce from soil tainted by illegal dumping.

source: Organic Food Is Often Grown With Organic Pesticides - New York Restaurants and Dining - Fork in the Road
 

Industry makes tentative steps towards organic food colours

Chr Hansen has an organic food colour project at development stage in the US although the Danish supplier said the market is unlikely to become significant in the near term.

As a specialist in natural colours, Chr Hansen has reaped the rewards of a big switch away from synthetics in recent years – its colours & blends division grew 26 per cent in the financial year 2009/2010.

This popularity of natural colouring has been accompanied by some interest in organics.

Monitoring organic progress

Carsten Bennike, executive VP of colours & blends, told FoodNavigator.com that the Chr Hansen has begun a project in the US, adding that the company is keeping an eye on the market.

“We are looking at trends in the market and we see organic becoming a trend in some staples – it could become relevant to our business.”

But currently the explosion of natural colours has not prompted the industry to make any big strides into organic territory.

This is despite years of high market growth that has remained healthy on a global level even through the recession. In Europe, despite black spots like the UK, growth dipped to a still healthy 4-5 per cent in the depths of the recession and is now starting to pick up again, according to Organic Monitor.


Lack of supply

Bennike explained that at present one of the main barriers to the development of organic colours is a lack of supply. “There is not sufficient supply at the moment to have a full pallet of organic colours. We use thousands of tons of raw material and there is now not enough organic supply.”

Added to that is a demand problem as there is no regulatory requirement in the US or Europe for food processors to use organic colours. Both rule books allow a small percentage of non-organic ingredients.

But Amarjit Sahota, managing director of Organic Monitor, said this could change if the supply situation changes. “When supply and production are sufficient to meet demand, it would put pressure on the EU and US to update the regulations. This happened with organic feed and could happen with organic colours.”

Source: Industry makes tentative steps towards organic food colours
 

International conference on organic farming from June 22

Patna, June 20: Altogether 60 agriculture scientists from India and abroad will participate at three-day international conference on organic farming in Bihar, 2011, to be held here from June 22 next, a senior official said on Monday.

Agriculture scientists from the United States, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, besides eminent experts from the National Centre for Organic Farming (NCOF) and Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and farmers of several states will dwell on various aspects of organic farming, the Agriculture Production Commissioner Mr A.K. Sinha told reporters here.

The viewpoints expressed by a cross section of the scientists, farmers and experts will help formulate the road map of organic farming in Bihar, he said.

Chief Minister Mr Nitish Kumar will inaugurate the international conference on organic farming in Bihar on June 22 next, Mr Sinha said.

Mr Kumar will also launch the organic produces like Litchi, varieties of mangoes, potato and vegetables, baby corn, from Bihar with a brand name of ‘Jai B’ on the occasion, the Agriculture Production Commissioner said.

Source: Business Line : Markets / Commodities : International conference on organic farming from June 22
 

New Book Reveals Who Destroyed the Organic Industry

Within the pages of Is It Organic? ($36.99, paperback, 978-1-61215-462-6; $9.99, eBook, 978-1-61215-703-0), a new Xulon Press title from author Mischa Popoff, is a story that will surprise readers with the assertion that what everyone thinks about organic food is mostly wrong. Popoff describes the comprehensive history of farming, warfare, and Western civilization from 1645 to the present. Building upon traditions established more than 350 years ago, people now have the option of choosing organic food, but is it really organic? Would it be more truly organic if the organic activists returned to their Christian roots? This book says such questions would be considered sacrilegious in today’s organic-activist circles, but on the farms where the food is grown, the idea of reviving the Christian communion between man and God is much better received.

“The organic industry could be legitimate once again,” Popoff says. “It began on a sound scientific basis, always with a fundamental allegiance to Judeo-Christian values. In fact, the most successful organic undertakings always rejected government involvement and were self-reliant. But this all changed in the late 1990s when a simple plan to include scientific field testing in the USDA National Organic Program was lobbied out of existence by urban, liberal, secularist activists.”

Popoff holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Saskatchewan. She spent five years working across North America as an organic inspector, achieving the rank of advanced organic farm and process inspector. After 25 years of organic farming, Popoff can attest that the Christian principles are rarely upheld except by the devoted organic farmer.

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Communications, is the world’s largest Christian publisher, with more than 8,000 titles published to date. Is It Organic? is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
Source: New Book Reveals Who Destroyed the Organic Industry - Press Release - Digital Journal
 

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