USDA Pesticide Data Show Startling Differences in Produce Residue Levels

[Veena Annadana]

OTA: To keep pesticides out of food, water, and off farms, choose organic products

BRATTLEBORO, Vt., June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumers wishing to avoid pesticide residues in food, water and on farms have a simple choice: choose organic products, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) pointed out today.

The annual Pesticide Data Program (PDP) summary released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Agricultural Marketing Service shows significant differences in pesticide residue levels measured on organic fruits and vegetables compared with their chemically grown counterparts. As to be expected, 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, pointed out. USDA's pesticide testing program clearly shows organic is the gold standard for consumers wishing to avoid produce containing pesticide residues.

While the entire organic sector is growing at over 8 percent, organic fruits and vegetables are the fastest-growing category of U.S. organic products, growing by 11.8 percent in 2010 to reach nearly $10.6 billion. Organic represents nearly 12 percent of all U.S. fruit and vegetable purchased. Data collected by USDA's Economic Research Service show that although organic cropland and pasture accounted for only about 0.6 percent of U.S. total farmland in 2008, this percentage was far surpassed by organic carrots, representing 13 percent of U.S. carrot acreage, and organic apples, representing 5 percent of U.S. apple acreage.

"We want to make sure consumers know of the availability and abundance of fresh organic produce, especially going into the summer season. There is no shortage of nutritious, tasty, safe and affordable organic produce for families across the nation," Bushway said.

In addition to not allowing the use of toxic and persistent pesticides when growing organic fruits and vegetables, organic producers also must comply with U.S. food safety and other food regulations as well as the exacting standards of USDA's National Organic Program. As recently as last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledged that organic food is no more susceptible to food-borne pathogens than conventional produce.

Consumers wishing to learn more about the benefits of organic produce and how choosing organic products is easier and more affordable than ever can check out Organic Trade Association |, OTA's consumer website, and its Savvy Organic Shopper blog (Blog | Organic Trade Association).

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America. OTA is the leading voice for the organic trade in the United States, representing over 6,500 organic businesses across 49 states. Its members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA's Board of Directors is democratically elected by its members. OTA's mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy.


SOURCE Organic Trade Association

Source: USDA Pesticide Data Show Startling Differences in Produce Residue Levels -- BRATTLEBORO, Vt., June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

 

[Veena Annadana]

Janasree call to promote organic farming

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Janasree Sustainable Development Mission urged the State Government to formulate a comprehensive policy to attain food self-sufficiency by the state,� even while reducing the use of chemical fertilisers.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday,� Janasree Sustainable Development Mission chairman M M Hassan said that a two-day conference will be held here in August based on the topic� ‘poison-free food production’� which would be attended by farmers, agriculture scientists, health experts and representatives of organisations involved in organic farming. He said that the Janasree Sustainable Development Mission would promote a people’s movement to spread organic farming as the state was consuming food products from the neighbouring states injected with poisonous pesticides.

“Presently,� the state is using huge quantity of pesticides.� Even though the previous LDF Government had formulated an organic farming policy, nothing tangible was done,” anasree Sustainable Development Mission chairman� said.��������������

Source: Janasree call to promote organic farming - southindia - Kerala - ibnlive

 

[Veena Annadana]

National Mango Fest begins on June 17

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After jackfruit, Kanakakkunnu has become a haven for mangoes, as the National Mango Fest began here on Thursday. The very aroma that fills the air as you step into the pavilion, which showcases mangoes from across the State and outside, is enough to lure you. All those who walked in on the inaugural day got to taste at least one piece, which naturally saw them asking for more.

�The 11-day fest was formally inaugurated by Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry K P Mohanan at a function� presided over by K Muraleedharan MLA.

“The government is resolved to extend all support to farmers. The previous government had initiated some significant steps in this direction and we will be carrying forward all the activities,” said Mohanan. V S Sivakumar, Minister for Transport and Devaswom, opened the pavilion. Mayor K Chandrika was also present at the function.

�Some 30 stalls have already started functioning at the fest, which will be on till June 26. The event, organised by Mango Growers’ Association with technical support of State Horticulture Mission, has mango varieties from different parts of the State, including Kollam and Palakkad, besides varieties from Karnataka, Kanyakumari and Delhi.

�“If the stock get over, the farmers who’ve come here have promised to bring in more. The National Jackfruit Fest has been such a huge hit that we hope to get the same response for the mango fest as well,” said Dr K Prathapan, director, State Horticulture Mission.

�The varieties include Banganapally, Alphonso, Sindoor, Neelam, Malgova, Selam and Kerala varieties like Kilichundan, Kotturkkonam and Panchavarnam. The prices start from Rs 40 and goes up to Rs 80-90. Mangoes cultivated via organic farming have also been kept for sale. ‘Payasam’ made using different varieties of mangoes is also available at the fest, at Rs 20 per glass.

�The immense possibilities of cultivating mangoes in the State and transfer of the latest technology in the cultivation and marketing of mangoes would be covered during the fest.��� After jackfruit, Kanakakkunnu has become a haven for mangoes, as the National Mango Fest began here on Thursday. The very aroma that fills the air as you step into the pavilion, which showcases mangoes from across the State and outside, is enough to lure you. All those who walked in on the inaugural day got to taste at least one piece, which naturally saw them asking for more.

�The 11-day fest was formally inaugurated by Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry K P Mohanan at a function� presided over by K Muraleedharan MLA.

“The government is resolved to extend all support to farmers. The previous government had initiated some significant steps in this direction and we will be carrying forward all the activities,” said Mohanan. V S Sivakumar, Minister for Transport and Devaswom, opened the pavilion. Mayor K Chandrika was also present at the function.

�Some 30 stalls have already started functioning at the fest, which will be on till June 26. The event, organised by Mango Growers’ Association with technical support of State Horticulture Mission, has mango varieties from different parts of the State, including Kollam and Palakkad, besides varieties from Karnataka, Kanyakumari and Delhi.

�“If the stock get over, the farmers who’ve come here have promised to bring in more. The National Jackfruit Fest has been such a huge hit that we hope to get the same response for the mango fest as well,” said Dr K Prathapan, director, State Horticulture Mission.

�The varieties include Banganapally, Alphonso, Sindoor, Neelam, Malgova, Selam and Kerala varieties like Kilichundan, Kotturkkonam and Panchavarnam. The prices start from Rs 40 and goes up to Rs 80-90. Mangoes cultivated via organic farming have also been kept for sale. ‘Payasam’ made using different varieties of mangoes is also available at the fest, at Rs 20 per glass.

�The immense possibilities of cultivating mangoes in the State and transfer of the latest technology in the cultivation and marketing of mangoes would be covered during the fest.

Mango king

He is the king when it comes to mango business. T K Balakrishnan from Kanyakumari is back in the city with his mangoes after a small gap. Having been in the business for 35 years now, Balakrishnan, 55, has no qualms about admitting that mangoes have changed his life for ever.

�He does business running into several lakhs of rupees every year. “I don’t have mango orchads of my own. Instead, I have taken the contract of several orchads. My days start at 4 am, walking out into the orchard, taking care of the plants,” he says. And he adds with pride, “You get mangoes from me all 365 days.”� He has brought nearly 10 tonnes of mangoes for the fest. The varieties available are Banganapally, Neelam, Sindoor, Malgova, Bangalora, Chettivottu etc. “During off-season, I send them to Mumbai and Delhi. We don’t use any chemicals for cultivation,” says Balakrishnan

Source: National Mango Fest begins on June 17 - southindia - Thiruvananthapuram - ibnlive

 

[Veena Annadana]

Palestinian desire for food security drives farming innovation

In a rural area of the central Gaza Strip, Eyad Najjar plucks organic carrots from the sandy soil of his tiny farm. Najjar no longer uses fertilisers or pesticides for his plot, which also grows tomatoes, parsley, rocket, lettuce and spinach. Instead, a fishpond on the field's far edge delivers water rich in nutrients via drip irrigation.

Smiling, Najjar squeezes an almost-ripe fruit hanging from the branch of a lemon tree. "The onions and lemons are bigger and better," he says.

But Najjar is not part of a hip, green revolution. In Gaza, organic agriculture has grown out of a concern for safe supplies of food. When Hamas took control in 2007, Israel imposed a crippling blockade. Not only were a number of foods blocked from entering, but stocks of pesticides and fertilisers also dried up. Israeli officials have said militants can use agricultural chemicals to make rockets.

Food insecurity among Gaza's 1.6 million people rose, and 80% became reliant on food aid, according to the Word Food Programme. Najjar was one of them.

"The rule of thumb back then was that humanitarian items were let in, and if it was for economic development it was not," says Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, an Israeli rights organisation. "But agricultural goods have both humanitarian and economic elements."

Some products continued to enter, many through tunnels under Rafah, but the shortage was enough to force farmers to seek out creative alternatives. Families like Najjar's now produce all the fish and vegetables they can eat and can sell the surplus for a small profit.

This technique also preserves scant water resources. Only about 10% of Gaza's groundwater is drinkable and agriculture accounts for 60% of demand, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

"In so many other places, this is terribly trendy and green," says Simon Boas, co-ordinator of the FAO's Gaza emergency programme, which initiated the fish farm project. "But in Gaza the resource scarcity is so bad this is actually becoming a necessity."

Near the volatile Israeli border, 20km north, organic sage, thyme and fennel lie in the beds of a 1.5-hectare chemical-free farm, part of a pilot project initiated by Gaza's Safe Agriculture Producers Society (SAPS), which aims to spread organic farming techniques in the embattled territory. "At first, most of them didn't want to try it. [They] thought they would lose their harvest if they didn't apply chemicals," says its director, Abd el-Munem.

For years, Gazans have relied heavily on imported pesticides and fertilisers. Most saw little incentive to risk trying the organic farming techniques promoted by SAPS, until the chemicals became scarce. "The siege was a good chance for us to convince the farmers that it's possible to produce without these pesticides and without these chemical fertilisers," says Munem.

Last year, the Hamas government got on board, announcing a 10-year strategy aimed at skirting the blockade and developing sustainable agriculture. "We try to depend on our own resources. Basically, we're trying to use organic methods and go back to traditional forms of farming," says Dr Mohammed al-Agha, Gaza's minister of agriculture and a professor of environmental science at the Islamic University in Gaza.

Gazans pay more than $200 a tonne for fertilisers made from Israeli waste water run-off. The price is high and quality and safety are uncertain, according to some experts. The solution is to produce their own, on a scale large enough to satisfy market demand.

In southern Gaza, Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) is churning-out organic, locally produced fertilisers. Samir al-Nahhal, an engineer who works on the project, points at the rows of dung and foliage collected from local farms. "We make it like a sandwich, one layer of agricultural waste, one layer of manure."

He leans against the machine used to mill the mix of animal droppings and plant waste. "It's designed by Palestinians," he says. Israel has also restricted entry of spare parts for vehicles and machines.

PEF is now producing 500-600 tonnes of fertilisers a year at a cost of $100 a tonne and expanding production in a bid to reduce Gaza's dependency on imported products. But this guerrilla agriculture is not "pure organic farming", Nahhal cautions.

It could be a long time before Gazans see the "organically grown" label on their tomatoes. There is no process for organic certification in Gaza and international bodies struggle to gain access to the besieged enclave.

The Palestinian Centre for Organic Agriculture (PCOA) instead uses the Global GAP system, which sets voluntary standards for good agricultural practice, including minimising chemicals. The centre runs farms aimed at spreading the practices, and is preparing to plant a new 2.6-hectare vegetable greenhouse in Gaza.

Masoud Keshta co-ordinates the FAO's Global GAP projects in Gaza and argues that moving to the stricter organic certification is important to regulate other practices. "For example, if the inspectors come to a farm and find children working, it will stop them from getting the certification," he says.

The ministry of agriculture estimates that, one year after the implementation of its new policy, 2-3% of Gaza's agriculture is organic.

Gaza's minister of agriculture is optimistic about increasing this figure but is wary of setting firm expectations in such a "fragile environment". In 2009, Israel's operation Cast Lead destroyed swaths of Gaza's agricultural land. It was a massive setback, says Agha.

While Israel has eased restrictions on many goods, dependence on agricultural imports is an unsafe bet for Gazans. "Chemicals are available, but we are still going on, convincing farmers that food security can be achieved without them," says Munem. "Our approach is better for the health of the people — it's better for food security."

Egypt has reopened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. But due to the volatile political situation, food security must rely on indigenous production or remain a pawn in regional politics. Four years of isolation has bred innovative solutions. Munem stresses Gazans must continue to pursue local, chemical-free farming methods: "The biggest thing for food security is self-reliance."

Source: Palestinian desire for food security drives farming innovation | World news | Guardian Weekly

 

[Veena Annadana]

Research and Markets: Organic Food Industry in India - 2011 Allows you to Exploit Gro

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets(Organic Food Industry in India - Market Research Reports - Research and Markets) has announced the addition of the "Organic Food Industry in India" report to their offering.

Organic food is the kind of food which is prepared without using any harmful foreign substances such as pesticides, preservatives etc. Every country has its own standards and certifying bodies for preparing the organic food. Now organic foods are available everywhere irrelevant of the location. Years before as there were very few producer's for organic food, acquiring organic food especially in the urban areas were difficult. This report covers the entire organic food industry and the opportunities revolving around this.

Scope:

•Major products considered for study include organic food, green food and natural food.
•Key players covered include Reliance, Godrej Agrovet, ITC foods, FabIndia and Organic India
Key Benefits:

•Exploit growth opportunities across Organic Food industry.
•Devise market-entry and expansion strategies for the various Organic segments.
•Understand the competitors operating in the Indian Organic Food Market.
•Identify key growth markets for your products from the region-wise market statistics.
•Identify the strengths and weakness of key players in this Industry by using SWOT analysis of India Organic Food Market.
•Develop business strategies by understanding the trends and developments that are driving the Organic Food market in India.
•Make informed business decisions using the insightful and in-depth analysis on recent mergers and acquisitions
Key Topics Covered:

•Evolution of Organic products
•Benefits of Organic products
•Organic Farming
•Energy Efficiency of Organic farming system
•PEST Analysis
•Financial Aspects
•Requirements of Organic Farming
•SWOT Analysis of organic food industry in India
•Globalization of organic food industry
•Prospects of Export from India
•Current scenario of organic food industry
•Launching of Organic food range
•Company profiling of few successful organic restaurants/cafes in India
•Future Outlook of organic food industry
•Gesture of animal companion
•Genetically Modified Foods
Companies Mentioned:

•Reliance
•Godrej Agrovet
•ITC foods
•FabIndia
•Organic India
For more information visit Organic Food Industry in India - Market Research Reports - Research and Markets


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Source: Research and Markets: Organic Food Industry in India - 2011 Allows you to Exploit Growth Opportunities across Organic Food Industry | Business Wire