Vol.

1
Table of contents
Index of Authors 667
Joint Track
Animal Husbandry 2
Organic Dairy Conversion in South East Australia 3
Alan Broughton, Australian Landscape Trust
Development of High-Quality Honey Production Technology Using SpecialHoney Source Trees 7
Choi, S. H
Performance and Efficiency of Organic Low Input Pasture Beef Production (Including 100 Days of
Alpine Pasture) with Cross Breed Suckler Cows and a Limousin Bull 11
Eric Andrew Meili,
Evaluation of Three Family Farms Producing Organic Eggs in Southern Brazil on Animal Welfare and
Biosecurity 12
Escosteguy, A.; Bossardi, M
Develop 0rganic Animal Husbandry for Pollution Control 16
FangZhengZhouZejiang
The Application of Chinese Traditional Veterinary Medicine in Organic Livestock 19
HuYunfengZhangJibing,DiaoPinchun,Xuhang
Small-Scale Natural Circulation Livestock Farming 23
Kim, J. H
Circulation Agriculture Case Study: Livestock Farm 26
Lee, H. B
Current situation, problems, strategies and perspective of organic animalhusbandry development in China 29
LIU Qiang, Meng Qingxiang, LI Xianjun & XIA Zhaogang
Efficacy of Organically Formulated Ration on the Egg Quality Factors and the Age of Laying among
Traditional Back Yard Chicken in the Rural Backyard Poultry Raring Systems of Kandy District,Sri
Lanka 34
Mathavan B,Ranjith de Silva. A.N.F.Perera, J.K.Vidanarachchi and K.F.S.T.Silva
Developing Noval Veterinary Medicinal Products for Sustainable Organic Dairy Cattle Production:
Mastidip for Mastitis Control 38
Reena Mukherjee
Non-Antibiotic Breeding Experience of Korean Native Cattle (Hanwoo) 42
Sun-rae Yang
Synthesizing Nomadic Sheep Farmers in to Organic Chain: Potential BusinessModel 45
Vishnu Sharma & Sanjita Sharma
Biodiversity & Climate Change 46
Development of Community-Based Organic Agriculture in Thailand 47
Dittakit, P. , Wattanasiri, C. & Kongsom, C
Climate Change & Tea Industry 48
Harkirat Singh Sidhu
EcologicalRestorationtoBuildResiliencetoClimateChangeTheExperienceinKalmunai,SriLanka 58
Melvani, Kamal
BIODIVERSITY, THE FOUNDATION OF AGRICULTURE 65
Premala Jeyanandarajah & Kamal Melvani
Organic Farming Has the Potential to Mitigate Climate Change? 75
S.K.THAKRAL
Climate Change 80
Capitalizing on the Competitive Advantage of Low Carbon Organic Agriculture - Composting, Carbon
Credits, Footprinting 81
Tobias Bandel
Smallholders 86
Status of Organic Farming in the Smallholder Group of Bangladesh 87
Alam, M. K
A Strategy for Local Participatory Action Research in Developing the Organic Sector in Southern
Africa 92
Auerbach, R
Negros Island Rainforest Organic Coffee: Smallholder Organic Farmers 93
Edgardo Uychiat, Roberto Gasparillo
Ecological Agro Forestry: Necessary, Appropriate, Successful in the HumidTropics 96
Gerd Schnepel, Asociacin
Market Access for Small Organic Farmers in East Java - Indonesia: Sharing Experience on Network
Exploration 100
Gunawan, J., Slamet
Wakro's Organic Tea Growers 103
Harkirat Singh Sidhu
Community Based restoration of the Kalkanna Oya Sub Basin of the Walawe River Watershed in the
Lipton's Valley in Sri Lanka - a Landcare Project 106
Kamal Melvani, Neo Synthesis Research Centre (NSRC) and Dr. Jerry Moles, Landcare Lanka
Report on the Project on Ecological Restoration in Guruhela andKodayana, Siyambalanduwa in the
Moneragala District of the UvaProvince in Sri Lanka 115
Melvani, Kamal
Agro biodiversity Conservation and Small-Scale Organic Farmers in PeruvianHighlands 121
Moiss, Quispe
Organicos & Naturais: Sustainable Tourism Circuit in the District of PedraAzul, Domingos Martins,
State of Espirito Santo, Brazil 124
Souza, M.C.M
Enhancing Food Security through Organic Agriculture and Rural Tourism (EFORT) 128
Umesh Lama
Impacts of Asset Base Sustainable Agriculture Processes and Results of SocietalEngagement of
Creating and Recreating Local Communities in Mindanao,Philippines 129
VIC I. TAGUPA
System Value Track
Biogas - Bioenergy 138
Bio-digester: a Low-Cost Technology for Small Holder Farmers 139
A.Thimmaiah, Kesang Tshomo and Jigme Wangchuk
Organic Cultivation of Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol Production 142
Amit Kesarwani, Shih Shiung Chen
Synergy between Biogas Production and Organic Agriculture 146
Erik Fog and Peter Mejnertsen
Characterization and Initial Evaluation of Food and EnergyIntegrated Agroecological Production
Systems in Cuba 148
Funes-Monzote, F.R., Martn Martn, G.J., Surez, J., Blanco, D., Rivero, J.L. , Rodrguez, E.
Valle, Y. , Sotolongo, J.A. & Boillat, S
Sustainable Energy- and Land Use Project with an Organic SmallholderOrganization 151
Saro Gerd Ratter
Agriculture, Bioenergy and Food Security: Using Befs to Guide Agricultural Change 154
Yasmeen Khwaja & Irini Maltsoglou
Capacity Building 161
Role of Indegenous Knowledge and Practices of Tharu Ethnic Communiy onOrganic Vegetables
Production in Nepal 162
Basanta Rana Bhat
School Farm Activities: Educational Efforts to Integrate Organic Farming into Childrens Dietary Life 166
Choi, Byeong-Chan
Bridging the Skills Gap in Organic Agriculture in Nigeria 172
Isaac O. O. Aiyelaagbe, Philip J. C. Harris, Victor I. O. Olowe, Taiwo .A. Adedokun, Elizabeth J. Trenchard
IFOAM Leads the Organic Youth 176
Julia Lernoud & Tobias Bandel
College Education for Next-generation Leaders of Organic Agriculture Based on the Korea National
College of Agriculture and Fisheries Case 177
Kim, J. S
Ways to Facilitate Environmentally Friendly Organic Agriculture 179
Lee K. I
The IFOAM Academy: First South Asian Opportunity to Build Future Organic Leadership Is Coming
Up 184
Markus Arbenz
GreenPlantProtectionMobileLearningforSlovakianFarmers 188
Monika Tthov, Lszl Radics, Salvatore Basile, Ildik Vrs, Peter Tth
TheRuleofTraininginDevelopinganOrganicSystemtheIsraeliCase 189
Ornit Raz
OrganicEdunetAchievinginteroperabilityofOrganicAgricultureandAgroecologydigitalrepositories 191
Radics, L. , Pusztai, P. , Csambalik, L. , Szalai, Z. , Tbis, A
Empowerment of Tharu Community on Organic Production through Farmers Field School 195
Rajan Ghimire, Basanta Ranabhat and Rishi Ram Adhikari
Establishment of Organic Agriculture University in Samcheok, Korea 199
Sang Mok Sohn & Sung Kyo Choi
Internship Program for Organic Apple Cultivation 203
Sanggiel Shin
Rice Production 207
Study on Organic Export Value Chain Development in Ethiopia: Opportunitiesand Challenges 208
Addisu Alemayehu
NorthEastINDIAaLandofOrganicMoutains 212
Akali Sema
OrganicProductionQualityManagementinSoPauloStateBrazil 216
Allemann, R
Organic Farming in the Italian Penitentiary System to Rehabilitate Detainees 224
Anna Ciaperoni
DVD Multi-Media Presentation Material 229
Blesilda M Calub
Organic Policies in Latinamerica: a Review 230
Carlos, Escobar
Socio Economic Analysis of Organic Farming in Indian Punjab 236
D.K.Grover & Inderpal Singh
Development of the Organic Family Farming Policy: Colombian Experience 241
Escobar, Carlos
Opportunities and Challenges for Converting Iranian Horticulture toOrganic Farming System 242
Hossein Mahmoudi , Abdolmajid Mahdavi Damghani & Houman Liaghati
25 Years Developing Organic Farming in Portugal 246
Jaime Ferreira
Growing Organically: the Pacific Islands Organic Movement and the Pacific Organic Standard 247
Karen Mapusua, Stephen Hazelman
Study on Current Status and Consumption Trends of the Korean Organic Farming 252
Ki, J. D. & Lee, H.W
Eco-efficiency Analysis of Organic Agriculture in Korea 254
Kim, Chang-Gil and Hak-Kyun Jeong
Analysis on the Annual Increase of Organic Certifications by ProfessionalCertification Bodies in Korea 262
Kim, H., Ahn, J., Seo, H, Kim, S & Han, O
Awareness and Utilization among Dietitians regarding Korean Traditional Food 265
Kim, K. M., Kim, Y. S., Kim, Y., Kim, G. C. & Kim, H. C
The Soil Returns My Respect with Innumerable Rewards 269
Kim, S. E
Study on the Environmentally Friendly Organic Farming Experience Model in Namyang-Ju City and
Suggestions for Future Development 271
Kong, Y. K
Promoting Environmentally Friendly Agriculture in Namyang-Ju upon theIFOAM OWC 2011 276
Kwon, S. J
Current Status of an Organic Potato and Bean Farmer 281
Lee, G. Y
Organization of Organic Farmers and Scientific Movement in Korean OrganicAgriculture 283
Lee, T.G. & Yoon, S.H
Organic Farming of Meokgol Pears of Namyangj-Ju 285
Lee, Y. J
Status Quo of Organic Agriculture and Organic Food in China 289
Li Xianjun , Jiao Xiang
Characteristics of Organic Producers in Murcia, Spain 293
Martnez-Carrasco, F., Schwentesius-Rindermann, R.. Martnez-Paz, J., Gmez-Cruz, M
The Actual Situation of Organic Production of Paddy Rice in Kou-Shin-Etsu Areas 297
Miki.T, S. Kato, D. Abe and S. Iwaishi
Irans Organic Agriculture Potential: an Opportunity for the Middle EastCountries 302
Mohammadreza Davari, Y.S. Shivay & Mohammad Mirzakhani
Photosynthesis- CO2 Concentration Response of Korean NativePhytoremediation Plant, Iris ensata 306
Nam H. H., Kwon M. K., Seong J. J. & Han Y. Y
Status of Environmentally Friendly Farming Certification in Namyang-Ju City 309
Park, N.S. & Bea, W. H
Research of Economical and Social Potential within Organic Farming in the Central Hungarian Region
313
R. Varga, L. RADICSA. DIVKY-ERTSEY, A. TOBIAS, L. CSAMBALIK
Organic Agriculture in the Central Province of Sri Lanka 316
Ranjith de Silv
Story of a Legendary Success in the Organic Farming Industry: Jangan Farm Earns KRW 10 Billon
from Lettuce 318
Ryu, G. M
Case Study on Operating Environmentally Friendly Organic Farm ExperienceProgram for Children at
Childcare Centers 321
Song, J. S
Impact Analysis of an Organic Farming Project in Tamil Nadu, India 324
Subramanian, K., Parimala, K., Balasubramanian, A.V. & Vijayalakshmi, K
EnvironmentalBenefitsofOrganicFarmingIndianExperiences 328
Vaidya, C.S. & Partap, T
Development of Korean Organic Agriculture and NGOS Role 332
Won-ho, Gang
Development Process and Challenges of the Paldang Organic Agriculture Movement 336
Yoo, J. K
Crop Production 341
Enhancing of Growth, Essential Oil Yield and Component of Yarrow Plants (Achillea Millefolium)
Grown under Safe Agriculture Conditions 342
Abdel Wahab M. Mahmoud
AssessmentandDocumentationofIndigenousTechnicalKnowledge(ITK)onControlofBananaBacterialWILT(BBW)i
nChegereSub-County,MaruziCountyApacDistrict 348
Abila, P
The Role of Local Wisdom in Using Botanical Pesticide for Pest Management on Organic Farming in
Indonesia 351
Agus Kardinan
Understanding and Utilizing Effective Micro-organisms for Agriculture 353
Ahn, S. W
MyokoaLargeFruitCultivarofTomatoBredinNatureFarmingSystems 355
Akinobu. Harada, Kaoru. Ishiwata and Toshio. Nakagawara
Rhizosphere Engineering for Improving Productivity and Quality Constituents in Asparagus Racemosus 357
Anilkumar,A.S & Sherief,A.K
Organic Tomato Variety Trials in Hungary 368
Anna,Divky-ErtseyLszl,Radics-Barbara,MirekFruzsina,GyngyFanni,Nmeth-Petra,Ferincz
Weed Control in Organic Soybean Field Using Cover Crop 373
B.M. Lee, H.J. Jee, C.S. Kim, S.B. Lee, H.S. Nam, C.K. Kang, J.H. Lee and M.K. Hong
Herbicidal Effect of Vinegar as Organic Herbicide 375
B.M. Lee, H.J. Jee, C.S. Kim, S.B. Lee, H.S. Nam, C.K. Kang, J.H. Lee and M.K. Hong
SOD-Culture Management for Apple Farming 377
Bae, C. W
Case Presentation on Organic Farming: Grape Cultivation 378
Baek, Yi-nam
Weeds Your Way: Organic Farmer Practices and Promising Avenues for Research 382
Baker, B
Organic Herbal Production and Its Relation with the Environment 385
Bikash Subedi
Effect of Biofertilizer and Organic Mulching on Growth and Yield of Ginger(Zingiber Officinale) 388
Borthakur, P.K. Sarma,P.K. & Sarma, D.
Development of Naturally Degradable Rice Polymer For Organic WeedManagement of Red Pepper
and Rice 394
C.K. Kang, H.S. Nam, Y.K. Lee, S.B. Lee, B.M. Lee, Y.J. Oh, H.J. Jee, M.K. Hong, K.W. Jung, Y.J. Lee and Y.H. Choi
Characteristics of a New Golden Oyster Mushroom Variety Sunjung 402
Choi, H. S., Jeong, S. T., Yeo, S. H., Choi, J. H., Kim, T. Y. & Lee, S. H.
Characteristics of a New Oyster Mushroom Variety Gongi-2ho for BagCultivation 406
Choi, Jong-in, Chi, Jeong- Hyun, Ha, Tai-Moon, Ju, Young-Cheul
Oxygen Enrichment for Organic Greenhouse Crops 410
Dorais, M.,Jean-Paul C. , Gravel V. , Rochette P. , Antoun, H. & Mnard C.
The Facts and Myths in Organic Agriculture: Farmers Farming Practices in Southern Luzon
Philippines 414
Gina, Villegas-Pangga
Survey on the Distribution and Vegetation Environment of Pine Mushroom(Tricholoma Matsu take) in
Gyeonggo-Do, Korea 417
Ha, T. M., Ju, Y. C., Kim, H. D. & Kim, Y. H.
Oyster mushroom Bed Culture with Anti-Fungal Microorganism Inhibiting Green Mold (Trichoderma sp.) 420
Ha, T. M.,Ju, Y. C.& Sung, J. M.
Journey for Organic Grape of Life 425
Han, N. Y.
Investigation on Disease Injury Status of Horticultural Crops in Nanyang-Ju City and Measures to
Prevent and Control Diseases though Soil Sterilization Using Wheat Bran 428
In, T. J., Lee, Y. B. & Yoon, G. H.
Foliar Application of Humic Acid and Seaweed Extract Improved Fruit Yield and Quality of Organic
Greenhouse Cherry Tomato 431
Jamal Javanmardi and Hossein Azadi
Organic Tomato Cultivation 432
Jung Ran, Lee
Stabile Yield and Insect Pest Suppression Are Induced by a Double-Cropping System of Cabbage
after Rye Crop 435
Kaoru Ishiwata, Ikuko Furihata and Hideaki Chishima
Current Status on a Farmer Cultivating Organic Vegetables 443
Ki-hyeong, Choi
Antioxidant and Antihypertensive Activities of Several Organic Mushrooms 445
Kim, J. H., Choi, J. I., & Ju, Y. C.
Current Status of an Organic Bean, Millet and Kiwi Farmer 451
Kim, S. W.
The Cause of Outbreak of Rice Plant Hoppers in China, Thailand and in Vietnam, and the Possible
Solution by Organic Farming with the Use of Local Varieties 453
Koa Tasaka
Using Trichoderma Asperellum towards Limitation of Diseases in Winter Oilseed Rape 455
Kowalska J.
Oilbase Formulation of Biocontrol Agents, Biopesticides and Biofertilizers 459
KRISHAN CHANDRA
The Best Practices: Pergolas Married with Oak Trees in Skrapari District of Albania (The Case of
Prishta Village) 470
LAVDOSH FERRUNI
Pest Management for Organic Apple Orchards 475
Lee S. W.
Organic Cultivation of Herbs and Edible Wild Grass 477
Lee, E. Y.
Evaluation of Wheat Residuals Effects on Yield Components and Soil Seed Bank of Amaranthus
Retroflexus 480
M. Yarnia, E. Farajzadeh Memari, M.B.Khorshidi Benam, V. Ahmadzadeh and N. Nobari
A Study on Knowledge and Adoption level of aerobic rice growers toward organic farming in Eastern
Dry Zone of Karnataka State of India 481
Mahatab Ali K.M, Jagadeeshwara K.
Estimation Model the Compensation Optimum Price of Organic Wheat in Transition Period (Case
Study of Khorasan Razavi Province) 489
Mohammad Ghorbani & Hoda Zare Mirakabad
Comparative Effect of Different Combinations of Organic Manures and Biofertilizers on Productivity,
Grain Quality and Soil Properties in Organic Farming of Rice - Based Cropping Systems 490
Mohammadreza Davari, S.N. Sharma & Ali. Monsefi
Grain Amaranth : Sustainable Adaptation for Food/Nutrition and Livelihoods Security 494
Ndonga LK
Effect of Cowpea Residue Incorporation and Nitrogen Application Rates on the Productivity of Upland
Rice. 496
Okonji C. J., Okeleye K. A., Aderibigbe S.G., Oyekami A. A.
Sweet Cherry (Prunus Avium L.) Land Varieties in Ecological Agriculture 497
Ostrovsk, R., Brindza, J., Tth, D., Stehlkov, B. & Tirpkov, A.
Growth and Yield Response of Soybean (Glycine max L.) to Wood Vinegar andFermented Liquid
Bio-Fertilizer in Thailand 500
Pangnakorn, U. , Watanasorn, S., & Chuenchooklin, S.
Production of Organic Seed of Groundnut: Strategies and Practices 505
Parshotam Kanani & Bhautik Savaliya
Bioponic Cultivation (a New Technology) VS Hydroponics 511
Pawan Singhania & Archana Singhania
Biovedic Cultivation of Herbs & Medicinal plants 515
Pawan Singhania & Archana Singhania
Recycling of Vegetable Crop Residues for Vermiccomposting and ITS Response on Growth and Yield
of Carrot (Daucus carota L.) 519
Ranjit Chatterjee and J. C. Jana
Management of Root Knot Nematode with Trichoderma Harzianum and Spent Mushroom Compost 520
Saifullah and Baharullah Khattak
Tropical Fruit Extract, an Environmental-Friendly Way to Combat PlantDisease 525
Sanchez-Zaballero, Grecilda & Taboada, Evelyn
Organiculture Manual 530
Sanggiel Shin
Ethylene Gas Adsorbent Usage 533
Seo, D. W.
Panchagavya - a Holistic Source of Nutrients, Growth Promotion and Immunity Booster in Organic
Agriculture 534
Somasundaram,E and Subbian,P
Enhancing Plant Defense through Ecological Farming Practices 535
Sujata and Maya Goel
Role of Botanicals in Management of Phytopathogenic Fungi 539
SURENDER KUMAR BHARDWAJ
Effective Microorganism (EM) Technology and Mulching for Weed Management in Sustainable
Vegetable (Radish) Production 540
Udayakumar, A
Effect of Organic Farming in Rainfed Groundnut on Red Sandy Loam Soils of Anantapur District 544
Vijay. M. Sankar Babu , Rama.K Subbaiah and Madhan M.Mohan
Promotion of Organic and Fairtrade Cocoa in Vietnam: Preliminary Results 551
Vo Van Phong, Daniel Valenghi and Nguyen Lam Giang
Application of IPM in Organic Farming in China 563
Wang Xingping, Yu Kaijin, Zhang Jibing, Wang Yungang, Zhou Zejiang, Xiao Xingji
Overview of Organic Agriculture Research in China 566
Wu, W., Qiao, Y. , Meng F., Li H. & Guo Y.
Organic Food Development under Current Situation of Food Safety 570
Xu Li, Yungang Wang
Application of Total Quality Management (TQM) as Quality Improvement Effort of Organic Vegetables 575
Yusda Mardhiyah, Hepi Risenasari
Increasing Productivity of Head Lettuce by Foliar Spraying of Some Bio and Organic Compounds 578
Zakaria Fouad Fawzy
Developing Organic Systems 586
Forecasting of Plant Disease and Insect for an Agricultural Complex andFarm in Environment-friendly
Cultivation of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) 587
Cha, K. H., Oh, H. J., Park, R. D. & Jung, W. J.
Optimal Application Rate of Mixed Organic Fertilizer for Substitution ofChemical Fertilizer in Rice
Cultivation 591
Cho, K. R., Won, T. J., Kang, C. S. & Park, K. Y.
Creating Added Benefits through Supply Chain Monitoring 595
Frank Gerriets, Gerald A. Herrmann
Integrated Rural Development 597
Gerald A. Herrmann
Pest Control Using Natural Enemies 599
Gwon, Gi Myeon
Effect of Volume of Irrigation with Saline Water on Olive Fruit and Oil Quality 602
Ioannis Stamatas, Philip J. C. Harris, George D. Nanos
Evaluation of Influence of Position and Moon Phases on Crop Development ofLettuce (Lactuca sativa) 606
Jimnez, B. ,Adeodato, T., ,Diniz, C., Soares, A
Urban-rural Interchanges in Consumer Living CooperativeAssociation: Challenges and Alternatives 609
Kwan-Hyun Cho
The Development of Organic Sowing Mix of Vermicompost and Coconut Coir Dust: a Knowledge
Transfer to Small Scale Farmers, Thailand 613
Manenoi, A. , Tansungnern, A. & Tamala, W.
Jute Mallow Response to Types and Rates of Organic Matter 617
Mukhtar, A.A., Tanimu, B., Amans, E.B., Sharifai, A.I. & Arunah, U.L
ECO Heater 618
Park, J. K.
Technology Adds Value 620
Scartascini, J.C. , Rois, R
Evaluation of Beneficial Function for Organic Paddy Farming in Korea 623
Seo. M.C., Park, K.L., Ko, B.G., Kang, K.K., Ko, J.Y.and Lee, J.S.
ABioDoc, a Real Source of Documents Dealing with Organic Farming 627
Sophie Valleix, Louis Rousseau
Nutritive Evaluation of Liquid Fertilizer Manufactured by Farmers Using Organic Material in Korea 629
Won, T. J., Kang, C. S., Cho, K. R. & Roh, A. S.
The Rice Growth and Yield for Organic Rice Production on Pot Seedling Type 633
Young-Rip Kwon , Young-Hun Moon , Praveen Kumar Sharma, Dae-Hyang Kim, Hyeong-Jin
Policy and Advocacy Interventions Required for the Development of Organic AgricultureSector in
Zimbabwe 637
Fortunate Hofisi Nyakanda
Organic Value Chains: New Approches in Development Cooperation 640
Frank Eyhorn, Peter Schmidt, Jens Soth,
Organic Agriculture in International Cooperation Projects: Guidelines forSustainable Results. 645
Michele Maccari, Antonio Compagnoni
Organic Agriculture, a Powerful Tool for Change in the South: anAllys Perspective 647
Willy Douma, Hivos
Fair Trade 651
Combining Organic and Fair Trade Certification 652
Elizabeth Henderson and Michael Sligh
Fair Trade Relations in Regional Organic Food Chains 656
Jrg Schumacher and Hans Ramseier
CertifyingFairTradeaFairDealforAll? 660
Julia Edmaier, Peter Schaumberger
Meaning of Fair Trade in South and North? the New Naturland Fair TradeCertification 662
Reese S., Sachs F., Frst M., Br M. und Heine P. 662


Joint Track
1


Animal Husbandry
2
Organic Dairy Conversion in South East Australia

Alan Broughton, Australian Landscape Trust
soiltest@austlandscapetrust.org.au

Introduction

In 2008 the Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia co-operative embarked on a recruitment drive to
increase the supply of organic milk to cater for a rapidly expanding domestic and export market.
The project was financed by the Federal governments Rural Industries Research and Development
Corporation and the ODFA. The program went for a year and a half, and resulted in a total of ten
new organic dairy farms, which will increase organic milk production by about 50% once the new
suppliers have completed their three year organic certification period. More than 40 other dairy
farmers expressed interest in converting, which bodes well for future expansion of the industry. The
RIRDC was interested in supporting the project as a model for organic conversion that could be
used by other sections of the organic industry. It was directed by the co-op and carried out jointly
by co-op members with some outside support.

Methods

The first stage of the project comprised a literature search on dairy conversion in other parts of the
world, and a questionnaire sent to IFOAM affiliated organisations. The aim was to determine the
main barriers to dairy conversion and how they were overcome. It was difficult to obtain
information specific to the dairy industry, and much of the information related to organic
conversion in general.

It appears that conscious efforts to increase the numbers of organic producers in a particular
industry, such as was the aim of this project, are not common, especially in the developed countries
of the world. The situation is different in many Third World countries where overseas aid
organisations and/or exporters have developed programs for the conversion of easily transportable
cash crops such as tea, coffee, cotton and spices. The techniques used in such programs, where
farmers have limited literacy and mobility, is necessarily different to those required in developed
countries. More common is the promotion of organic farming practices leading to conversion on a
much broader scale, nationally, regionally and on the local level.

Few specifically dairy conversion programs were found, one in Prince Edward Island in Canada and
one in New Zealand. The New Zealand program was run by the dairy company Fonterra and the
Canadian one by the partly government funder Organic Dairy Project. Some US dairy companies
also run conversion programs.

General organic conversion (not specifically dairy) program techniques that are used include the
following:
* Incentive payments and other financial assistance. The range of such assistance measures
includes direct subsidies for production or area (such as the Area Payments Schemes of most EU
countries), payment of certification costs, grants or loans for infrastructure changes (particularly
dairy housing modification), premium prices offered by processors or marketers, and subsidised or
free training and advisory services.
* Government policies to support organic farming. Included here are national goals for
conversion and their associated programs.
* Formal education services. The range includes university and technical college formal
courses.
3
* Non-accredited training information provision, including short courses, seminars, field
days, conferences and training sessions. They are commonly provided by organic associations,
government agencies or aid organisations. In some EU countries attending these sessions is a
precondition for receiving financial assistance.
* Advisory and extension services, provided by government agencies, organic organisations
or aid organisations.
* Information banks. Universities, research institutions, governments and organic
organisations are the usual providers through libraries or internet resources.
* Research. Research is conducted through universities, research institutes and grants
programs.

In Australia many of the above conversion assistance measures are not available or are very limited.
There is very little government support either financially or in principle to organic farming, though
non-specifically organic assistance which is useful for organic farmers comes from general
sustainable agriculture programs such as Landcare. Organic agriculture promotion in Australia has
been historically carried out almost exclusively by organic organisations without financial
assistance or government policy support.

Barriers to organic dairy conversion identified in the survey and literature search included lack of
organic feed supplies, lack of information and education, lack of processing facilities, lack of
demand, costs for winter housing modification, inadequate premiums, lack of financial assistance,
difficulty in managing mastitis, fear of loss of production or economic failure, the extra paperwork
required for certification, and general lack of motivation. Farmers need good reasons to become
organic. Commonly personal health is the driving force among Australian farmers, but concerns
about animal health and environmental effects also contribute. A ready market and support from
other producers is an important factor.

Many of these barriers do not apply to the Australian organic dairy industry. There are processing
facilities and a ready market, no need for winter housing, supplementary feed requirements are low
as all cows are pasture fed, organic farmers manage mastitis well, and premiums are adequate. The
chief barriers applying in south-eastern Australia were identified as lack of information and
encouragement, and this is what the project decided to focus on.

A New Zealand publication called Organic Pastoral, was chosen as the base for written information,
because there was no comparable manual designed for Australia. Topics in the book include soil
management, animal health, pastures, environment, livestock breeding and conversion issues.

A resource listing for Australia was compiled and added to the book, made up of the following
items: organic certification organisations, organically acceptable animal health products and
services, books and websites relating to organic dairying, organic magazines, organic education
providers, and national and local organic producer organisations.

Interviews were conducted with four leading organic dairy farming families who were willing to
discuss their techniques. Two were dry land farmers from the Gippsland region in south-eastern
Victoria, while the others farmed on irrigation country in the Goulburn Valley of northern Victoria.
The farms were of varying sizes carrying 90 to 700 cows, with different histories, different reasons
for conversion and different methods of managing soil and livestock health, chosen to show the
range of options open to organic dairying. The interviews were written up and attached to Organic
Pastoral as case studies.

4
A separately funded internet learning program provided a complete course of study in organic
farming with a particular focus on dairying. Each of the prospective new organic dairy farmers was
provided with access to this course, which included a discussion board.

Advertisements were placed in the Weekly Times, the major rural newspaper, asking for expressions
of interest by dairy farmers for organic certification. Existing personal contacts were also used to
compile a list which was expanded as the project developed.

Information meetings were held at several locations in the main dairying areas of Victoria to
explain the requirements of organic certification, the market opportunities for organic milk and the
role of the ODFA in providing assistance to those who wanted to follow through with certification.
Information packs on organic certification provided by one of the certifying bodies were given to
the interested people. Farm walks and discussions were scheduled in the major dairying regions to
allow farmers to view organic farm operations.

A series of four training sessions in each of the three dairying regions was planned. However none
took place in the south-western region because of lack of numbers of interested farmers. The
training sessions were open only to those who signed contracts with ODFA to supply milk to the
Coop if they proceeded to certification. This placed them under no obligation to actually proceed;
contracts became void if they did not. The Organic Pastoral manual with its attached local resource
list and case studies was handed out at the first of these sessions. The four sessions were as follows:

1. Certification. Requirements of certification, the certification process, choosing a certifier, and an
explanation of how to use the E-learning dairy conversion course were the topics covered. Several
currently certified farmers were there to add to the information provided.

2. Soil management. Speaker was Bryan Macleod, a soil scientist and consultant. Again several
current farmers attended and contributed with their experiences.

3. Animal health. Jean Belstead, an animal homoeopath spoke on homoeopathic preparations which
were used by most certified dairy farmers. She talked on the benefits of homoeopathy, some of the
most important treatments, and how to store and use the preparations. Current farmers told of their
successes with the treatments. This was followed by questions and answers on general cow health
maintenance.

4. The final session covered revision and further discussion. It was converted into a farm visit,
where the farmer talked about methods used, difficulties encountered and reasons for conversion.
By that stage all those intending to certify had already put in their applications, so assistance with
Organic Management Plans was not necessary. Current organic dairy farmers also attended.

Results

By March 2009 it had become apparent that the goals of the project would be exceeded. A total of
ten farming families had indicated by that time that they were planning to undergo organic
certification, which will increase average daily milk supply to the co-op from 41,000 litres in 2009
to 61,000 litres in 2012. Further recruitment ceased, as it was thought not desirable to increase the
supply of organic milk too rapidly ahead of the market. It was expected that more of the total of 53
farmers who had expressed interest would attempt to convert in the next few years.

Several current suppliers attended each of these events and were willing and able to provide extra
information about what they actually did on the ground. Reports from the new farmers showed that
5
this was crucial for the success of the project and was highly appreciated. It appears that the project
would have fallen far short of its goals without the active support of ODFA members.

The organisational strength of the organic dairy industry was of prime importance to the success of
the conversion project. No other organic sector has the organisational strength and unity that the
Victorian organic dairy farmers have developed. The ODFA manages between 80 and 90% of
Australias organic milk production and has a full time office staffed by a manager, administrator
and marketer, financed by levies from organic milk sales. This situation is rare in Australia for
organic farming, and has provided the impetus and support for dairy conversion that is not available
in other organic industry sectors. The following are features of this advantage:
Financial resources and organisational ability to run the project. Half of the costs of the
dairy conversion project were covered by the ODFA.
Full time staff able to maintain close contact with converting farmers and provide them with
information.
Expanding markets, and good marketing ability.
No competition between farmers. Organic farmers in many industries see themselves in
competition with each other because of limited market access. ODFA suppliers were very
free with information on the techniques they have developed. The conversion project
received full and active support from Coop members.
Producer direction. The project was planned and directed by ODFA members and staff.
Their goals and knowledge ensured that the project was conceived and carried out with
direct understanding of the needs of prospective new organic dairy farmers.

Conclusion

The experience shows that an organic conversion program needs to address the following issues.
Information provision. While outsiders from a particular industry can collect and distribute
information on organic techniques, personal experience is of high value to prospective new
entrants. Therefore there needs to be strong support from farmers in the particular organic
industry.
Organisation: A conversion project requires an organisational structure with the time and
ability to plan and carry out the project. While the ODFA model is ideal, a local or national
organic association, a certifying body, a processor or a government agency could perform
this role.
Marketing opportunities: There needs to be an established or well developing system of
marketing, to give confidence to potential converting farmers that their produce can be sold,
and to overcome perceptions within a particular industry that new entrants are not a threat to
current sales.
Motivation: Motivation includes more than commercial opportunity. A sense of belonging,
the confidence to justify their decision to themselves and neighbours, confidence that their
product will be valued by consumers, and the knowledge that support is available are all
important aspects of the motivation required to undertake organic conversion.
6
Development of High-Quality Honey Production Technology Using Special
Honey Source Trees

Choi, S. H.
Rural Extension Educator
Namyangju City Agricultural Technology Center, Korea
E-mail: csh386@hanmail.net

Introduction
Honey is a product with an unlimited potential in the food market. In the US, if a honey bread
company uses honey as the major sweetener (more than 50% of the total sweetener used in
the product), it is supposed to attach a standard honey mark on its products so that consumers
know the usage of honey. Germany is also actively promoting the consumption of honey
through advertisements. The nations annual honey consumption per person amounts to
1,300g, which is No. 1 in the world. Koreas per capita honey consumption is only 160g,
while those of the U.S. and Japan are 600g and 400g, respectively.
Acacia is a very good honey source tree, but it blooms only for 10 days a year. In Korea, it is
said that there are more than 4,500 native plants but only about 600 of them can be used as
honey sources. Among them, wild cherry trees and acacia trees in April and raisin trees
between late March and early June are said to have a great potential to be used as new honey
sources. In particular, wild cherry honey has a unique fragrance and taste, while raisin honey
well fits consumer preference with its great fragrance and color. Also, chestnut honey is
widely loved by consumers thanks to its great effect as a Helicobacter treatment.

Materials and methods
Measure to commercialize honey from special honey source trees

Commercialization of creamed honey using the honey that can be well
crystallized
Since the honey from herbal species such as wild cherry, rapeseed, black raspberry and
astragalus can be easily crystallized, if they are converted into creamed honey and more
widely commercialized, it will contribute greatly to the increase in the income of rural farms.
Therefore, a measure to produce creamed honey has been suggested as follows.

Measure to produce creamed honey
This is a method to convert liquid-type honey into creamed honey. Since cream-type honey
does not flow down and has soft creamy texture, it is easy to spoon it and evenly spread on
bread. The method is so simple that anybody can create creamed honey within a week. The
following method is based on the manual of Dadant and also the verbal explanation of
employees and researchers from other overseas honey production companies.

Steps to produce creamed honey
(1) Prepare well filtered, pure liquid honey and place a proper amount into a clean and wide
jar. Usually, use one liter of liquid honey for pilot production.
(2) Add some creamed honey activator into the jar. Proper amount of the activator is 10% of
the total volume (or weight) of source honey (10% is ideal amount, but 3-5% is also
acceptable). For pilot production, use about 50ml of creamed honey as an activator.*
(3) When the activator is added, the temperature of source honey should be 15-24C.
7
(4) Mix the source honey and the activator thoroughly using an electric stirrer or a honey
scoop for about 10-15 minutes. Only when the ingredients are well mixed, the creamy texture
of the honey will be even and soft. If the amount of the activator honey is less than 1% of the
source honey, the mixing time should be much longer and the process should be repeated a
number of times.
(5) Blend the ingredients slowly and carefully so that the air will not be entered into the
mixture.
(6) If the ingredients are evenly mixed, put the mixture into a number of smaller containers.
Fill the containers only up to 1cm away from the top.
(7) Keep the mixture in the refrigerator (at 13-14C) for 5-7 days, after which soft, cream-
type honey will be generated (13-14C is most desirable, but 10-15C is also okay).
(8) The structure of the completed creamed honey is usually stable unless it is exposed to
temperature higher than 32C and goes back to liquid form. If such liquidation occurs, repeat
the whole process again from the beginning.
(9) Part of the produced creamed honey can be used as an activator for generating more
creamed honey using different source honey.
(10) If a small amount of spice such as cinnamon or nutmeg, or dried fruits or nuts (walnuts,
almonds, peanuts and pine nuts) are added to the mixture at step (4), the outcome will be
creamed honey with unique flavor and more even texture. The creamy texture becomes softer
as the temperature goes up while it gets hardened as the temperature goes down.

Development of creamed honey production technology using rapeseed and
astragalus honey
(1) The cultivation area for rapeseed and astragalus has increased due to the Green Field
Preservation Project in the southern region.
(2) Consumers distrust on the quality due to crystallization should be eliminated and the
overall product quality should be improved.
(3) Development of honey brands such as Astragalus white honey and Creamed honey has
been carried out in Paju and Tong-young City.
(4) Development and test of the technology to produce creamed honey need to be conducted.


Creamed Honey Crystallized Honey Crystallized Honey
52.2(7.4)x55.3(4.1)

Source Honey
Add 3-10% of creamed honey activator
Stir the mixture for 10 minutes (15-24C)
Put the mixture into small containers

Creamed honey generated (Keep at 13-15C)
6.2(13.2)x54.2(5.8)
239.2(77.2)x128.8(64.1)
8
Figure 1: Creamed honey production process and comparison of crystal particles
between creamed honey and crystallized (100)

(5) Moisture density and mixing ratio of source honey should be properly managed. Proper
moisture density of the source honey is lower than 18%, and the optimal amount of the
activator honey is 5-10% of the total source honey.


Creamed Honey Crystallized Honey
Figure 2: Comparison of creamed honey and crystallized honey structures

Technology to produce high-quality multi-harvesting wild cherry honey
(1) If bees are grown strong enough, 10-20kg of wild cherry honey can be extracted through
2 step process.
(2) Research results show that the density of the wild cherry honey is 18.5-19%, which is
good enough to produce high-quality honey.
(3) If possible, it is best to use a wooden beehive without bottom board for bees to pass the
winter season and let them start oviposition in mid February.
(4) By late March, the beehive should be filled with bees, and the ratio of adult honey bees on
wild cherry trees which blossom in mid April should be high.
(5) The first and second layers of the beehive should be filled with larva and worker bees.
(6) If honey storage is located on the third layer of the beehive, it is possible to extract a large
amount of wild cherry flower honey.
(7) In order to extract wild cherry flower honey, it is important to raise bees strong and let
them naturally split off the hive while keeping the bees used for oviposition in a separate area
in the beehive so that they are not lost during the honey extraction process.
(8) To increase the amount of harvest, worker bees and a queen need to be placed in some
isolated space in the beehive so that their splitting can be restrained, and the bees should be
grown strong enough.
How to extract a large amount of honey from special honey source chestnut trees
(1) The older the chestnut trees are, the larger the amount of honey contained in the trees.
(2) Before extracting chestnut honey, it is necessary to place one spoonful of honey in a
number of spots respectively so that honey bees are gathered there and taste the chestnut
honey.
(3) In order to extract a large amount of honey, it is important to raise 15-20 groups of strong
bees in a wooden beehive without bottom board, divide the groups and place them in 6
different areas. For example, in the case of one beekeeping farm (Ms. Yong-ja Cheongs),
bee groups were split into 120-150 small groups and placed in a number of different areas in
order to maximize the amount of honey extraction (20 bee groups in the mid-slope of
9
Chukseok hill, 20 groups in Jangseung, 20 groups in Janghyun 3-ri, 20 groups in Geumgok
bee farm, 20 groups in Yeongpyeong-ri, 20 groups in Yangji-ri, 10 groups in Gosan-dong, 10
groups in Sangok-dong, etc).

Improvement measures to produce a large amount of high-quality multi-
harvesting honey
(1) Use of low-temperature storage warehouse: The storage can be used for keeping both
empty beehives and honey storage beehives, and reflecting the stock amount, the amount of
the harvest can be adjusted during honey extraction period.
(2) Use of a small-sized portable crane: This equipment will help reduce the manpower
required for the beekeeping job.
(3) Use of an automatic honey extractor: This will contribute to the increase in high-quality
honey production and reduction of manpower usage.
(4) Use of automatic larva grafting tool: The tool also can help minimize necessary
manpower.
(5) Construction of the rain shelter house (The height should be larger than 3.3 meters): This
will enhance the productivity of the high-quality honey and reduce manpower usage as well.
(6) It is strongly recommended to install the rain shelter house and to replace the old queen
bee with new one by the end of June.
(7) Beekeepers who manage a large number of bee groups are advised to use a high-speed
feeding machine to save the manpower.

Disease prevention technique for continuous honey production
(1) When beehives need to be moved from one place to the other and doors need to be opened
or when the weather is too humid, spraying Nonos on the beehive doors will help reduce the
stress level of the bees.
(2) It is important to take actions to control ticks especially right after extracting honey from
wild cherry trees.
(3) Tick prevention and control job should be done during rainy season in June. Every year,
many beekeepers report small and big damage caused by the lack of their attention on the tick
control job.
(4) Wasp prevention and control from August: Many beekeepers seem to suffer damage from
wasps especially in later summer and early autumn.

References
Various research documents from Apiculture Products Institute
Documents from Korea Beekeeping Association
Research documents provided by Dr. Byeong-ryeol Lee at Apiculture Laboratory at
National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology
10
Performance and Efficiency of Organic Low Input Pasture Beef Production
(Including 100 Days of Alpine Pasture) with Cross Breed Suckler Cows and a
Limousin Bull

Eric Andrew Meili,
MSc Agr ETH/SIA, senior consultant, extension service of the research institute for organic
agriculture in Frick, FiBL Switzerland
Address: Barenberg 36, CH-8608 Bubikon,
Tel +41 243 39 39, Fax +41 243 33 16, GSM +41 79 236 47 18,
e-mail: eric.meili@fibl.org

Keywords: Low input organic pasture beef, cross breed suckler cows, efficiency in pasture
beef production

The main agricultural acreage of Switzerland is grassland and alpine pastures. 70% of the Swiss
agricultural land is grass land (744000ha) + 536000ha of alpine pastures (total of 1280000ha).
That totals 31% of the surface of Switzerland (4128500ha). Grassland is not available as food for
human beings. We have to efficiently transform grass into food for human beings with ruminants.
Milk is the most efficient transformation of grassland. But not every farmer has a milk quota.
Remote farms often produce beef. Our small grassland farm uses crossbreed Aberdeen Angus with
milk breeds (Brown Swiss, Holstein, Jersey, Simmental) suckler cows and a pure bread Limousin
bull as the father for the calves. We utilize the hybrid vigour two times. The cows, calves and beef
animals are kept in a free stall with boxes and deep straw for the calves with outside feeding for 150
days in winter (Nov.-March), 115 days on home pastures (550m) and 100 days on alpine pasture
(2000m). They feed only on pasture grass during the vegetation period and grass silage and hey in
winter. They do not get anything else, no corn, and no concentrated feed (feed no food). This is
there average performance: 1082 gr. of daily gain, 425 days or 14.2 months for fattening, 54.2%
carcass yield, 275kg weight of the carcass, 557kg of carcass weight per ha of grassland, 85% of U-
Taxation in the EUROP Taxation System for beef.




11
Evaluation of Three Family Farms Producing Organic Eggs in Southern Brazil
on Animal Welfare and Biosecurity

Escosteguy, A*.; Bossardi, M.
*Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply,
Welfare Institut, Porto Alegre, BRAZIL
angela.escosteguy@agricultura.gov.br

Key words: organic poultry, laying hens, organic eggs, animal welfare, biosecurity
Abstract
Three family farms producing organic eggs with 5,000, 250 and 100 birds, of the species Gallus
gallus domesticus, have been studied. The farms are located in southern Brazil. The study was
aimed at evaluating aspects of animal welfare and biosecurity due to the increasing importance that
these issues are taking on in the society today. The farms with fewer animals (250 and 100) showed
better results, as far as animal welfare is concerned, than that property with 5,000 chickens, but the
three farms showed medium to low level of biosecurity.
Introduction
Animal husbandry organic systems have characteristics that make their management more complex
than plant systems. They are: (1) each animal species has characteristics that must be maintained to
ensure their welfare; (2) considering that animals have the potential to spread diseases that can
infect humans, or even other animals, causing epidemics, farms must take specific measures to
minimize these risks (biosafety); (3) animal foods are more perishable than foods of plant origin
and, therefore, they require official inspection and hygiene and health care during processing,
storage and transportation to maintain their quality and avoid the possibility of conveying pathogens.
The importance of welfare in strengthening the immune system and the health of animals has been
thoroughly proven by science (3). In addition, concern for the welfare of animals is taking on
increasing importance in public opinion and therefore governments have been put under pressure to
interfere with animal raising practices. Currently, this issue has been raised in international food
trade, in which Brazil is a major supplier. This year, the European Community published the
EconWelfare Project Report (8), with the aim of evaluating the socio-economic welfare in cattle
ranches, in socio-commercial countries, including Brazil.
Another issue of growing importance in our society is the concern for biosecurity in farms,
specifically concerning the establishment of practices and standardized routines that minimize the
risk of contamination among animals, the environment and man himself, as well as the
dissemination of potentially infectious agents.
This subject has been increasingly important insofar as it grows the cases of epidemics in animals
with the possibility of contaminating humans, as in the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(mad cow disease), avian influenza and more recently the swine influenza. Therefore, governments,
technicians and large-scale ranchers have shown growing concern over biosafety. As a matter of
fact, family animal husbandry, either organic or not, have already been accused of being a potential
risk for large industrial animal husbandry.
Therefore, it is crucial to carry out a thorough evaluation to see how the procedures are, in practice,
related to these two themes in organic animal husbandry.
Methods
12
The criteria used to evaluate animal welfare were: compliance or not with the requirements
established by Brazilian legislation (Instruction N 64, of Dec 28, 2008), points considered as
important in the EconWelfare Report (8) and the aspects cited in the literature as relevant (2,4,7,8,9).
The biosafety criteria were: comply with the recommendations made in Guide for the Prevention
and Control of Avian Flu in Small-Scale Poultry, prepared by UN (5).
The three farms were visited in the fall of 2010. Non-evident data were supplied by the owners.The
characteristics of each property are summarized in Table 1. and information about welfare and
biosecurity measures are in Tables 2 and 3. In the farm with 5,000 hens, a batch of 2,000 hens was
assessed.

Tables

Table 1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FARMS

FARM A B C
Animals per flock 2.000 250 200
Balanced organic food Yes Yes Yes
Synthetic amino acids in diet
No Yes Yes
Productivity 60% 65% 91%
Lineage Dekalb Brown Isa Brown Isa Brown
Age 56 weeks 48 weeks 48 weeks
% of birds with feather pecking 50% 20% 20%
Cannibalism No No No
Veterinary orientation
Yes Yes Yes


Table 2 - BIOSECURITY INDICATORS

FARM A B C
Animals perfectly controled Yes No Yes
Uniform for workers No No No
Control entrance of visitors and
domestic animals (dogs, cats,
etc) in the farm
No No No

Protection for feed or foot bath Sneaker No Partially (lime at
henhouse entrance)
Store the manure No No No

Table 3 WELFARE INDICATORS

FARM A B C
1. Minimal outdoor space (3m/hen) No No Yes
2. Maximum indoor density ( 6 hens/ m) Yes Yes Yes
3. Litter with straw No Yes Yes
4. Roosters No Yes (1/15) Yes (1/15)
13
5. Age at first access outdoor area 18 weeks 3 weeks 3 weeks
6. Duration of access outdoor area 4-5h /day; confined
at rainy days
6h/day 8h/day
7. Hens in outdoor run Maximum 50% 100% 100%
8. Pasture conditions Regular Good Good
9. Shading outdoor run Yes Yes Yes
10. Rotation of paddocks No Yes Yes
11. Possibility of sand or dust bathing Yes, after 18 weeks
of age
Yes Yes
12. Beak trimming Yes No No

1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12 Requirements of Brazilian organic legislation (Instruction N 64/ Dec 28, 2008)
1, 2, 11 e 12 - Aspect considered as particular important by the EconWelfare experts (8)

Discussion
1. Regarding biosafety, data analysis reveals that two farms (A and C) met the most important
points mentioned in the UN Manual - birds in quite limited areas - but most of the other aspects
shown in Table 3 were not met by any of the three farms. One farm (B) did not fulfil any of the
aspects.
2. Only one of the three evaluated farms (C) met all the aspects consulted in relation to animal
welfare.
3. It has been shown the importance that proper management takes on for the welfare of the hens,
which reflects in production, since the farm that best met these aspects was the one showing the
highest productivity (91%).
4. Concerning animal welfare, the results confirmed what had been previously reported in
literature (2,4): increased feather pecking is related to higher density of animals, larger lots,
absence of the rooster and poor environment.
5. At the same time, it is clear the relation between welfare, aggression and productivity, since the
farm which was less careful concerning the welfare of the hens showed a higher rate of feather
pecking and lower productivity.
6. Literature (2,4,9) also mentions that the conditions of grazing, the presence of the male and the
age in which the first access to the external environment takes place influence the amount of
animals coming out of the coop. The collected data substantiate these claims, since the farm
with late access to the external environment, worse pasture and without the presence of males
was the one that showed the smallest number of birds spontaneously in the external environment
and a higher rate of feather pecking.

Conclusions
Given the importance of these issues and the apparent practical application, and in order to avoid
pressure from big conglomerates in conventional systems (6), it is recommended that investments
are made in the development and dissemination of informative materials for organic poultry: Guide
for Improving Biosafety as well as Animal Welfare Manual.
We also believe that the way we choose to meet all these requirements poses a great challenge for
organic husbandry: maintaining the health of the animals, meet the sanitary-hygienic issues and
ensure the biosecurity of the herds, without compromising the requirements of animal welfare,
which is one of the pillars of this preventive system.

14
References
BESTMAN, M.W.P. (2008) Diversity in measures against infection with avian influenza in organic
poultry by different European countries. 2nd Conference of the International Society of
Organic Agriculture Research ISOFAR, Modena, Italy, June 18-20.
BESTMANN, J.P. (2003) - Farm level factors associated with feather pecking in organic laying
hens, Louis Book Institute, Livestok Production Science, 80 (2003) 133-140. The
Netherlands.
ESCOSTEGUY, A. (2007) Pecuria orgnica: bases, legislao e mercado. A Hora Veterinria .
Ano 27, n 159.
GREEN, L.E., et al (2000) A cross sectional study of the prevalande of feather pecking in laying
hens in alternative systems and its associations with management and diseases. Vet. Tec.
147, 233-238.
Guide for the prevention and control of avian fluin in small scale poultry - Regional office for
Llatin America and the Caribbean - FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF
THE UNITED NATIONS ROME, 2006
MORRIGAN, J. (2010) - Avian Influenza, Biosecurity and Organic Poultry Production -
http://www.organicagcenter.ca/Extension/ext_bird_flu.asp
ROCHA , J.R.S. et al (2008) - Produo e bem-estar animal, aspectos ticos e tcnicos da produo
intensiva de aves- Cinc. vet. trp., Recife-PE, v. 11, suplemento 1, p.49-55.
SCHIMID, O., Kilchsperger, R. (2010) Overview of animal welfare standards and initiatives in
selected EU and third counties. Deliverable 1.2 of EconWelfare project.. Research Institut of
Organic Agriculture (FiBl), Frick, Switzerland.
VALKONEN, E. (2010). Egg production in furnished cages. PhD thesis , MTT Agrifood Research,
Finland.
15
Develop 0rganic Animal Husbandry for Pollution Control

Fang ZhengZhou Zejiang
(Organic Food Development Center, MEP of China, Nanjing P.R.China210042)

Keywords: contaminationlivestock and poultry production, organic animal husbandry

Abstract
The pollution problems of livestock and poultry production were analyzed. The advantages of
organic animal husbandry on protecting ecological environment and control of pollution are
described. Countermeasures on the development of organic animal husbandry and controlling of
pollution caused by animal husbandry are put forward.
Preface
During the production of organic animal husbandry, no synthetic chemicals and GM
ingredients are used. The products of organic livestock and poultry are in compliance with food
safety requirements of human beings, and organic animal husbandry is also helpful to the
development of domestic and international markets of animal products.
1. Contamination of livestock and poultry products
1.1 Contamination of drug residues
Illegally or long-term use of animal drugs or presume the range of application of drugs may
lead to the raising of many problems difficult to be solved, such as the existence of drug resistant
strains and drug residues, etc.

1.2 Contamination of toxic and harmful substance
Large quantity of industrial wastes discharged into the natural environment and polluted the
water, soil and air. These toxic and hazardous substances (mainly mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic
and other heavy metals) through feed, animal fodder and water to enter and accumulate in animal
body and has become a serious threat to human beings through food chain.

1.3 Contamination of viruses, bacteria and parasites
The viruses, bacteria and parasites that existed in the farms and processing plants can also
directly contaminate animal products and cause harm to humans.

1.4 Contamination from slaughter and processing
In the process of slaughter and processing, the contamination is from infected animals, unclean
water, processing equipment, processing personnel, excessive preservatives, coloring agents,
disinfectants, and the traditional processing techniques. All these can affect the safety of livestock
and poultry products.

2 Overview of organic animal husbandry
2.1 Definition and requirements of organic livestock farming
16
Organic livestock farming is the process following the laws of nature and ecological principles,
in accordance with organic standards. Organic animals are fed with organic feed and with restricted
use of conventional veterinary medicine, antibiotics, feed additives and other substances. Welfare,
health, natural behaviors and living conditions of livestock and poultry are concerned during the
production.

2.2 The significance of the development of organic animal husbandry
With the vigorous development of animal husbandry, disease caused by intensive farming is
also growing everyday, accelerating the spread of diseases. Widely and largely use of antibiotics
and chemical drugs, caused drug-resistant and drug residues increasing. Development of organic
animal husbandry is helpful to the protection of environment, control of pollution caused by
livestock and poultry production.

2.3 Development of organic animal husbandry
To the end of 2008about 1.4 million producers managed 35 million hectares of organic land.
8.2 million hectares are covered by organic crops (Arable land and perennial crops). While almost
2/3 of the world's organic farmland (22 million hectares) is pastureland.
3 Measures for controlling contamination during organic livestock and poultry production
3.1 Environmental control measures
To reconstruct the barns of animal farms; implement separate drainage of rainfall and sewage,
separate dry and wet animal excreta, use treated water, sediment and feces to orchard, nursery stock,
vegetables base and paddy field. Form a "pig - biogas - fruit", "cow - biogas - grass (mushrooms) ",
"Insects-grass-woods-chickens" and other ecological farming model.

3.2 feed
The source leading to the contamination of animal husbandry is feed. So that, promoting the
use of safe and high efficient organic feed is significantly helpful to the reduction of environmental
pollution caused by animal production.

3.3 Breeding management
Fermentation bed technology is recommended. During the breeding process, give animals a
living condition with a natural environment. To build fermentation bed is to create good living
environment for animals. To feed the animal with pure ecologically fermented feed and improved
drinking water is also providing good living environment. That is to give as close as possible of
natural living environment to animals.

3.4 Disease prevention and control
In recent years, the practice illustrates that Chinese herbal medicine can not only prevent the
common diseases of livestock and poultry, but also prevention and treatment of certain infectious
and parasitic diseases, particularly viral diseases which are not able to be controlled by chemical
medicine.

3.5 Slaughter and transport
During transportation of organic animalsadequate space and conditions should be provided.
During Slaughter, try to minimize animal suffering.
17
Conclusions
Development of organic animal husbandry is also facing many problems. The key issues are
related to policy, information, legal, technology, etc. We should learn from others and to achieve a
benign circle of sustainable development on the bases of market demand and internal driving forces
for agricultural development.

18
The Application of Chinese Traditional Veterinary Medicine in Organic
Livestock

Hu YunfengZhang Jibing, Diao Pinchun, Xuhang
Organic Food Development And Certification Center of China China
huyf@ofdc.org.cn,
Key word: Chinese traditional veterinary medicine, breeding, veterinary, organic livestock

Abstract
The paper introduces the system of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine including breeding and
veterinary, also points out the problem in application, and introduces the role and application
perspective of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine in organic livestock.

In China, animal domestication was started long time ago. Six kinds of domesticated animals (horse,
beef , coat, dog, pig, chicken) were named as Liu Chu , Polite of Zhou Dynasty called them
Liu You . Dog, pig and chicken were domesticated by Chinese. China is also one of the earliest
countries that domesticated horse, cattle and goat. During long term of breeding, Chinese Pioneers
have summarized breeding experiences and disease controlling methods, and formed systematic
Chinese traditional veterinary medicine including breeding and veterinary. Organic husbandry was
originated from traditional husbandry, and also use modern science and technology, to protect the
environment and minimize the pain of animals. Chinese traditional veterinary medicine, which is
allowed to using in organic livestock, could be studied and explored by organic practitioners. This
article specifies the common points between organic livestock and Chinese traditional veterinary
medicine, the effects of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine and difficulties for its use in organic
livestock, and also its application perspective.

1. The introduction of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine
The academic bases of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine are Yin-Yang, Five Elements and
Zangfu-Jingluo doctrines. Its Characteristics include holism concept and treatment according to
syndrome differentiation: holism concept means not only animal organism is an integrity , but also
animals and their surroundings are inseparable; treatment according to syndrome differentiation is
diagnosing disease with inspection, listening (smelling), inquiring and palpation, and applying
medical knowledge, methods, medicine, prescription and acupuncture in Chinese traditional
veterinary medicine in clinical practice, then fixing the principles of curing disease, curing
symptoms, curing emergency case or curing chronic diseases, finally selecting the right therapeutic
method, for example sweating, vomiting , etc.

Yin-Yang is the general principle in Chinese traditional veterinary medicine, guiding theories of
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Five Elements and Zangfu-Jingluo (viscera, channels and collaterals). Five Elements and
Zangfu-Jingluo can be divided into Yin and Yang, Viscera, channels and collaterals also can be
divided into Five Elements. Chinese traditional veterinary medicine is a complete system of naive
materialism and natural dialectics. Chinese traditional veterinary medicine emphasizes holism
concept, especially relations between animals and surroundings, and establishes feeding methods
according to four seasons. Su Wen pointed out that Bringing up Yang in spring and summer, and
bringing up Yin in fall and winter to suit seasons character animals will be healthy if adapting
to the season, otherwise animals will be unhealthy . Only in the case of suiting to surroundings,
animals will be healthily growing up. Treatment according to syndrome differentiation is
implemented based on animals critical conditions, for example deficiency syndrome should be
treated by tonifying therapy, excess syndrome should be treated by purgation therapy. The
surroundings, season changes and physical structure etc. are regarded to be an interconnected
system, curing diseases, and feeding are according to animals and nature, reflecting the idea of unity
of nature and human in Chinese traditional veterinary medicine.

Human plays an important role in conventional crop and livstock ecosystem, especially capital
goods (pesticide, veterinary medicine, hormone). At present, influence of human is becoming more
and more powerful, and the environment is getting worse and worse. On the contrary, crop and
livestock are the core of organic agriculture, their life-forces are improved by natural methods.
Human should pay attention to inter-ecosystem material circle, and reduce artificial intervention.
Organic agriculture cherishes nature and imitates from nature, and is based on live ecosystem and
material and energy circle, it is similar to the idea of unity of nature and human. Both Organic
agriculture and Chinese traditional veterinary medicine originate from the same philosophical base.

1.1 Chinese traditional veterinary medicine-breeding
In the article about feeding in Qiminyaoshu, it is said that horse feeding should be depending on the
physical conditions and individual needs, summarized that The three criteria of feeding, dont
drink fully when thirsty and hungry, dont drink fully when weak,dont drink dirty water feed
should be sifted, the litter should be clean. The Collection of Yuan-heng recorded that warm the
fold during winter, cool the fold during summer, dont feed dirty water and frozen feed,
In organic husbandry, animal welfare and breeding conditions are critical. The ancients experiences
are similar to organic husbandry. We can learn from the ancient experiences, improve the breeding
methods and boost non-specific immunity of animals.

The feed additives of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine have been developed, which can
improve the non-specificity immunity and product quality, and can also promote growth. It is
antiparasitic, antiviral and antibacterial as well. It may replace the use of hormones, antibiotics and
growth promoting agents.

1.2 Chinese traditional veterinary medicine-feeding- veterinary
Chinese traditional veterinary medicine focuses on the prevention before animals are sick. If
animals are already sick, veterinaries should control the development of illness. Chenfu Farming
Book recorded that if the meat of dead animals passed the village, the disease may be infected by
air. It should be ensured that the healthy animals be separated from dead animals. Huozhoucizhou
recorded that when infectious disease were epidemic, both infected human and animal should be
isolated . Isolating ill animals is the same rule of the two books, but the feeders dont bury dead
20
animals in Chinese villages because of corrupt customs. Sannongji recorded that when infectious
disease were epidemic, the feeder should use disinfectant to fume the folder and use Chinese
traditional medicine to prevent diseases, it reveals that the feeder in China used the disinfectant to
prevent infectious disease, for example rhizoma acori graminei and folium artemisiae argyi, and
used Chinese traditional medicine, for example cyrtomium fortunei and rhizoma atractylodis. In its
development, the Chinese traditional veterinary medicine has formed a system including isolation,
medicine prevention, disinfection, manure composting and cleaning.

1.3 The role of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine
Chinese traditional veterinary medicine is important in Chinese organic livestock management and
disease control. In organic livestock, prevention is the first choice, Chinese traditional veterinary
medicine, acupuncture, preparation from botany and homoeopathy are among the secondly choices,
and treating with chemical agents is allowed as a last choice.

2. Existing difficulty

2.1 Ideas
Most of organic animal breeders are shifted from conventional operation, whose ideas are still in the
old breeding modes. They consider curative effects of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine much
slower than conventional therapeutics. Because they didnt use Chinese traditional veterinary
medicine consciously, just like the organic farmers who made a point of using allowed materials to
control plant diseases and pests, and ignored agricultural methods. So organic breeders should
change their ideas first, otherwise both the productivity and quality of organic livestock products
would not be improved obviously when compared to conventional livestock products.

2.2 Personnel capacity
Veterinarians who master Chinese traditional veterinary medicine should have the ability of reading
classic Chinese and continuously accumulate experiences. The present education of Chinese
traditional veterinary medicine is not sufficient, for example, the deficiency of clinical teaching,
insufficiency of learning from ancient books and lacking in clinical application. Also Veterinarians
usually accumulate experiences in clinical diagnose, combined prescription and acupuncture to
master Chinese traditional veterinary medicine. It will take long time to become a successful
Chinese traditional veterinarian. Most of enterprises are short of Chinese traditional veterinarians. If
promoting the training of Chinese traditional veterinarians by the traditional training pattern of
master and apprentice, it will significantly improve the developing and application of Chinese
traditional veterinary medicine in China.


2.3 Prescription
The preparation and using of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine is not easy and the period of
treatment is also longer than conventional therapeutics. Owing to the special odor and the big doses
of the Chinese traditional veterinary medicines, especially frying medicines, animals are not
willing to take. Sometimes animals have to be forced to take the medicines, which will stress the
animals. Chinese traditional veterinary medicine is on the bases of experience, its pharmacological,
effectual components and side-effects are not legible, which need more studies as early as possible.

21
2.4 The issues on applying in organic livestock
If we use Chinese traditional veterinary medicine preparation and feed preparation additives, the
problems of personnel capacity, prescription preparation, bad edibility and slow curative effects will
be resolved. At the same time, we should evaluate the Chinese traditional veterinary medicine
preparation and feed preparation additives to make sure they are in compliance with organic
principles and standards.

3. Perspective
Chinese traditional veterinary medicine is one of the Chinese treasures, which will play an
important role in organic livestock. Whether it is successfully applied or not will be influential in
the developing of organic livestock. The problems in the development of Chinese traditional
veterinary medicine should be resolved, and the rational methods should be summarized. We should
persist on the research of application method of Chinese traditional veterinary medicine, establish
rational evaluating process, and resolve the problem of the prevention and cure of diseases that
puzzled the organic breeders. If we can well deal with the above issues, Chinese traditional
veterinary medicine would be widely used in practice, and show its advantages.


22
Small-Scale Natural Circulation Livestock Farming

Kim, J. H.
#32-8, Jeokam-ri, Jeokseong-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi Province, Korea

Key words: Natural farming, Organic farming, Natural circulation, Life

Introduction
The advent of the modern industrial era meant that chemical fertilizers have taken precedence over
natural compost materials amid the growing prevalence of new technologies. Consequently, it
solidified the position of modern agriculture by giving a big boost to agricultural exports.

As chemical pesticides accelerated a massive expansion of agricultural output, people regarded
modern agriculture as a significant breakthrough without having considered its serious
consequences such as illness for mankind and the earth.

Under such circumstances, I took Jo, Han-gyus course on natural farming which enabled me to
broaden my knowledge of microorganisms and embark on natural farming. Also, Ahn, Hyun-pils
course on natural health led me to reflect on myself and my farming status and take up the challenge
of new types of farming techniques and approaches to health. With the aim of practicing natural
farming, organic farming, and Taepyeong farming (considered a part of sustainable farming), I
attended Ahn, Hyun-pils course on natural health while studying the Nishi Health System, and in
this process I experienced great frustration as well as enormous fascination.

Over the past 22 years, I have adhered to the practice of natural farming and natural health. I am
now convinced that I have taken the right path. Against this backdrop, this report traces my
experiences of natural farming plus natural circulation livestock farming.

Launch of small-scale farming
Constant failures eventually motivated me to launch a small-scale farm combined with livestock
breeding in the belief that I could afford ordinary farming or stockbreeding without a large amount
of money. Leaving my repetitive failures behind, I embarked on small-scale farming with firm
determination, which was also followed by a series of failures. However, I never stopped such
farming activity despite criticism from close acquaintances, because not money but time was
required while engaging in this process.

To uncover the secret about seeds, I read an extensive range of books while interviewing older
experienced farmers nationwide, and I sensed that agriculture might be shrouded in some secrecy
such as the optimal seeding period, plant disease patterns, and harvesting period. I am not sure how
many people can believe in such ideas and concepts, but my farming practice produced some
notable outcomes supportive of such secrecy.

Modern farming techniques basically require seed chemicals, but why is it necessary for seed, a life
which takes a temporary rest? Even though seed chemicals are good for virus or disease prevention,
it should be prohibited because it can remove the infinite mystery of nature from the seeds.

As if treating seeds with utmost courtesy, I replanted seeds with great care after several days of seed
chemicals and budding in a warm temperature. In case I sowed ten seeds, they later turned into
stems with different thickness, so this looked like the spot for the beginning of my agricultural
battle against diseases. I pondered over production methods for the same yield from stems with
different thickness while wondering if stems could have the same thickness. After a series of
23
failures, I found a proper solution from natural vitality and livestock manure easily available for
farming.

When seeds are sown on the ground at the outset of the lunar month, they almost simultaneously put
forth buds whose stems have the same thickness. Farmers do not need to worry about the living
seeds if only they plant seeds based upon their knowledge of ambient soil conditions. Thus farmers
should take charge of soil formation. But, it took several decades for me to grasp the divine
providence of nature.

Soil is a combination of livestock manure and microorganisms, and good soil can be born when it is
well blended with natural vitality. This will be somewhat understandable for those with previous
experiences of cattle breeding, compost creation, and the delivery of compost to rice paddies and
dry fields. I could reap an abundant yield by feeding cattle with compost made from rice straw
throughout the winter. Initially, I did so purely out of habit without much perception of the causal
relationship. After gaining a rich harvest, however, I took a slightly different approach.

In addition to specific types of feed materials, livestock types play a pivotal role in the creation of
livestock manure. Of course, cattle manure is important, but agricultural compost fed to cattle has
more significant implications for formation of livestock manure. Pig manure and pig feed also exert
important influences over livestock manure, and cattle feed and pig feed materials to chickens.
After feeding cattle with natural compost, farmers should feed pigs with a mixture of new pig feed
and the remaining cattle feed. Chicken should act as a barn cleaner by living off the remnants of
cattle feed and pig feed. Farmers can generate excellent agricultural output through utilization of
seed and livestock feed sourced in this way from nature.

Most people prefer to eat organic food when they become sick, but it is better to tap into wild plants
and various natural foodstuffs across mountains. Despite having no accurate data, I firmly believe
that natural foodstuffs are more effective for disease control than organic agricultural products.

Compared with agricultural output, seeds are shrouded in mysterious secrecy which enables natural
and spontaneous budding without the use of chemical substances. In the belief that wild plant seeds
are rich in natural vitality, I now take a cautious approach toward small-scale natural circulation
livestock farming.

Small-scale livestock farming
Above all, we should not lock up livestock animals in narrow cages but expand each cage to the
maximum extent. With the floor being covered with natural stones and soil, each barn should be
installed at the spot exposed to enough sunshine from sunrise to sunset. It should always remain
open for air circulation, except for the roof, against the occurrence of snow or rain. Livestock feed
materials should be mainly sourced from nature or byproducts of natural farming.

Meanwhile, natural mating plays a crucial role in this process. Even though modern livestock
breeding recommends artificial insemination, most village headmen tend to opt for natural mating
in the belief that humans should not intervene in the mating and life creation among livestock. Such
principle should be observed for animal welfare reasons.

After the mating process comes to an end, seminal fluids are discharged from the bodies of
livestock. Through proper combination of these fluids, farmers can generate good hormones to
ensure excellent agricultural output. There is nothing that farmers can do when livestock mate with
one another. Highly desirable outcomes can be generated from the conception on the 15
th
day of the
lunar month.

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After feeding cattle with feed materials, the remnants should be fed to pigs and chickens, and then
finally recycled for farming activities. When such agricultural byproducts are used again as
livestock feed, this circulation farming can fall into the category of small-scale farming at a village
headmans home. Over the two decades of engaging in small-scale circulation livestock farming,
livestock at a village headmans home never suffered from serious diseases, such as foot-and-mouth
disease or Avian Influenza, despite zero application of medicines including antibiotics and
hormones.

When we shovel up the space beside the crops in a family garden, we can find our shovel filled with
tiny animals visible to ordinary sight (i.e. mole crickets and earthworms). Also, numerous
microorganisms are invisible to the naked eye. We can produce very successful outcomes through
the application of these for fermentation of livestock feed materials. In this case, it is important to
put livestock manure equivalent to the amount used for livestock feed into the original spot inside
family garden, thereby striking a proper balance between the two.

Conclusion
When farming and livestock breeding come in harmony with each other, we can produce quality
agricultural and livestock output without financial expenditures and enjoy a happy and pleasant life
at all times.

Going further, our dinner table will not only enhance our health status but also instill into our body
good elements of natural vitality, inclusive of a wide range of minerals and microorganisms.

25
Circulation Agriculture Case Study: Livestock Farm

Lee, H. B.
Haeorum Co., Ltd.
Yanggeun-ri, Yangpyeong-eup, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

Dangneomeo is.
Dangneomeo is...
The name of the valley where I have settled down.
There is a hill next to the shrine in the back of a village. Dangneomeo is a valley over the hill. The
valley is my cozy home where my grandfather, my father, and I have tilled the soil. My parents left
me one patch of upland field and six paddies of unirrigated rice field (550 pyeong). The brook
meandering through the valley used to have more crawfishes than pebbles and the water below the
water peppers was teemed with loaches.

Dangneomeo Farm Overview
Relocated to the current location in 1987
As of 2010,
Hanu cattle: 260 heads (160 cows, 16 bulls, 84 oxen), breeding stock farm
Farm area: 7,000 pyeong
Cattle sheds: 7 pens (820 pyeong including rain shelters), an eco-friendly barn
Sales facility: Hanu beef store (Gyeonggi Province Designation No. 10-86) 20 pyeong
Sell 29 cuts of only 1++ grade Hanu beef (oxen)
Restaurant: 60 pyeong
Use environment-friendly agricultural produces and pursue consistent and sophisticated service
based on the farmers conscience
Education facilities: 60 pyeong (including resting areas)
Planned to be used for family or company events and meetings and as a school for Hanu cattle and
environmental education
Residence: 42 pyeong
Paddy field: 5,000 pyeong (cultivated organically), a place to learn about the circulation of genuine
foods and the nature
Upland field: 1,300 pyeong (cultivated organically)

Desirable life as a farmer?






Livestock farming - dream vs. reality
Livestock farming dream?
Leisurely lounging cows and aspired farmers wearing blue jeans, checkered shirt, and suspenders in
a picturesque landscape that can be found in advanced cattle farming countries like Australia and
New Zealand?
Livestock farming in reality?
Dirty and smelly cattle feces, flies, mosquitoes, antibiotics, disinfectants, foot-and-mouth disease,

Foundation for a happy and healthy nation
26
mad cow disease, hog cholera, avian flu, additives, veterinarians, livestock farming equipment &
materials
Cattle feces treatment
Quarantine

Cattle Manure Test Result 1 of Dangneomeo Farm (within buildings)
Testing entity: National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology under the Rural
Development Administration (August 2005)
Classification
Sample 1
(Bottom soil,
inside)
Sample 2
(Bottom
soil,
surface)
Sample 3
(Concrete,
inside)
Sample 4
(Concrete,
surface)
Average
Nitrogen (%) 3.90 2.20 4.17 4.49 3.69
Phosphoric acid
(%)
1.91 1.80 1.44 1.27 1.61
Potassium (%) 4.53 3.83 4.38 3.61 4.09
Lime (%) 2.14 2.28 2.17 2.03 2.15
Magnesium (%) 0.83 1.20 1.12 1.06 1.05
Organic matters
(%)
60.93 74.29 65.45 70.43 67.78

Cattle Manure Test Result Evaluation of Dangneomeo Farm
Regulation of compost raw materials (within buildings)
Organic matters: 60% or more
Heavy metal contents: Zinc 900, copper 500, arsenic 50, lead 150, nickel 50, chrome 300,
cadmium 5, mercury 2mg.kg or lower
As all the tested samples are in compliance with the regulation of compost raw materials, the
cattle manure of Dangneomeo Farm described above, regardless of its originating location, is
appropriate to be used in the making of fertilizer.

Testing entity: National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology under the Rural
Development Administration (August 2005)

Changes in quality grade
2008 | 2009 | 2010 (As of May)

Changes in live body weight
2008 | 2009 | 2010 (As of May)
800kg or more | 700-800kg | 600-700kg | 600kg or less


Cattle manure circulation mechanism









Organic farming
Livestock (Cattle, etc.)
Animal feed based on rice straw, grass, and grains
Process cattle manure to produce
customized organic fertilizer
27

Agriculture
A biotechnology industry
Farmers produce food that humans have to eat to survive and should not think only about profit.
Agriculture produces things that cannot be foregone.

Farmers
Produce genuine foods (organic foods)
Genuine food Identifiable by examining whether eating the food is beneficial for our health
Everyone wants to get healthy.

Lets think together
How farmers can pursue happiness and produce ideal foods?
The solution is the enhancement of livestock well-being.

Action Plan
View livestock not as a source of income but as living things
Improve the diet of livestock Avoid a grain-based animal feeds only approach
Liberate livestock from artificial interventions
Build a beautiful and efficient barn
Grow a garden near the barn
Recognize the value of cattle feces as nutritious food for micro-organisms that revive the soil
Organic grain farming and organic cattle farming should form a benign cycle
Attach value to all foods only as an integral element for the functionality of humans and other
living things
Turn the current industrialized livestock farming to small-scale farming which would be either a
full-scale or a side business for the farmer

Conclusion
A domestic animal is literally an animal that is raised at home. The soil of the field on which
domestic animals are raised becomes fertile. As long as livestock is not raised at home and the
livestock does not produce feces that can fertilize the soil, the well-being of livestock cannot be
realized and genuine foods that can enhance our health cannot be produced.
28
Current situation, problems, strategies and perspective of organic animal
husbandry development in China

LIU Qiang
i
1. China Organic Food Certification Center, Beijing 100081
Meng Qingxiang
2
LI Xianjun
1
& XIA Zhaogang
3
2. .China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193
3. China Green Food Development Center, Beijing 100081

Keywords: organic animal husbandry, current situation, problem, strategy, perspective

Abstract
Organic animal husbandry has faced a lot of problems during the rapid development
in recent years in China. The concept and origins of Chinese organic livestock
products were introduced and the current situation of China organic animal
husbandry development was also described in this paper. The problems faced during
the development were analyzed and the strategies as well as the perspective were also
suggested.

Introduction
Modern animal husbandry has been developed rapidly since 1970s which has
been changing traditional cultivation into intensive livestock production and the
production efficiency was highly increased. While at the same time, the quality and
safety of the livestock product is worried, and the environment pollution caused by
animal husbandry is becoming worse and worse due to more and more additives and
veterinary drugs used in the feedstuff. Then organic livestock were demanded in such
a background.
29
The animal product or processed livestock product which was from organic
agricultural system and certified by accredited organic certified body is called organic
animal product including meat, egg and dairy product etc.
2 the current situation of organic animal husbandry development in China
There are 22 accredited organic CBs in China up to now, and some overseas
organic CBs are doing business in China like BCS, ECOCERT etc. As far as organic
animal enterprises share concerned, COFCC covered about 50%. More and more
organic producers were attracted because the market demand is keeping increased as
people are paying higher attention to animal products safety.
2.1 Value and quantity of the certified enterprises
To the end of 2007, there are about 62 organic certified livestock producers in
China, and total products yield are about 21 thousand tons including eggs, meat and
dairy products. Domestic market sales are about 210 millions and exports sales 20
millions.
2.2 Organic livestock production structure mode
2.2.1 Own production
The company manages and controls production. The company has a long term
rental contract for the land, and employs its own management and supervisory staffs.
Low risk in this kind of production mode is beneficial to the full control of the
production while there are also some shortcomings such as high cost, small scale etc.
2.2.2 Contract production
The company contracts all of its production to local farmers. There contractual
arrangements often include the provision of inputs e.g. bio pesticides and organic
30
fertilizers, and technical assistance supplied by the company. This kind of mode is
called contract farming which is very popular in China since the main benefits to the
farmers are the establishment of stable and mutually beneficial contractual
relationships resulting in guaranteed sales and revenues.
2.3 Organic animal product structures
Organic animal products mainly include egg, meat and dairy products, which 66%
for meat, 25% for egg and 8% for dairy products.
2.4 Organic animal industry distribution area
Organic animal husbandry is experiencing rapid development as the organic
agriculture develops, and typical area distribution is shown.
Beef and lamb production mainly distributes in northwestern area such as Inner
Mongolia, Gansu province, Qinghai province. There are exclusive resource
advantages in these areas which are basic for grazing and it is essential for organic
feeding. Dairy production mainly distributes in northeastern area, Inner Mongolia and
North China. While poultry production mainly distributes around big cities such as
Beijing, Shanghai.
There are three reasons to result in the area distribution. Firstly, it is related to
the production of the natural environmental conditions. Secondly, market demand is
also one of the factors. Thirdly, the support policies of local government will bring
significant impact.
2.5 Sales and marketing
The market for organic food is mainly in the developed countries and areas such
as USA, Europe and Japan so that most of organic foods are exported. With the
31
improvement of living level and attention to the food safety, domestic market for
organic food is increasing.
The domestic market for organic animal products is growing rapidly in recent
years especially after Sanlu milk powder scandal. Organic consumers in China are
high-income people and special groups such as pregnant women and babies. Most of
the consumers emphasized nutritional value and absence of residues when making
food purchasing decisions. The retail price organic 2-3 times higher than
conventional. It is difficult to provide much organic animal products to market due to
the limit of production scale and area. Organic animal products such as eggs, meat
and milk always sold in top brand supermarket like Wal-Mart and specialized shops
situated in big cities.
3 The problems faced in organic animal husbandry
Organic animal husbandry is complex and difficult and some problems appeared
during the rapid development in recent years. The problems are mainly as follows:
3.1 Weak foundation and highlight environmental pollution issues
3.2 Gap between production and consumption
3.3 Contradictions between economic profits and organic feeding style
3.4 Lack of traceability
3.5 Lack of international recognition and lower product competitiveness
3.6 Missing integrity system
4 Strategy of organic animal husbandry issues in China
4.1 Guidance and support from government
4.2 Developing the market
32
4.3 Strengthening the awareness of organic and research efforts
4.4 Establishment of traceability of organic animal husbandry system
5 perspective of organic animal husbandry in China
5.1 Dominating the organic animal husbandry by government
5.2 Organic animal husbandry represents the trends of development
5.3 International cooperation will become more and more important



33
Efficacy of Organically Formulated Ration on the Egg Quality Factors and the
Age of Laying among Traditional Back Yard Chicken in the Rural Backyard
Poultry Raring Systems of Kandy District,Sri Lanka.

Mathavan B
1
,Ranjith de Silva
2
. A.N.F.Perera
3
, J.K.Vidanarachchi
3
and K.F.S.T.Silva
3

Key Words: Egg Quality, Age of Laying, Organic Ration, Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to evaluate the egg quality traits and the age of laying against the
organic (formulated without additives) and the conventional layer rations (commercial feed).Group
of poultry farmers from the mentioned district were selected for this purpose and they were divided
into three sub groups and subjected to each treatment separately; Tr1:Formulated Ration Tr2:
commercial Ration and Tr3: Simple Feed Mixture . The mean value of the weight of the eggs , shell
thickness, albumin index and haugh unit obeserved to be statisticlly significant ( Pr < 0.05) between
the treatments.The cumulative mean value of internal quality factors (CMVIQF) was 212.17,
195.46 and 210.43 respectively. The simple feed mixture (T3) resulted an inferior value of the
CMVIQT and delayed the laying period; thus in the sexual maturity of the birds was deferred, there
was no significant different between Tr1 and Tr2.Organically formulated feed resulted an overall
superior internal quality and doesnt delayed the First age of laying for a long stretch.

INTRODUCTION
Out of all the poultry products available in Sri Lanka chicken eggs is the most common and vastly
available product. Backyard poultry keeping is one of the main facets in the village homesteads
which contribute to the meat and egg requirements, concern with the high nutrients value of the
daily food intake. Not only that but the manure obtained from the birds is also a good fertilizer to
the crops which are grown in the home garden. The traditional backyard poultry keeping system
consists of local chicken varieties, adopted to the local environmental conditions and resistant to the
parasitic attacks and diseases. The rural farmers manages their birds by the application of the
indigenous knowledge, which is being transferred from their ancestors and the method of feeding,
housing and breeding is done with the combination of the traditional knowledge and locally
available natural resources rather than using the modern techniques. This method is almost similar
to the Organic Poultry Production method since all the features are matching with the Organic
Animal Husbandry procedures in terms of feed, housing, welfare and environment. These farmers
allowed their birds to scavenge for their feed in the home yard but due to less land availability, the
amount of feed which is obtained from the home garden is not sufficient to assure the intended
growth and to gain optimum production of eggs from the birds. Feed is the main input in the poultry
production system which occupies almost 60% to 90% of the production cost (Gunaratna, et el
2009).

1
Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeiya, Sri Lanka and Gami Seva. Sevana,
Galaha, Sri Lanka , (OWC Author) e mail: mathavanbalaraman.icei@gmail.com
2
GamiSeva Sevana, Galaha, Sri Lanka.
3
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
At the hill country areas of Sri Lanka, the production of grains such as maize, legumes and millets
are not practiced, due to the factors like limitation of land and non-favorable climatic conditions.
Therefore, the poultry keepers find it difficult to supply the sufficient amount of feed from the
surroundings and the only option they have is to go for the commercial ration. Selection of the feed
ingredients, with proper chemical compositions to match the nutrient requirement of the birds are
the main criteria in formulating a ration. Usage of the commercial ration in the house hold level
34
poultry is becoming very common in Sri Lanka. The main difference between the organic poultry
keeping and commercial ration usage is the presence of additives, antibiotics and growth promoters
in the commercial ration, which are not permitted in the feed for organic chickens. Since there is a
high demand and a good price for the eggs of the free ranged country chickens due to the superior
quality, the quality features of the free ranged eggs should be maintained uniformly. Although,
many factors influence the egg quality, feed plays a major role in determining the aesthetic, sensory,
physical and nutritional qualities of eggs. Incorrect feeding will lead to small eggs, deformed eggs
and eggs with defects.

This study was carried out in two villages of Kandy district Galaha and Dunhinna with the
objective of investigating the physical quality factors of eggs obtained from organic and
conventional rations in the organic home garden systems and the effect of the three different feeds
on the age of first laying. Nevertheless, many studies have been done to evaluate the quality of eggs,
there are no on farm level experiments carried out to determine the physical quality of organic eggs.
Thus, the organic egg producers and the consumers can get a clear inspiration on the organic layer
feed and the organically produced eggs in organic poultry production system.

METHODOLOGY
The experiment was carried as an on-farm experiment within 24 selected rural farmer households,
practices organic farming in Dunhinna and Galaha Villages of Sri Lanka (15 in Galaha, 9 in
Dunhinna) where in organic agriculture is being implemented. The farmers were divided into three
groups and each group was subjected to one treatment. The three different feed types are considered
as the Treatments. For each treatment five farmers from Galaha and three from Dunhinna have been
subjected. Thus each group was considered as a block in this experiment. Each farmer was
considered as a replicate.

Treatment 1: Formulated feed ( complex ration) which contain eight different ingredients : Maize
18.0%, Broken Rice 19.0 %, Rice Polish 37.5%, Soya Meal 5.5%, Coconut Oil cake powder 5.0%,
Fish Meal 4.0%, Shell Grits 8.0%, Di calcium Phosphate 2.5% (free of Antibiotics, Growth
Promoters and Layer Premix).
Treatment 2: Commercial layer Ration, Treatment 3: A simple mixture of 60% of Rice Polish, 20%
of Broken Rice, 20% of coconut oil cake powder.

Two sets of samples were collected from each farmer in a monthly interval. The sample size is 2
freshly laid eggs from same day, which are randomly selected from each flock, consist of eight hens
and 2 cockerels. Thus, from Galaha 10 samples and from Duhinna 6 samples out of each treatment
have been collected at a time for the analysis. The age of the birds were same in the location where
the experiment was carried out because the same aged birds have been provided to the farmer
participants at the commencement of the experiment: the age of the birds of Galaha were 13 months
old and the age of the birds from Dunhinna were 9 months old, when the egg samples were
collected. The physical quality parameters have been analyzed in order to determine and compare
the differences of the egg quality for each type of feed. The Physical Quality Parameters, Shape
Index, Haugh Index, Albumin Index, Albumin Area Index and Yolk Index are calculated
according to the standard formula.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Physical Quality traits obtained from all three treatments
Figure 1: Mean value of the egg quality factors over the three types of layer feeds

35


FF-Formulated Complex Ration, CF-Commercial Ration and SM-Simple Mixture
*CMVIQF-Cumulative Mean Value of Internal Quality Factors.

The treatments ( Feed types) have a significant effect on the weight of the eggs , shell thickness
albumin index and in the haugh unit ( Pr < 0.05). The eggs obtained from Treatment 1 ( wherein the
formulated organic ration was given) have the highst Cumulative Value of the Internal Quality
Factors than in the eggs which were obtained from the birds treated with the other two feeds.
However, the Cumulative Mean Value of the Internal Quality Factors of the eggs which are
obtained from the conventionl commercial ration expressed the inferior value with the other two
types of organic rations. The result indicates that the weight, shell thickness and shape index of the
eggs obtained from the birds which were fed with the simple feed mixture are inferior in quality.
This clearly point outs the simple feed mix is defficient in the essential nutrients specially protein
and calcium which are essential for the development of the eggs.

The flocks fed with the commercial ration commenced laying from 209.43 days of Age, which is
comparitivly 1.5 days earlier than the the average age of 1
st
laying in country fowls that is 211
days,(Gunaratne et al, 1992. The formulated feeds did not consist of any growth promoters or
laying inducers ; on the other hand the conventional commercial ration contains all of these
additives resulted an early laying among the subjectes. The formulated feed ( Treatment 1) did not
effect the age of laying , which is approximately 213.63 days, when comparing with the average
figure mentioned by Gunaratne et al, 1992, it was 2.63 days late to the average age of 1
st
laying. But
the simple feed mix (which containes only 60% of rice bran, 20% of Coconut Oil cake powder and
20% of broken rice ) delayed the 1
st
laying by 64.43 days ,. The reason for this result is the
deficiency of essential nutritions , sice there was no protein and mineral suppliments such as soy
bean meal, fish meal, dicalcium phosphate and shellgrits included in it. Therefore it is essential to
include the protein and mineral suppliments in a balanced ratio in the layer feed in order to gain the
production of eggs within the range of the average age of 1
st
laying in general.

Table 1: Comparisns of the three types of feeds over the detection of first laying
Treatment

Age( Days)
Egg Quality Factors VS Feed Types
0
50
100
150
200
300
350
400
W ST YI AI HU SI YC CVIQF
Quality Factors
Mean
Value
Trt 1
Trt 2
Trt 3
36
FF 213.63
CF 209.43
SM 275.43
FF-Formulated Complex Ration ( Treatment 1), CF-Commercial Ration ( Treatmnent2) and SM-
Simple Mixture ( Treatment 3)

CONCLUSIONS

The formulated complex feed which contains eight ingredients, results an overall superior physical
quality traits in the eggs( p>0.05). The shell thickness is greater (0.38 mm) from the complex ration
fed flocks ( Treatment 1) , weaker in the simple feed mix ( Treatment 3) fed flocks (0.32mm) and
intermediate in the commercial ration ( Treatment 2)fed flock (0.37 mm).The commercial
ration resulted an early laying (209.43 days), simple mixture delayed the age of first laying (275.43
days) and the formulated complex ration 213.63 days, which is 4.2 days behind than in the
commercial ration.


REFERENCES
Gunaratne S P, Chandrasiri A D N, Mangalika W A P, Hemalatha and Roberts J A, 1992, Feed
resource base for scavenging village chickens in SriLanka
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/75pnv43t76t7k27k/fulltext.pdf?page=1, 25 /08 /2009)
Niranjan M, Sharma R P, Rajkumar U, Chatterjee R N, Reddy B L N and Battacharya T ,Egg
quality traits in chicken varieties developed for backyard poultry farming in India
( www.lrrd.org/lrrd20/12/nira20189.htm, 19/08/2009)
Parmar S N S, Thakur M S, Tomar S S and Pillai P V A, Evaluation of egg quality traits in
indigenous Kadaknath breed of poultry, (http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd18/9/parm18132.htm,
19/08/2009)

37
Developing Noval Veterinary Medicinal Products for Sustainable Organic Dairy
Cattle Production: Mastidip for Mastitis Control


Reena Mukherjee
Senior Scientist, Division of Medicine, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122
(UP) India
Email: <mukherjeereena@rediff.com>

Abstract
Mastitis, the inflammation of mammary gland attributes to damage of the mammary secretory
epithelium leading to reduced milk production. It is one of the most important disease causing
economic losses to dairy industry worldwide. The success in control of mastitis is difficult due to
complex multifactorial etiology and multitude of microbial involvements. The National Mastitis
Council (2005) estimated an overall worldwide loss of $2 billion due to mastitis. In India's dairy
sector, the annual losses are over Indian Rupees 6,000 crores. Mastitis is, thus, an important factor
for not only for reduced production, productivity but also poor quality of milk. For the production
of wholesome milk and to maintain productivity of animals, controlling mastitis is high
significance. Prevalence of mastitis is higher; hence prevention of mastitis deserves highest
attention. It is estimated that economic losses due to sub clinical mastitis are many fold more than
clinical mastitis. Sub clinical mastitis leads to poor quality milk production and it contains higher
bacterial load. Such milk is unsuitable for preparation of quality milk products. In view of the
agreements under WTO, wholesomeness of milk depends upon low bacterial and somatic cell
count; so milk should be free from antibiotic and hazardous chemical residues. These facts warrants
search for effective alternative means for prevention of bovine mastitis. Moreover, in order to avoid
antibiotic residues in milk, it is the demand of time to develop alternative or non- antibiotic
approach for prevention of mastitis. This is particularly important in organic dairy production
systems, where antibiotics are either not allowed or have restricted use under compelling situations.
This paper deals with an invention that relates to development and application of the post milking
teat dip against bovine sub clinical mastitis using herbs. It is very simple technique using commonly
available medicinal herbs combination and purely natural devoid of any harsh chemicals. This type
of alternative veterinary medicinal products are required to be developed for the rapidly growing
demand for organic dairy products around the world.

Introduction

The incidence of mastitis is common in dairy herds managed conventionally or organically. In
recent times, a rising trend of udder infection in the lactating herd is seen in most of the dairy farms.
Considering the importance of prevention and control of mastitis, efforts were made to tackle this
problem through development and application of non-antibiotic herbal measures. As an innovation,
a formulation of several herbs was made to be used as post- milking teat dip. In this invention, a
new poly herbal post milking teat dip solution was developed for prevention of bovine sub clinical
mastitis, which is (i) effective in reducing the milk somatic cell count and bacterial count (ii)
developed with commonly available medicinal herbs (iii) processing is simple (iv) no cumbersome
procedures or technique involved (v) can be very quickly prepared (vi) storage is easy (vii) devoid
of any harsh chemicals. It is assumed that it will ideally suit the requirements of organic dairy
production systems because of these attributes.
Post- milking teat dip
Post- milking teat dip antisepsis is regarded as the single most effective mastitis control practice in
lactating dairy animals. Thus, are commonly used in mastitis management in conventional dairy
production systems. The key control point in minimizing mastitis organism spread involves teat
38
dipping, immediately after milking with an effective teat dip solution. When the cow or buffalo is
milked either by hand milking or machine milking, immediately after milking there may be
contagious bacteria on the teat and teat end. If they are not promptly killed or removed, they
increase the risk of new infections. Teat dip, applied properly, kills these bacteria and the risk is
minimized. Teat dip not only clears up existing infections or shortens their duration but it also
reduces the spread of bacteria from infected cows to uninfected cows and it therefore limits the
spread of the infection. Teat dipping is simple, effective and economical means to reduce bacterial
population on teat skin. An effective teat dip, if correctly used reduces the incidence of new udder
infections by 50-90%. Though the teat dip with the conventional chemical sanitizers are very
effective in reducing the incidence of new intramammary infection but the major concern is the
potential of increased chemical residues in milk. Most of the pre and post milking teat dips are
chemical in nature. They are produced out of the chemicals which are antibacterial in nature.
Generally, the teat dips are iodine, chlorhexidine based, hydrogen peroxide, gluteraldehyde and
various acid based compounds. These chemical based teat dips were tested against the major
mastitic pathogens, like Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, CNS, Corynebacterium
and Escherichia coli and were found to be very effective against the major pathogens, however, the
chemical based teat dips are often associated with very poor teat skin condition such as cracking of
the teat skin, hardening of the skin, roughness of the skin, and trans epidermal water loss. These
demerits of chemical based teat dips warrants the need for alternative teat dip for prevention of
bovine mastitis, which could be used in organic dairy production too, where potential alternatives
are very limited to manage mastitis.

Medicinal herbs are being used in India since ancient time for prevention and treatment of common
ailments of man and animals. The WHO emphasizes the use of native medicine and has
recommended to all member countries to actively promote and initiate step to conserve or to
cultivate medicinal plants of the respective country. There are many herbs having antibacterial, anti-
inflammatory and immunostimulatory properties. Few medicinal herbs have been scientifically
evaluated for their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential against bovine sub-
clinical mastitis. For instance, Phyllanthus emblica or 'Amlakam' fruit contains alkaloids,
benzenoids, diterpene, triterpene, flavonoids, sterols and carbohydrate, which is anti-inflammatory,
antimicrobial, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antiviral in nature, thus, effective against
Staphylococcus aureus mastitis. Also, Azadirachta indica or neem possesses antibacterial, anti-
inflammatory

and immunomodulatory activities.

It is used to treat the udder infection in ruminants
in ethnoveterinary medicine. The plant contains triterpene, carbohydrate and phenol, which are
inflammatory and antimicrobial in nature, thus, effective against major mastitis causing pathogens.
Ocimum sanctum or Tulsi contains ursolic acid and oleanolic acid, so is effective against mastitis
pathogens too. Lawsonia inermis also known as Henna, it contains mannite, tannic acid, mucilage,
gallic acid, and naphtaquinone, the Henna extract is active against Streptococci sp., Straphylococcus
aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Taking into consideration these properties of the herbs, the
post milking teat dip was developed to provide a safe, effective, eco- friendly and cost effective
poly herbal post- milking teat dip.

Methodology
Collection of milk samples and isolation of pathogenic microorganism
The cows were screened for udder health by cow side test. Milk showing 0 to 2 point scores of
California Mastitis Test (CMT) reaction were selected for the post milking teat dip trail. Milk
samples were collected in sterile vials , identification of causative organism in the collected milk
samples were carried by spreading 10 l of milk over 5% bovine blood agar plates, further the
growth of the organism on selective media like, Baird Parker media plates for the growth of
Staphylococcus aureus, Edwards media plates for growth of Streptococcus sp) and MacConkey
39
agar plates for the growth of Coliform bacilli.The organisms were identified on the basis of colony
morphology, characteristic hemolytic pattern and Gram's staining .The organism were stored in
nutrient agar slants and brain heart infusion agar at 6-8
0
C.
Preparation of aqueous extract of the selected medicinal herbs
Phyllanthus emblica fruits, Azadirachta indica seeds, stem and leaves, Ocimum Sanctum leaves and
Lawsonia inermis leaves were collected, washed with fresh clean water, cut into small pieces, dried
and grounded to coarse powder. For preparation of aqueous extract, 30 gm each of the herb powder
was soaked in 100 ml of distilled water in separate containers for 48 hours on magnetic stirrer, after
48 hrs the solution were sieved by a sterile muslin cloth and poured in large petri plates and dried
under vacuum below 40
0
C. The dried content was collected and weighed and stored in sterile
container at 6-8
0
C.
Antibacterial sensitivity test (ABST) of Phyllanthus emblica fruits, Azadirachta indica
stem, seeds, leaves, Ocimum sanctum leaves and Lawsonia inermis leaves against
Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus Sp. and Coliform bacilli
1000 g of dried extract of each of the herb was dissolved in 1 ml of sterile warm normal saline
separately and passed through 0.45 pore size membrane filter .Sterile filter paper disc were
impregnated in these solutions for 3- 4 hours. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus Sp. and
Coliform bacilli were taken at the concentration of 10
8
cells/ ml of normal saline and spread over
the Mueller-Hinton media plates (Hi-Media, Mumbai). Sterile filter paper discs soaked in herbal
solutions were placed over the plates along with the standard Amoxicillin disc and incubated at
37
o
C for 24 hours. The diameter of the zone of inhibition was measured in millimeters after 24
hours of incubation. ABST of Amoxicillin was 26 mm, Phyllanthus emblica revealed 25 mm zone
of inhibtion Azadirachta indica stem revealed 24 mm zone of inhibion, Azadirachta indica leaves
revealed 22 mm zone of inhibion, Azadirachta indica seeds revealed 21 mm zone of inhibion,
Ocimum sanctum leaves revealed 21 mm zone of inhibion, Lawsonia inermis leaves revealed 19
mm zone of inhibition.
Preparation of polyherbal post milking teat dipping powder for the prevention of
bovine sub clinical mastitis
For the preparation of poly herbal teat dip powder, the ratio of the herbs used according to the zone
of inhibition depicted by the major mastitis causing pathogens. Coarsely powdered herbs were
individually weighed to make 100 gm sachets. Phyllanthus emblica, around - 30- 33%, Azadirachta
indica stem-23-25%, Azadirachta indica leaves, 18- 20 %, Azadirachta indica seeds-8-10%,
Ocimum sanctum leaves- 7- 8 % and Lawsonia inermis leaves- 5- 7%.All the herbs were serially
mixed in and stored in sealed polybags.
Teats dip application in lactating cows
Two hundred lactating crossbred cows were screened using California Mastitis Test. Out of 200
cows, 175 cows were selected on the basis of CMT point score between 0 to ++ point score and
somatic cell count less than 20, 000, 00 cells / ml of milk. The breed, age, lactation number and
milk yield was recorded prior to the study. The registration number allotted from cow No.1 to cow
No. 175. 100 lactating cows allotted for polyherbal teat dip trial, 50 cows were applied with
chemical teat dip, Kohrsolin (Gluteraldehyde + 1, 6 dihydroxy 2, 5 dioxyhexane + Polymethyl Urea
derivatives, Glaxo smith Kline, Mumbai, 0.2 %) and 25 cows kept as untreated control. The
polyherbal teat dip solution was poured in sterile polypropylene beakers, after each morning and
evening milking teat dipping was done in 100 cows by immersing the teat in the teat dip solution up
to 2/3 length of the teat of the individual cows, teat dipping was done in diagonal fashion. 50 cows
40
were dipped with conventional teat dip Kohrsolin and 25 cows kept as untreated control. The teat
dipping was done twice daily i.e. morning and evening for a period of 9 months covering summer,
rainy and winter months.
Evaluation of the post milking teat dip application
The evaluation of post milking teat dip application was adjudged by the changes in Somatic Cell
Count (SCC) and Total Bacterial Count (TBC). The SCC and TBC was assessed before the
initiation of the teat dip application i.e. day 0 and thereafter on Day 15, Day 30, Day 45, Day 60,
Day 75, Day 90, Day 105, Day 120, Day 135 ,Day 150, Day 165 , Day 180, Day 195 , Day 210,
Day 225, Day 240, Day 255 and Day 270.
SCC and TBC in cows at different time period of milk collection in response to poly herbal
post milking teat dip- SCC ranged from 5.449 3.23 to 4.391 2.21 x 10
5
cells per ml of milk in
100 cows, daily applied with poly herbal post milking teat dip solution on day 0 and day 270
respectively. The SCC reduced significantly (P<0.05) to an extent of 8.8 % on day 90 post
treatment. From day 90 onwards decreasing trend in SCC could be observed, on day 120 the
reduction was 9.2%, on Day 180 it was 13.5%, on Day 210 the reduction was 13.8%, on day 240
the reduction was 18.45 % and finally on day 270 the reduction was 26.42%, respectively as
compared to Day 0 count. Similarly, TBC ranged from 2.24 1.85 to 0.700 0.47 x 10
3
cells per ml
of milk in 100 cows, daily applied with poly herbal post milking teat dip solution on day 0 and day
270, respectively. The TBC reduced significantly (P<0.05) to an extent of 24.4% on Day 75, from
day 75 onwards decreasing trend in cell count could be observed and the fall was 49 % on Day 120,
55.3 % on Day 180, 57.82 % on Day 210, 63.5% on Day 240 and 68.7% on Day 270.
Specific advantages of the Polyherbal teat dip and its application:
1. The ingredients used are very commonly available medicinal herbs.
2. The mixing technique of the individual herb is fast and less cumbersome.
3. Preparation of polyherbal solution is easy and hassle free.
4. Application of post milking teat dip solution is easy and safe.
5. Application technique is fast.
6. The application forms a thin film over the teat skin which repels the insects.
7. The application of solution does not leave any stain over the teat.
8. The application does not leave any smell to milk.
Conclusion
The search for alternatives to conventional treatments like antibiotics in control of mastitis, led to
the development of effective herbal teat dip. This kind of herbal products needs to be developed
using locally available resources like plants which have medicinal properties. Mastidip is an ideal
product to control mastitis in dairy animals thus, well suited for organic dairy production systems.
41
Non-Antibiotic Breeding Experience of Korean Native Cattle (Hanwoo)

Sun-rae Yang
Korea National Open University, South Korea
didtnsfo12@naver.com

- Number of breeding stock: 120 head
- Breeding method: Collective breeding
- Management of fertile cows: Artificial self-fertilization of 14 month-old cows
- Process of calf production: Breeding of 5 head of fertile cows per unit after artificial fertilization

1. General Management
A fertile cow is allowed to move freely until her entry into the delivery room around one week
before the expected delivery date. After her delivery of a baby calf, she wears a neck wrap suitable
for breastfeeding and stays in an isolated unit together with her baby calf to prevent them from
being interrupted by other cattle.

In winter, calves on a cold floor might suffer from frequent diarrhea, so mats are laid on the floor to
prevent diarrhea and keep them warm. In the case that a baby calf is born in winter, a mother cow is
permitted to remove secretions from her baby calf with a heat insulation lamp being installed. If
some secretions still remain on the calf, a breeder should directly towel and dry the body of the calf.

The delivery room should be cleaned once a day, avoiding dampness as much as possible. Provision
of artificial milk for calves is begun by the time they become one week old. In the delivery room,
those later-born calves naturally learn to drink artificial milk by watching the earlier-born ones
drink it. (After a fertile cows delivery, both mother cow and baby calf stay together for one week.
After that, the door is left open to ensure the free movement of the baby calf.)

In spring, summer, and autumn, cows were previously disinfected once a day, but they now receive
disinfection around 10 a.m. twice per week. Both heat insulation covering and vinyl used to serve as
a sun-proof roof for a cattle barn, but now only vinyl is still used with no heat insulation covering.
This might lead cattle to be exposed to coldness in winter, whereas it can curtail bacterial
reproduction through the penetration of sunbeams into the barn and the resultant dryness of the
floor. It also plays an effective role in stimulating the mating of mother cows.

Two kg of concentrated feed are provided for the breeding stock twice a day (in the morning and
the evening), and rice straw is always furnished as available bulky feed. In the delivery room, the
water tank is cleaned once a day in summer but on a periodic basis in other seasons. If a cow goes
into rut around one month after her delivery, she should undergo self-fertilization using first-grade
sperm.
42

2. Management of Feeder Cattle
Calf production: Provision of artificial milk for those until the age of 4 months feed supply
suitable for the growing and fattening period for those at the age of 4 to 12 months feed supply
suitable for the early fattening period for those at the age of 12 to 20 months provision of
marbling-based feed for those at the age of 20 to 30 months shipment of 700 to 800 kg of beef
cattle on the Livestock Joint Market in Garak-dong, Seoul public auction.
There is an unlimited supply of rice straw-based bulk feed for those under the growing period and
limited supply of rice straw for those under the late fattening period.
Other comment: A constant supply of mineral block (Urinary calculus occurred before the supply of
mineral block, but has never occurred since the provision of mineral block.)
Cleaning of cattle barn: Cleaning is irregularly undertaken depending on sanitary conditions. In
spring, when a barn remains dry due to infrequent rain, it is cleaned once per two months, whereas
it is cleaned once per 15 days in summer when it stays damp due to frequent rain.
Utilization of sawdust as a floor covering for a cattle barn (Sawdust excels chaff in humidity
absorption.)

3. During my early breeding of Korean native cattle (Hanwoo), there were frequent deaths of cattle
associated with a calf diarrhea. I had much difficulty in raising cattle due to my lack of information
about cattle breeding despite my great passion. In the case that 10 baby calves were born in a year,
two of them died or became under-grown due to diarrhea, and consequently I had to face the
daunting task of making proper shipments. Thus, I participated in education programs for cattle
breeding several times, and I tried to cure calves with diarrhea through a close review of articles on
the management of cattle disease in the Rural Development Administrations book on livestock
breeding management.

However, such efforts failed to produce desirable treatment outcomes, so I made other attempts in
my own capacity, such as calling the telephone number written on the medicine bottle or consulting
a veterinarian. I learned from this process that calves with diarrhea were vulnerable to dehydration
because they could not eat well and that such dehydration could trigger the death of numerous cattle.
Therefore, I injected Ringers fluid into the dehydrated calves to mitigate their dehydration and
ensure a good prognosis (according to the veterinarians direct instructions).

In this process, I endeavored to identify the root cause of this frequent occurrence of calf diarrhea. I
visited nearby farms which raised one head of cattle to survey the amount of feed supply, frequency
of barn cleaning and of cattle trade, and so on. Based upon these results, I detected the following
problems and attempted to address them one by one.
- Problem 1: Lack of cleanliness
- Problem 2: Oversupply of feed
- Problem 3: Inflow of new viruses due to frequent entry of cattle
43
- As part of the rectifications, I cleaned the delivery room every day in spring, summer, and autumn,
and I reduced the amount of feed supply for fertile cows to prevent them from becoming obese. The
entry of new cattle also came under control as part of the precautions against the potential inflow of
outside viruses.

4. Conclusion
As no cattle deaths arise out of calf diarrhea, such an outbreak of diarrhea itself is now quite rare.
Annual medical expenses for cattle have declined from KRW 1 million or more to about KRW
50,000, and consequently calf production now seems to pose no problem. However, some economic
losses are incurred by those cows that miss the fertilization period due to their non-rutting state,
thus I am currently seeking ways to cope with these problems. In retrospect, I think that I tended to
pursue some special solution instead of going to basics while raising cattle from the perspective of
humans with no consideration for cattle. That is why I as well as my breeding stock was confronted
with a number of bothersome situations during my previous cattle breeding experiences.


44
Synthesizing Nomadic Sheep Farmers in to Organic Chain: Potential Business
Model

Vishnu Sharma & Sanjita Sharma
Rajasthan University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Jaipur-India
drvishnus@yahoo.com


Introduction:

Nomadic sheep farming is a traditional activity in many parts of the world. The practice is more
prevalent in drier regions in search of feed and water. The state of Rajasthan in India is largest state
in terms of geographical area and second highest in sheep population in the country having 11
million sheep. The state is having largely arid to semi-arid ecology making sheep farming as an
important activity for small, marginal and landless farmers. Sheep husbandry is mainly on nomadic
practice relying on feeding of local grasses, fodder etc. and follows traditional husbandry practices.
Similar model is being practices in many developing countries and drier regions of the world.
Concept analysis is done to see that whether those nomadic sheep farmers qualify for organic wool
and mutton through their existing production models and opportunity for a business model vis--vis
limitations.

Materials and Methods:

Various recommended organic livestock practices were compared with existing model practices.
Potentials and limitations were discussed with regards to synthesizing this activity with business
models. Various husbandry practices done by nomads are de facto providing value to sustainability
and organic score in general are discussed.

Results & Discussion:

It is very strongly advocated that such an important fraction of farming community needs to
synthesize for its value addition to organic agriculture. Among some others, certification is a major
limitation to be qualifying for organic businesses model. However, some modalities can serve as a
frame work of broad guidelines for nomadic sheep farmers under similar agro-ecosystems in the
world.

Conclusion
Small holders fractions with different activities like sheep nomads, bestowed with much potential
and strengths and needs focused attention by organic platforms so as to synthesize them into main
stream of organic business model that can be replicate in similar situations in every part of globe.
45


Biodiversity & Climate Change
46
Development of Community-Based Organic Agriculture in Thailand

Dittakit, P.
1
, Wattanasiri, C.
1
& Kongsom, C.
Key words: Organic Agriculture, Community-Based, Community-Based Organic Farming
Model, Organic Farming Network
1

Abstract
The study of development of community-based organic agriculture shows that the community-
based organic farming model has 2 main factors: community-based organic production and
community-based organic farmer group management. The successful community-based organic
production required proper management, including data analyzing, production planning, monitoring
and evaluation, producing and inspecting according to organic standard. For community-based
organic farmer group management, the group members always seek mutual objectives, encourage
cooperative and learning activities, and subsequently facilitate caring culture among group members
through core leader management. Organic farming network is developed through 5 steps: informal
meeting with core leaders, interest group meeting, participatory planning meeting, mutual activity
implementing, participatory monitoring and evaluation meeting. In order to strengthen and sustain
organic farming network based on local ways of life, the important activities are suggested for an
organic farming network: setting up an administrative structure; setting up learning centers in
member communities; developing its own organic standard; developing a communication system
for information, knowledge, and wisdom dissemination; organizing periodical sharing and learning
activities among members; and drawing learned lessons periodically


1
Organic Agriculture Development Center, Thailand, School of Agricultural Extension and Cooperatives, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University,
Chaengwattana Rd., Bangpood, Pakkret, Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand, E-Mail puy_1980@hotmail.com, Tel: (66) 2 5048046-9, Fax: (66) 2 5033578
47
Climate Change & Tea Industry


1
st
Organisation: Te@ Technologies Outsourcing
Presenter: Harkirat Singh Sidhu
E Mail: harkisidhu@hotmail.com
teatechos@gmail.com
Key words maximum 5
2500 words
Introduction -description of project/activity
Methods & material where applicable
Figure & tables
Result & conclusions


A. Introduction:
In a traditional industry like Tea it is very difficult to break away from the conventional way in
which things have always been done. However, everything around us is changing. In nature, for
time immemorial, only those who/which are able to adapt fast enough survive. Heat-waves, down-
pours & cloud bursts, cyclonic storms, mud-slides, floods, droughts, will become common place,
and the human race will have to live with these problems the best it can. Even if todays climate
was not changing, look at its capacity to do more harm than before: the devastating pest outbreaks,
the incessant rains, the heavy downpours, erosion, flooding, these just show that we have not
adapted to the already changed conditions, forget what changes the future holds.

We know very little about how different highly disruptive, nonlinear changes in climate might interact
with one another and affect our crops, pests, diseases,.. But we can study what climatic changes are
likely to take place over the next 20 to 30 years - estimate their individual / synergistic /collective
impact on various aspects of our industry (see sample sheet appended) and then take each aspect and
see how we can mitigate its effect.
For example -
i) Low winter temperatures used to kill some insects/disease pathogens/fungi
these might now have longer/accelerated periods of growth.
ii) The Climate Change will cause more intense weather .

B. Change: Change is the one constant in lifeeverything around us is changing. Right now, the
acute awareness of the true scale & speed of the problem remains confined largely to a precious few,
but soon it will be blindingly obvious to everyone. What we can change is the way we deal with change
and the way we are changed by change. If we look at Tea -
1. Incremental breakthroughs are all we had, but exponential is what we need.
2. Have we really tried? Have we put in place a coordinated set of policies, tax
incentives, disincentives, and regulations that would stimulate the marketplace? We need
long-term clarity for investors to make big bets.
3. Over the past decade the industry has been witnessing some dramatic changes: Yields
are dropping, pests and diseases are increasing & becoming more resistant, response to
applied fertilizer is reducing, organic matter & microbial population in soils is reducing,
weed flora is changing & becoming more resistant, water-tables are rising & droughts are

48
more frequent, weather conditions are becoming extreme & erratic. We need to address
this changing scenario.
4. The erratic weather conditions will continue to plague us. The weather is not going to be
what we have been used to; we need to accept it and go ahead.
5. To mitigate their effect we need to make fundamental changes to our systems and
agricultural practices, rather than technological tweaking on the margins.
6. There is a Chinese proverb When the wind changes direction, there are those who
build walls & those who build windmills. Are we building windmills ?

C. Where are we today? Are we doing anything dramatically different, from what we have
always done, to tackle these changing conditions? What are the major concerns ?
1. Intense, frequent & widespread outbreaks of pests?
2. Decline in crop yields
3. Increase in costs
a. Lower land & labour productivity
b. Higher in-put costs agro-chemicals, fertilizers, herbicides,
c. Increased energy costs
4. Current agricultural practices are giving decreasing response.

D. What can we possibly do about it? Let us take the above concerns one at a time:
1. Intense, frequent & widespread outbreaks of pests?
i) We are using many new molecules & very potent chemicals. Yet we have increasing
incidence & severity of pest attacks Helopeltis, Mites, Tea jasids, Looper caterpillars,
ii) New package-of-practices/schedules have been made by research
with newer molecules and yet the problem is increasing!
iii) The pests are the same but hardier & more persistent. The infestation
is more severe & more frequent and crop damage is more. The constant change is the
chemicals the latest ones, with improved molecules, keep coming in and, in quick time.
The incidence of pest, however, keeps getting worse & the chemical usage increases. Has
decades of being on this treadmill-of-chemical-control reduced our pest problems?
iv) The Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) have become an ever
increasing problem for the producer & will continue to get more stringent. Many of the
chemicals permitted today will soon be banned. Where do we go then?
v) The problem certainly does not have a simple solution (at least not on the path that we
are treading). The Helopeltis problem in Assam last summer is a good indicator of where
our single-strategy-of-chemical control has brought us to. I am not saying that going
organic is the only solution. But it certainly is the most sustainable option to evaluate. We
also need to work on improving efficiency & efficacy of spraying equipment & applied
chemicals/biocides.
(1) The Helopeltis infestation in Upper Assam in 2010 (May to August ) was
devestating see photographs below. Vast areas, estate after estate, were blacked-out
with not a single growing shoot. The June to August crops were hit very badly. This is
the highest cropping and best quality period in North India.

49


(2) The weather conditions, for over three months, were very conducive for the
spread of this pest. However, the current crop of chemicals could not control this pest in
the changed conditions.

(3) In the Dec2008-Feb 2009 issue of Tea Times I had written an article Monster
Pests that gave warnings of such situations around the corner. I append a few excerpts
from it :
(a) The single strategy
(b) Inappropriate coverage:
of chemical control has become an economic disaster for
the tea industry. What Claude Alvares had to say in the 1960s sounds so appropriate
today Once every potent chemical has been used & found wanting, there is simply
no alternative but to return to traditional & less toxic means of controlling the
insects that modern farming methods have turned into pests.
(i) When spraying system is inappropriate
1. Only the weaker members of the insect population are killed. So in many
areas and among many species only the strong & fit remain to defy our
efforts to control them.
2. As insufficient spray fluid reaching target pests, those that survive/escape
tend to build resistance.


50


(4) There are two important areas that need to be addressed as I feel these are
essential to get control of Pests:-
(a) Spraying Equipment: Our equipment is not penetrative enough and so the
target pest is not hit. Because the target pest is not hit -
(i) the chemical usage increases as repeated rounds are required.
(ii) stronger chemicals are used & more often.
(iii) natural enemies are eradicated and so the pests population increases.
(iv) I have been doing tracer trials with an adjustable lance (see photograph)
and this has given 19.8% better penetration into the canopy. This is more than
50% better than what is generally being done. This will ensure increased
efficiency of the sprayers, efficacy of applied chemicals. The target pests will be
hit, spraying rounds will reduce, lesser chemicals will be used and more natural
enemies will get a chance to survive
2.
(b) Monitoring System: The accurate objective monitoring of the
level of infestation of pests is crucial to its control. I have developed a
simple and accurate system that gives a correct picture of infestation is,
what I call the Count System
(i) 2 or 3 persons (monitors) are selected & trained in the system of pest
count. Only fresh punctures (< 24 hrs) in case of Helopeltis & live mites in case
of Red Spider Mites are looked at to give an objective count to a section.
The prototype of the adjustable
lance for Cifarelli sprayers
51
(ii) The score is recorded on a spread sheet/ wall count-chart. The count-
chart is in the same format as the plucking chart Section Nos. 0n Y-axis &
Dates on X-axis. (see photograph below)
(iii) As the counts are taken the score is entered against the date for the pests
separately. One look at the chart gives you a full picture of the pest infestation
across the estate & also what rate it is increasing/decreasing at. This surprises a
lot of planters as sometimes infestations reduce without spraying, because the
population of beneficials has grown.
(iv) There is an Action Threshold Level (ATL) for each month & only when
the infestation reaches ATL is spraying done.
(v) The day spraying is done, the chemical / biocide / plant extract used is
put in the relevant place.
(vi) Post spraying count is done between 24 to 48 hrs & this is also put on the
count-chart. This shows you how effective your spraying has been.


2. Decline in crop yields There has generally been a decrease in the crop yields in most
companies. This is in spite of increased use of nutrients, chemicals & Plant Growth Regulators.
i) Declining fertilizer-use-efficiency - the response to applied fertilizers is reducing every
year. This is making farmers increase their rates of application to try and harvest the same
crops. This is a vicious cycle.
ii) How is Soil Health? Do we need something other than the nutrients that we are
applying? The depleted soils may no longer be capable of handling such high doses of
chemicals. The organic matter has got depleted and the microbial activity in the soils needs
to be increased.
iii) Climatic change & Erratic Weather? The response & crop distribution from the different
prunes has changed considerably. There is also more sun-scorch and the timing of prunes
needs to be tweaked to get better results.
iv) Rise in water tables? Huge areas of Assam & Dooars, in North India are certainly
reeling under this problem. It also increases run-off and erosion.
v) The replacement plantings are not doing as well because of soil health? It is important
that we try and restore soil health.
vi) Are there some other limiting factors?
3. Increase in costs
i) Lower land productivity lower crops are increasing overall costs
ii) Lower plucker productivity is being caused by
(1) lower crops
(2) more diseases and poorer health of workers because of inclement
weather.
(3) Higher temperatures have also reduced productivity
iii) Introduction of Mechanical harvesters has improved this dramatically
and has also reduced incidence of Helopeltis & Tea jasids.
iv) Higher in-put costs
(1) as crops fall more fertilizers are used
(2) with more pests more agro-chemicals
(3) more resistant weed flora means more herbicides,
52
v) Increased energy costs - It is impossible to stress how important
improving (energy) efficiency is & how great an impact it can have on reducing the energy
bill & mitigating Climate Change.
(1) Instead of increasing our Chemical & Fertilizer inputs we need to find more
effective use of chemicals & better fertilizer-use-efficiency. Look at increasing organic
manure and improve soil micro flora.
(2) Those who are opposed to the change to Organic are often overstating the cost of
the change (mainly loss of crop) and understating the benefits. They are dramatically
underestimating the innovations it would inspire, the emissions it would save & reverse,
and the real costs it would save.
(3) Our factories could have effective systems put in. In one factory where we put in
system based approach we have had tremendous saving in energy and manpower costs.
By doing so
(a) Machines & motors would become more efficient & effective?
(b) Energy usage will improve & productivity improve
(4) We can lower CO2 emissions - grow more fuel (shade trees can be put on a 7
to10 year replacement cycle to generate fuel, all fencing posts can be fuel trees, all
vacant & marginal areas could have trees growing
(5) Usage of non-invasive vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) could stop erosion, reduce
soil wash & leeching & help recharge the aquifer.
(6) Rain water harvesting needs to be introduced? We need to use more natural light
in our factories, offices, homes, store rooms, ?
(7) We can improve energy efficiency in the buildings, lights, homes, vehicles,
machines, appliances, cooling & heating systems, .
(8) We need to address the concept of waste segregate it and Reduce, Reuse &
Recycle it? Remember the reduction in waste also means substantial savings in costs.
Vermicomposting/composting of organic waste would save costs and increase crops.

Current agricultural practices are giving decreasing response. What can we do to
mitigate the effect of the erratic weather conditions?
1. We need to radically change agricultural practices- to study & develop new ways to
overcome some of these problems? The erratic weather is not only there to stay but climate
change will continue to accelerate. We have to alter our practices to mitigate its effect:
i. Response from different prunes/skiffs has changed.
ii.Prune timings can be altered to mitigate drought affect and redistribute crop.
iii. Some changed practices:
1. Step-up of maintenance foliage, based on individual sections
prune, yield, type of clone/seed has
a. Reduced sucking insect infestation
b. Improved resistance to moisture stress
c. Redistributed & increased crops
d. Made response more consistent even with changing
weather conditions
2. Mid-season Deep Skiff (see graph below) has
a. Totally redistributed crop from poor quality period to high
quality period
b. Reduced pest infestation
c. Improved productivity and manpower availability
53
3. Irrigation timing & quantity Early step-ups and mid season
Deep skiffs have altered this. Most effective periods of irrigation differ
for different prunes. So when we apply at these critical periods we reduce
the requirement, increase the crop response, reduce costs and reduce the
adverse impact on the environment
iv. Organic conversion Our Holistic Organic System has
a. Reduced cost of plant protection. There is a tremendous
increase in the population of beneficials.
b. Reduced pest infestation & mitigated their effect on crops.
c. Made crops more resistant to moisture stress
d. Reduced in-put costs
e. Made it more sustainable
b. The changes in weather conditions have changed the pattern of pest attacks and
also the period. Certain fungal diseases like Black-rot and Red Rust are having an
accelerated period of growth because of the higher temperatures & higher humidity. We
need to alter the calendar-spray recommendations according to the changed weather
conditions.


We need the Government bodies to give incentives for organic manures & composts instead of
given for Fertilizers & agro-chemicals. That will create the shift to cleaner teas. Once the costs of
production fall, there will be more demand & an incentive to produce more. The best driver is the
market & the Government Departments, the Tea Associations & the Tea Boards should do their bit
to aid this process.

Conclusion
Let us not use Climate Change as an excuse for our inadequacies. Climate change is blamed for
crop losses, droughts, pests, erosion, you name it. If we resign to this we will never find ways &
means to overcome things that might still be in our hands (or at least to a great extent). Yes, you
can not do anything about Climate Change in the short run, to make a difference to your immediate
problems, but we can work to find what we can do to change our practices & systems to mitigate
the problems.


54

55

Estate: Month: February Pest: Helopeltis
Red Spider
Pest Count Chart
D a t e s
Sect # Area 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 10.2
RS
0.21 rs 0.32
2 7.32
h-
0.42 S-Th+N h-0.12
3 11.12 h -0.18
h -
0.27
4 6.55 RS- 0.31 Sulf
RS-
0.04
5 12.21
h -
0.13
6A 6.68
RS -
0.15
6B 2.87
RS
0.24
RS -
0.35
RS -
0.13

h -
0.25
h -
0.41 Th+Sulf
h -
0.11








56




Crop pattern alteration due to mid-season Deep Skiff

Crop GL/ha
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
S
e
p
t
N
o
v
J
a
n
M
a
r
c
h
M
a
y
J
u
l
y
Control
Treat 1
57
Ecological Restoration to Build Resilience to Climate Change
The Experience in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka

Melvani, Kamal
1


Abstract
Ongoing research on climate change in Sri Lanka suggests that areas in the North East will be
seriously affected in terms of rainfall variability, increasing temperatures, soil moisture deficit and
sea level rise along the coast.

Kalmunai, located on the east coast in Ampara District, is just recovering from a serious drought in
2010 that made agriculture unfeasible after earlier being devastated by the 2004 tsunami with heavy
loss of lives and catastrophic damage to homes and property. The tsunami destroyed the livelihoods
of farmers with the loss of crops, high soil salinity and potable water along the entire coast.

In January 2005, the Neo Synthesis Research Centre (NSRC) began relief work in Kalmunai
distributing food and drinking water, constructing and cleaning wells, building toilets and acquiring
supplies for schools that lost their buildings and everything inside. In addition livelihood assistance
was provided for carpenters, masons, weavers and tailors. The tsunami recovery effort benefitted
8616 adults and 8009 children.

While supplying the material needs of the people was difficult, the greatest challenge was to heal
the ravaged land; to grow back its vegetation, clean water sources and restore farmlands to their
original arability.

From 2005 up to date, the Neo Synthesis Research Centre accepted the challenge and established a
3 km conservation forest along the coast as a buffer to imminent sea level rise. Micro watersheds
were planted with tree dominated vegetation around 1,001 wells to protect the water supply of the
community. Regenerative farming demonstrations were established in 250 home gardens with
several varieties of vegetables along with tree and shrub crops using strictly organic methods.
These gardens provide food, fuel wood, timber, green manure, fodder, medicine etc. The farming
practices also increase organic matter in the soil thereby regenerating its responsiveness to
cultivation.

Five years later, the benefits continue to sustain farmers despite prevailing drought conditions.
Program beneficiaries are more food secure and generate income. Soils have regained arability;
wells are now potable and the coastline is protected by a wall of native vegetation. The gardens
demonstrate resilience to the vagaries of climate change. The technologies used warrant close
examination since they are successful and easy to replicate.

Introduction
Kalmunai is located on the east coast of Sri Lanka between longitudes 81 45' and 81 50' and
Latitudes 70 25' and 70 19'. The climate is hot and temperatures are usually over 26
0
C. The area
receives rainfall from the North East monsoon and the first and second intermonsoons and the mean
Annual Rainfall varies from 50-75. Relative humidity varies from 65% to 82%. Hydro
1
Managing Director, Neo Synthesis Research Centre, Sri Lanka, Email: neosynth@sltnet.lk, nsrc@sltnet.lk
58
geologically, coastal sand aquifers occur on raised beaches that are shallow and conducive to the
build up of a Gybern Herberg type of lens of fresh water floating on the underlying, denser salt
water (Panabokke, 2007). The soils are mostly Regosols on the coastline and Red & Brown, sandy
loams in the hinterland. The vegetation is dry, mixed, evergreen forest and littoral scrub. The
dominant species are Manilkara hexandra and Pterospermum suberifolium.
Kalmunai has one of the densest populations in Sri Lanka and home to predominately Tamil and
Muslim communities

Impact of climate change on the Eastern Dry Zone
The largest adverse impacts of climate change are projected to be in the northwestern and
southeastern lowlands in the dry zone. While other climate related variables have remained largely
the same, rainfall variability and ambient temperatures have increased. Dr. Punyawardena,
Climatologist stated in 2010 that the coefficient of variability of rainfall is increasing for the east of
Sri Lanka. Data from 1961-1980 and 1981-2000 suggests an increase of 49.1% to 67.1%, for the
first intermonsoon; 32.5% to 38.9% for the second intermonsoon and 37.7% to 44.4% for the North
East monsoon. The variability of rainfall makes it difficult for agriculturalists that depend on
predictions based on historical experience. Chandrapala (1996) revealed that long-term
temperatures had risen by 0.016

C per year in 14 Meteorological stations during the period 1961-

1990 where the highest rate of increase of 0.36

C occurred at Anuradhapura in the North Central

Dry Zone. Changes in precipitation may have more impact than temperature changes, especially
during key agricultural production months (Mendelsohn et al. 2004). According to studies
conducted by Deheragoda and Karunanayake in 2004, the propensity for extreme events like
droughts and floods have also increased during the last two decades of the 20th Century when Sri
Lanka witnessed a number of extreme rainfall events. Research conducted by Shanti Silva (2006)
compared climate change datasets for Sri Lanka from the UK Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction
and Research model (HadCM3) for selected IPCC
2
SRES
3
scenarios for the 2050s with baseline
data from the IWMI
4
. The results predict a decrease in the northeast monsoon rains and an increase
in annual average temperatures. These changes in rainfall and temperature together with other
climatic factors will further increase the maximum annual soil moisture deficit significantly in areas
such as Batticaloa where reliability and availability of water resources are under severe pressure.
Without increased irrigation, food production is at risk. According to the Department of Census and
Statistics the Poverty Head Count Index
5

for the Ampara District is 10.9%. If predictions on the
impacts of climate change are accurate, there will be serious consequences for people depend on
agriculture with increases in poverty. The incidence of poverty also depends on other factors such
as the access to reliable irrigation systems, viability of crop plants under different water regimes,
non-agricultural employment opportunities and importantly the extant of forest vegetation
protecting the integrity of watersheds. Building resiliency into all land management systems is
required if communities and regions are to adapt to the effects of climate change. The adaptative
capacity of communities reduces vulnerabilities and promotes sustainable development (IPCC,
2001)
Methodology
Restoration was undertaken in 6 local administrative Divisions of Kalmunai, Periyaneelavenai,
Pandirripu, Maruthamunai, Kalmunai, Kuruntheyady and Kalmunaikudy. Several discussions were
held with members of the communities about the problems faced with salinity of agricultural fields
and drinking water wells. Diverse strategies were discussed for restoration that would provide
2
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
3
SRES: Special Report on Emission Scenarios (Nakicenovic, et.al, 2000)
4
IWMI: International Water Management Institute
5
that is defined as the proportion of poor population to total population
59
environmental, social and economic benefits. Many tools were required including coastal forestry,
phytoremediation, regenerative farming and waste management.

Establishment of a coastal green belt
The areas with coastal vegetation were least impacted by the tsunami. Coastal forests protect the
beach from wave erosion (Mazda, 1997) and provide essential environmental services. Hence
discussions were held with the community about establishing a green belt along the Kalmunai
coastline that would form a vegetation barrier to contain the destruction expected from storm surges
associated with sea level rise. As a first step, the architectural structure, ecological functions and
species composition of the only remnant littoral forest patch near Kalmunai provided the basis for
the landscape design of the coastal forest. Planting was executed in the rainy seasons of 2005, 2006
and 2007 and a coastal forest that extended from Kalmunai to Periyakallar was comprised of mostly
native forest species and a few non invasive, exotics. Trees and shrubs were planted in a dense
manner so as to form a wall of vegetation with an equally dense root mat underground. The species
used were Pandanus odoratissimus, Thespesia populnea, Pongamia pinnata, Cassia auriculata,
Calophyllum inophyllum, Barringtonia speciosa, Casuarina equisetifolia, Borassus flabellifer,
Syzygium caryophyllatum, Pterospermum suberifolium, Manilkara hexandra, Bauhinia racemosa,
Berrya cordifolia, Morinda citrifolia, Crinum latifolium, Carallia brachiata, Scaveola taccada and
Cerbera odollam. A total of 6,945 plants in 23 species of which over 50% were native to Sri Lanka
were planted.

Phytoremediation of drinking water
Thousands of drinking water wells in Kalmunai were contaminated with sea water, sewage from pit
latrines and other waste as the result of the tsunami. Water was very saline with high electrical
conductivity, and concentrations of nitrites and nitrates. Further wells were microbiologically
unsafe. While the conventional way to address this problem was to clean the wells and administer
chlorine in to the source, the problem of salinity or nitrate/nitrite pollution (NSRC, 2005) remained
unsolved. The sandy soils and vast, shallow fresh water lens were easily polluted by leaching of
salts and other contaminants. The danger of nitrate contamination of water is already being
experienced in the Kalpitiya Peninsula (University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, 1995). A sustainable
solution lies in the phytoremediation of contaminants. Phytoremediation occurs when selected
plants are grown in a contaminated substrate; the root system of those plants function as a highly
dispersed, fibrous uptake system to form giant underground networks that function as solar-driven
pumps extracting and concentrating essential elements and compounds from soil and water.
Absorbed substances are used to support reproductive function and carbon fixation within shoots
(Burken, J.G. and Schnoor, J.L., 1996). Hence dense plantings of several species of native trees and
shrubs surrounded 1001 wells in Kalmunai to improve water quality. Tests conducted on 26
randomly selected sample wells by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board Laboratory
demonstrated decreasing amounts of nitrate and chloride.

Analog Forestry
The data gathered on the architectural structure, species composition and ecological function of the
natural forest provided the framework for the landscape design of the demonstration models in
regenerative agriculture. The restoration used the technique of analog forestry (Falls Brook Centre,
1997). Analog Forestry establishes a tree dominant ecosystem analogous to or similar in
architectural structure and ecological function to the

original climax or sub climax vegetation
community. Through the use of species that have utility benefits rural communities are empowered
both socially and economically. The vegetation community formed is analogous to whole forest
products and services in terms of the production of clean water, environmental stability and
biodiversity conservation. For landowners incomes are generated, clean food and water are
available and habitat for biodiversity recreated. The landscape design involved three main facets:
the watershed of the well, fence and the production area.
60

Around the well: The landscape of the micro watersheds of all drinking water wells were planted
with a dense mixture of deep rooted, mostly native species of trees and shrubs. The objective was
for the plant roots to grow enmeshed into each other creating thereby a root mat around each well.
The root mat would act as a giant filter cleaning the well water of contaminants. The species
planted included Pandanus amarylifolius, Vitex negundo, Terminalia arjuna, Madhuca longifolia,
Calophyllum inophyllum, Syzygium caryophyllatum, Cassia auriculata, Berrya cordifolia, Sterculia
foetida, Pisonia grandis, Pavetta indica, Moringa oleifera, Albizia odoratissima, Bridelia retusa,
Diospyros ebenum and Pongamia pinnata.
Fence: The fence was planted using a mixture of native species of trees like Berrya cordifolia,
Diospyros ebenum, Vitex negundo, Thespepsea populnea and green manures like Gliricidia
maculatum, Pavetta indica and Ceiba pentandra. In addition, Aloe vera and Cymbopogon citratus
were planted in the under storey.
Production area: The landscape design also included the cultivation of tree crops that would provide
utility benefits like food, fuel wood, timber, medicine, fibre, ornament etc. The species distributed
could be used for:
Food: Mango, Orange, Lime, Syzygium jambos, Spondias dulcis, Ice Cream Bean, Papaw, Curry
Leaf, Guava, Anona sp., Passion Fruit, Grapes, Pine Apple, Aegle marmelos, Elaeocarpus serratus,
Mulberry, King Coconut, Coconut, Sesbania grandiflora, Cashew, Jak, Pomegranate, Wood Apple,
Cinnamon, Banana, Turmeric, Lemon, Mandarin Orange, Kalamasi Lime and Tamarind.
Timber: Berrya cordifolia, Diospyros ebenum, Vitex altissima, Diospyros malabaricum.
Medicine: Piper longum, Aloe vera, Phyllanthus emblica and Zingiber officinale.
Ornament: Tabebuia rosea, Ceaselpinia pulcherrima, Cassia spectrabilis, Murraya, paniculata,
Delonix regia, Tecoma stans, Craeteva adansonii
Fuelwood: Gliricidia maculatum, Thespepsea populnea, Ceiba pentandra and Vitex negundo
28,292 plants and shrubs of 74 species were established between 2005 and 2010.

Regenerative agriculture
The landscape design of the Demonstration Models in regenerative agriculture went a step further
with annual cropping using organic practices. The 250 demonstration models were established
between 2006 and 2010 generated income and provided for the familys needs and are essential to
the food security of a region that was also effected by the ethnic conflict that troubled Sri Lanka for
21 years.

The gardens were first mapped demarking physical features and dominant vegetation and served as
a platform for landscape design taking into consideration the direction of the corrosive sea wind,
rainfall and sunlight. While the choice of crops used in the fence and production planting followed
the same pattern as in the phytoremediation planting, the addition of annual crops changed the
complexion of the design since sunlight was a critical requirement. Raised soil beds were
constructed incorporating Water Hyacinth, straw and cow dung as an underlayer and covered by the
existing sandy soil. These beds were ideal for vegetable cultivation since they were rich in organic
matter and retained moisture in the drought. During the rainy season, the raised beds did not
become water logged. One of the reasons for adding carbon in this great a quantity was to facilitate
humification and provide habitat for soil fauna. Green manures were propagated and formed the
basis of the compost produced using other raw materials like cow/ goat dung as well as minerals
like rock phosphate, dolomite and granite dust. While liquid fertilizer made out of neem
(Azadirachta indica), Gliricidia maculatum, Pavetta indica and cowdung proved effective, mixtures
of Sida spinosa, Andrographis paniculata, Garlic, Ginger, Chillie, Castor Oil and cow urine were
very effective in controlling pests and fungal diseases. Vermiculture was promoted where
vermicompost and vermiwash was made in farmer's gardens. Apiculture was initiated in 28 farm
gardens and with the recreation of habitat, honey production could be robust. Paddy straw, coconut
and Palmyrah leaves were used as sheet mulch to retain soil moisture. Cultivation was based on the
61
traditional adherence to auspicious times. What is significant is that at its conclusion farmers were
harvesting over 30 vegetable and 5 fruit crops that included:
Vegetables: Brinjal, Chillies, Red Onion, Radish, Long beans, Okra, Bitter gourd, Luffa, Ridge
gourd, Snake gourd, Pumpkin, Squash, Pigeon Pea, Winged Bean, Pumpkin, Beet Root, Tomato
and Chinese Cabbage
Yams and Tubers: Sweet potato and Manioc
Pulses and Cereals: Cowpea, Thoor dhal, Green gram, and Maize
Leafy vegetables: Centella asiatica, Alternanthera sessilis, Ipomea aquatica, Sesbania grandis,
Amaranthus sp. Spinach and Lettuce
Fruits: Sweet Melon, Banana, Passion Fruit, Pineapple and Papaw

Waste recycling and sustainable waste management: Another significant aspect of the farming
process was the use of kitchen waste. A compost basket made from Gliricidia sticks or coconut
leaf spines were constructed in every farm garden that served as a repository for kitchen and other
biodegradable waste. Beneficiaries were also taught to separate non biodegradable waste for
collection and re-cycling by other parties.

Results
The farm lands were monitored from ecological, social and economic perspectives.
Ecological Gains: The results demonstrated that the increases in vegetation cover brought about an
increase in shade, soil biomass and moisture retention in soil. Further, the forest gardens had
become excellent habitat areas for both surface and soil biodiversity thus creating pest-predator
interplay within the garden ecosystem.
Economic Gains: The gain in income was substantial considering that there was nothing on the
lands prior to the execution of the restoration activities. Income generated by the last batch of 60
farmers for a period of 7 months after initiating activities (March to September, 2010) is presented
in Table 1.


Table 1: Summary of Income generated from March to September, 2010

Farmers used part of the harvests for home consumption and sold the rest. Data gathered
demonstrated that in the first 7 months of implementation, farmers were saving up to 25.94% of
their total earnings by growing their own food. Once the income from tree crops is realized in the
future, farmers will be assured of food security. The availability of a diverse array of food at the
homestead level has resulted in a tangible increase in the nutritional diversity of the diets. This is
particularly important for the children in the community. The diversity of crops reduced the risk and
dependence on any one crop and assured income throughout the year. The cost of production was
almost negligible since all the inputs were sourced in and around the farm garden. Initially farmers
were given vegetable seed purchased from the Department of Agriculture. However, the habit of
seed breeding has been taught to farmers and by the end of the Project cycle most farmers had
caches of their own organic seed and seed secure.
Social gains: The mobilization of the people in the 14 local administrative divisions to form 21
community groups provided them leadership and a voice in the community. Participatory Rural
Appraisal of each of the Groups was carried out where the outcome was a plan of action. The plan
involved the continuation of ecological farming activities, waste management, maintenance of the
coastal forests and the initiation of micro finance schemes. The Groups were taught the skills
Location MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP Total
Pandiruppu 17,516 61,050 91,463 50,743 35,006 22,235 21,890 299,903
Maruthamunai 10,650 26,110 29,329 23,347 25,015 23,170 13,335 150,956
Perineelavenai 8,265 38,645 64,284 40,653 35,415 36,160 30,935 254,357
Total 36,431 125,805 185,076 114,743 95,436 81,565 66,160 705,216
62
necessary for savings and credit schemes and the funds collected were used for loans to its
membership. Group members now are financially empowered to lend and borrow without being
entrapped to a commercial banking system.

Discussion
The adoption of a farming system where both tree and annual crops are part of the landscape design
brings diversity and stability in the agro ecosystem. Farmers reduce the risk of planting only one
type of crop and yields occur throughout the year. The inclusion of trees in to an agricultural
landscape adds to soil biomass and leads to soil fertility; increases shade reducing the evaporation
of soil moisture and the lowering of temperatures. The adoption of organic regimes of cultivation
enhances the habitat value of the gardens and the diversity of vegetation provides forage for
pollinators and creates habitat for biodiversity. The use of organic farming practices increases
moisture retention in soil and reduces soil moisture deficit.

Conclusions
The people of Kalmunai were impoverished physically, mentally and financially in the wake of the
2004 Tsunami. The possibilities are high that they will be further effected by the vagaries of climate
change given that prolonged drought has been occurring frequently in the past few years. However
the adoption of a restoration processes that can provide food security, water availability and
environmental stability is the order of the day. It also serves to provide a platform for change to
others interested in creating ecologically resilient models that can adapt to the impact of climate
change.

References
Burken, J.G. and Schnoor, J.L., (1996) Phytoremediation: Plant Uptake of Atrazine and Role of
Root Exudates. J. Environ. Engrg., ASCE, 122(11), 958-963
Chandrapala, L (1996), Trends and Variability of Rainfall and Temperature in Sri Lanka in: Kinter,
J.L., and Schneider, E.K. (eds) Report No. 26, Proceedings of the Workshop on Dynamics
and Statistics of secular climate variations, 4-8 December, 1995, Italy
Deheragoda, K and Karunayanayke, M.M. (2003) Landslide Disasters
Department of Census & Statistics, 2002, Headcount Index and Population below Poverty Line by
DS Division Sri Lanka:
De Silva, C. Shanti, 2006, Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Sri Lanka, 32nd
WEDC International Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Falls Brook Centre (1997) Analog Forestry Manual
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001, Climate Change 2001, Impacts, Adaptation and
Vulnerability, Contribution of Working Group 11 to the Third Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Mazda, Y., Magi, M., Kogo, M. & P.N. Hong, 1997. Mangroves as a coastal protection from waves
in the Tong King Delta, Vietnam. Mangroves and Saltmarshes, 1:127-135
Mendelsohn, R.; Dinar, A.; Basist, A.; Kurukulasuriya, P.; Ajwad, M.; Kogan, F.; Williams, C.
2004. Cross sectional analyses of climate change impacts. World Bank Policy Research
Working Paper 3350, World Bank.
Nakicenovic, N. et al (2000). Special Report on Emissions Scenarios: A Special Report of Working
Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, U.K.,
NSRC, 1st Report to Green Coast Project, 2005, March
Pannabokke, C.R., 2007, Ground Water in Sri Lanka, a geomorphic perspective, National Science
Foundation of Sri Lanka
Punyawardena, B.V.R., 2010, Solid Waste and Climate Change: Possible Mitigation Options in Sri
Lanka, Workshop on Climate Change organized by Overseas Italian NGO, Ampara
63
University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka (1995). A Research study conducted by the on the nutritional and
physiological effects of nitrates in drinking water in Kalpitiya

64
BIODIVERSITY, THE FOUNDATION OF AGRICULTURE
By Premala J eyanandarajah1 and Kamal Melvani2
The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro defined "biodiversity" as "the variability among
living organisms from all sources, including, 'inter alia', terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems,
and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species
and of ecosystems".
Biodiversity includes the genetic variability within each species. Biodiversity is the
heart and strength of all ecosystems. This includes everything from the soil
microbes and microbes, to the diversity of plants we manage, to the diversity of
arthropods, insects, birds and larger creatures in our local systems. Diversity at all
levels is a key to long term sustainability and productivity.
Biodiversity provides the foundation of all agriculture.1
Biodiversity provides food, income and materials for clothing, shelter and medicine.
Biodiversity performs essential ecosystem services such as water purification, nutrient cycling, soil
formation, control of local climate, pest and disease regulation and pollination; when biodiversity declines
within a habitat or geographic area, greater fluctuations in ecosystem cycles tend to occur. Then the
ecosystem as a whole tends to become less stable. This instability makes the system vulnerable to extreme
conditions and catastrophic events, such as floods and droughts, and also reduces the productivity of the
region. In addition, such "natural" disasters are enormously costly to human life and economies.
Conversely, as biodiversity increases in an ecosystem so does the stability and resilience of that
ecosystem. 2
Biodiversity also provides cultural services that form key elements of the agricultural knowledge base;
define spiritual, religious, and aesthetic values for human societies.
Traditional farming systems in developing countries exhibit two salient features; a high degree of
vegetational diversity (biodiversity) and a complex system of indigenous knowledge (ethnoscience). Both
elements are highly interrelated since the maintenance of biodiversity is dependent on local farmers
knowledge about the environment, plants soils, and ecological processes.3
Traditional farmers have been the "custodians of biodiversity" where they have managed their natural
resources sustainable through thousands of years. Through innovation and experiment, farmers have bred
better crops and accumulated rich knowledge of managed biodiversity.
Modern agriculture, on the other hand, simplifies the ecosystem in to monoculture production units,
removes non crop vegetation, uses chemical fertilizers and pesticides and is highly mechanized; modern
agriculture is therefore highly energy intensive.
The simplification of agro-ecosystems to monoculture production and the removal of non crop vegetation
from the farm unit (e.g. hedgerows, shelter belts and field margins) has contributed to the homogeneity of
agricultural landscapes by reducing botanical and structural variation, resulting in both a reduced capacity
of agricultural areas to serve as habitat for wild species as well as to effectively internally regulate
populations of pests and disease causing organisms which affect crop productivity.4, 5This has resulted in a
widespread decline in farm species abundance and diversity across many taxonomic groupings, including
high rates of wildlife mortality and reduced reproductive success of many species 6, 7, 8, 9, 4, 10, 11
This loss of biodiversity has also resulted in a reduced capacity of agro-ecosystems to perform many
essential ecosystem functions such as purification of water, internal regulation of pests and diseases,
carbon sequestration, and degradation of toxic compounds. 12
1. Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka , email: premalaifs@yahoo.com
2. Neo Synthesis Research Centre, Sri Lanka, email: neosynth@sltnet.lk
1
65
Elevated nitrogen and phosphorus levels in aquatic ecosystems have led to extensive eutrophication and
degradation of freshwater and marine ecosystems in many areas where agriculture is concentrated.
Synthetically compounded nitrogen fertilizer poses multiple risks to both wildlife populations and human
health. Dissolved nitrate levels of 2 ppm or greater are known to interfere with normal development of
amphibians with levels above 10 ppm known to be lethal 13, 10 .The use of pesticides (i.e. herbicides,
fungicides, rodenticides and insecticides) poses both known and unknown risks to biodiversity, impacting
wildlife on many different levels, from direct to indirect lethality to non-lethal but severely debilitating effects.
Each of these impacts has the potential to interfere with the reproductive success of wildlife and further
reduce the habitat quality and biodiversity of agricultural and surrounding ecosystems.9It is estimated that
70-90 percent of ground applied pesticides and 25-50 percent of aerially applied pesticide reach their
target.14 The remaining amount is released into surrounding ecosystems and enters the food chain,
affecting animal populations at every trophic level.7 Over 672 million birds are exposed to pesticides each
year in California alone with an estimated 10 percent of these animals dying from this exposure. Birds
exposed to sub lethal doses of pesticides are often afflicted with chronic symptoms that affect their
behaviour and reproductive success.8
Pesticides are also known to negatively affect insect pest-predator
population dynamics in agro-ecosystems15and to disproportionately
effect insect predator populations, resulting in pest population
resurgences and the development of genetic resistance of pests to
pesticides.16
In addition, endocrine-disrupting compounds found in many pesticides still in use pose an additional and
unknown long-term risk to wild biodiversity. Significant evidence of endocrine disruption from pesticide
exposure has been documented for many different taxonomic groups including: birds, reptiles, fish, snails
and oysters resulting in adverse effects to growth, development, or reproduction. 17, 13
Recent studies have also provided evidence of the impacts and risks to agro-ecosystems and wild
biodiversity from genetically engineered crops. Transgenic crops pose a suite of ecological risks to native
and cultivated ecosystems through: the spread of transgenes to related wild types via crop-weed
hybridization; reduction of the fitness of non-target organisms; the evolution of resistance of insect pests to
pesticide producing crops; soil accumulation of the insecticides produced by transgenic crops; unanticipated
effects on non target herbivorous insects; and the creation of new pathogenic organisms via horizontal gene
transfer and recombination. 18
However, agriculturalists are now increasingly aware of the value of the biodiversity "input" for agriculture.
Agricultural ecosystems will increasingly be called on to deliver food and fibre for demanding and expanding
global populations. Sustainable agriculture entails the management of natural resources in a way that
ensures that the benefits are available in the future. A broader understanding of sustainability extends to the
protection of landscapes, habitats and biodiversity and to the quality of water and air.
The ecological functions of diverse ecosystems (such as balanced predation, pollination, nutrient cycling,
degradation of toxic compounds, carbon sequestration) are today recognized to be central to sustainable
food production.
Biodiversity in all agro ecosystems should be seen as being comprised of two primary
Elements: systems biodiversity and crop biodiversity.19
Systems (non farm) biodiversity is the non crop component of the biodiversity that
is required to sustain the agro ecosystem. Systems biodiversity is directly related to the
Landscape that surrounds the farm whether it is in natural forest, wetland, riparian zone, hedgerows or field
margins in the farm itself.
Crop (on farm biodiversity) refers to the species present on the farm that will provide direct economic input
to the farm. The sustainable management of land and agricultural practices can conserve biodiversity,
2
66
improve soil fertility and increase yields. Organic agriculture can improve soil and water quality and the
ecological services that support agriculture through the:
Diversification of crops to include both tree and annual crops. This will improve productivity and
food security; it will also reduce the risk of growing one or two crops and better adapt the farm garden to
changes in temperature and rainfall.
Rotations of crops serve to provide new above and below-ground habitats since each new crop has
a distinct chemical and biological make-up and adds different crop residues to the soil ecosystem. Crop
rotation serves to break the build-up phase in the cycles of weeds, insects and diseases, thus eliminating
the need for pesticide.
Minimumtillage often leads to increased earthworm abundance and activity, increased populations
and diversity of decomposer organisms and an associated increase in the organic matter content. It also
leads to improved nutrient and water holding capacities of soils.
Planting of hedge rows and tree crops will create habitat for biodiversity can enhance diversity and
abundance of arable plants, invertebrates, birds and mammals. They can also serve as biological corridors
for fauna to move between the farm and adjacent landscapes.
The restoration of farms to forest gardens can enhance diversity and abundance of plants, invertebrates,
birds and mammals. In fact the surrounding landscape provides habitat for predators of the agricultural
pests and hence the natural landscape of the farm must for much as possible be kept under tree vegetation.
A symbiotic relationship between agriculture and natural landscape
needs to be developed for the sustainable management of agro
ecosystems. The hydrology of the landscape as a whole affects both
the systems and crop biodiversity since all beings needs water.
The measures of on farm (crop) and off farm (natural) biodiversity
reflect the state of health of an agro ecosystem. The gain in
biodiversity in an agricultural field is directly proportional to a change in
the management regime adopted.
Therefore the challenge before us is to evolve a system of knowledge that will enable the use of biodiversity
data in monitoring and evaluation of organic farming. This is important given that the present National
Standards for Organic Agriculture in Sri Lanka state that the presence of biodiversity (soil, surface and
aquatic) is an indication of the health of the agro ecosystem.20
A comparative survey done in the United Kingdom in 2004
conventional and organic systems revealed that:
21
between farms that were managed under
SURFACE FAUNA observed in organic plots
BUTTERFLIES
A higher total abundance of butterflies were seen on organic farms when compared to conventional farms,
in both crop-edges and field boundaries; specifically, more non-pest butterflies.
SPIDERS
Predatory spider populations were greater due to richer under storey vegetation
BEETLES
Greater beetle biomass, diversity and species richness were seen on organic farms (on average 38% more
species. Of significance were the higher abundance and greater species richness of carabid beetles.
MAMMALS
Activity levels of small mammals was greater in organic than conventional fields. Total bat activity (all
species) and foraging activity significantly higher.
BIRDS
There was seen a greater avian abundance and/or species richness on organic rather than conventional
farms.
SOIL FAUNA observed in organic plots
Higher earthworm abundance was recorded under organic management
3
67
Microbial biomass was 1026% greater under organic management due to addition of animal (and green)
manures.
Bacterial feeding nematodes were more abundant in organic farms whilst fungal feeding nematodes were
more abundant in conventionally managed soils.
Microorganisms play an important role in the development of bio-physico-chemical features on the
development of soil quality and quantity. The important soil microfloras are chemosynthetic and autotrophic
bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. The decomposition of animal and plant waste; formation
of humus and humic acid; ammonification, nitrification, denitrification; degradation of cellulose and
hemicelluloses not only provides a bed for plant growth but also balances the physical and chemical
properties of the soil. Soil microorganisms are also a part of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and
sulphur recycling process of the ecosystem. The by-products of their metabolic activities help other
microbes to harbour in the soil and contribute to maintaining nutrient content thus providing a balanced soil
status for the plant growth. The cyanobacteria, chemosynthetic bacteria and fungi through their symbiotic,
asymbiotic, commensalisms and antagonistic relationships help maintain soil fertility.
Nitrogen fixation is performed by a variety of prokaryotic organisms. They can be either free-living
[Azotobacter, Clostridium, Azospirillum(bacteria); Anabaena, Nostoc (cyanobacteria)] or symbiotic with
plants (rhizobia - Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Azorhizobiumand legumes - soybean, peas, alfalfa, clover
(bacteria); cyanobacteria Nostoc in symbiotic association with fungi in lichens, Anabaena with the fern
Azolla; actinomycete Frankia in nodules with Casuarina. The plants able to form nodules with Frankia are
non-legumes and are known as actinorhizal plants. The term actinorhiza is given to root nodules that are
22
formed with Frankia.Bacteria are also capable of oxidizing organic pollutants (bioremediation). Bacteria
are bio control agents as well. For example, Bacillus thuringiensis produces an intracellular protein toxin
crystal that acts as an insecticide. Serratia marcescens was found to be an efficient biocontrol agent of the
23
pathogenic fungi Sclerotiumrolfsii and Rhizoctonia solani under greenhouse conditions. Bacteria occur in
great numbers in soil and plant litter. Although in quantity bacteria are the most numerous group of
microbes occurring in soil, other groups such as fungi as a result of their large cells or hyphae account for
more of the total microbiological tissue present. Bacteria are known to play important roles in degradation
since much of the decomposition of the remains of animals and microorganisms is accomplished by them.
Fungi are better equipped for bringing about the decay of insoluble plant remains than bacteria, both
through their physical form and mode of growth and through their enzymic capabilities and metabolism. The
scavenging activities of fungi assist in the capture of mineral nutrients that is an important part of their role
in an ecosystem. Fungi cannot assimilate nitrogen from the atmosphere, but they are able to take up and
incorporate nitrate and ammonium ions from their environment, as well as use many soluble organic
compounds. Fungal conversion of inorganic nitrogen compounds into amino acids and protein that animals
can use is a key process in food chain.
Many fungi are saprotrophs; some are pathogenic while others form important symbiotic relationships with
organisms. Fungi are also important mutualists where over 90% of the plants in nature have mycorrhizae
that are associations of their roots with fungi which help to scavenge essential nutrients from nutrient poor
soil. Mycorrhizas, as compared with uninfected roots, can increase uptake of plant nutrients such as
phosphorous and nitrogen, particularly when these are at low concentration or in an insoluble form in the
soil. Nutrient flow is a reciprocal process in most mycorrhizal associations. The plant supplies the fungus
with carbon compounds, mainly hexose sugars. The fungus takes these up and converts them into sugar
alcohols such as manitol, arbitol and erythritol. Thus the hypha becomes a sink for hexose sugars,
maintaining a hexose gradient that permits continued passive diffusion of hexose towards the fungus.
Mycorrhizae, of which there are many forms, are all mutualistic biotrophs. They are arbuscular,
ectomycorrhizal, orchidaceous and ericaceous. The hyphal mantles of ectomycorrhizas over the surface of
the root provide bioprotection against the entry of pathogenic soil fungi. The potential agricultural
importanceofmycorrhizasisthusobvious.
Ectomycorrhizas are characterized by a mantle covering the root apex and the network of hyphae (hartig
net). Endomycorrhizas, in which the root cell walls are penetrated by the fungus, form arbuscules between
the cell wall and plasmalemma of cortical cells. They capture material that plant leaks into tow apoplast.
4
68
Arbuscules are the site of exchange between host and endophyte. Vesicles are also formed in the root
cortex and appear to be a resting stage. Finally it develops a dense external hyphal network through the
soil. It is the hyphae external to the roots that are important for nutrient acquisition. Phosphorous moves
more quickly in hyphae than it can diffuse in soil. Immobile nutrients are transported to the roots via the
hyphal network. Disrupting the external network offsets any advantage of the system. Roots of more than
one species may be connected by the fungal hyphae. Mycorrhizal fungi increase the availability of zinc to
the roots as well. Arbuscular mycorrhizas increase drought tolerance and are important in soil structure
development and maintenance. As arbuscular mycorrhizas are not host specific, they can infect all crops in
the rotation with the exception of members of Brassicaceae and Chenopodiaceae.
Like fungi forming mycorrhiza and endophytes, lichen fungi depend for their carbon and energy supply on
photosynthetic organisms. In majority of lichens these are unicellular or filamentous green algae, and in the
remainder they are cyanobacteria or a combination of these and green algae. A lichen species is an
intimate symbiotic association of a fungus and a photosynthetic organism. The fungal component of lichen
(the mycobiont) is unique to that species. The photosynthetic component (the photobiont) is an alga or a
cyanobacterium or both. Metallic cations are strongly adsorbed by the fungal cell walls; particularly those of
lichen fungi, by a process of ion exchange. Lichens can be used for bioremediation, thus monitoring heavy
metal pollution.
Fungi are parasitic as well. A parasite that causes perceptible damage to its host is termed a pathogen.
Nectrophic pathogens first kill, then feed upon, the hosts cells. In biotrophic associations, the tissues are
invaded but remain alive. The destructiveness of fungal pathogens results from their ability to break down
plant tissues, to alter physiology so as to reduce yield, and to produce toxins poisonous to the plant and to
animals eating it.
Organisms which inhibit the growth of others can be used to control pests and pathogens, a method termed
biological control. Mycoparasites which live in soil can destroy resting structures of pathogens. For
example, oospores of Phytophthora are attacked by Chytridiomycetes; sclerotia are attacked both by
facultative parasites such as Trichoderma harzianumand by mycoparasites found only on or near sclerotia,
such as Coniothyriumminitans and Sporidesmiumsclerotivorum. Mycoparasites also attack the sporulating
mycelium of pathogenic fungi on aerial plant surfaces, E.g. Eudarluca carcis found on spores of many
species of rust fungi that appear to be obligate parasite.
Nematodes can cause large crop losses. Fungi attack nematodes by trapping and digesting their bodies, by
growing as endoparasites within their bodies, and by invading and parasitizing their egg masses and the
cysts which are the form adopted by the females of some nematode species. E.g. Paecilomyces lilacinus
invades and destroys the egg masses of Meloidogyne arenaria. Some of the fungi which parasitize insects
are in use for the control of insect pests of crops and vectors of human disease. E.g. Beauveria bassiana
infects Cocoa weevil Pantorhytes plutus; Coelomomyces infects mosquitoes.
Host-specific plant pathogenic fungi can be used to control weeds in crops. Total control of milkweed vine,
Morrenia odorata, can be achieved with a single application of spores of its pathogen, Phytophthora
palmivora.
Actinomycetes show characteristics of both bacteria and fungi. They are numerous and are second only to
the bacteria in abundance. Their role in the decomposition is no exception. Actinomycetes seem to form a
24
distinctive part of forest litter, playing a small but vital part in nutrient cycling.Symbiosis occurs between
a number of woody plant species and diazotrophic actinomycete Frankia.
A close interplay exists between the three aspects in fungi capacity to degrade macromolecular
substrates, synthetic capacity and variety of growth form.
Microorganisms and invertebrates are very important in breaking down organic materials. Invertebrates
dominate land and water. They show far greater diversity in interactions, adaptations and specializations.
They play a great role in the break down of plant materials and woody species and in nutrient cycling. The
invertebrate Phyla Annelida and Arthropoda contain important decomposers.
5
69
Some of the major contributions of earthworms are as follows:
25, 26
Removal of debris from the soil surface: earthworms remove plant litter, dung and other organic material
from the surface of the soil.
a.Litter burial: many types of earthworms will cast (fecal material) on the surface of the soil. This aids
in burying litter and causing it to become in close proximity with other decomposer organisms. Casting in
burrows and other spaces below the soil surface causes soils to become organically enriched or humified.
b.Fragmentation: When worms feed on litter it becomes broken down into smaller pieces, which in
turn increases the surface area available for other decomposers.
c.Incorporation: due to their burrowing nature, earthworms are great mixers of the soil, incorporating
plant debris throughout the horizon.
d.Effect on C:N ratio: Plant material eaten by earthworms is altered as it passes through the gut such
that the carbon to nitrogen ratio becomes more favourable for direct uptake by plants.
Arthropods serve many functions in aiding in the decomposition of plant material. These include physically
breaking down plant remains so that they can be used by microorganisms and selectively decomposing
certain materials such as sugar or cellulose. Arthropods convert plant remains into humic substances and
27
their movements cause a mixing effect in the upper layersSome of the most important decomposer
arthropods have members in the classes Diplopoda (millipedes) and Insecta (the insects). Within the
insects, important decomposers can be found in the orders Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies),
Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants) and Isoptera (termites).
Millipedes are among the most common of the larger arthropods found in forest litter. They feed primarily on
living or dead plant vegetation, but will also feed on decomposing animal tissue. These organisms will also
eat decaying wood, although they may be digesting this with the help of flora in their gut. It appears that the
actions of millipedes serve in the chemical breakdown and humification of litter, but that their most important
role in decomposition and nutrient cycling is the fragmentation of vast amount of litter.
Beetles and their larvae can be found in decaying wood and in leaf litter. Three beetle families, Anobiidae,
Bostrychidae and Cerambycidae feed on healthy undamaged wood. Beetle in other orders will feed on
28
newly fallen trees, and still others will not feed on wood unless it has been colonized first by fungi.
Although beetles eat wood, most species feeding on this substance require certain flora in their gut to
27
breakdown the cellulose. Beetles seem to play a greater role in the breakdown of wood, but a lesser role
27
in the breakdown of leaf material than Dipteran larvae.
Diptera larvae play an important role in the decomposition of litter although their contribution may be less
27
than that of millipedes, earthworms and termites.A few species will eat intact leaves, while the majority
feed on vegetation in which there has been some previous breakdown by microorganisms.
Members of the order Hymenoptera are among the most economically significant and diverse of all insects.
Many display elaborate behaviours including the social organization of certain bees, wasps and all ants.
The leaf-cutting bees and carpenter bees are both wood-borers. The presence of these bees often attracts
other organisms such as woodpeckers, which serves to further break down the surface of the wood.
Ants are able to modify their physical environment to a remarkable degree. The carpenter ants are a wood-
attacking species and they do not use wood as a food, but help to break it down due to their tunneling
28
nature. The leaf-cutting ants may be the most advanced group of social insects and are great soil movers
and herbivores. They form an important part of the ecosystem. They trim vegetation and are able to quickly
29
break down vegetable matter. As a result of their massive foraging efforts they agitate and enrich the soil
The workers of the leaf-cutting ants of the genera Atta and Acromrymex spend much of their day snipping
off fragments of fresh leaves which they carry to their underground fungus garden and chew into pulp.
Although they drink the plant sap, they do not themselves eat the material. Instead, they inoculate it, after
adding little feces, with some of the Leucoagaricus gongylophorus already growing in established parts of
6
70
the fungal garden. As the garden matures, the mycelium produces bundles of swollen hyphal tips known as
gongylidia. The worker ants chew these and ingest the cytoplasm to supplement their diet of sap. More
importantly, they also feed gongylidia to the next generation of larvae, which grow and develop solely on
their fungal food. When a new colony is to be formed, the queen takes along a pellet of fungus to initiate her
new garden. Research over the past quarter-century has revealed many astonishing details of this
underground industry. These include insights into the elaborate manuring regimes which ants use to
optimize the yield of fungus, and their incorporation of Streptomyces and other antibiotic producers to
combat the proliferation of unwanted moulds weeds in the fungal garden. What appears to have evolved
is a pattern of behaviour in which ants consume fungal cytoplasm containing degradative enzymes which
appear later in their feces and are thus added to new leaf fragments where they facilitate the growth of new
30
mycelium.
The termites are polymorphic, social insects. Termites play a very important role in soil ecology. They
transport and mix soil and organic material from different horizons, and also aid in the breakdown of
31
cellulose and other organic material, therefore aiding in soil fertility. There are six families of termites and
all contain some members which destroy wood. However, none of these termites produce the enzymes
needed to digest wood. Three families are especially important in wood decay; Termitidae, Kalotermitidae
32
and Rhinotermitidae. The Termitidae actually grow fungus in what is called a fungus garden which they
create inside their mound. It is the fungus which actually digests the wood brought in by termites, which
the termites can then feed on. Kalotermitidae can digest wood which is very dry. These termites have
protozoa in their hindgut which produce the enzymes needed to breakdown the cellulose in the wood.
Rhinotermitidae too have symbiotic protozoa in their gut. However, these termites prefer wet wood which
32
has evidence of fungal and bacterial degradation.
The soil food web (network of interlinked food chains) is a way of relating soil organisms to each other
based on what they eat. The soil food web starts with organic matter. Bacteria and fungi consume organic
matter breaking it down in the process. Bacteria and fungi are in turn consumed by nematodes, protozoa,
collembola and some mite species. Nematodes and protozoa are consumed by mites. Mites and
collembolans are eaten by birds and ants.
Protozoa, comprised of three groups (flagellates, amoeba and ciliates) are important in maintaining plant-
33
available nitrogen and mineralizing process and, as bacterial-feeders are important in controlling bacterial
34
numbers and community structure in the soil. Nematodes are one of the most ecologically diverse groups
of animal on earth, existing in nearly every habitat. Nematodes eat bacteria, fungi, algae, yeasts, diatoms
and may be predators of several small invertebrate animals including other nematodes. In addition, they
may be parasites on invertebrates, vertebrates and all above and below ground portion of plants.
33
Nematodes and protozoa function as regulators of mineralization processes in soil. Bacterial- and fungal-
feeding nematodes release a large percent of nitrogen when feeding on their prey groups and are thus
35
responsible for much of the plant available nitrogen in the majority of soils. Nematode-feeding also selects
for certain species of bacteria, fungi and nematodes and thereby influences soil structure, carbon utilization
36
rates, and the types of substrate present in soil. Without doubt, plant establishment, survival and
successional process are influenced by these soil organisms.
The region near the root in which other organisms are influenced
by its activities is known as the rhizosphere. The habitat provided
by the root surface is called the rhizoplane. The rhizosphere is
the site of organic deposition and the generator of habitat and
resource heterogeneity for soil organisms. Plants can modify
their rhizosphere through nutrients, moisture and oxygen uptake
from the rhizosphere, rhizo-deposition and production of root
exudates. As a result rhizosphere chemical (pH, nutrient
solubility, oxygen, carbondioxide and other chemicals), physical
(moisture and aeration) and biological (soil pathogens and pests,
beneficial microorganisms and allelopathy) characteristics will be
changed or modified. Rhizosphere microorganisms have positive
Rhizosphere and microhabitats
7
71
and negative effects on plant growth and morphology by affecting the plant hormone balance, plant enzymic
activity, nutrient availability and toxicity, and competition with other plants. Plants modify the rhizosphere
37
and as a result will modify the community
Organic nutrients for the soil microflora come not only from the decomposition of plant litter deposited on
the soil surface and from dead roots but also from the living roots that are present throughout the soil.
Covering he apex are the root cap cells, which are damaged and shed into the soil as the root advances,
and extending into the soil are unicellular, delicate extensions, the root hairs, which are also continuously
replaced by new growth. Roots also release polysaccharides and mucopolysaccharides to give a coating,
sometimes termed mucigel, which probably lubricates their passage through the soil. Other substances
released by roots include a wide variety of high- and low- molecular weight compounds (proteins, amino
acids, organic acids and sugars). The advance of roots through the soil results in continuous changes in the
spatial distribution of nutrients in the soil, hence the fungi, bacteria and animals utilising nutrients derived
from the roots will vary in abundance and activity. Some are closely associated with the root, for example
the bacteria embedded in the mucigel, symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi and the pathogens including nematodes
and fungi which invade root tissues from the soil. Other organisms are not in physical contact with the root
but are influenced by substances from it, some of which inhibit the growth of some fungi and stimulate that
of others. The sclerotia of Sclerotinia cepivora, a fungus which invades onion roots, causing white rot of
onions, are dormant until exposed to root exudates of plants belonging to the onion family. Plant root
exudates also include siderophores which can limit the growth of microorganisms in the vicinity by reducing
the availability of iron.
The formal definition of allelopathy is any direct or indirect harmful or beneficial effect by one plant
(including microorganisms) on another via production of chemical compounds that escape into environment.
38
. Toxic compounds emitted from an allelopathic plant not only interfere with the normal growth of
associated crop but also have detrimental influence on associated organisms especially those that are
39, 4041
known to cause root diseases.Certain allelochemicals from plants have been used as pesticides.
Some have also served as sources of new chemistry for production of synthetic pesticides. The pyrethroids,
a group of insecticidal metabolites from Chrysanthemumcinerariaefoliumand related species, are used as
insecticides in their naturally occurring forms and have also served as models for the production of synthetic
42
insecticides such as permithrin, pyridine and remethen.Likewise, phenolic acids including p-
hydroxybenzoic acid, p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid from plants are known to suppress root-infecting
43
fungi and root-knot nematode.
Riceand Inderjit and Dakshinifound that root leachates of several plant species are known to
influence growth and establishment of other plant species. Since a variety of weeds grow along with the
crop, which interfere with growth, phytotoxic compounds from plants and microorganisms could be exploited
for weed control. Such natural products or derivative are therefore, could have a number of advantages
over the synthetic pesticides including reduced environmental persistence and accumulation, greater target
selectivity and enhanced activity. However, they must be carefully evaluated before adoption.
The area near the leaves is known as phyllosphere and the habitat provided by the leaf surface is known as
phylloplane. Fungal colonization of the leaf surface begins as soon as the leaf emerges and the inhabitants
include both yeasts and filamentous forms. Nutrients for phylloplane organisms are from leaves (leachates)
or atmosphere. Another important source for some fungi is pollen. In tropical rain forests, the interface
between leaf surfaces and the atmosphere is a fundamental pathway for nutrient cycling (particularly
46, 47
nitrogen), possibly even more important than the soil-plant interface.Most important nutrient
48, 46, 49, 50
exchanges in the phylloplane-atmosphere interface are mediated by microbial populations.The
species composition and abundance of the phylloplane community changes as the leaf matures, senesces,
dies and falls. Each stage brings a change in the phylloplane environment, as the living process of the leaf
cells decline and there is an increase in substrates for saprotrophs and physical conditions also change.
The course of the succession after leaf fall depends on the abundance of decomposing organisms and
animals eating plant litter whose activities in turn depend on soil and type of vegetation as well as climatic
factors.
44 45
8
72
Modification of land surfaces by human activity, particularly by intensive agriculture, has resulted in major
51
losses of genetic variability and species.The soil biological community in agricultural systems is
52
markedly different in composition, physical structure and activity compared to natural systems
The key challenge today is to adopt strategies that will address the twin concerns of maintaining the
integrity of natural resources and enhancing the productivity of our agro ecosystems. The continued health
of both these ecosystems depends on our care. Our future rests squarely on their continued viability.
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Organic Farming Has the Potential to Mitigate Climate Change?

S.K.THAKRAL
Department of Agronomy,
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, INDIA
E-mail : sthakral68@rediffmail.com

The current change in global climate is a phenomenon that is largely due to the burning of
fossil energy (coal, oil, natural gas) and to the mineralization of organic matter as a result of
land use. These processes have been caused by mankinds exploitation of fossil resources,
clearing of natural vegetation and use of these soils for arable cropping. These activities have
primarily led to a measurable increase in the carbon dioxide (CO2) content of the atmosphere, an
increase which results in global warming, as CO2 hinders the reflection of sunlight back into space,
and thus more of it is trapped in the Earths atmosphere. Molecules of methane (CH4) and nitrous
oxide (N2O) have a similar, but far greater effect. The global warming potential of methane is
twenty times that of CO2, while that of nitrous dioxide is as much as 300 times greater. When
calculating the climate impact of a certain production type it is always a question, where to put the
cut-off points of a particular system. When considering the total food chain from the farm to the
consumer, emissions from all the other sectors need to be included. Thus, the greenhouse gas
emissions from all sectors related to agriculture may potentially sum up to 25-30% of all GHG
emissions. The global warming potential (GWP) of agricultural activities can be defined as
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in CO2 equivalents per unit land area or per unit product.
The global warming potential of organic farming systems is considerably smaller than that of
conventional or integrated systems when calculated per unit land area. This difference declines,
however, when calculated per product unit, as conventional yields are higher than organic yields in
temperate climates (Badgley et al. 2007). Under dry conditions or water constraints, organic
agriculture may outperform conventional agriculture, both per crop area and per harvested crop unit.

The role of nitrogen and N2O

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers as a major contributor to global warming
The global warming potential of conventional agriculture is strongly affected by the use of
synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and by high nitrogen concentrations in soils. Global nitrogen
fertilizer consumption (produced by fossil energy) in 2005 was 90.86 million tonnes (IFA,
2007; http://www.fertilizer.org/). It takes approximately 90 million tonnes of fossil fuel (diesel
equivalents) to produce this nitrogen fertilizer5. This is about 1% of global fossil energy
consumption. In the UK, a 100-hectare stockless arable farm consumes on average 17,000 litres of
fossil fuel annually through fertilizer inputs (Cormack, 2000).

Organic agriculture: Self-sufficient in nitrogen
Organic agriculture, in contrast, is self-sufficient in nitrogen. Mixed organic farms practice
Highly efficient recycling of manures from livestock and of crop residues by composting.
Leguminous crops deliver additional nitrogen in sufficient quantities (on stockless organic farms
this is the main source). Badgley et al. (2007) calculated the potential nitrogen production by
leguminous plants via intercropping and off-season cropping to be 154 million tonnes, a potential
which exceeds the nitrogen production from fossil fuel by far and which is not fully exploited by
conventional farming techniques.
Organic agriculture: Reduced emissions of nitrous oxide
Emissions of nitrous oxide are directly linked to the concentration of easily available mineral
nitrogen in soils. High emission rates are detected directly after fertilization and are highly
variable. Denitrification is additionally enhanced in compacted soils. According to IPCC,
75
1.6% of nitrogen fertilizer applied is emitted as nitrous oxide. In organic agriculture, the ban of
mineral nitrogen and the reduced livestock units per hectare considerably reduce the concentration
of easily available mineral nitrogen in soils and thus N2O emissions. Furthermore, these factors add
to lower emissions of nitrous oxide. Diversified crop rotations with green manure improve soil
structure and diminish emissions of nitrous oxide. Soils managed organically are more aerated and
have significantly lower mobile nitrogen concentrations. Both factors reduce emissions of nitrous
oxides. In the study by Petersen et al (2006), lower emission rates for organic compared to
conventional farming were found for five European countries. In a long-term study in southern
Germany, Flessa et al. (2002) also found reduced nitrous oxide emission rates in the organic farm,
although yield-related emissions were not reduced.

Integration of livestock and crop production: An important contribution to mitigation
The on-farm use of farmyard manure a practice increasingly abandoned in conventional
production needs to be reconsidered in the light of climate change. While conventional
stockless arable farms use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, manure and slurry from dairy, beef, or from
non-ruminant farms have become an environmental problem. In these livestock operations,
nutrients are available in excess and over fertilization occurs. Emissions of CO2, nitrous oxide and
methane are likely to be very high and water pollution may occur when manure is treated as waste
and not as recycled as a valuable fertilizer in the crops. Integration of livestock and arable
production, the rule on organic farms, can thus reduce the global warming potential of food
production. This fact is not calculated correctly in most global warming potential models, however,
as livestock production is generally considered
separately from crop systems.

Nitrogen efficiency as a key factor for the reduction of greenhouse gases
Greenhouse gas emissions at farm level may be related either to the farms nitrogen surplus or to
the farms nitrogen efficiency, as demonstrated by a scientific model of greenhouse gas
emissions from European conventional and organic dairy farms (Olesen et al., 2006). Farm
nitrogen surplus can therefore be a good proxy for greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land.
Since organic crop systems are limited by the availability of nitrogen, they aim to balance
their nitrogen inputs and outputs and their nitrogen efficiency. Their greenhouse gas emissions are
thus lower than those of conventional farming systems.
Methane emissions
Methane accounts for about 14% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Two thirds of this is of
anthropogenic origin and mainly from agriculture. Methane emissions stem to a large extent from
enteric fermentation and manure management and in consequence are directly proportional to
livestock numbers. Avoidance of methane emissions of anthropogenic origin and especially of
agricultural origin is of particular importance for mitigation. Organic agriculture has an important,
though not always superior, impact on reduction as livestock numbers are limited in organic farms
(Weiske et al., 2006).The data available on methane emissions from livestock is limited, especially
with respect to the reduction of GHG emissions from ruminants and manure heaps. Some authors
suggest high energy feedstuff to reduce methane emissions from ruminants (Beauchemin and
McGinn, 2005), but the ruminants unique ability to digest roughage from pastures would then not
be used. Furthermore, meat and milk would be produced with arable crops (concentrates) where
mineral nitrogen is an important CO2 emitter, and competition to human nutrition might become a
problem.

Longevity of animals on organic farms contributes to reduction of methane emissions
Organic cattle husbandry contributes positively to reducing methane emissions by aiming
towards animal longevity (Kotschi and Mller-Smann, 2004). The ratio between the unproductive
phase of young cattle and the productive phase of dairy cows is favourable in organic systems
because, calculated on the basis of the total lifespan of organic dairy cows, less methane is emitted.
76
On the other hand, lower milk yields of organic cows caused by a higher proportion of roughage in
the diet, might increase methane emissions per yield unit. A model calculation of the best yield-
methane emission rate at different diets (roughage versus concentrates) is missing. The slightly
reduced yields of organic farms might be nearer the optimum than conventional dairy production.

Composting and biogas production as measures for mitigating climate change
Composting and biogas production are often suggested as measures for mitigating climate
change. In the context of climate change, the benefits of aerobic fermentation of manure by
means of composting are ambiguous, as a shift from anaerobic to aerobic storage of manure
can reduce methane emissions, but will increase emissions of nitrous oxide by a factor of 10
(Kotschi and Mller-Smann 2004). A very promising option, however, is controlled anaerobic
digestion of manure and waste combined with biogas production. While this option is not restricted
to organic production methods, organic agriculture has been at the forefront of biogas production
systems for decades. Attention must be paid however to the economic viability of biogas production
systems.
Methane emissions from organic rice production and from ruminants: Improved
techniquesneeded
Methane emissions from organic rice production and ruminant production do not differ
substantially from those of conventional production. Better rice production practices in organic and
conventional agriculture, such as avoiding continuous flooding or choosing low methane emitting
varieties (Smith and Conen, 2004) could enhance reduction of methane emissions. The multi-target
approach of organic farmers and the fact that they are often more highly skilled could enhance
implementation of improved production techniques.
Organic farming sequesters CO
2
in the soil

Soil erosion results in loss of soil carbon
Arable cropland and permanent pastures lose soil carbon through mineralization, erosion (water and
wind-driven) and overgrazing. Global arable land loss is estimated at 12 million hectares per year,
which is 0.8% of the global cropland area (1513 million hectares) (Pimentel etal., 1995). This rapid
loss is confirmed by experimental data from Bellamy et al. (2005) in England and Wales. Between
1978 and 2003, they found carbon losses in 92% of 6000 soil samples. Annual CO2 emissions from
intensively cropped soils were equivalent to 8% of national industrial CO2 emissions.

If agricultural practices remain unchanged, the loss of organic carbon in typical arable soils
will continue and eventually reach a new steady state at a low level. The application of improved
agricultural techniques (e.g. organic farming, conservation tillage, agroforestry), however, stops soil
erosion (Bellamy et al., 2005) and converts carbon losses into gains. Consequently, considerable
amounts of CO2 may be removed from the atmosphere.
Organic land management: Carbon gains
Organic land management may help to stop soil erosion and convert carbon losses into gains
(Reganold et al., 1987), particularly, due to the use of green and animal manure and soil fertility-
conserving crop rotations with intercropping and cover cropping.

Higher soil organic matter content in organic farming
Farm comparison and long-term field trials show that organically managed soils have significantly
higher organic matter content. It is estimated that, under Northern European conditions , conversion
from conventional to organic farming would result in an increase of soil organic matter of 100 to
400 kg per hectare annually during the first 50 years. After 100 years, a steady state, i.e. a stable
level of soil organic matter, would be reached (Foereid and Hgh-Jensen 2004).

Organic versus conventional soil conservation strategies: No-tillage and minimum-tillage
cropping
77
In the past decade, agricultural techniques have been developed to maintain soil fertility and
soil quality. By reducing the intensity of tillage, soil conservation can be improved, and water
and wind erosion can be considerably reduced (Holland 2004).Robertson et al. (2000) compared the
greenhouse warming potentials (GWP: including carbon sequestration, agronomic inputs and trace
gas emissions) of conventionally tilled, no till and organic farming systems in the Mid Western US
and found none of these agricultural systems to be climate neutral. Whereas no-till reduced the
GWP of conventional tillage by 88%, organic production with legume cover was only 64% lower
than conventional tillage. In a nine-year system comparison experiment in Beltsville (Maryland,
USA), it was shown that the organic farming approach provided excellent soil fertility building and
was superior to conventional no-tillage techniques, despite the use of a plough (Teasdale et al.,
2007).
No-tillage cropping is mainly practised on stockless farms, which leads to highly specialized
farms either crops or animals and excess manure on the animal farms becomes an environmental
problem. Nitrate excess in the soil triggers emissions of nitrous oxide, as well as nitrate leaching
and phosphorus run-off. The organic approach involving local recycling and nutrient use in a
mixed-farm approach offers many ecological benefits.
In very fragile soils, it is nonetheless recommended to use minimum-tillage techniques in organic
farming as well. Several research projects in different parts of the world are working on such
systems. For instance, in Switzerland a long-term trial was recently started that analyses the effect
of reduced tillage on crop yields and weed infestation (Berner et al., 2005). Similar research
projects are running at Bonn University in Germany. Technically, there is no inherent
incompatibility between organic and minimum-tillage cropping.

Stopping deforestation
In organic farming, preparation of the land by burning vegetation is restricted to a minimum
(International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, 2006). Organic farming thus
contributes to halting deforestation with its highly negative impact on climate change. Often,
the opposite argument has been made, as organic agriculture usually needs more land to produce the
same amount of food as by conventional farming. This might be compensated by the potential of
organic agriculture for aiding reclamation and making use of degraded land due to its favorable
effects on soil fertility and soil organic matter. In addition careful land use and management as in
organic farming enhances environmental security and will help to stop losses of fertile arable land
not only by erosion.
References
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or corn diets. Journal of Animal Science 83, 653-661.
Bellamy, P.H., Loveland, P.J., Bradley, R.I., Lark, R.M., Kirk, G.J.D. (2005): Carbon losses
from all soils across England and Wales 19782003. Nature 437, S. 245248
Berner, A., Frei, R., Dierauer, H.U., Vogelgsang, S. Forrer H.R. and Mder, P. (2005):
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Lockeretz, H. Willer (2005): Researching Sustainable Systems. FirstScientific Conference of
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Cormack, W.F. (2000): Energy use in Organic Agriculture Systems (OF0182). Final Project.
Report to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London, UK. Archived at
http://orgprints.org/8169/
Flessa, H., Ruser, R., Drsch, P., Kamp, T., Jimenez, M.A., Munch, J.C., Beese, F. (2002):
Integrated evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) from two
farmingsystems in southern Germany. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 91, 175-189..
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Foereid , B. and Hgh-Jensen, H. (2004): Carbon sequestration potential of organic
agriculture in northern Europe a modelling approach. Nutrient Cycling in
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Holland, J.M. (2004): The environmental consequences of adopting conservation tillage in
Europe: reviewing the evidence. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 103, 1-
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Basic Standards for Organic Production and Processing. Version 2005. IFOAM, Bonn,
Germany.
Kotschi, J., Mller-Smann, K. (2004): The Role of Organic Agriculture in Mitigating
Climate Change. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
(IFOAM),Bonn.
Olesen, J.E., Schelde, K., Weiske, A., Weisbjerg, M.R., Asman, W.A.H., Djurhuus, J.,
( 2006): Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from European conventional and organic
dairy farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 112, pp.207-22.
Petersen, S.O., Regina, K., Pllinger, A., Rigler, E., Valli, L., Yamulki, S., Esala, M., Fabbri,
C., Syvsalo, E., Vinther, F.P. (2005): Nitrous oxide emissions from organic and
conventional crop rotations in five European countries. Agriculture, Ecosystems and
Environment 112, 200-206.
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economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. BioScience
55(7), pp. 573582.
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farming on soil erosion. Nature330, 370-372.
Robertson, G.P., E. A. Paul. R. R. Harwood (2000): Greenhouse Gases in Intensive
Agriculture: Contributions of Individual Gases to the Radiative Forcing of the
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gases. Soil Use and Management 20, 255-263.

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Improvement.In : Agron J.2007; 99, pp. 1297-1305.
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79


Climate Change
80
Capitalizing on the Competitive Advantage of Low Carbon Organic
Agriculture
Composting, Carbon Credits, Footprinting
Tobias Bandel, Soil & More International BV
tobias.bandel@soilandmore.com www.soilandmore.com

Global Agricultural Challenges and Market Trends
According to latest FAO numbers the worldwide average availability of arable land per
person reached 2137 m
2
per person in 2007 where it was 4307 m
2
per person in 1961. This is
of course caused through the rapid growth of the worlds population from 2 to almost 7 billion
people in the last 50 years. But due to non-sustainable agricultural practices such as over
fertilization, intensive monocultures etc. each year about 12 Mio. hectars of fertile top soil are
lost which only speeds up this trend. Only synthetic fertilizers and the related nitrous oxide
emissions contribute with almost 8% to global warming. The entire agricultural sectors
emissions accumulate to 30% of the global greenhouse gas emissions taking into
consideration the CO
2
released through the deforestation which is necessary to compensate
the loss of arable land due to erosion caused by non-sustainable farming. Worldwide, the
agricultural sector consumes more than 70% of the available fresh water sources. In the
development and emerging countries even 80% while specifically in these regions, potable
water is one of the scarcest resources.
Climate change, food and water security, biodiversity animal welfare, jobs, education,
community all these issues are directly or indirectly linked to agriculture, meaning
irresponsible agricultural practices present a threat to our natural as well as socio-economic
environment. On the other hand, adapted and sustainable farming methods have the capacity
to tackle those issues by not only maintaining but developing our planets most vulnerable
resources.
Sensibilized through recently published reports of all leading business consultancy firms such
as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young etc. many large scale global players
such as Walmart, Nestl, Unilever, Starbucks, Tesco, Carrefour, Rewe not only discovered
that more and more consumers start to care about the environmental and social footprint of a
product but realized that business as usual, conventional agricultural practices already on
short-term lead to a severe soil and water scarcity and with it present a risk to resource and
commodity security. Meaning, to maintain the agricultural business, there is no other option
than implementing more sustainable agricultural practices as anything else put the business
case at risk, is not competitive or simply too expensive.

Soil & More International
81
Collecting agricultural biomass and transforming it to high quality compost as well as
assessing and improving the carbon and water footprints of agricultural supply-chains is the
mission of Soil & More International BV, a company established early 2007 with subsidiaries
in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, The Netherlands and South Africa. This not only
minimizes green waste going to landfill, but also contributes to sustainable soil fertility and
improved water holding capacity through organic matter enriched soil management as well as
greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Composting for the Climate
The composting technology Soil & More applies is based on Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffers
controlled microbial composting methodology (CMC) which tackles various challenges.
Applying a unique compost inoculant in an aerated, controlled microbial compost process, the
different input materials, mainly farmyard wastes such as greens, wood and manures are
decomposed and transformed into a stable humus complex within 6 8 weeks. This high
quality compost product provides the plants with all required nutrients and micro-elements.
Due to the special humus structure the water holding capacity of the soils is increased up to
70% which is an important added value for growers in arid and semi-arid areas. Initiated
through the inoculant, the final compost contains millions of micro-organisms, a tightly
knitted soil-food-web, creating a natural immune system for the plant, acting as natural
predators against most known soil born diseases and other pathogens. This disease
suppression is one of the outstanding unique selling points of Soil & Mores compost. As
stated below, various studies did prove that soils, enriched with compost not only have the
capacity to reduce soil emissions but to actually act as a carbon sink as these soils store
carbon.
Besides the compost production and selling activity, Soil & More submitted its composting
technology for approval as an emission reduction methodology to the concerned United
Nations authorities. Following this, Soil & Mores initial partner project at the Sekemfarm in
Egypt, was taken through the entire cycle of assessment, 3
rd
party validation and verification
required for emission reduction projects. Finally this project, implementing Soil & Mores
composting technology was approved by TV-Nord Germany as a greenhouse gas emission
reduction project according to the guidelines of the UNFCCC.
That means innovative biomass management is not only a model for the production and sales
of high quality compost but provides at the same time a technology which qualifies as a
emission reduction methodology under the regulations of the Kyoto protocol, generating an
additional income stream for the project partners, as the CO
2
e emissions reduced, can be sold
as carbon credits to offset companies and products emissions.
So far, Soil & More has established composting facilities in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Mexico
and South Africa, to produce and sell high quality compost to small, medium and large-scale
farms.

82

Together with its local partners Soil & More annually produces worldwide over 200,000 tons
of compost and by doing so, avoiding almost 180,000 tons of CO
2
e per year. The income
from the carbon credit sales subsidizes the compost product, reducing the price of compost
below the cost of synthetic fertilizers and making land-reclamation projects feasible.
Recently over 2000 hectares of desert land along the Nile valley in Egypt have been reclaimed
using Soil & More compost.

Land Reclamation in Egypt: Inauguration Event, Compost application and first harvest after 14 months
Sustainable soil management became the key factor for long term competitive farming
strategies. In cooperation with small-scale tea cooperatives in India and Kenya, Soil & More
implemented micro-scale, static composting solutions using on-site available biomass such as
pruning material from the tea bushes and cow manure. These cooperatives faced over the last
5 years a yield drop of up to 40% due to increasingly irregular rainfalls and soil erosion.
Brining back organic matter to the soils through on-site composting, yields went up by 30%
within 2 years.

Training small-scale farmers on using cow-manure and pruning material for composting to improve organic
matter content in the soil

Healthy and vital soils promote healthy plants, stable and increasing yields, secure income,
food production, considerably reduce the amount of water needed for irrigation and produces
healthy food for healthy people.
Assessing and Communicating Sustainable Development
Since early 2008, Soil & More developed as well carbon and water footprinting services to
agricultural organizations, producers, processors, traders and retailers around the world:
AlnaturA, Dole, Dovex, EOSTA, Fairtrade, IFOAM, Lebensbaum, Marks&Spencer, Ritter
Sport, Sekem, Unilever Weleda to mention just a few. Like the carbon credits obtained from
organic composting, also the carbon footprints carried out for above mentioned companies
83
and organizations are certifiable, for instance through TV-Nord according ISO standards,
the WRI/WBCSD and PAS2050 guidelines.
So far carbon and water footprint assessment has been carried out for the following supply-
chains originating from all over the world: Apples, Bananas, Beans, Citrus, Coffee, Cotton,
Dairy Products, Flowers, Fresh & Dry Herbs, Grapes, Kiwis Mangoes, Pears, Peppers,
Pineapples, Potatoes, Rice, Strawberries, Tea and Tomatoes. Others are in progress. More
and more large scale conventional farming businesses decided to gradually replace their
synthetic fertilizer application with compost in order to lower their products carbon footprint.
High quality compost has proven to be the more competitive agricultural input compared to
chemical fertilizers, which not only force farmers in to dependency of multi-national
companies but especially in times of rising oil prices turn out to be an in-efficient solution as
application rates increase while yields are not improving proportionally.
Soil & Mores Research and Development Activities
In order to maintain and further develop these innovative products and services, Soil & More
cooperates with various leading research institutes such as Louis Bolk Institute, FIBL,
Heliopolis Academy and other experts dedicated to the topic of soil science, composting,
emission reductions and footprinting.
Together with the Dutch Louis Bolk Institute and Sekem, Soil & More experts carried out a
study on carbon sequestration and storage in organically managed soils on reclaimed desert
farms in Egypt. Through continuous compost applications, the carbon stocks in the assessed
soils accumulated to over 26 tons of carbon per hectare over a period of 30 years compared to
the originally plain desert at neighboring sites. In line with other studies already during the
first 5 years a rapid increase of carbon stocks was discovered. This small scale research
project has proven the assumptions made by most of the leading climate change institutions
that adjusted soil management is a major solution to mitigate climate change.

Carbon sequestration rate in biodynamic desert soils in Egypt: 0.86 to C / ha year; after 5 years 15 to C / ha

84
Currently this pilot trial is being scaled up towards more farms, incorporating the analysis of a
change in the water holding capacity, also comparing carbon stock and water holding capacity
development in organically managed soils with the once of conventional farms.
With its worldwide partners in the organic agricultural movement, Soil & More did and will
continue to implement this concept and promote and communicate the importance of healthy
soils to contribute to sustainable soil fertility and food security, the mitigation of climate
change and the reduction of water usage in agriculture on producer and consumer level. The
related social-economic benefits are clear.
85


Smallholders
86
Status of Organic Farming in the Smallholder Group of Bangladesh
Alam, M. K.
1
Key words: Organic Farming, Smallholder, Bangladesh.


Abstract:
Randomly selected organic farmers (n=100) were interviewed to assess their status by using a
self-designed questionnaire. Maximum farmers were male, medium aged with at least high
school educated. 32% farmers were solely depended on Organic Farming (OF) for their
livelihood. About three-fourth (73%) organic farmers grew vegetable and majority (37%)
sold organic products to their respective providers. Majority believed that OF as a less costly
and convenient strategy to produce better quality products. All core problems associated with
OF were identified and ranked in the following order: lack of capital > Lack of technical back
up > Insufficient organic inputs > Marketing problem > Social and cultural problems.

Introduction:
Currently, consumers are becoming conscious and critical about the quality of food
throughout the world. It is reported that the organically produced food items are superior in
quality aspects as compared to synthetic chemicals. Accordingly demand for organic produce
has been growing globally despite economic turbulence (Willer et al. 2010). Hence, many
countries have been shifting from conventional to Organic Farming (OF). Bangladesh is
predominantly an agro-based country where most of the farmers are poor with traditional
agriculture systems. OF is compatible with the capabilities of smallholder farmers. Kader
(1995) firmly described its potential in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, no government effort has
been reported in this regard. In the early 1990s, OF was initiated by a number of NGOs
among the smallholders. According to Sharma (2006), at least 75 NGOs have been working
towards an OF basis. UBINIG is one of the major NGOs which started the Nayakrishi
Andolon or New Agricultural Movement since 1986 and about 65,000 smallholder families
have been benefited throughout the country after this movement (Mazhar et al., 2001).
Although OF movement has been started for three decades, the expansion has been remained
limited because smallholder organic farmers are facing different challenges. Considering this
situation, this study was undertaken to establish their socioeconomic background, identify
problems and finally the perceived advantages of OF amongst smallholders.

Materials and Methods:
This was a survey based study in which respondents were interviewed by using a self-
designed questionnaire. Before data collection, a pilot survey to pre-test the questionnaire
was conducted on two respondents who were not on the final interview list. Data were
collected from two different Upzilla (Delduar and Modhupur sub-district) under the district of
1
Senior Scientific Officer, PGRC, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur-1701,
Bangladesh. E-mail: khurshidal@hotmail.com
87
Tangail which is 80 km far away from capital city and located at the central of Bangladesh.
This place has a reputation for having a history of community based organic farming system.
Fifty farmers who were engaged directly or indirectly with OF system from each Sub-district
were randomly selected for the purpose of data collection; therefore the total sample size was
100. To explore problems faced by organic farmers, data were also collected by the
researchers, extension and NGOs workers and finally farmers were asked to prioritize them.

Results:

Socio-economic profile: Fundamental data about farmers are summarized in the Table 1.
Most of the organic farmers were medium aged (61%) and male (83%). Maximum (74%)
farmers were at least high school educated against one-quarter of little educated. The highest
number (54%) of farmer was belonged to Middle Class. Maximum (53%) respondents farm
a combination of owned and leased land.

Table -1. Socio-economic profile of respondent farmers

Parameters Observed
range
Distribution of the farmers according to
their characteristics
In categories (%)
Age (years) 18-63 Young (18-30) 23
Middle aged (30-50) 61
Old (Above 50) 16
Gender ---- Male 83
Female 17
Education Illiterate to
Graduate
Little educated (Up to primary school) 25
Moderate (High School) 51
Higher (More than High school) 23
Household
Income Per
month (TK.)

2000 to
14000
Poor (Less than 5000) 31
Middle class (5000 to 10,000) 54
Rich (More than 10,000) 15
Land
ownership
Category
------- Only owning 35
Both owning and leasing 53
Only leasing 12

Table2. Summary of the status of organic farming in March, 2010.

Parameter Sub-parameter In category (%)
Income source Organic farming 32
Organic & Conventional farming. 41
Organic Farming & Others 27
Used compost Produced at own farm 38
Buy from others 62
Types of crop
grown
Vegetable 63
Fruit 31
Used Marketing
Channels
Direct to consumers 26
Direct to Providers 37
88
Direct to Wholesale 23
Others including retailers 14

Status of organic farming: OF was the only source of income for 32% farmers (Table-2).
Majority were depended on others for compost. Most farmers (73% and 37% respectively)
grew vegetable and sold products to their respective providers like Shasya Probortana,
Proshika. More than a quarter numbers (26%) of respondents sold their product direct to elite
consumers who usually came from city to visit their farms.

Success of organic farming: Farmers comments are presented in Table-3. More than one-
third (34%) acknowledged improvement of the yield and majority (40% and 54%
respectively) commented that OF was a less costly and convenient method of farming; that
resulted in increasing their income. In case of product quality, more than half of the farmers
claimed that organically produced vegetables and fruits are highly tasted and longer shelf life
with poorer appearance.
Problems associated with the expansion of organic farming: Problems encountered by
farmers and their rating position are presented in Table 4. Majority farmers (91%) believed
that lack of capital is the major problem which is followed by lack of technical back up
(87%). About three-fourths (73%) highlighted the unavailability of organic input like manure
due to the small size of their livestock herds. Social and cultural problem was rated the least
position and lack of consumer trust is the major social problem exists in Bangladesh.

Table 3. Summary of the Farmers comments on the success of organic farming

Comments Response category
Agreed Partially agreed Not Agreed
Yield increased 34 36 30
Less costly 40 32 28
Less disease/pest attack 33 29 38
Convenient to use 54 37 09
Income Increased 38 31 31
Better Quality Taste 53 28 19
Appearance 21 28 51
Shelf-life 56 29 15


Table 4. Problems encountered by farmer and their ranking position

Problems Frequency (%) Rank order
Lack of capital 91 1
Insufficient organic inputs 73 3
Lack of technical back up 87 2
Marketing problem 65 4
Social and cultural problems 33 5



89
Discussion

Adoption rate of OF practice was a minimum among the elderly and less educated farmers.
Similar results were also observed by Vanslembrouck et al. (2002) in Belgian farmers. They
found that farmers participation in environmental-friendly practices was respectively
decreased and increased with their corresponding age and education. OF has the potential to
attract educated persons to take it as a career and thus it can contribute to resolve the
unemployment problem of Bangladesh. The landless farmers have also been practicing OF
even by leasing the land which implies their keen interest to OF.

Locally available raw materials like water hyacinth and kitchen waste have been using for
manufacturing compost. Recently government formulated New Agriculture Extension Policy
(NAEP) in order to encourage farmers to apply sustainable and environmentally friendly
agricultural practices through increasing use of organic manure and compost. Unavailability
as well as poor quality of fetilizers has been a problem for several years and such factors are
likely to enable organic farming to win converts, and to improve environmental protection.

A wide range of yield levels were found by them. Hence field experiments are needed to
confirm the farmers claims of improved yields. The quality of organic product found better
than that of conventional which is supported by many researchers (Denis, 2010). In
Bangladesh, financial institutions do not provide any loans for OF due to absence of policy
while conventional farmers are being granted agricultural credit. This is injustice to organic
farmers. Although some cooperatives are developed by NGOs for marketing organic
products, the poor organization for collective marketing undermines the ability to generate
marketable volumes for export.

Conclusions:
A considerable number of farmers earned their livelihood from OF. Most farmers viewed OF
as a less costly and convenient means of growing better quality crops. Farmers were
constrained by having no access to financing and credit as given by different financial
institutions for conventional farming. Those who were not performing well stated that their
success was hindered due to lack of skilled manpower. In addition, other core problems
included inadequate inputs and absence of certification agency. To gain access to the export
market, however, certification is a prerequisite. As well as achieving this, the following
issues should be considered for promoting organic farming: establishing a separate National
Organic Program Board (NOPB) to oversee the organic program; increasing technical know-
how amongst the farmers; developing organic markets and providing incentives among the
farmers for producing good quality organic manure, vermi-compost, bio-pesticides,
biofertilizers etc.

References:
Denis, L. (2010). Nutritional quality and safety of organic food. A review. Agron. Sustain.
Dev. 3: 33-41.
Kader, M.D.A. (1995). An Economic Analysis of Ecological Agriculture Practices followed
by the Farmers under the Supervision of PROSHIKA - A Study in Manikganj District. An
90
unpublished M:S. (Agricultural Production Economics) thesis. Bangladesh Agricultural
University, Mymensingh.
Mazhar. F., Farida Akhter, Jahangir Alam Jony & Rafiqul Haque. (2001). Nayakrishi
Andolon: Recreating community based organic farming, Leisa India, pp.15-17.

Sharma, A.K. (2006). Adoption and Success in A Handbook of Organic Farming, Published
by Agrobios (India), p. 434
Vanslembrouck, I., Van Huylenbroeck, G., and Verbeke, W. (2002): Determinants of the
willingness of Belgian farmers to participate in agri-environmental measures, Journal of
Agricultural Economics, 53 (3): 489-511
Willer Helga and Lukas Kilcher (Eds.) (2010). The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics
and Emerging Trends 2010. IFOAM, Bonn, and FiBL, Frick.
91
A Strategy for Local Participatory Action Research in Developing the
Organic Sector in Southern Africa

Auerbach, R.
1


Key words: Participatory action research, extension, African organic farming,
sustainable local investment
Abstract
While the organic sector world-wide has grown steadily for fifty years, and the sector in East
Africa has developed rapidly over the past ten years, Southern African organic farming
(except for Zambia) has largely remained the province of a small group of white commercial
organic farmers, and, like East Africa, has been largely export driven. Recent South African
government policy has supported major land reform initiatives, but has been spectacularly
unsuccessful in doing so; it has adopted a green revolution approach, where farmers are
encouraged to use chemical fertilisers, crop protection poisons and genetically engineered
seed. Projects using this approach have continued only while major subsidies are provided.
There are five pre-requisites for successful land reform in South Africa: Identify farmers who
wish to farm and have a track record; Assist them in securing land at realistic prices; Help
them to access markets with favourable terms of trade; Provide realistic financial assistance;
Set up effective training and mentoring systems. Two Pilot Projects are described where
commercial farmers, civil society organisations, a university and government departments are
co-operating to develop organic primary (producer) co-operatives supported by a secondary
(marketing) co-operative based on developing participatory guarantee system networks.
These farmer-managed projects allow the use of local resources and encourage sustainable
community investment by developing the local economic linkages to improve local re-
investment.

1
School of Natural Resource Management, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Private Bag X6531,
GEORGE 6530, South Africa. E-Mail Raymond.auerbach@nmmu.ac.za, Internet www.nmmu.ac.za
92
Negros Island Rainforest Organic Coffee: Smallholder Organic Farmers

1st presenter Edgardo Uychiat, 2nd presenter Roberto Gasparillo
Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development Foundation (NISARD), Philippines
E-mail: nisardfi@yahoo.com
Website: nisard.com

Key words: Smallholder farmers, Market systems, Biodiversity

Introduction (description of the project / activity)
Negros Island, located in the central region of the Philippine archipelago, used to be one of the
major coffee producers in the country up until the 1980s. Decades since then had shown drastic
decreases in production and farmers incomes due mainly to unstable markets dictated by
fluctuating international prices. Farmers without an assured fair price neglected their coffee farms.
Furthermore, farmers turned to cutting down coffee and other trees for charcoal production,
worsening the ecological situation for Negros whose forest cover is at less than 5% due to logging
of its timber forests.

Negros Island, the fourth largest island and located in the central regions of the Philippine
archipelago, is endowed with tropical mountain forest/ranges that are home to various endemic
species of flora and fauna. Through the years, these mountain forest/ranges accommodate multitude
of farmers who learn to grow subsistent crops and fruit trees particularly coffee that grow
underneath timber trees as source of income and livelihood. Growing coffee has eventually gained
prominence among upland farmers as the world price continues to appreciate until it hit rock bottom
in 1980s. Without an assured fair market price, most farmers abandoned their coffee farms.
However, they opted, to sustain their livelihood, to degradative activities: among others, cutting of
timber trees including coffee either as a lumber or make it into charcoal. These activities contribute
further to the worsening ecological state in Negros Island whose remaining forest cover is placed at
less than 5% below the 54%
1

benchmark of forest soundness and sustainability.

Since 2007, NISARD Foundation and the provincial government, had been working with two
upland communities made up of mostly smallholder farmers, to rehabilitate their coffee industry,
increase farmer incomes; and develop a niche organic market not easily susceptible to
international price fluctuations. The two community-based groups, La Carlota Organic Coffee
Producers Association (LACOCPA) and Sag-ang Organic Coffee Producers Association (SOCPA)
are composed of 405 farmers with landholdings of one-half to 3 hectares each. Farms are run by
families, usually involving womenfolk in farm management; and in harvesting where they are
observed to be more diligent in picking ripe cherries. The communities are located in the foothills
of Mount Kanlaon, where a major portion of the remaining forest cover of the island is located. Six
(6) other communities with around 500 farmers are in several stages of the program.

NISARD in tandem with the provincial government had been working since 2007 with the upland
communities towards poverty alleviation, food security and forest protection and conservation. One
of the widely grown crops in the island that suits well in addressing these issues and concerns is
through the promotion of organic and shade grown coffee. Considered as a versatile tree, integrating
coffee as part of mountain development projects or reforestation plan would definitely bring many
benefits such as increase forest cover, help prevent soil erosion, provide habitat to native animal
1
Sajise, Percy E., et. al. Saving the Present for the Future: The State of the Environment. Center for Integrative and
Development Studies, 1992
93
species, reduce green house gas emissions, foster farm crop diversification and most importantly
improve farmers income.

To jumpstart this project, NISARD assisted in the organizational formation of upland coffee
villages into smallholder groups, conducted baseline survey and mapping of farmers farms using
GPS, held training on organic coffee production, established internal quality control system in
compliance to organic certification, and provide buying capital. These set up enable farmers to
organize production and marketing, imposed quality control among members, sell their product
with premium price at niche organic market.

NISARD has been a prime mover for organic agriculture in Negros Island since 2005 when the two
provincial (primary political regional units) governments in the island decided on a policy of
sustainable rural development through the promotion of organic farming. Since 2005, NISARD had,
among others, set-up local organic standards aligned with international bodies; established or
adapted organic production protocols for local farmers; provided technical/ funding assistance to
farmers converting to organic; and provided support in government policy making including the
banning of GMO crops in the island.

Methods
The program is an evolving process, with emphasis on empowering smallholder farmers and their
communities, and involve steps which include:

1. Organizing smallholder farmers into entities capable of collectively dealing with issues that
they would normally have problems with as individuals, including lack of community-based
post harvest facilities; unscrupulous middlemen/ traders; and access to external assistance.
2. Trainings on organic production technologies and coffee orchard management to improve
production and quality of beans; and for rejuvenation of old coffee trees.
3. Set up of Internal Control System (ICS) within the organizations, serving as a first party
guaranty system for their organic produce. Self-policing of own ranks.
4. ICS set-up allows eventual third party organic certification as smallholder groups at low cost
to the farmers. Certification is provided by Negros Island Certification Services (NICERT)
established, with the assistance of NISARD, and the provincial governments of Negros
Island, as a local, low-cost alternative for farmers but with standards/ processes aligned with
international standards.
5. Improvement of post harvest facilities and localizing such activities within the community
increasing job opportunities for other family members.
6. Marketing agreement between farmers and NISARD provide farmers with and assured
market and ensuring stable and premium pricing for their organic production.
7. Value-adding, including direct access to roasting facilities and packaging/ branding as
organic, shade-grown coffee.
8. Development of a niche market to ensure long-term continuity of program. Differentiated
from the regular market through its certified organic label. Market is also expanded
through advocacy of supporting local farmers; and ecology and biodiversity protection in the
remaining upland forests of Negros Island.
9. Establishment of Arabica coffee variety, thru sourcing of capital for seeds and planting
activities; and set-up of nurseries. Negros has predominantly Robusta variety only due in
part to campaign in prior decades of multinationals for their instant coffee production, but
mostly abandoned due to cheaper prices in other countries. Even in local coffee shops
Arabica coffee are mostly imported. This is an untapped potential for local farmers, not
discounting the possibilities of the export market for Arabica.

94
Results and Conclusions
Organic Coffee Improves Farmers Source of Livelihood
With the introduction of Negros Island Organic Rainforest Coffee coupled by the growing
consumers consciousness on health and environment, demands for organic products such as coffee
continue to increase particularly at the local market. Basing on the initial survey, this translates to
10 to 20 percent additional income for the coffee farmers. This is on top of other income by selling
other organic products (e.g. banana, taro, herbs and fruit trees) that they grown as intercrop with
their coffee.

Today the Negros Island Organic Rainforest Coffee Program successfully encompasses the whole
chain from farm production to market access, providing local smallholder farmers with an
opportunity to increase incomes in a sustainable manner. Locally produced organic farm inputs for
example ensure that economic benefits revolve around the communities instead of reliance on
chemical inputs. Other than coffee production local organic standards encourage multi-crops
(bananas, root crops, herbs) which increase local food security and diversify income sources.
NISARD also assists the smallholder groups in marketing their other products in the urban centers.

Organic Coffee Production Helps in Carbon Sequestration
Study showed that organic coffee production reduces GHG emissions by 1 ton of carbon equivalent
(Ceq) per hectare. If this is multiplied by the certified organic coffee area we find total GHG
reduction of more than 500 hundred tons Ceq per year. If the carbon market holds true, this could
deliver additional financial benefits for the small farmers to improve their livelihood. Carbon
sequestration is further element that can be used as a parameter for environmental services.

Organic Coffee Production Saves Energy
On the average, organic coffee production needs 95% less total energy per ha than conventional
coffee production. This present further cost savings for the small farmers. In addition, it
accumulates more organic carbon in deep soil layers than conventional coffee production.

Organic Coffee Production Binds Farmers into a Marketing Unit
Establishment of internal quality control system (IQCS) within the farmer coffee association as
requirements for organic certification of smallholder group helps systematize coffee farmers
production and marketing of their organic produce. Unlike before, farmers can now bargain for
better price for their farm produce.

Organic Coffee Production Enhances Biodiversity
The program enhances climate change mitigation and biodiversity with coffee trees increasing
forest cover and wildlife habitat. The increased economic activities also promote the protection of
the forest and wildlife by the farmers.

While still small in scope in terms of farmers involved, the programs organic approach and
empowerment of farmers makes it sustainable and transferable to other communities for duplication.
Already NISARD, with the assistance of LACOCPA, SOCPA and the provincial governments have
on the planning boards the establisment of Organic Arabica coffee all over the upland areas of
Negros with the target of planting a million trees per year over the next three years.

95
Ecological Agro Forestry: Necessary, Appropriate, Successful in the Humid
Tropics

1
st
presenter Gerd Schnepel, Asociacin Sano y Salvo Safe and Sound, Nicaragua
2
nd
sanoysalvo@yahoo.com
presenter Elba Rivera, Fundacin La Esperanzita; Nicaragua

http://web.me.com/gerd.schnepel.2043/Nueva.Guinea.RAAS.Nicaragua/Welcome.html


Key words: agroforestry, biodiversity, water, women, poverty-eradication

Introduction
The humid tropics in Nicaragua, which is the eastern half of the country, are under permanent threat
of many different kinds: the rainforest belt, still existing about 30 years ago, was reduced to small
pieces of forest without connection, even the big rainforest reservation Indio Maz in the SE corner
is frequently invaded by small farmers and big cattle ranchers. Not adequate production schemes
are grains, tubers and livestock, ignoring all three of them the forest vocation of humid tropics. "Al-
ternatives", being introduced in the last years, worsen the situation: oil palm plantations for fuel
production, other mono-cultural tree plantations like teak (tectona grandis) and melina (gmelina
arboreum); first intentions to set up open-pit gold mining were started.

Degradation of the land, lower yields, soil erosion, and ongoing conflicts between indigenous peo-
ple and mestizo settlers characterize the situation, accompanied by nearly complete absence of re-
spect for the environmental laws, facilitated by corruption and threats.

Methods, materials, actors

The association of small eco-farmers Sano y Salvo Safe and Sound was founded in 1998 to inter-
rupt these deadly circles on all possible levels, taking on a giant challenge, still fighting heavily
against the adversaries' activities, which are backed by money and political power. The association
was formed as the main actor, to avoid being attended, assisted, "helped" by an NGO from the out-
side. Changing farmers from main destroyer of the environment (because of their huge number) to
guardian of the biosphere can only be successful, when they understand and apply concepts, theory
and practise themselves.

First thing is changing the path of agriculture to ecological succesional
*
agro-forestry, something
what does highly respond to the vocation of humid tropics, and moreover produces more than grains
and tubers. Highly diversified plots, "productive forest", are installed at each member's farm, nor-
mally 1 manzana (= ha) in size, up to 30, 40 species can be found on the plots, from ginger to
coco palms, from lemongrass to jackfruit trees
**

.
This first step is very difficult, because it is against the convictions, mentality and habits of our
farmers, who only did know how to produce grains, "knew" that one has to "slash-and-burn", and
moreover have only been interested in fast results at the shortest time possible. Showing the leaders
before, how the system works (by visits, videos etc.), is one kind of entrance into a generalized
spreading of the plots in the membership. After one year first produce can be harvested, and of
course we do adding value, on farm processing, equipped with different dryers, fermentation boxes
etc. etc.
*
Agroforestry, which is highly diversified, covers all layers of a forest and respects the lifetime and development cycles of each species. See
also: J oaqun Milz: Gua para el Establecimiento de Sistemas Agroforestales, La Paz 2002
* *
Case study Alfonso Nez Bravo, Punta Gorda River, Nicaragua, with numbers and image material.
96

The difference to other "projects" coming from the outside is that the whole process is intensely ac-
companied by training and education. Training means to learn all the techniques of agroforestry,
tree cut, shadow management, biological control of pests and diseases, harvesting and post-harvest
treatment and some possibilities to improve the starting conditions of the plot, like green manure,
bokashi (fermented compost) and others. Education means introducing the farmer and his family to
the natural circles between, e.g., rain, trees, rivers, biomass, humus layer, organic substances. We
do all this very practically, seeing typical places, digging at the riverside, counting species in a for-
est etc. The farmers' experience is that the water situation even in the humid tropics gets worse: here
they understand, why creeks and rivers have less water than before or are contaminated. And they
accept their co-responsibility covering the river banks again with trees, or do not accept any longer
the activity of loggers and ranchers, who cause the damage
*

.
"The farmers and his family" our workshops include the women and the young people, who work
at the farm: the young people will continue the work and have to be included in ecological agricul-
ture as soon as possible; many young men and women moreover will leave and study elsewhere:
getting them interested in environment, water, eco-agriculture, processing, farm economics etc. cre-
ates us a necessary future force of support and help. The women have a very special role in our rural
society and in our association. Mostly they work at home, the men work outside. Our workshop
"The Family on the Organic Farm" tries to influence this: more and more women take part in the
outside work as well, having as a pre-condition a changed behaviour of men. A women group inside
the association organized themselves as "The Entrepreneurs" going beyond farm yard production:
they produce quantities of poultry of all kind, of pigs and hairsheep, and they got a one acre plot of
diversified agroforestry, with especially fruit trees, and they produce the food stuff for the animals
on farm. They do this not just for improving the family's diet, but for selling the produce on the lo-
cal farmers' markets and on a national level
**

. Education and capacity building change their role and
self understanding.
One more important accent, set by the women's participation, is sustainability and future oriented
work. To change from short time success to long time sustainable ways of doing a farm seems to be
more the sake of women than men. Having them more and more participating and deciding in the
association, improves our durability and way of thinking about the future and the coming genera-
tions. And last but not least: involving the women gives us more security: the application of organic
standards and there non-violation is in good hands, when the women farmers are part of the con-
tract ...

A topic, more and more discussed among farmers, is the climatic change. Its effects on the agricul-
tural cycle are visible, the rainy season dos not start at the same time as before, sometimes gets in-
terrupted, sometimes is prolonged a lot, affecting harvest and income. What scientists say, can al-
ready be felt locally: more problems, more poverty
*

. And the coastal strip and its islands are threat-
ened by the Atlantic rising. Agroforestry gives us two arms against these effects: one is that diversi-
fied productive forests withstand climate irregularities a lot better than let's say a beans field. And
the other is that Sano y Salvo Safe and Sound actively contributes positively to world climate by
planting thousands and thousands of trees on an organic, rich soil. The farmers hope (and work on
it) to get this mitigation work be paid soon by CO
2
-emissioners. Farmers getting interested in cli-
mate change understand soon the contribution of fire, of cattle to the emission of greenhouse gases.
*
Image material of workshops, of processing and selling the produce will be shown.
*
* Case study: seora Mxima Trujillo, Buenavista, Cao Chiquito, with numbers and image material.
*
Elba Rivera, "Actuar hoy ... y no maana ni el da despus de maana" [Act Today and not Tomorrow. Nor the Day After Tomorrow]. Speech at
the IV
th
Montral Millenium Summit on Climate Change and Poverty, Montral 2010.
97
The situation in the countryside is heavily influenced by economical and political interest, mainly
from far away groups and persons. The strengthening of the farmers' families' conscience, which
means in first place an understanding of the natural base of their existence, accompanied by the ex-
perience of better yields and better income, facilitates their disposition and willingness to fight for
"mother nature": it influences their electoral decision, it makes denunciation of environmental de-
linquency possible, it makes them close the farm gate, when the Canadian gold prospector is show-
ing up with false promises. Lobby work, public protest, direct defence of the rural life and its poten-
tial are the consequences, when educated small farmers found a way for a better life through eco-
logical agriculture
**

.
In the humid tropics of Nicaragua there are at least 6 different ethnic communities, with there own
culture, history, language and customs: Miskito, Mayangna, Rama, Garfona, afro-descendants and
mestizos. Sano y Salvo Safe and Sound's membership includes about 20% Ramas, what for two
reasons is a very special situation and challenge. The Rama have been mainly fishermen and hunt-
ers, the latter is very restricted today, the first activity is yielding less and less income for the family.
So a first group of Rama decided to accept the necessity of doing agriculture on their communi-
tarian lands. Agroforestry is for them a very friendly and likely alternative to extend their economi-
cal activities because of their own culture and understanding of nature and forests. It really is dif-
ficult to change fishermen to farmers, but it is possible and is advancing under the pressure of the
daily needs
***

. The other speciality of this movement of a growing group of them is that it contrib-
utes to the mutual understanding of the two sectors of rural society: mestizo settlers, just taking "no
one's" land, slash and burn, destroying the soil and finally selling it to the cattle ranchers; and
Rama , owners of this very same land, having wanted to keep it sane and natural. Since 2010, after
decades of struggle, the Rama got their legal land titles, but there is no "border police" and a very
low law enforcement. Ongoing clashes are reported, both sides are threatening each other with vio-
lence. The Rama Territorial Government declared it would not throw mestizo farmers out, if those
stop destroying everything; so our eco-farmers mestizos and Rama are an ideal base to start this
reconciliation process; both groups in reality have the same interest in relation to nature and envi-
ronment, a conviction grown by education and common experience. Both groups unite to reject ex-
ternal interests, which made them adversaries and enemies.
Small poor farmers of one of the poorest countries of the American continent cannot afford to do all
the mentioned action on their own. Maybe they could, if they have a hundred years or more, but
they don't. They like all of us are in a competition against time. Therefore it is absolutely clear
that eco-farmers like those organized in Sano y Salvo Safe and Sound need external support, need
at first donations, need capital for their own revolving credit schemes, need a lot of things before
doing the appreciable things mentioned. Lobbying, education, political impact, legal action, water
rescue, climate mitigation are all things, which a farming organization cannot pay by its own.
Therefore private and public development aid is highly necessary, if one thinks to win the race
against time.

Conclusions

Ecological agriculture which is in the humid tropics diversified agroforestry does the miracle and
proves that organic is life:

Ecological agriculture in the hand of a conscious farmers organization ...

*
*
Image material from fairs, exhibitions, public appearance, legal initiatives are accompanying this part.
* **
Images from the Rama people, their fishing and agricultural activities will be shown.
98
asks for education, makes education urgently necessary and opens the door for doing it success-
fully;
gives the land back to the coming generations, and in better shape;
restores and maintains soil fertility;
guaranties abundant and clean water;
produces sustainably, respecting the forest vocation of the humid tropics;
does not allow any more excuse to destruct the rainforest reservations,
secures food safety in its double sense of the word;
produces sufficient quantity and healthy quality it's safe and sound.
produces health for the rural population and all consumers;
includes rural women in productive field work and animal husbandry, unleashing their enor-
mous potential for ecological agriculture;
improves the small farming family's income and it's social security, selling locally, nationally
and by export.
improves income by adding value to the produce, on-farm and under farmers' control;
creates the base for a local agro-industry with lots of new jobs;
eradicates poverty instead of reducing it, makes life an option instead of survival;
changes mentality and attitude of all involved people towards "Organic is Life";
reconciles invading settlers and indigenous people, owners of the territory;
gives us arms of impact against the climate change, mitigating consequences and capturing
greenhouse gases.

Ecological tropical agroforestry is connecting all the mentioned aspects; none is isolated, together
they can create miracles, overcoming the obstacles, like: stubborn governments, shortsightedness,
greed and its disastrous consequences ... and the lack of education.
99
Market Access for Small Organic Farmers in East Java - Indonesia:
Sharing Experience on Network Exploration

Gunawan, J.
1
, Slamet.
2
Key words: fair trade, networks, partnership, small organic farmers.

Abstract
This paper presents the experience of business collaboration that emerges naturally from join
initiatives of Media Inovasi Kita, a small new enterprise, and Brenjonk, organic farmers that
has ten years of establishment. Brenjonk small farmers group have difficulties to access
market. Although organic products are in demand, but the knowledge on how to access the
market remain unsolved, mainly due to technical difficulties, such as not having business
contact, capable personal to explore the market, resource to dedicate in exploring the market,
and so on. On the other hand, Media Inovasi Kita is a new marketing agency in food products,
that tries to have a position in the market. Both parties are exploring their networks to find
solution on their problems. They consider that join initiatives, to make Media Inovasi Kita as
a marketing partner for farmers and facilitate farmers to have better access to market by
implementing fair trade may benefit both parties. So far, the exercise benefits both parties,
however, as the company is in the early stage, by sharing this experience we expect inputs
from experts, on how to maintain a sustainable business relationship.
Introduction
Indonesia is a fourth largest populated country in the world, and agricultural is the backbone
of its economy. Sixty percent of of its population, or around 141 million of Indonesian live in
Java and half of them are farmers (Biro Pusat Statistik, 2010). However, with the limited land
available, most farmers in Java are small farmers who own in average 2 000 sqm. With
undeveloped farming technology and no economic of scale, the farmers are mainly poor.
Brenjonk, is a farmers group, established in 1991 in Trawas village, Mojokerto district, East
Java province, Indonesia. The village is located near Surabaya, the capital of the province. It
is a mountainious area, one hour drive from Surabaya, a metropolitan and coastal area. Since
several decades, Trawas has been used as a resort area. From year to year, farmers sell their
land to cover living expenses, become lendless, and they change their job to be gardeners of
villa owners. Although they earned minimum wage, however, from time to time, as family
grows, the salary does not adequate to cover living expenses. Thus, Brenjonk concern on the
woman empowerment, to help farmers family income.
As the area is a tourist destination, they frequently receive request of organic rice. Thus, they
start to produce and sell brown organic rice, processed manually (smashed by hand) by
woman in the village. They sell on premium price and the response was good. Farmers are
started to think seriously of organic rice and want to expand the market. Therefore, Slamet,
the farmers leder tries to promote the products on various way of free advertisement (e.g.
free radio promotion program).
1
Director of CV. Media Inovasi Kita the marketing partner of Brenjonk farmers group J l. Medokan Baru IV No. 36 Surabaya Indonesia 60119
E-Mail jantigunawan2010@gmail.com
2
Brenjonk farmers group leader Desa Penanggungan, Trawas, Kab. Mojokerto Indonesia. Email: brenjonk@yahoo.com
100
Media Inovasi Kita, on the other hand, is a small company based in Surabaya. The company
focuses on facilitating small medium enterprise, mainly in food products, to have better
access to market, as Janti Gunawan, has a business education background. However, the
problem with SME food manufacturers are that producers have no linkage with suppliers, and
it is difficult to maintain the quality. Therefore, the company tries to build network with
organic farmers, which may help the SME manufacturer and the business later. Trawas is the
area of exploration, as it is closed to Surabaya.
Through several unplanned meetings, Janti Gunawan met Slamet and discuss the business
partnership opportunity. Now, Media Inovasi Kita, the company has becoming the marketing
partner of Brenjonk, to facilitate their organic vegetables and rice to enter three modern
markets, two international restaurants, four companies, and also direct selling in Surabaya
regularly. This paper explore the evolution of business partnership between small farmers and
new small business.
The evolution of business partnership
Stringfellow, et.al (1997) maintain that key factors of successful small farmers cooperation
are matching skills and experience and the internal dynamics of the group. We support their
argument. We found that the partnership was possible because both of them have same
interest and language. Although Slamet has no university background, he has been trained as
farmers facilitator by various community development organisations. His communication
skill was excellent. As a result, the discussion was run smoothly.
With respect to complementary skills, Slamet is working closely with farmers, he has
technical knowledge on farming activities and is based in the village. Janti is working closely
with customers, she has market knowledge and is based in the city. Both parties consider to
work on their current location. While Slamet has limited market knowledge, Janti has limited
technical agricultural knowledge.
The internal dynamics of the group was possible through the certification process. Brenjonk,
is certified by PAMOR, a particatory guarantee system certification. Through this framework,
customer, distributor and producer need to meet regularly to align the standards. Initially, the
meeting was driven by the need for payment clearance. Payment of organic products are paid
50% in advance by Media Inovasi Kita, and the remaining payment is paid on the first week
of the month. The meeting place is conducted at Trawas and Surabaya, interchangeably.
When the meeting is conducted at Surabaya, Media Inovasi Kita also take the representative
of farmers group to have a tour to supplied modern markets. This activity was conducted to
help farmers understand the quality standards and competiton of organic products in the
market. In addition to it, by having supermarket tour, the price setting was conducted in an
open and fair manner, which can maintain the trust development between farmers and Media
Inovasi Kita and long term commitments.
Every two months, Media Inovasi Kita also organise meeting between customers and
producers at the village. This activity helps to transfer the important of organic message to
consumers and farmers capacity development.

However, the partnership between Media Inovasi Kita and Brenjonk farmers group is in the
infant stage, as it was started in 2009. Thus, there are several challenges faced, such as
alligning farming quantity, quality and market demand. In addition, the number of farmer
members are growing. This means that we need to have a way to transfer the knowledge to
101
other farmers, to have standard quality and delivery. Importantly, with regular meeting and
mutual commitment, the initiative to integrate promotion and production planning become
possible.
This join activity foster the innovation both at farmers level, distributor level, and partnership
level, such as found by Devaux, et.al (2007).
Conclusions
We understand that we are in the infant stage, and we should learn a lot to become a big
farmers group, a big company, which ensure fair trade and community empowerment. The
innovation process has been taken in the incremental manner. We need to learn about
strategic innovation and sustainable partnership.

Acknowledgments
We thank to PUM, Netherland Expert Organization in Indonesia, which have facilitated the
meeting between Media Inovasi Kita and Brenjonk. We also thank to PAMOR Indonesia, a
participatory guarantee certification system, that promote our join learning .
References
Biro Pusat Statistik, Indonesia Statistical bureau, 2010, www.bps.go.id
Stringfellow, Coulter, Lucey, McKone and Hussain (1997): Improving the access of
smallholders to agricultural services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Farmer cooperation and the
role of the donor community, Natural Resource Perspectives, 20: June.
Devaux, A., Velasco, C., Lopez, G., Bernet, T., Ordinola, M., (2007): Collective action for
innovation and small farmer market access: The Papa Andina experience, CAPRI
Working Paper no.68

102
Te@ Technologies Outsourcing
Harkirat Singh Sidhu
E Mail: harkisidhu@hotmail.com
teatechos@gmail.com
Tel #91-33-24223007 9830376545
Flat #2 B, Golf Towers 9, Prince Goolam Md.Shah Road Calcutta 700 095, India

Organic Teas by Small Farmers
Wakro is a one horse town in Arunachal foot hills, in North East India. The only commercial
activity is the trading in small quantities of oranges, paddy, vegetables, most of which is consumed
within the area. The only trade used to be in some fields planted with poppy for the opium trade.
But the money made by this crop was erratic as sometimes the fields were mowed down by the
authorities and most of the money was made by the peddlers and not the producers.
Three years ago one lady from this town approached us for the possibility of alternate crops.
This was the trigger for starting of small farmers onto planting out of tea. We now have three small
plantations totaling only about 15ha, but counting. A couple of months ago we started producing
some hand-rolled hand-made teas. These were first given free as samples to prospective tea growers
in the town to give them a taste of what was possible. And now we have a lot of people wanting to
switch to tea plantation.
The small quantities of teas have been well received in the market in Calcutta by the tasters.
And now we are helping put up a small low cost mini factory to manufacture some Green &
Orthodox teas. And when the season begins in March 2011 we are going to have some great Wakro
Organic teas coming to the market. This is going to be the cluster factory for all the small farmers in
the vicinity. We do not have any financial support as yet but I am hoping that as soon as we can
market some teas we will be able to negotiate some advances against supplying of teas.
These are pristine areas and it would have been sad to see them go the in-organic way. So I
had to put together an organic system specific not only to this area, but also to the farmers.
Fortunately I have converted to organic an estate called Namchic, about a 150 kms from this place,
using a holistic system which encompasses the whole ecosystem approach. We are using Ancient
Indian Agriculture techniques & farming skills and marrying them with current scientific
knowledge. We try to use locally available & indigenous material as far as possible. This makes the
system more sustainable and cost effective.
But for Wakro I had to use that knowledge and experience to devise a system with the following
prerequisites:
a) Simple to understand
b) Simple to implement
c) Easy to replicate
d) With low in-put cost
i) Low capital investment
ii) Mainly dependent on locally available materials
iii) Low maintenance
e) Proper training to be imparted to the farmers. How we do it is:
i) Pick the right farmers (we have got just the right people) and train, educate and convince
them about the system. It is crucial to explain to them
(1) WHAT to do
(2) HOW to do it
(3) BUT we insist on explaining to them WHY?
ii) We also took them to the Namchic estate to show them how well the system was
working and to interact with those who were implementing it. Know how and money are
essential, but so is seeing an example.
iii) This achieved, I know that more and more farmers will adopt the system because it is
effective, they understand it and find it simple to implement .

103

The laws of nature demand that we look at the whole system . To control any individual organism,
we need to understand how it relates to the ecosystem in which it operates.-J ohn Teasdale a
scientist with USDA Agricultural Research Services

Some of the salient features of the system are:

1. The basic nutritional needs are prepared by the Ancient Indian system of Vrikshayurveda.
This system was developed a long time ago and the book detailing this system is dated
about 1000AD. Concoctions are made on the estate for the various nutritional needs and
these are then applied regularly in various combinations.
2. Enhancing soil health is the corner stone of the farming system. We advocate soil fertility
management practices, taking into account that regional conditions require locally adapted
systems. They include
a. protection of the soil from nutrient depletion, compaction, structural breakdown,
erosion, ground water depletion & runoff
b. promotion of biodiversity in the tea clones & seeds planted and the shade & avenue
trees planted in the estate
c. increasing microbial activity in the soils by using concoctions prepared on the farm
d. outdoor grazing for dairy and collection of cow manure and cow urine from own
cowsheds. Proper storage of cow manures
e. maintenance of soil, water and air quality
f. the efficient and equitable use of resources
g. green manure, cover cropping, application of compost, & mulching.

3. We extensively use the numerous concoctions prepared from locally available plants,
animals wastes, etc. These concoctions are most effective for soil fertility, plant nutrition, and
pest & disease control. Some of these concoctions, called kunappas, are formulations tried and
tested many centuries ago. These are of many different types and have specific
recommendations for different needs & crops.
4. Vermiculture is another component of the system. Depending upon individual farm
requirements, we use all 3 types of earthworms for different horizons of the soil:
a) Epigeic - the surface living worms (manure worms)
b) Endogecic - lateral mover)
c) Epianecic - the burrowing worms.


5. Pest Control: Unhealthy plant attracts pests/disease & healthy plants ward them off.
a. The holistic system aims at establishing a balances in the environment between
predator and prey. So we establish small insectaries to help beneficials increase their
population and give them protection against their predators. The ideal conditions in an
estate is when there is a delicate balance in the whole estate & its surroundings - when
pests increase the predators have more food & so their population increases, and pests
reduce. When the pests reduce the predators food reduces & so their population
comes down.
b. This delicate balance is what sustained agriculture for centuries till we started
wanting to dominate nature. Then came the chemicals and things have never been the
same.
c. If a plant is showing weakness, try and identify what is causing it.
d. Use practices like:
i. Hand collection
ii. Stick pads
104
iii. Light traps
e. Attract birds plant trees that attract birds on road sides & vacant patches around
in the garden. Many birds are voracious eaters of caterpillars/insects.

6. Soil & Nutrition:
a. Retain organic matter
b. Collect organic matter (waste) from staff/worker housing, bungalows,
wherever.
c. Build microbial activity (add kunapas)
d. Add kunapas to build soil fertility
e. No run-off, No soil wash, No erosion

7. Some of the major negatives have actually become positives e.g. the jungles all
around the garden is normally held responsible for the sheltering of helopeltis and looper
caterpillar; we have found them being used as safe havens by our many beneficials. They have
actually helped build up the beneficials population very fast.

What we have changed at the estates

1. We generally concentrate on the tea plant and especially the leaf we harvest. But to manage
a tea plantation well, it is important to understand that the tea plant is only one of the many
parts of the tea ecosystem. This ecosystem is composed of many parts, including the tea
plant, shade trees, other plants, the soil, insects and diseases that feed on the plants, insects
and animals that feed on the pests, the weather, the pruning & plucking policy and many
other parts. Every part has a function & each part affects the other parts, helping to maintain
balance and stability.
2. A comprehensive approach to nurturing populations of beneficials has been adopted
i. rearing fields, conservation buffers and other methods to attract & build the
beneficial organisms that protect our crops.
ii. Beneficial predatory and parasitic organisms generally do not flourish in
fields with only one plant species. They need overwintering sites &
different types of microenvironments where they can find protection
from their own natural enemies. These have been created by letting natural
vegetation grow along waterways, bare patches, roadsides . In future no
big plots of the same clone will be planted in one area
b. There is a tremendous increase in ladybird beetles, praying mantis of different types,
predatory wasps, spiders, dragonflies, birds.
c. Pests generally succeed by adapting to the specific food, water, shelter & light
conditions in a particular farming system. They explode only when external factors
upset this delicate balance. By the stopping of chemicals we have partly ensured
least upsetting of an important external factor.
d. We are not neglecting the golden opportunity to prevent, even while we seek to cure.
e. With chemicals removed we have introduced some biocides etc neem, karanj
(Pongamia pinnata) & beauveria bassiana. But the whole idea is to slowly ease these
out too, as the balance in the environment gets established. We have also started on
some of our own concoctions prepared from plants & waste.
f. The obsession with having the garden weed-free is out the window. We tolerate a bit
of weeds : when to weed which weed before it competes & before it seeds.. And
we try and encourage the softer weeds to takeover from the noxious ones. With the
exception of particular noxious or invasive species, weed management, rather than
eradication is advocated.
105
g. The population of spiders & cobwebs has grown manifold. We saw a helopeltis
caught in one of them. So with the population of webs growing a lot of the adults are
going to keep becoming the spiders prey. .
h. Lots of things nature is taking over, we just need to keep aiding nature.

We are trying to use the four basic principles of IPM:
1. Grow a healthy plant. Strong, vigorous plants are better able to tolerate insect
damage. Pests can never be completely eradicated, so don't try! Instead, manage
them at a tolerable level that balances costs and benefits (including economic &
environmental) and also provides food for the predators.
2. Protecting and helping natural enemies. Many natural enemies live naturally within
the tea field. Others live in wild plants in nearby fields. J ust like the crop and pest
insects are managed, natural enemies also must be managed so that they become
abundant and effective.
3. Regular field surveillance, observation and analysis. The planter team must have
good and latest information to make decisions. Pests, natural enemies, the growth
stage of the crop, and weather are among the factors that should be observed and
analyzed. If there is a presence of or build-up of beneficials, then do not go in for
biocides.
4. The management in the field needs to become the experts. They must have
confidence in their own knowledge and their ability to make their own decisions.













The first two planters from Wakro in front of a new plot
106
Community Based restoration of the Kalkanna Oya Sub Basin of the Walawe
River Watershed in the Lipton's Valley in Sri Lanka - a Landcare Project

Kamal Melvani, Neo Synthesis Research Centre (NSRC)
and Dr. J erry Moles, Landcare Lanka

Abstract
In Sri Lanka, the watersheds of almost all 103 rivers originate in the montane zone. The forest cover
in most of these watersheds was cleared by the British to plant coffee and then tea. Since then the
montane areas have degraded into grasslands or been converted to intensive vegetable cultivation
with heavy applications of agrochemicals or monoculture plantations of exotic species of
Eucalyptus, Acacia and Pinus.

In order to maintain the productivity of upland areas and provide dependable water supplies both in
terms of quality and quantity, forest restoration and management offer a range of practical solutions.
Forests can be designed to protect soils, enhance water quality and yields, reduce risks of landslides,
recreate habitats for indigenous species and, at the same time, create conditions for sustainable
development of rural communities. In areas where poor watershed management has resulted in
outbreaks of waterborne diseases, corrective actions can be taken through the design of forest
vegetation and changes in community practices. To achieve these ends, a watershed management
perspective is required in the planning, implementing and monitoring of forest, water resource,
agriculture and urban development programmes.

Since land in the watersheds of most rivers in Sri Lanka come under the purview of Plantation
Companies, restoration efforts must engage with Management and the Estate Tamil communities
that provide the requisite labour. The Water Towers Project in the Kalkanna Oya sub basin of the
Walawe River Watershed in Haputale seeks the collaboration of all stakeholders. The programme
represents the first use in Sri Lanka of Landcare guidelines in restoration. LANDCARE is a unique
partnership which encourages families, communities, governments and organizations to come
together to repair and better manage an areas natural resources.

Beginning in 1982, the Neo Synthesis Research Centre (NSRC) has demonstrated the establishment
of sustainable land management in village gardens and commercial estates through ecological
restoration. With analog forestry a tree dominant landscape similar in architectural structure and
ecological function to the closest climax forest in the area is created using marketable species in the
landscape design. With regenerative organic agriculture complementary biological systems are used
to feed and improve the soils while avoiding potentially harmful synthetic inputs.

NSRC trains village extension officers to design and plant landscapes whilst creating nurseries to
provide planting materials. While success have been experienced in several areas in Sri Lanka, the
Water Towers Project is the most challenging because collaborative restoration must include several
stakeholders at a sub-basin level. The success of this project will facilitate the replication of the
technology to other critical watersheds in Sri Lanka and serve as an example to others facing
similar challenges.
Introduction
The Water Towers Project was initiated in March, 2009 in the sub basin of the Kalkanna Oya, part
of the larger Walawe River watershed in the Lipton's Valley. Tea Companies have engaged for the
first time in the revegetation of riparian buffers and montane ridges whilst diversifying abandoned
tea land with high value tree crops to increase shade and the hydrological potential of land. This is
done with an expectation of improved financial returns through increases in productivity and
improvements in soil quality through the improvements in soil biology. The increased sequestering
carbon in soils offers the opportunity to gain carbon credits payments while adapting to impacts of
107
climate change. Estate Tamil communities participate in the development of land where their home
gardens are being converted to forest gardens thereby generating additional income, food, timber,
fuelwood, medicine and fodder. Youth are being trained and women are exploring alternative
avenues of income generation. Estate communities will receive sanitation in the form of pit latrines
and biogas toilets that will generate methane as cooking energy. Given their sad history, the Project
gives the people a sense of worth, improved health and skills to better manage land. The Project
works with the Thotulagalla Tamil Vidyalam (School) to restore the micro watershed around a lake
on the estate for a Nature Park. This action is designed to mitigate the risk posed by landslides
predicted to occur in this hazardous zone. The school has established models in organic agriculture
and students have been mobilized in environmental cadet groups to be trained in biodiversity
conservation. The activity is strongly supported by the Pradeshiya Sabha, (Local Authority)
Diyatalawa who will promote the Nature Park as an ecotourism attraction. Given their critical
importance, this is the first experiment in Sri Lanka to restore the integrity of the montane forests.
The main objectives of the Project are:
a) Collaborative watershed restoration with Tea Companies, Estate Tamil communities,
villagers, school children, local government and national organizations using the LandCare
as a programmatic guide
b) Sustainable management of land and water to effect restoration
c) Improve Health and sanitation of Plantation communities

Background
The project in the Kalkanna Oya sub-basin of the Walawe river watershed located in the south
eastern part of Sri Lanka and is 133.13 km
2
in extent. 399 streams flow within the Kalkanna Oya
sub-basin to form the Lemastote Oya that joins downstream with Walawe river system. 213 streams
are of 1st order. The drainage density of the Kalkanna Oya is 3.8km/ km
2
and it is a critical
watershed with many streams, wewas (tanks) and anicuts. The area of interest lies within the
transition zone between mid and up country and lays on the Third and highest peneplain in Sri
Lanka. A mountainous area (900 to 1760 meters a.s.l.), it is characterized by steep and narrow
valleys. The geological formations are pre-Cambrian and composed of Charnokitic Gneiss and
metamorphosed sediments rendering it a highly unstable and subject to devastating landslides
(Somasiri, S, 2005). Dominant soil types are Red Yellow Podzolics, Mountain Regosols and
Lithosols. The area receives over 1,150 mm of rain from the First and Second Intermonsoons and the
North East monsoon. The variability of annual rainfall is increasing along with ambient day, night
and diurnal temperatures (Punyawardena, 2010, personal communication). The montane forest in
the Haputale area is unique and comprises elements from the Upper Montane Microphyllous Mixed
evergreen rain forest, Lower Sub-Montane Notophyllous Evergreen Mixed Rain Forests and
Intermediate Dry Pathanas or grasslands (Forest resources of Sri Lanka, 2000, Country report). Of
significance are the 'cloud' or Montane Rain Forests in the upper reaches of the sub basin. Montane
forests harbor high levels of endemism where over half of Sri Lanka's endemic flowering plants and
34% of Sri Lanka's endemic trees, shrubs and herbs exist. 51% of the endemic vertebrates are only
found here (WWF, 2008). Less than 8 km
2
remains under natural forest that is highly fragmented
with almost no riparian cover. Of this, one patch of 35 acres of natural montane/sub montane forest
is located on Pitaratmalie Estate. Precipitation in 'Cloud forests' occurs when intercepted cloud
droplets coalesce on foliar and woody surfaces and drip to the forest floor as fog passes through the
canopy (Holder, 2003). This stripping of wind-blown fog by vegetation constitutes an extra
hydrological input ("horizontal" or "occult" precipitation) that can contribute to several hundred
millimeters of water per year, depending on cloud characteristics, wind speed and vegetation
structure (Bruijnzeel and Proctor, 1995). Further, Cloud forests behave like sponges storing water in
moss and leaf litter that is gradually released into streams and rivers serving the lowlands with water
even during the dry season (Werner, 2001). Three Tea Estates, Thotulagalla, Pitaratmalie and
Dambetenne occupy 6.23 km
2
of the landscape. Pathanas dominate the landscape by occupying
43.91 km
2
of the land area. 12.85 km
2
is under plantation forestry and 8.24 km
2
under swidden
108
agriculture downstream. Not assessed is the area under vegetable cultivation even though it
occupies a substantial part of the riparian zones. The lack of forest in riparian zones and on mountain
ridges has decreased shade cover on streams, increased evaporation and reduced dry season water
flow and has resulted in massive soil erosion and reduced habitat for surface, soil and aquatic
biodiversity. The continuous use of herbicides has also reduced biodiversity. An artificial water
body, Lake Richmond constructed by the British is located in a depression between Thotulagalla and
Pitaratmalie Estates. A preliminary survey of landslide hazard in the Kalkanna Oya catchment
conducted by the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) revealed that the catchment has
highly active denudational processes and is sensitive to various geological and geomorphological
processes making it critically vulnerable. The near absence of tree vegetation contributes to the
vulnerability of an area that practices no soil conservation. Richmond Lake is located in the
epicentre of the high hazard area and the occurrence of a landslide in this area can displace a vast
volume of water compounding the devastation further. Haputale is the nearest town in Badulla
District of the Uva Province. The Lipton's Valley has a total population of over 13,130 persons most
of whom belong to the Estate Tamil community. The Project directly benefits 6,150 people of whom
1,585 persons live upstream on Thotulagalla Estate and 4,565 persons downstream in the lower
Pitarathmalie division and 7b housing schemes. Most Estate Tamils work on tea estates and family
needs require people to start work at an early age. Estate children go to Primary schools but rarely
continue with higher studies due to limited opportunities. Poverty is a major problem because
workers are uneducated and unskilled. To supplement meagre incomes, vegetables are cultivated in
home gardens. Since land holdings are very small, there are a few fruit or timber trees. Large
amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used to increase productivity and, since the cost of
agrochemicals is beyond the reach of most, cultivation is usually funded by middlemen supplying
seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and paying producers a modest sum at harvest. Most in the
community are enmeshed in this debt trap with little recourse. Constant exposure to pesticides
increases health risks with increasing costs spent on health care. Chemical residues leach into
streams since riparian zones that are devoid of vegetation buffers. Estate community diets are
meager and overall nutrition is poor. Premature births are frequent with a high infant mortality rate.
The Lipton's Valley has few toilets with most people defaecating near streams resulting in poor
water quality downstream where the incidence of water borne diseases, e.g., Hepatitis A, Typhoid
and Rota virus, are increasing. The problem of water pollution is compounded since most of the
degradable and non degradable waste is disposed into streams that flow adjacent to the estate
residential line rooms. Further, many people raise cattle that arent confined adding dung and urine
contaminating to streams.
Methodology
Phase 1 of the Project was initiated in March 2008 where restoration was undertaken on
Thotulagalla Estate in Fields 3, 4, 5, 5a, 6 and 6a and in part of the area occupied by the Estate
communities. Phase 2 began in March 2010 that entailed the area covered by Fields a, d, e, the land
above, around and below Richmond Lake. The Thotulagalla Tamil Vidyalam is located in the
micro watershed of the Richmond Lake while the community lives in the areas referred to as 7b and
Lower Pitarathmalie Division that are downstream. The following steps were taken in the
implementation of the Project:
1) Collaborative watershed restoration using the Landcare programmatic guidelines
Discussion with all stakeholders and signing of MOUs outlining responsibilities; Meetings with
Estate Communities to create awareness, plan and review Project; Enrollment of staff from estate
community in training programs; Formation of several Landcare groups and a Catchment
Committee comprised of all stakeholders to review Project activities; Conduct Regional and
National workshops to increase awareness
2) Sustainable land management
Inventory of flora and fauna in nearest Forest patch; GIS mapping to determine land use, hydrology,
landslide potential, waste water and impact of work; Survey of Estate Community and discussion
about transition to regenerative agriculture; Awareness programmes and field training to mobilize
109
and educate Estate community specifically in organic farming, analog forestry, health and
sanitation. Training in alternative livelihoods, e.g., micro finance and fruit processing; Soil
Conservation, e.g., planting of hedgerows and digging contour drains; Vegetable gardens in Estate
Line areas to be converted to regenerative agriculture; Establishing tree dominant landscape design
in farmer gardens; Planting the micro watershed around Lake Richmond, montane forest cover on
ridges, riparian zone and areas susceptible to landslides; enrichment of Pathanas; Diversification of
Eucalyptus areas with native species; Diversification of abandoned areas formerly under Tea with
high value tree crops; enrichment of grasslands with native medicinal plants; Landscaping of sites
within Project area suitable for ecotourism; Establishment of Plant nursery and operation.
3) Improve Health and sanitation in the Estate communities
Construction of pit latrines and biogas toilets for Estate Tamil communities and in schools;
Provision of tanks to store drinking water and establish distribution pipelines; Manage degradable
solid waste through compost production; Establishment of a waste management programme for non
degradable solid waste; Management of waste water where drainage networks are re-constructed
and waste water subject to bioremediation. Conduct training programmes on health and sanitation
for members of the Estate communities

Results
1) Collaborative watershed restoration using the Landcare programmatic guidelines
Phase 1: Two Estate youth were recruited and trained as staff. Discussions were held with the
Management of Thotulagalla Estate followed by meetings with the Thalaivars (leaders) of the
Estate Union. NSRC presented the rationale and activities planned to obtain their agreement.
Meetings were also held with vegetable farmers who cultivated on Estate land in order to identify
those interested in engaging in regenerative agriculture. 6 farm gardens were selected and after
training, farmers initiated work.
Phase 2: The number of stakeholders increased in Phase 2 to include the Management of
Pitarathmalie Estate, the Pradeshiya Sabha Diyatalawa, Thotulagalla Tamil Vidyalam and Estate
communities who lived in the downstream areas of 7b and lower Pitarathmalie Division.
Discussions were held with all stakeholders independently as well as with the Thalaivars of
Pitarathmalie Estate. Subsequently a meeting was conducted with the Divisional Secretary's office,
Haputale, DS, PS, Range Forest Officer, Haputale, Public Health Officers, Management of both
Pitarathmalie and Thotulagalla Estates, Principal, Thotulagalla Tamil Vidyalam and farmers who
are members of Estate communities. NSRC presented the Project and the activities planned and
invited farmers to participate in the Programme in regenerative agriculture; 90 farmers responded
and formed 3 Landcare groups. NSRC then invited representatives of all stakeholders to form a
Landcare Committee that will review all activities, engage in trouble shooting and ensure the
smooth functioning of the Project. With the farmers who joined the Project, a socio economic
survey was completed and discussions held on their proposed transition to regenerative agriculture.
Members engaged in participatory mapping exercises that identified the location of their garden in
the watershed and drainage pathways so they could understand how their management could
influence water quality and availability. Health issues were discussed and plans of action drawn up
for each group. Parents, teachers and students of the Thotulagalla Vidyalam were invited to meet
with representatives from the Zonal Department of Education, Bandarawela, Central Environmental
Authority (CEA), PS, DS and the School Welfare Society. NSRC presented their plan for the
Nature Park around Lake Richmond and requested permission for the children to implement it.
Subsequently meetings have been held with the school children where three Environmental Cadet
Groups have been formed under the guidance of the CEA. The children drew up a work programme
that includes the establishment of plant nursery and organic agriculture demonstration models.
NSRC was responsible for the training of the children. An International workshop was held in
Haputale in collaboration with the Secretariat for International Landcare that included
representatives of the Uva Provincial Government and the Governor. Many resource people
presented information about the watershed.
110

2) Sustainable land management
Phase 1: An biodiversity inventory on flora and fauna was carried out in the forest patch on
Pitarathmalie Estate and the immediate vicinity. 75 floral species were identified where Myrtaceae
(Syzigium sp.), Lauraceae (Neolitsea sp.), Clusiaceae (Callophyllum sp.), Elaeocarpaceae
(Elaeocapus sp.), Rubiaceae (Psychotria sp.) and Acanthaceae (Strobilanthes sp.) dominate.
Species of ferns and epiphytes observed include the Wooly Tree Fern (Cyathea crinita), Eria sp.,
Oberonia sp. and ground orchid, Lipparis sp.respectively. The Faunal inventory revealed: Birds -
71 species of which 15 are endemic; Mammals - 12 species; Amphibians - 11 species of which 10
are endemic and 4 rare; Butterflies - 31 species of which 2 are endemic; Dragon and damselflies - 9
species, 5 families of dragonflies and damselflies including 2 unidentified. All species are endemic;
Reptiles 7 species recorded of which 2 are serpentoid and 5 tetrapod; Fish - 5 species recorded in
Lake Richmond of which 2 are endemic. Staff initiated mapping using GPS recorders. Thus far
maps on land use, hydrology and the plantings established are completed. A macro level landscape
design was drawn up for Thotulagalla Estate that included the conversion of home gardens to forest
gardens, replanting of the riparian zone of all gullies and marshlands, restoration of montane forest
cover on ridges, diversification of abandoned tea areas within tea fields and landscaping of the
ecotourism centre. Two nurseries were set up to generate planting material and over 100,000 trees
and shrubs in over 100 species have been generated. 6 farm gardens were selected for conversion to
forest gardens. Farmers were taught the essentials of regenerative agriculture that include the
construction of biomass enriched, vegetable beds, making pile and basket compost, liquid bio
fertilizers, bio pesticides, mulching and waste management. Baseline maps of each garden were
drawn and landscape design carried out with farmer participation. Vegetable seeds were distributed
and cultivation was initiated. 4 cycles of production have ensued since. Soil conservation was
carried out by planting hedgerows using Lemon grass, Vetiver and Pavetta. Farmers were given
utility trees like avacado, orange, mandarin, cloves, coffee, durian and goraka (Garcinia cambogia)
that were planted in their gardens. Planting began with the onset of the north east monsoon rains in
November,2009 where restoration of the riparian vegetation of gullies and marshlands in Fields 3,
4, 5, 5a, 6 and 6a was carried out using Strobilanthes sp.,Zingiberaceae sp,, Clerodendron, Costus
sp. and numerous species of forest trees. Montane forest cover was restored on the ridge in Fields 4,
5, and 6 using forest species of plants and abandoned areas within tea fields 5 and 6 were planted
with avacado, goraka, cinnamon and cloves. The area around the tourist centre was landscaped.
Over 20,000 plants in 30+species of plants have been established.
Phase 2: The Landscape design of the area designated for restoration includes the areas around,
above and below the Lake Richmond that includes Colonies 7b and Lower Pitarathmalie Division.
Work is currently underway around the Lake since the Thotulagalla Tamil Vidyalam is located in
its micro watershed. This area has been transformed into a 'Nature Park' where Members of the
Cadet groups have established a plant nursery that houses over 100,000 plants in over 55 species.
The children have also established a demonstration model in regenerative agriculture that includes
both annual and tree crops. The gully running through the demonstration model has been planted
with riparian vegetation. While NSRC staff engage in field level training related to regenerative
agriculture, staff from the CEA and other naturalists assists in raising awareness on environmental
issues like climate change and biodiversity conservation. The micro watershed of the Lake is
located in the high hazard landslide zone where planting around the Lake will be executed with the
rains. The 7b area and Lower Pitarathmalie Division are home to gardens of 33 farmers who have
actively initiated regenerative agriculture. Similar activities as those carried out in Thotulagalla
have been initiated here as well as training in organic farming and analog forestry. The area above
the Lake comes under the purview of both Thotulagalla and Pitarathmalie Estates and involved the
replanting of gullies and the mountain ridge. Planting in downstream areas include the riparian
zones of two main gullies, marsh and grasslands. All planting has been carried out and the activities
that remain to be executed include beekeeping, training in alternative livelihoods, enrichment of
Pathanas and the diversification of Eucalyptus plantations with native species. NSRC has
111
established another plant nursery in the downstream 7b Colony area to generate adequate planting
material. It presently has 35,000+plants in over 50 species.

3) Improve Health and sanitation in the Estate communities
Phases 1 & 2: The Project has already established a waste management programme for degradable
waste that is composted in baskets constructed in each of the 39 gardens. Training on the
management of non degradable solid waste that included the separation of plastic, glass and metal
was initiated and farmers have been given polypropylene bags to store the waste. Training
programmes both on a group and individual basis have been carried out specifically for women. The
Project will construct 6 toilets in the near future.

Discussion
The adoption of LANDCARE methodologies will entail the collaboration of all stakeholders in the
restoration process through locally formed Landcare groups. The strategy adopted is collaborative
and people centered, where people help people. This is the first time that Landcare
programmatic guidelines are adopted for watershed restoration in Sri Lanka where the Estate Tamil
Community will participate in decision making in collaboration with other stakeholders. It is also
the first time that students from an Estate Tamil school will be instrumental in restoring a micro
watershed and creating a nature park. This is also the first time that Tea Companies adopt a
'watershed' approach in managing their Estates through the re vegetation of the upper montane and
riparian zones. This will increase the hydrological potential through increased moisture absorption
by soil biomass and leaf litter. The increased shade in gullies will reduce evaporation of stream
water. This will result in an increase in the yield of tea even during the dry season and thereby the
overall productivity of the Estates. The diversification of abandoned tea land with high value tree
crops like cloves, cinnamon and goraka will generate an additional income reducing the dependency
on tea alone and enabling Companies to engage in sustainable land management in the future. The
promotion of Gliricidia as a soil conservation crop in downstream home gardens will enable its use
as a fuel wood for generating dendro power in Tea factories and obtain funding from the Clean
Development Mechanism Fund, or CDM (CDM is one of the "flexibility mechanisms" that is
defined in the Kyoto Protocol). The flexibility mechanisms are designed to promote projects that
reduce emissions allowing developing countries to meet their emission reduction commitments with
reduced impact on their economies). The increase in carbon sequestration from the planting of
forest cover and the increase in soil carbon from biomass accumulation will allow Plantation
Companies to trade carbon thereby generating revenue or benefits from UN REDD mechanisms
( Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, REDD is an effort to create a
financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to
reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development).
Plantation communities will be made more food secure through poverty alleviating land
management methodologies. The adoption of analog forestry in home gardens will incorporate
utility species of trees and shrubs that provide income, food, fuel wood, timber, medicine, fibre and
fodder. They will grow food that is free of dangerous chemicals and increase their nutrition. This
will reduce dependence purchasing food and improve food security in addition to generating
income. The Estate Tamil populace will be provided with access to clean drinking water and toilets
thus reducing their vulnerability to disease and premature births. The construction of biogas toilets
will fuel bioreactors that can provide cooking fuel for the surrounding community thereby stopping
the illicit felling of forests for fire wood. Slurry from the bioreactors can be used as fertilizer in
organic gardens. NSRC teaches the Estate populace, habits that will lead to better management of
waste whilst actually changing the field situation through composting, recycling and bioremediation.
The empowerment of the Estate Tamil Community will be the first time that they participate in the
development of the land upon which they live. The youth will be trained in sustainable Landcare
techniques and women will be encouraged to explore avenues of income generation. A contented
workforce can lead to a reduction in trade union activity, reducing conflict between management
112
and staff and increasing job satisfaction. The success of such a joint venture will attract other tea
plantation companies to adopt this management perspective and therefore have an impact on the
industry as a whole. A change in management can impact Government policy affecting the tea
plantation sector specifically in terms of human rights, sanitation and education. In ecological terms,
the value of growing back natural forest cover on mountain ridges and riparian zones will ensure
growth of soil biomass, leaf litter and soil biodiversity. These are the bases of nutrient recycling so
critical in the absorption, infiltration and percolation of rain water that contributes to increasing
stream base flow and overall hydrological productivity. Growing back the forests will lock up
carbon in trees and soils since natural forests account for almost half of the carbon stored in
terrestrial vegetation. (Malhi & Grace, 2000) A soil with high carbon content improves water
infiltration, recharges the transmissivity of aquifers and increases perennial base flow to rivers and
streams (J ones, Christine, 2009). Forests will provide shade in an increasing temperature scenario.
The establishment of deep rooted, native trees and surface vegetation will stabilize soils in the high
hazard areas and reduce damage from landslides to people who living in the downstream. Analog
forest adaptation models that are developed will provide opportunities for farmers to be resilient in
the face of climate change. High crop diversity in forest gardens will provide the farmer with
adequate food and reduce the risk from the dependence on any one or two crops. Given that cloud
forests contain high levels of endemic biodiversity, their restoration will ensure that habitat is
created for many species of animals and plants that face destruction with the current trend of forest
loss. This important reservoir of cloud forest genetic diversity ensures that vital ecological functions
are performed by a variety of species like pollination for example. Further the restoration of forest
cover will provide a critical corridor for biodiversity between the Horton Plains National Park and
lowland areas. The restoration of riparian vegetation will also result in the resurgence of aquatic
biodiversity that are good indicators of water quality. The Project has established a Nature park and
is teaching students of Thotulagalla Tamil Vidyalam to identify and monitor species.

Conclusions
The success of this demonstration project could influence the Management of other plantation
companies to adopt the technology. However, there are many risks that the Project could face namely:
Failure or high variability in the monsoon rains could affect the planting programme; Landslides in
areas that are highly susceptible where populations may have to be moved; Hardships faced by the
Tea industry that include the high cost of production, inability to find labour and access to lucrative
markets. The adoption of a watershed perspective in land management will require initial investment
and could deter Companies from taking this vital step in the right direction.
No matter the hardship, the collaborative restoration of watersheds will ensure the sustainability of Sri
Lanka's water resources into the future. It will also build resilience to withstand the impacts of climate
change. All that is needed is a sincere commitment.

References
Bruijnzeel, L.A. & Proctor, J . 1995 Hydrology and biogeochemistry of tropical montane cloud
forests: what do we really know? In L.S. Hamilton, J .O. J uvik & F. N. Scatena, eds.
Tropical montane cloud forests, pp. 38-78. New York, Springer-Verlag.
FRA 2000 - Forest resources of Sri Lanka - Country report
J ayaweera, Shanta, 2009, Biodiversity of the Thotulagalla and Pitaratmale Areas: Report to
GEF/UNDP, SGP
Holder, Curtis, D, 2004, Rainfall interception and fog precipitation in a tropical montane cloud forest of Guatemala,
Forest Ecology and Management 190 (2004) 373384
J ones, Christine, 2009, adapting farming to climate variability, www.amazingcarbon.com
Malhi, Y. & Grace, J . (2000), Tropical forests and atmospheric carbon dioxide; Trends in Ecology
and Evolution, 15, 332-337.
S.Somasiri, 2005, Soils of the Intermediate Zone of Sri Lanka, Soil Science Society
113
Viswanath, T and Yoshida, N, 2005, Drought and poverty incidence Poverty Maps in Sri Lanka,
Policy Impacts and Lessons, 10412-12_Ch12.qxd 8/16/07
Werner, 2001, Sri Lankas Magnificent Cloud Forests, Wildlife Heritage Trust Publications
Wijewickrema, Hemasiri, 2009, a preliminary Report on Landslides in the Lipton's Valley, National
Building Research Organization, Sri Lanka
World Wildlife Fund; Mark McGinley, 2008;"Sri Lanka montane rain forests" In: Encyclopedia of
Earth. Eds. Cutler J . Cleveland, First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth August 31,
2007
114
Report on the Project on Ecological Restoration in Guruhela and
Kodayana, Siyambalanduwa in the Moneragala District of the Uva
Province in Sri Lanka

Melvani, Kamal
1
Introduction

Ecological restoration is ongoing in the villages of Guruhela and Kodayana in the Heda Oya
watershed in Siyambalanduwa. Both are located on the eastern boundary of the Moneragala
District in the Uva Province.

The Project is designed to serve multiple objectives. First, land will be converted to forest
gardens enabling farmers to increase incomes and source their food locally. Second, in
increasing the sustainability of the gardens the hydrological productivity of village will
improve water quality and availability in the Heda Oya watershed. The recharge of the
ground water table will improve along with the reduction in evaporation of water from wells.
Third, with tree dominant vegetation, shade, leaf litter and subsequently the organic content
of the soil will increase. Finally, fourth the increasing maturity of the garden landscapes will
enhance biodiversity by improving habitat.

Within the first ten months of the Project, many of these objectives were realized. The
landscaping of farmer gardens with tree dominant species will provide food, fuel wood,
timber, medicine, fodder and green manure. Annual crops under organic management are
providing farmers a continuous supply of food thus food security. The incomes generated by
surpluses sold have generated the capital required for a village level savings scheme. Taking
control of the effort is a farmer collective known as the Heda Oya Conservation Group.
















Map 1: Heda Oya Watershed

Background
The area receives rainfall from the North East monsoon
2
and during the first and second
intermonsoon.
3
1
Managing Director, Neo Synthesis Research Centre, Sri Lanka, Email:neosynth@sltnet.lk, nsrc@sltnet.lk
While most climate measures have remained stable, rainfall variability has
115
increased. Dr. Punyawardena, Climatologist noted in 2010 that the coefficient of rainfall
variability for the east of Sri Lanka has changed. Data from 1961-1980 and 1981-2000
demonstrates an increase of 49.1% to 67.1%, for the first intermonsoon; 32.5% to 38.9% for
the second intermonsoon and 37.7% to 44.4% for the North East monsoon respectively.
Variability increases risks for agriculture because rainfall is less predictable. Further, the
likelihood of extreme events is increasing, e.g., extended drought. These changes have
serious consequences for rural wellbeing with the threat of increased poverty. While the
poverty rate
4

for Sri Lanka is 22%, in the Moneragala District the recorded rates for 1995/96
and 2000 is 51.8-36.4% respectively (Viswanath and Yoshida, 2005). Siyambalanduwa
reflects these conditions with a poverty rate of 51.8% (Department of Census & Statistics).
While streams in the headwaters of the Heda Oya watershed contribute surface water in the
wet season, they go dry in the drought because the forest cover has been removed thus there
is more reliance on ground water for drinking and irrigation. Ground water likely occurs as
the shallow regolith aquifer only extending to a maximum depth of 10-12 m. (Herbert et.al,
1988)
5

. Composed of weathered and residual overburden, only limited storage for extraction
is possible even with adequate re-charge by rainfall. The failure of the North East monsoon
will impact the availability of water in all wells.
Compounding this uncertainty is that many existing wells have concrete liners blocking the
pores that allow the horizontal movement of water. Below the regolith aquifer is a deeper
fracture zone 30-40m below the hard metamorphic rock and is inaccessible except through
tube wells, an added expense that few can afford.

Forested watersheds are exceptionally stable hydrologically and influence water quantity and
availability. Much of the forest cover in the upper Heda Oya watershed has been cleared to
plant rubber and sugar cane. Slash and burn cultivation is rampant throughout and only
generates income once a year. Forest loss and conversion to other land uses is adversely
effecting freshwater supplies and can compound human disasters resulting from hydro
meteorological extremes.

To address these challenges, the Neo Synthesis Research Centre (NSRC) undertook the
restoration of land into home gardens. with attention to social, economic and ecological
needs. One year later the people involved are food secure, have improved health and nutrition
and their gardens are shadier. There is an increase in organic matter and therefore soils have
the ability to hold more moisture. The gardens are slowly becoming resilient to climate
change.

Initial activities
UNDP Art Gold Sri Lanka (AGSL) invited NSRC to implement a Project that would address
the needs of water impoverished communities in the Moneragala District. Emilio Moro
Foundation financed the Project while AGSL disbursed and managed the funds.

2
October to January
3
April and September respectively
4
Proportion of poor population to total population is defined as Head Count Index (HCI) and it is generally represented as
a percentage.
5
Since hydro geological data is minimal for this area, we presume that the profile of Ground water is similar to that of the
hard rock aquifer of the Dry Zone though we understand that it may be more complex because of nature of the soils.
116
NSRC signed an agreement with Future in Our Hands Development Fund (FIOH) as partners.
FIOH is mobilizing the people with two staff members from the Siyambalanduwa area.
NSRC trained the staff and implemented the Project by transferring technology to the
beneficiaries.

NSRC solicited assistance from the Divisional Secretary Siyambalanduwa to identify the
most water vulnerable areas in the Division. After a series of meetings, the villages of
Guruhela and Kodayana were selected. A survey was conducted to assess the water situation
in each household including source of supply. Only households with wells constructed with a
porous material, brick or granite stone, thus eliminating the wells lined with cement. Out of a
beneficiary base of 660, 52 wells were identified. The owners of these households were
invited to discuss the Project. Included in the meeting were the Divisional Secretary and the
Village headmen and in the end 50 beneficiaries were selected.

Awareness creation, training and mobilization
First staff was trained in analog forestry
6

and included the mapping and design of landscapes
based on the closest natural forest in the area. Then the landscape designs were created for
the fifty farm gardens in collaboration with the farmers.
Since the Project began with the onset of the rains from the north east monsoon in October
2009, training sessions were conducted in farmer gardens and landscape designs created to
address water conservation. All trees and shrubs were planted during this time. Special
emphasis was placed on the planting of riparian zones and included an exercise in 'river care'
that involved the 'clean up' of the river that flowed past the gardens of participants and drew
support of neighbouring farmers.

By J anuary 2010, the rains had subsided and the organic cultivation of annual crops began.
Farmers were trained in the construction of vegetable beds designed to hold maximum
moisture by digging troughs up to 1.5 feet in depth and filled with organic matter. Farmers
were urged to make use of the waste from the maize plant rather than to burn it after harvest.
The carbon rich troughs were then covered with soil resulting in raised beds 1.5 feet in
height. The farmer is then taught to use coconut husks to line the border of the bed that, in
turn, enables the cultivation of leafy vegetables in between. As a result, this sophisticated
vegetable bed that is usually 6 feet long and 4 feet in width has the capacity to house a
diverse array of vegetable crops. Given that Siyambalanduwa is prone to long drought
periods, these carbon rich vegetable beds will increase soil moisture retention and reduce the
vulnerability of agriculture to drought. In addition farmers were taught how to make compost
piles, compost baskets and specialty composts to meet unique plant needs, liquid fertilizers
and biological pesticides.

Sustainable land management
Many natural forest patches in the area were visited and the architectural structure, species
composition and ecological functions of the species were identified as a precursor to the
biodiversity inventory that is still ongoing. This data provided the basis for landscape designs
6
Analog forestry is a land management tool that uses tree dominant species similar in architectural structure and ecological
function to the original climax vegetation in order to provide marketable benefits to the practitioner whilst providing all of
the whole forest functions.

117
and management plans for gardens. A total of 15,500 plants in over 82 species were used to
landscape gardens. The planting looked at the following functional aspects:
Soil conservation: The Project identified gardens that suffered critical levels of soil erosion
and planted Vetiver zizanoides, Cymbopogon citrates and Gliricidia sepium to curb the
problem. Sheet mulching was practiced in the drought to conserve water.
Planting of micro watershed around wells: The micro watersheds of the wells in all gardens
were planted with native species of trees and shrubs that included Terminalia arjuna,
Madhuca longifolia, Areca catechu, Pandanus amaryllifolius, Garcinia quaesita, Pogamia
pinnata, Vitex negundo and Pavetta indica to effect bioremediation.
Planting of riparian zone along streams: The riparian zone of several streams of the Heda
Oya that ran through farm gardens were planted with species from riverine forests of the area
including Terminalia arjuna, Madhuca longifolia, Areca catechu, Myristica dactyloides,
Caryota urens, Horsefielda irya, Mangifera zeylanica, Bambusa vulgaris, Ficus hispida and
Dimocarpus longans. Vetiver zizanoides, Colocasia sp., and Alocasia sp. were used to
stabilize stream banks.
Buffer Zone and Fence: Specifically where the garden bordered a natural forest patch, the
design included the planting of a buffer zone on the fence. This zone was planted using native
species from the forest like Diospyros ebeneum, Antiaris toxicaria, Berya cordifolia, Vitex
altissima, Pterospermum suberifolium, Schefflera oleosa, Neolitsea fuscata, Adenanthera
pavonina, Calamus rotang and Connarus sp. among others. These species serve as habitat for
biodiversity as well as for timber.
Analog Forestry and organic agriculture in home gardens: The design and composition of an
analog forest was based on the architectural structure and ecological functions of the natural
forest but instead of only using native species, exotic and utility plants were also used. The
design focused on ecological, economic and social needs of the farmer. The landscape design
addressed the needs of fence, shade and contour planting, erosion control, gully planting and
even included perching stations for raptor birds.
Production area: The farmer's capacity to grow more crops than the one or two he grows rain
fed will obviously result in the ability to increase income. A vast array of crops is being
cultivated that includes both annual and tree crops that serve a multitude of utility purposes.
All crops use organic regimes of cultivation. While vegetables generate income in the short
term, tree crops generate income both in the short and long terms as well as a host of other
benefits.
For Food: Pineapple, Passion fruit, Goraka, Mango, Papaw, Rambutan, Coffee, J ak, Cashew,
King Coconut, Coconut, Pomegranate, Kitul, Sesbania grandiflora, Lemon, Lime, Orange,
Mandarin, Sapodilla, Grapes, J ambu, Guava, Cinnamon, Pepper, Avacado, Banana, Goraka,
Mulberry, Rampe, Nelli, Puwak, Sera, Kamaranga, Bilin, Ambarella, Betel and Curry Leaf.
For Medicine: Vitex negundo, Pavetta indica, Vetiver zizanoides, Cymbopogon citratus,
Andrographis paniculata, Phyllanthus emblicus and Areca catechu
Ornamental Plants: Cassia spectabilis, Lagerstroma flos reginae, Tabebuia rosea, Tecoma
stans, Bauhinia purpurea. and Murraya paniculata
Soil Conservation: Gliricidia maculata, Pavetta indica, Vetiver zizanoides and Cymbopogon
citratus
For fuelwood: Vitex negundo, Pavetta indica and Gliricidia maculata

Regenerative Agriculture of vegetables and other field crops
After the training programmes conducted in the gardens of Sarath Chitrasena, and T.G.
Dhanapala, work started in earnest in the home gardens of 23 other farmers. After
constructing soil beds, a compost pile and basket were made in each garden. Seeds of over 28
118
varieties of vegetables were given to farmers including red onion, snake gourd, ridge gourd,
ladies fingers, winged bean, brinjal, tomato, chillies and capsicum. Old varieties of pumpkin
and water melon seed were also distributed. Watering cans and plastic barrels to manufacture
liquid fertilizer were distributed to all farmers. At the end of September, farmers had
concluded 2 cycles of vegetable production and were initiating the third cycle.
Paddy
The Project introduced the Nawa Kekulama method of paddy production to 8 farmers with
cultivation beginning on the 8
th
of October, 2010. This traditional 'dry method' uses only 1/3
rd

of the water that is used in wet paddy cultivation. 3 traditional varieties of paddy, namely
Suwandel, Madathawalu and Pachcha Perumal were cultivated following all customs and
rites associated with growing traditional rice.

Outcomes of the work
Social
The Project has been able to train two village youth in ecological agriculture. They
can now design landscapes in respect of their functional needs and work with farmers
to improve their lot.
Farmers are presently commencing their 3
rd
cycle of vegetable production and are
familiar with the use of biological fertilizers and pesticides.
Farmers are able to feed their families from the produce of the home garden thereby
reducing costs incurred when purchasing vegetables from the market thus becoming
food secure.
The diversity of vegetables, yams, tubers, cereals and leafy vegetables ensures an
increase in nutrition specifically for the children.
The use of organic regimes in cultivation ensures that people are eating food that is
free from poisons
Farmers have been mobilized to form the Heda Oya Conservation Group.
Recognition of the work has fostered partnerships with the Government Agent,
Moneragala, Divisional Secretariat, Siyambalanduwa and Village Headmen. This has
resulted in 9 farmers attached to the Project receiving support to dig wells in their
gardens.
The Divisional Secretary has identified Wila Oya as the next location for restoration
to be replicated.

Economic
Farmers who cultivate vegetables have begun to generate an average monthly income
of Rs. 3,000.00 six months later.
The risk of being dependent on any one or two crops is alleviated by the diversity of
of plants in the scheme.
The potential income that can be generated by the 20th year from all crops planted is
equivalent to Rs. 1,500,000.00+!
Many farmers have begun to collect seed and are now seed secure.
The Heda Oya Conservation Group has initiated a savings programme out of the
income generated from selling vegetables

Ecological
Engaging in regenerative, organic agriculture has:
Increased sequestration of carbon in soils thus mitigating climate change
119
Reduced release of nitrous oxide through dry paddy farming methods like Nawa
Kekulama
Increased soil fertility through the increase evident in soil biodiversity

Planting of a highly diverse forest garden has:
Increased shade in farmer's gardens
Increased leaf litter on the soil
The build up of organic matter has increased moisture retention in soils
Recreated habitat for biodiversity evident in increase in frequency of birds,
butterflies, dragon & damselflies, lizards and frogs

Planting of the riparian zone of streams will:
Stabilize banks
Reduce erosion
Reduce turbidity of stream water
Recreate habitat for aquatic biodiversity

Planting around wells will:
Ensure the development of a root mat to:
a) bioremediate any contaminants in Ground water thereby improving well water
quality
b) enhance the recharge of the aquifer through increased percolation
Increase shade on the well and thus ensure a decrease in evaporation of well water
Increased water availability in the future

References
Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka, 2002, Headcount Index & Population below
Poverty Line
Herbert, R, Ball, D.K., Rodrigo, L.D.P., Wright, E.P. The regolith aquifer of hard rock area
with special reference to Sri Lanka
Punyawardena, B.V.R., 2010, Solid Waste and Climate Change: Possible Mitigation Options
in Sri Lanka, Workshop on Climate Change, Overseas Italian INGO, Ampara
Viswanath, T and Yoshida, N, 2005, Drought and poverty incidence Poverty Maps in Sri
Lanka, Policy Impacts and Lessons, 10412-12_Ch12.qxd 8/16/07
120
Agro biodiversity Conservation and Small-Scale Organic Farmers in Peruvian
Highlands

Moiss, Quispe
Asociacin Nacional de Productores Ecolgicos del Per
agroecologico2003@yahoo.com
www.anpeperu.org

Key words: biodiversity, cultural identity, family farming

Introduction

Peru is one of the 10 most megadiverse countries of the world, has the second biggest Amazon
forest, the largest area with tropical highlands, 84 of 104 life zones in the world, and 27 of 32
climates of the world. Peru has the highest genetic diversity of two of the four most important food
crops potato and corn.
The Andean Region and its Highlands are a diverse area: desserts, tropical rainforests, dry
highlands, a generous variety of ecosystems full of life and food. The landscape looks hostile and
adverse to human survival, but ancient people inhabited here and demonstrated that they are not
only able to survive but also to dominate its geography and create flourishing civilizations. Most
famous of all is the Inca Empire occupying a vast territory in South America, including the areas
today known as Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and South Colombia providing food
security and sovereignty with little impact on mother earth.
The actual alterations in these ecosystems are affecting the biodiversity on which small-scale
farming is based. Mono-cropping practices in the last years have oriented agricultural production to
provoking serious damage in native seeds and agrobiodiversity. However, conservationist farmers
develop alternative ecological strategies, based on ancient knowledge and traditions, to maintain the
rich presence of biodiversity and seeds of food crops in their ecosystems.


Results and conclusions

Strategies for agrobiodiversity conservation:

Agrobiodiversity is the most important vital resource for smallholder farmers. It has turned to be a
mainstream concept, but still includes however definitions and knowledge managed by and passed
through generations in a collective way, such as minkas and aynis for instance, forms of group work
that are reflecting ties of confidence and solidarity the first meaning the voluntary work on the
field of related elder people or friends (often even without giving notice, making for a nice surprise
when the owner arrives at his/her worked field), the latter standing for a reciprocal relationship in
which one day I convoke a group of people to help in my field and from them on I owe them all a
day of work. Peasant agriculture is often being considered as useless, not modern, antiscientific,
but in fact it is this kind of agriculture that delivered much knowledge and food for the world,
without damaging mother earth while adapting to climate change.

Agriculture practiced by ancient people and civilizations such as Chinese, Egyptians and
Incas valued and worshipped mother earth, instead of destroying it. They knew how to use
the natures forces such as the diversity in crops, water management, astronomic aspects, etc.
Nowadays, smallholder farmers deliver as much as 70% of the food consumed in Peru,
while industrial conventional agriculture only delivers 20% of the food needs in the country.

Agrobiodiversity flagships in Peru
121

What are agrobiodiversity flagships? They are strategic centres of habitat and soil quality
where specific crops are conservated to guarantee food security and sovereignty, with the
valorization of diverse traditional foods in local markets.
These agrobiodiversity bastions are located in the high mountains, in the Quechua regions
between 2,000 and 4,000 meters above sea level. In these places peasants work for local
food promotion, market development, safeguard of their cultural and natural heritage, and
consumers education. These are places where standing for biodiversity not only means life
quality improvement but also a guarantee for an ecological and healthy environment.
Among the strategies, one strategy is farmers organization in groups of conservationists and
guardians to establish the rationales of conservation authenticity and for lobbying activities.

Cultural valorization is focused on in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity. Andean people consider
mother earth as a strategic alley including soil and all living beings (plants, animals,
microorganisms) that are contributing to soil fertility as a cultural and social space, for knowledge
exchange about ancient technologies. The success of this kind of systems delivers a healthy flavour,
where culture is expressed and makes it possible to build on an agroecological society as a life
philosophy. Small-scale or family agriculture conserves their practices and seeds, and it renews
biodiversity through millennia of facing climate change impacts. Seeds are a peasants and
indigenous work, based on a collective effort and maintained through history.

The peasant economics are based on the rational use of agrobiodiversity. Production and
productivity are increased, while looking for an improved management of technology, human
capacity development, sustainable management of natural resources and higher economic
competitiveness. Organizational capacity has to be strengthened, with a vision to generate small
enterprises in order to respond to demand in the marketplaces and to legitimate competitive
leadership.
Lobbying at the political decision making level for a better and more adequate management and
conservation of agrobiodiversity has to deal with democratic institutions based in the territory and
how they are strengthened throughout the process. The transversal approach on how to deal with
climate change and geographic diversity as well as with social, political and cultural diversity in
Peru, demands participation of several stakeholders. There is the need to build strategies and
synergies and, therefore, the Peruvian Agroecological Consortium is a clear example of how to
work together with the Ministry of Environment and other public and private stakeholders.


Agro biodiversity flagships: the native potato example

As a practical example of the importance of these agrobiodiveristy flagships, we shortly present the
experience of Julio Hancco Mamani, a conservationist farmer of native potatoes in Pampacorral
(Lares district, Calca province, Cusco, Per).

In 2000, the diversity of native potatoes in Lares was kind of moderate and to promote its
conservation, Julio Hanco Mamani was awarded in a local agricultural festival for displaying the
largest variety of papas nativas (he was growing about 60 varieties at that time). However, in 2002
he lost his faith in the purpose of maintaining this large diversity and wanted to simply keep on
growing a few of his favourite varieties for personal consumption while mostly focussing on
commercial varieties. Luckily, after Terra Madre in Italy in the same year, surges the project of
Agrobiodiversity Flagships. In an alliance between Slow Food and ANPE PER, the
agrobiodiversity bastions of native potatoes, kaihua (Andean grain) and bitter potatoes were
created and strengthened, starting a revalorisation and conservation process of these valuable crops.
122
One year later, in 2004, Julio Hancco himself has the opportunity to travel to Terra Madre in Italy
where he sells out his 200 boxes of coloured native potato chips in the first day already.

Spreading this story at home comparing the price of 1.25 he would get in the local market for
one arroba of potatoes (about 12 kg) to the revenues of 112.5 by using the same arroba to sell 45
boxes of his native potatoes chips at 2.5 in Europe he and his fellow farmers understood the
opportunity of their conservation work finally being rewarded. A group of potato farmers would
grow around Julio Hancco and his sound production technique of soil conservation and soil
nutrition (making his livestock sleep and herd on the fields he would work the next sowing period),
concise seed selection, and removing the flowers of the potato plants to avoid pollination.

Nowadays, Julio Hancco Mamani is working about 3 hectare every harvest, of which he uses about
40% for personal consumption, 40% for sales and 20% for trueque, local barter of agriculture
products and seeds. Every year his harvests are good. Since there are little diseases at the high
altitude at which he is working (around 4000 meters above sea level), his main concern is the fast
decline of the glacier under which he is living. Julio Hancco lately became a renowned
conservationist farmer in national and international media, when he received the awards of The
king of potatoes in 2009 and a Silver Pepper Award in 2010 (in the yearly international
gastronomic fair Mistura in Lima) for his work of preserving biodiversity in native potatoes. In
the same farmer-cook alliance, he and his fellow farmers are actually selling a variety of their native
potatoes to the restaurants of a Peruvian top chef in Cusco, Arequipa and Lima. From his 60
varieties back in the year 2000, and working together with the fellow farmers in his community,
Julio Hancco Mamani is now growing and preserving more than 200 varieties of his native potatoes
which display a wide spread of tastes, qualities and colours.

123
Organicos & Naturais: Sustainable Tourism Circuit in the District of Pedra
Azul, Domingos Martins, State of Espirito Santo, Brazil

Souza, M.C.M.
1


Key words: agroecotourim, organic circuit, standards construction, Pedra Azul, Brazil
Abstract
Innovative strategies to disseminate agroecological concerns have been recently being built
based on sustainable tourism in rural areas. Agroecotourism is a new way to promote local
agroecological resources. This paper aims to analyse the case of Organicos & Naturais
touristic circuit, which encompass seven economical activities such as organic farms, small
agroindustries and hostels, in the district of Pedra Azul, which is placed in Domingos Martins,
state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The circuit was lauched in order to promote integrated leisure
among farms disclosing the idea of organic agriculture and ecotourism. The experience of the
pioneer farmer and neighbours presently helps the construction of standards for
agroecotourism.

Introduction
Pedra Azul is a touristic district 1,100 meters above sea level, located about 100 Km away
from Vitoria, the capital of the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil, in the municipality of
Domingos Martins. Around the wonderful blue stone of 1,822 meters high, Pedra Azul State
Park, which was founded in 1991, is one of its natural attractions. Besides these natural
resources there are also other touristic and leisure activicties such as the Organicos &
Naturais touristic circuit, which is a new and pathbreaking experience in both state and
country.
The purpose of this paper is to study this innovative touristic circuit, based on the Economic
Sociology approach, in order to analyze the social construction of this sustainable network.
Organicos & Naturais encompasses different actors who are helping to build a new legal
framework with their specific social skills, focusing on developing the link between organic
agriculture and leisure.
Materials and methods
Field trips were carried out in order to identify local actors related to the Organicos &
Naturais touristic circuit as well as the institutional support for building this agroecological
network. Partners who are placed in Pedra Azul, a district of Domingos Martins in Espirito
Santo, Brazil, were interviewed based on semi-structured questionnaires. Interviews were
carried out by the end of July, 2010.
Results and Discussion
One of the touristic areas officially supported by the State Department of Tourism of Espirito
Santo is the Montanhas Capixabas, an exuberant mountainous region reaching nine
1
IEA Instituto de Economia Agricola, Av Miguel Stefano 3.900, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil 04301-903, E-mail mcmsouza@iea.sp.gov.br , Internet
www.iea.sp.gov.br
124
municipalities, including Domingos Martins, where Pedra Azul district is placed. All of them
offer many options related to the convivium with nature, natural woods of the Atlantic Forest,
cascades and cultural products. In Venda Nova do Imigrante, wich is an important coffee
producer, for instance, there is an Agrotourism Circuit, mostly related to coffee farms, Italian
culture and local artisanal food, such as the socol (pork sausage). Nevertheless, despite
close relations with nature, none of those touristic initiatives are focused on agroecological
practices.
Several touristic options can be found in Pedra Azul, such as the State Park, besides
infrastructure such as small hotels, bed & breakfasts, restaurants and agrotourism as well.
However, among many options, there is a cluster of a different initiative. The idea started
around ten years ago, when an agrecological project took place nearby. Organicos & Naturais
touristic circuit offers different options as far as organic agriculture is concerned. It blends
agroecologic, organic and presently biodynamic agriculture to agrotourism in a way to
integrate farms with similar ideals.
The social building of the concept of agroecotourism involves a number of actors. As the idea
grew up among potential partners, qualification for tourism was given by local SEBRAE,
which is the Brazilian agency responsible for giving technical support to small entrepreneurs.
Participants of the circuit and their main activicties are briefly shown in Table 1, below.
Organicos & Naturais touristic circuit initially encompassed seven farms with different
alternatives concerning ecological and organic agriculture. They are placed less than 20 km
away one from another, as follows:
a) Sitio Fim da Picada, Domaine Ile de France, Apiario Florin, Sitio dos Palmitos and
Pousada du Carmo are placed around ES 165, which is the road linking Pedra Azul to
neighbour municipality of Afonso Claudio, and
b) Penhazul and Fjordland, placed at Rota do Lagarto, closer to the blue rock.

Tab. 1: Organicos & Naturais touristic circuit, Pedra Azul, Esprito Santo, Brazil
Participants Main activities
Apiario Florin Beekeeping, honey store
Domaine Agroecologica Organic farming, eggs and poultry, b&b, brasserie,
restaurant, organic store
Fjordland Horse riding, organic coffee/cafeteria, souvenirs
Penhazul Bed & breakfast, art, antiquities, handicraft
Pousada du Carmo Bed & breakfast, home made products
Stio dos Palmitos Heart of palms production and processing
Sitio Fim da Picada Tropeiro breakfast, walking/riding, exotic animals,
home made products
Source: research data (2010)
Tourists have the options of visiting partners independently or book integrated visits among
different Organic & Naturais farms, all identified with a ladybug logo.
125
The first one is Domaine Organicos, whose owners are partially in charge of integrating all
these agroecological projects. The owner is one of the main idealists and organizers of this
innovative circuit, based on agroecotourism. Domaine is a certified organic and biodynamic
farm in charge of producing and processing vegetables, eggs and poultry. It is the only
organically certified poultry abattoir in Brazil. The farm is run with a French touch given by
his wife and chef de cuisine. Important attractions are lodging in chalets and thematic suites,
organic brasserie and restaurant, visits to organic production and processing areas, belvedere,
ecological trials, conference rooms for courses focusing on organic and biodynamic
agriculture and a store selling organic products.
Then Sitio Fim da Picada is a small farm with some exotic animals, which offers walking and
riding trials, tropeiro breakfast, as well as locally produced marmelades, breads, cheeses,
sweets, liqueurs and cookies.
In Sitio dos Palmitos, a rare and wide range of palm trees species, carefully gathered by the
owner can be found. It is possible to visit growing areas besides guided tour to the small
hearts of palms processing plant. Sort of frozen and preserved dishes locally prepared with
processed hearts of palms are also sold.
Fjordland is the place for ecological riding, visiting the Pedra Azul State Park and its trials to
natural pools, belvederes, kids trials, besides the farms organic coffee area. Auditorium,
space for cooking courses, organic garden, cafeteria and souvenirs are also available.
At Apiario Florin it is possible to visit some bee hives nearby an hear some explanations
about beekeeping and honey production as well as byproducts such as beeswax and propolis.
It is also possible to try and buy a choice of different honeys, which vary according to
different flowers.
Penhazul, in turn, is a bed & breakfast placed on an old farmhouse right by the blue rock.
Besides wonderful views of this amazing stone, forests and trials, there is also a small store
with some arts, fine embroideries and handicrafts.
And last, but not least, Pousada Vale du Carmo is a bed & breakfast, offering lodging in
chalets, as well as local food, home made marmelades and trials on the woods.
Recently changes have been introduced in the circuit. Penhazul is out while renewing and
other farms may join it from now on: orchid-house besides grapes and wine.
Since there are still no patterns available, Domaine is now being reference for building
agroecotourism standards. Organicos & Naturais touristic circuit is also part of this process,
which is being carried on by IBD, the certification body who certifies them as organic and
presently biodynamic as well. Domaine strong environmental concerns are commited in
planting new areas in order to generate new water sources and solar light. Also, only organic
food is served, mostly cultivated and/or processed locally. There are other environmental
friendly initiatives such as waste recycling and use of biodegradable amenities.
Besides some definitions of the concepts related to agroecotourism and some basic principles,
objectives and procedures for certification, the draft standards consider aspects such as basic
infrastructure, water use, soil conservation and local flora and fauna conservation. Standards
also take into consideration important topics such as communication with tourists, lodging,
organic agriculture and cattle raising practices, gastronomy, social responsibility, client
relations and other legal regulation.
This process of standards construction shows the important role Domaine plays not only
disseminating agroecological concepts by means of Organicos & Naturais touristic circuit but
126
also promoting actions to help building consistent legal framewoks related to agroecotourism
in Brazil.
Conclusions
This paper calls attention to innovative partnerships and social skills to improve, develop an
disseminate sustainable practices. Cooperation and entrepreneurship related to agroecological
ideals are key issues. They can be observed in Organicos & Naturais touristic circuit as farms
promote a sustainable network of integrated leisure disclosing the idea of organic agriculture,
natural and ecological tourism.
These initiatives disseminate agroecological concerns among neighbours, visitors, local
agencies and tourists of Pedra Azul and Montanhas Capixabas region. The importance of new
ideas able to change local organization and institutional support is highlighted. The
experience of the pioneer farmer and neighbours presently helps the construction of standards
for agroecotourism.
Acknowledgments
Author thanks to CAPES/COFECUB Project 624/09, IEA for financing and Domaine team
for local support.
References
Fligstein N (2001): Social Skills and the Theory of Fields. Berkeley, U.C.Berkeley, mimeo,
44p.
Fligstein N (2002): The Architecture of Markets: an Economic Sociology of Twenty-First-
Century Capitalist Societies. Princeton, Princeton University Press. Second printing.
274p.
Goodman D, Goodman M (2001): Sustaining Foods: organic consumption and the socio-
ecological imaginary. Elsevier Science: Social Sciences, vol 1, p.97-119.
IBD (2009). Diretrizes IBD de Agroecoecoturismo. IBD, 9p. 1st edition. (mimeo)

127
Umesh Lama
Organic World and Fair Future (OWF)
Kathmandu, Nepal

Abstract

The project titled as Enhancing Food-security through Organic agriculture and Rural Tourism
(EFORT) has been designed to integrate organic agriculture and ecotourism activities with food
security . This concept has been prepared in close consultation with the Cooperatives/NGO//CBOs
from proposed project area This project will be implemented by Organic World and Fair Future
(OWF) and Folk Nepal in partnership with local Cooperatives (COOPS) /NGOs/clubs of the
respective area.
The main objective of this 1
st
phase 3 year project of the total 6 year life is to enhance food security
situation of the project area by increasing the income through strengthening the technical and
managerial capacity of the partners particularly the COOPs/NGOS or clubs in the area of organic
agriculture and ecotourism. Special attention will be taken to mobilise youths to uplift the socio
economic standard of the poor and socially excluded food unsecured farmers. The main
interventions include; awareness raising on the importance of organic agriculture and ecotourism,
capacity building for technology transfer, commercialise agro production including Market
development.
The major activities include; train and develop local resource persons in technical field for
esta
For monitoring and evaluation of the program, there will be independent monitoring and advisory
committee comprised of representatives from VDC/DDC/COOP and intellectual circle. The project
will be evaluated in the 3rd year through an independent external consultant. The project will be
extended or ceased based on the recommendation of the evaluation committee.
blishing local resource centres, interaction workshop with producers, certifiers and traders,
establish multipurpose nursery at individual/community level, conduct on farm research,
result demonstration on proven technologies, organic seed multiplication, training on
vegetable production, processing and marketing, support for agriculture infrastructure
development: construct and establish transit stores collection centre, processing plant,
installation of improved cook stove, solar dryer etc, training on NTFPs (Non Timber Forest
Products) management ,farm Yard Manure, compost improvement, On the site training on soil
improvement interventions such as green manuring, mulch cropping, leguminous cropping,
crop rotation, quality assurance through organic certification, organic farmers filed school,
training on farm management with emphasis on nutrient mgnt, establish and operate organic
outlet in the district, exposure visit, TOT on value chain development , OA, and tourist
Guide/cooking
128
Impacts of Asset Base Sustainable Agriculture Processes and Results of Societal
Engagement of Creating and Recreating Local Communities in Mindanao,
Philippines

VIC I. TAGUPA
XAVIER UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE CENTER, PHILIPPINES
victagupa2009@yahoo.com

Key words : asset base sustainable agriculture, tri/multi-sector partnership, linear probability
model, sustainable agriculture indicators, most significant change

Introduction

The XUSACenter institutional development framework/principles/philosophy of SA is expressed
by the symbiotic interplay of the 7 dimensions of SA and harmonized with ABCD (Asset Base
Community Development) approach. In order for agricultural development to be sustainable, it has
to be ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just and equitable, culturally appropriate and
sensitive, technically appropriate in a given location, grounded in holistic science and promote the
total or authentic development of human potentials which is interconnected to internal assets prior
to leveraging to external assets. Hence, the Tri/Multi-Sector Partnerships (T/MSP), process-based
and farmer-centered development approach is adopted in by SACenter. This authentic view of asset
base SA principles and philosophy prohibits the usage of the huge materialistic chain of
agrochemicals and genetically engineered/modified organisms.

The paper shares the major impacts of SACenters quests of talking and taking action of sustainable
agriculture development framework operationalization as the only academic-based agriculture
institution in the Philippines with mission of Sustainable Agriculture since 1992. The paper also
reported the current major challenges of sustainable agriculture operationalization in society in the
midst of new Organic Agriculture law in the Philippines

Methods and Materials

SACenter retrieved and analyzed its internal report documents beginning 1993 including the
external evaluation of 2011. The on farm and off farm demographic profile survey data were
statistically processed using the linear probability model Predicted Outcome =a +bX
1
+cX
2
+dX
3
+
. nXn, where a is intercept coefficient and b..n are coefficients of impact variables Xn. To
capture the qualitative impacts, the Most Significant Change (MSC) technique/tool was adopted
(Cunningham and Mathie, 2002) and evaluated using the simple descriptive statistical tool. To
determine the extent of SA operationalization by family farms, the142 family farms were visited
and evaluated using the Sustainable Agriculture Indicators (SAI) monitoring and evaluation tool of
SACenter (Tagupa, et. al., 2005). The results of SAI evaluation in each family farm was
systematically process in prepared computer worksheets. Each family farm was quantitatively and
qualitatively rated/interpreted based on Table 1.





Table 1. SA Indicators quantitative and qualitative interpretation for SA development
continuum
Quantitative Percentile Rating Qualitative Rating Interpretation
129
<34 Needs Very Serious Interventions (NVSI)
35 50 Needs Serious Interventions (NSI)
51 66 Needs Moderate Interventions (NMI)
67 82 Needs Less Interventions (NLI)
>83 Self Reliant Sustainable Agriculture


Results and Conclusion

The results pointed out the impacts and learning of almost 2 decades of SACenter SA development
program operationalization and the new forms of challenges. The identified major impacts of SA
development operationalization are characterized by the 4 major stages which include the
historical accounts from 2 family farms in Valencia City of 1993-1996, promotion and extension
on 1997-2000, mainstreaming on 2001 -2004 and institutionalization through political upscaling
among others beyond Mindanao, Philippines since 2005.

General Processes

The centre follows the concept of the Seven Dimensions of SA in informing its approaches and
strategies. Beginning 2001, the centre integrated and harmonized the concept of ABCD (Asset Base
Community Development) with 7 Dimensions of SA which put emphasis on the internal
dimensional assets prior to leveraging on the externalities, hence, the
framework/principles/philosophy and practices follow the Asset Base Sustainable Agriculture
development as shown in figure 1. On the actual operationalization, SA Centre put many processes
into motion and accomplished many positive outputs and outcomes. The general process of SA
promotion has gone something like this (Gebert and Belesario, 2011):

1. SA Centre either catalyses interest in the issue through advocacy and networking, or
responds to particular stakeholders expressed interest;
2. SA Centre then arranges for and provides training for key stakeholders, including farmers,
LGUs, parishes, etc.;
3. SA Centre helps to formalise and/or legalise the interest in SA, especially in Valencia City
and Tongantongan but also Mindanao dioceses, via ordinances, plans, registered farmer
organisations (FOs) and formalised networks;
4. Different support processes at farmer/FO level started up (training of trainers, field research
support, etc.), to a certain extent based on devised plans and leverage funds from
government sources.

Political Upscaling

In this context, political upscaling is defined as process where the SA development agenda is
institutionalized through a legal document as basis of formulating a process-based and long term
community-wide sustainable agriculture development agenda. The political







130












upscaling is very visible in a form of institutionalization through creation of legal documents such
as ordinances and Memo of Agreements/Understanding with partner agencies from the local
government units (LGUs) and national government. In the entire Valencia city of Central
Mindanao with over 100,000 populations in 63,000 hectares of land, the City Ordinance of 2001
was approved that prohibited the application/usage of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
and the experienced of COMBASED (Community Base SA Development)Tongantongan was up-
scaled and institutionalized by City Ordinance of 2005 creating the Valencia City Task Force
Organic (TFO) with principal function of formal formulation of long term process and multi-
stakeholders-based SA and Organic Rice Development (SAORD) Master Plan with budget
allocations integrated in Annual Investment Plan of the city.

The institutionalized multi-stakeholders process-based was replicated by the completion of
Sustainable Organic Agriculture (SOA) Master Plan in over 62,000 hectares land/soil resources
with over 50,000 citizens in the municipality of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao. The
municipality legally institutionalized the Dumingag Institute of Sustainable Organic Agriculture
(DISOA) that trains local farmers as farmer trainers by mobilizing the municipalitys agriculture
department and SA/OA practitioners with funding from the municipal government.

Recognition of local small farmer organization and Creation of microbusinesses

The city government legally recognized the local Farmer association TOFSSA (Tongantongan
Organic Farming Society on SA) in one of the seven (7) farmers associations in Valencia City and
the Valencia Organic Rice advocated by SACenter and TOFSSA which was subsequently
recognized by the national and regional Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as the One Town
One Product (OTOP). Several MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprize) in 1.5 hectare
property of TOFSSA were managed including the Php 1.5 M (USD 34,000) vermicompost facility,
Soil Analysis Kit and Trichoderma harzianum laboratories financially supported by the national
Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soil and Water Management (DA-BSWM) in Manila.

Green Revolution/Conventional Agriculture to SA systems

The governments institutionalized mindset program packaged GR-based technologies in over
10,000 hectares irrigated rice lands in Valencia city is replaced by institutionalized multi-
stakeholder-based process SA and Organic Rice Development (SAORD) Master Plan. The
processes resulted to conventional farms conversion to SA system. This finding is supported by the
external evaluation team of March 2011.

131
The GR hybrid and inbred rice varieties notably MASIPAG locally adapted seeds perform similarly
with the same positive contribution to yield and net crop income (Table 2). The agrochemicals
(chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides) and seed costs contributed to very high negative
impacts to rice farm familys Net Income (PY
3
) even with the presence of other agro-
socioeconomic variables. The significant PY
3
linear probability

regression model as influenced by
12 agrosocioeconomic variables is PY
3
= 807.405(X
1
) +6472.850(X
2
) +2.585(X
3
) +1.852(X
4
) -
2.450(X
5
) - 0.339(X
6
) + 0.889(X
7
) - 2.410(X
8
) +1048.887(X
9
) +27,920.32(X
10
) +244.978(X
11
) -
375.183(X
12
) +.3.576(X
13
) - 30,323.6

Table 2 further shows that application of organic fertilizer (X
7
) provided a very high positive impact
to yield with an average of 31.8% per peso (USD 0.023) of fertilizer(X
7
). The significant predicted
rice yield (PY
1
) as influenced by 12 agrosocioeconomic variables is PY
1
= 1546.5 +3318.103(X
1
)
+974.00(X
2
) - 0.0893(X
3
) +0.054(X
4
) +0.037(X
5
) - 0.026(X
6
) +0.318(X
7
) +0.020(X
8
) -
25.804(X
9
) +467.333(X
10
) - 51.993(X
11
) +14.001(X
12
).

Mobilization of Farmer-based Research and SA Trainers Pool.

The effective mobilization of over 100 Farmer-based Research and Trainers Pool in Mindanao is
strongly supported by the compensation/honorarium received during local/international SA related
activities as significant contribution to the other sources of income in the family (0.8465**X
6
). The
significant (*) linear probability model of predicting income (PI) from other sources: (X
1

=organization category), X
2
=crop category, corn =1 and rice =0, X
3=
crop-based diversification,
X
4
=animal-based diversification, X
5
=childrens support)+X
6
=honorarium receivedby farmer
trainer) of 75 smallholder rice and corn farmers in Pagadian diocese is expressed by the following
(** highly significant): PI =1959.32** +912.86X
1
1559.9170X
2
+1.0366**X
3
+0.5017X
4
+
0.7525X
5
+0.8465**X
6.
The honorarium significant contribution implies that farmers are already
empowered with skills and capacities of sustainable agriculture. Two farmers had already
developed and produced/breed over 20 rice cultivars/varieties and the rice breed are distributed free
to farmers beyond Mindanao.

Farm Diversification, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

The above linear probability model of predicting income PI clearly showed that monoculture in
small farm holding is not sustainable. The farm diversification due to crop Crop (X
3
)

highly
contributed to farming household monthly income (1.0366**) than animal-based diversification
(X
4
) which required high seed capital to purchase animals. The model strongly suggests that farm
diversification is significantly better than monoculture (X
2
). This finding clearly demonstrated the
long term sustainable agriculture system should be based from functional farm diversification
(Altieri, 1995) to ensure food
Table 2. Impacts of selected agrosocioeconomic variables to yield, gross income and
net income of rice family farms in Valencia City, Philippines, 2009
1

Variable
Yield, Kg
(Y
1
)
Gross Income
(Y
2
), Php
Net Income (Y
3
),
Php
No of respondents (N) 284 284 284
Model Probability
highly
significant
highly
significant highly significant
Adjusted R
2
86.30% 97.60% 88.10%
Constant +/ns +/ns -/ns
Area, ha (X
1
) ++ +/ns +/ns
Variety (X
2
) +/ns +/ns +/ns
132
Family labor cost, Php (X
3
) -/ns +/ns +
Hired labor cost, Php (X
4
) ++ ++ ++
Seed cost, Php (X
5
) +/ns ++ --
Chemical fertilizer cost, Php (X
6
) -/ns +/ns --
Organic Fertilizer cost, Php (X
7
) ++ -/ns +/ns
Pesticide cost, Php (X
8
) +/ns -/ns --
Education (X
9
) -/ns +/ns +/ns
Land tenure (X
10
) +/ns +/ns ++
Year in Farming (X
11
) -/ns +/ns -/ns
Age (X
12
) +/ns -/ns -/ns
1
++, very high positive impacts; --, very high negative impacts;
+, high positive impacts; -, high negative impacts
+/ns, not significant positive impacts; -/ns, not significant negative impacts
Dummy variables: variety( 1 =hybrid , 0 =inbreed); Land tenure (1 owner, 0)

security. Two-third of the small corn and rice farmers clearly demonstrated that households food
security was given emphasis immediately after harvesting(strongly agree) and only 7.8% disagreed.
Relatively, farmers practicing SA realized a projected Family Farm Monthly Cash Income (FFMI)
as high as 25%. This corresponds to an average of Php 6,395.51 (USD 158) which suggests that SA
enhances poverty reduction. The reference significant regression model with adjusted R
2
at 74.1%
is predicted FFMCI = -200.9 - 2.9X
1
(age)+ 219.4X
2
(sex)+ 773.3X
3
(civil status) +
100.4X
4
*(education) +704.2X
5
* (SA practitioner)+0.96X
6
**(monthly expenses) -
978.9G*X
7
(membership) +597.8X
8
(number of SA trainings).

Operationalization of Sustainable Agriculture Development Framework/Principles

The overall operationalization of SA in Mindanao under the Inter-Diocesan SA Network (IDSANet)
arcdioceses/dioceses members showed an average sustainability of 54% which corresponds to the
Need Moderate Intervention (NMI) in SA operationalization continuum (Figure 2). This finding
was confirmed by 75 family farms in Pagadian diocese on 2009 that shows the operationalization of
the 7 dimensions of SA still halfway
(50.1%) and only 1.4% of farm
families closed to self reliant SA (SRSA).
Relatively, the major challenges of SA
development agenda operationalzation
anchored on the 7 dimensional assets of SA are
appropriate technology and economic
viability and total human development
(Figure 3).

Collectively, the SA development
operationalization most significant
impacts are strongly expressed in the
different levels of society: organization, farms,
families, and communities. These
include the institutionalized intensive action
advocacy of Mindanao Catholic churches,
process-based


Figure 2. Percent sustainability of family
farms (Y) of IDSANet members
in Mindanao, Philippines
Source: IDSANet terminal report, 2008


133
city/municipality/community-wide SA development programming with government agencies, food
security and healthy body in families, low expenses and high income in family farms among others.

Beyond Conventional Science and Technology

The Mindanao IDSANet SA
Program clearly demonstrated that is
significantly based on the church
teaching and on faith-based
philosophy. The Gods providence as
internalized by at least 90% SA
practitioners is a concrete
manifestation that SA goes beyond the
conventional science and technology.
Though the technology received the lowest
impact
on the operationalization of the 7
dimensions of SA, farmers are
inherently empowered to understand the
complexity of SA by having a God-
centered faith on their daily journeys in
family farms and
communities/societies.

The difficult translation into
monetary term of the significant
impacts in the operationalization of SA
development agenda is the strong God-
centered faith of family farms that SA is a way of Life and follows the Law of Nature which is
deeply considered as the Law of God. This is excellently the best in so far as the translations of the
spiritual-based human development of SA development agenda in 19 out of 21 Mindanao IDSANet
members in the Philippines which is beyond the wisdom of conventional economic-centered
agricultural development.

SA niche in the Philippine agriculture universities

Recently, the university received a higher distinction as Center of Development by PAASCU
(Philippine Accredited Association of State Colleges and Universities) with special niche on SA.
This recognition clearly shows that XU is the main university that effectively plays a major key role
of SA development movements across the Philippines society.

Conclusion, lessons learned and major challenges

The XUSACenter institutional societal engagement with SA development approaches/strategies
supported by Misereor of Germany resulted to experiential-based symbiotic interplay of 7
dimensional assets which started on the functional partnerships with 2 farm families on 1994 and
the current institutionalization of socio-political assets relative to the Philippines Organic
Agriculture law. It successfully brings the institutionalized municipality/city/community-wide SA
development operationalization with multi-stakehoders partners involving small farmers
associations/organizations, NGOs, local/national government agencies and faith-based institution


Figure 3. Percent sustainability by dimensions of
family farms in Mindanao, Philippines,
2009.

Legend: ES ecologically sound, EV economically
viable, SJ - socially just and equitable, CA- culturally
sensitive/appropriate, AT- appropriate technology, HS-
grounded in holistic science, THD- potentials of total
human development
134
specifically the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) through IDSANet.

SACenter realized that the in-depth institutional processes of municipality/city/community-wide
long term SA development programming and/or Master Plan formulation shall be supported with
legal instruments such as Municipal/City Ordinances. These legal instruments will safeguard the
Master Plan and its operationalization even during the change of leadership after election.

On the other hand, SACenter needs to distill its on the ground experiences of societal engagement
with the strategic concerns of in-depth mobilization of farmers/people social capital, sustainable
food, water, clean energy and empowering small farmers and farmers organizations to become a
Self Reliant Sustainable Agriculture (SRSA) in the midst of global/local climate change,
globalization, Philippine Organic Agriculture Law and worsening rural and urban poverty. With the
national organic agriculture policy framework, the OA development opportunities are already
institutionalized including the high risk of small farm holders marginalization and isolation since
the law only recognized government accredited third party certification and prohibits the local
standards innovations including PGS.

References
ALTTIERI, M. A. 1995. Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.
CUNNINGHAM, G. and Mathie, A. 2009.Participants Manual: Mobilizing assets for community-
driven development. Coady International Institute. Canada.
GEBERT, R and Belisario, P. 2011. External Evaluation of the Sustainable Agriculture Programme
2001 2011. Proj. Nr. 410 903 1059 Z. Eval. Nr. 1669 Z1014 0737. Sustainable
Agriculture Centre, Cagayan de Oro City and Misereor, Germany.
_______2010. Republic Act No. 10068: An act providing for the development and promotion of
organic agriculture in the Philippines and for other purposes. 3rd regular session, 14th
Congress. Congress of the Philippines, Metro Manila. Republic of the Philippines. 9 pages.
SACENTER. 2009. Terminal report of asset base sustainable agriculture: engaging, integrating and
converging in community development. 2005 J anuary - 2008 March. Project number 410-
903-1028 ZG, Misereor, Germany
SACENTER. 2008. IDSANet (Inter-Diocesan SA Network) Mindanao: A terminal report of the
Program for the liberation and equitable sustainable agriculture development in Mindanao.
Misereor, Germany.
SALVAN, G., Tagupa, V.I. and Galario, J .M. 2005. Local government initiatives to promote
Organic Agriculture: Tri-Sector Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Rice
Development (SAORD) Master Plan in Valencia City. 2nd National OA Conference, Bureau
of Soil and Water Management (SWM), Manila. Philippines.
TAGUPA, V.I., Pit, J .T. and Apara, D. 2005. 1:1. Sustainable Agriculture Indicators
(SAI): A monitoring tool for SA practitioners and farmers in transition (SAI Manual Technical
Reference. The National Library, Manila. Sustainable Agriculture Center, Xavier University
College of Agriculture, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.
TAGUPA, V.I. 2005. Mainstreaming sustainable agriculture development, extension and promotion
program in Mindanao, Philippines and Southeast Asia. 2nd best paper on development
category. Northern Mindanao Consortium of Agriculture, Forestry and Resources Research
and Development (NOMCARRD) Regional Research and Development Highlights.
Philippines. Unpublished.
TAGUPA, V.I. and Pogado, D.B. 2004. A 10 Year Community Base Sustainable Agriculture
Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zone Comprehensive Land Use Plan
(COMBASE-SAFDZ-CLUP) Development Plans Integration in Tongantongan, Valencia City,
135
Philippines. Paper presented in Northern Mindanao Consortium of Agriculture, Forestry and
Resources Research and Development (NOMCARRD) Regional Research and Development
Highlights. Philippines. Unpublished.
136


System Value Track
137


Biogas - Bioenergy
138
Bio-digester: a Low-Cost Technology for Small Holder Farmers

Dr.A.Thimmaiah, Ms.Kesang Tshomo and Mr. Jigme Wangchuk
National Organic Program (NoP)
Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF)
Royal Government of Bhutan, Thimphu, Bhutan
drathimmaiah@gmail.com

Keywords: Bio-digester, liquid manure, weeds


Introduction
Agriculture is a source of livelihoods for 1.5 billion smallholders and landless laborers. The vast
majority of the farmers in the developing countries (about 85%) are farming with land holdings
with less than 2 hectares (ha). Moreover 75% of the rural poor of which 2.1 billion live on less than
$ 2 per day and 880 million on less than $1 a day, and most depend on agriculture for their
livelihoods. (World Bank, 2007). According to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel for
Climate Change (IPCC), climate change is anticipated to have severe effects on food security,
environmental sustainability and equity, possibly increasing the number of hungry people from 100
million to 380 million by 2080 (Easterling et al. 2007). The International Assessment of
Agricultural Knowledge (IAASTD) report stated that the way the world grows its food will have to
change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with growing population
and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse. (IAASTD,
2008)

There is a need to understand the ground realities and develop an appropriate sustainable farming
system which can meet the food and nutrition needs of these vulnerable communities. At present
around 10 calories of fossil energy is required to produce one calorie of food energy by the high
input agriculture systems. Organic agriculture reduces the energy required to produce a crop by 20
to 50 percent. Reduction or elimination of fossil fuel use in agricultural production will soon be
crucial in the fight against hunger in a world where fossil fuels are in short supply (Tim et. al.,
2008). Organic agriculture endows many options to mitigate the present environmentally
destructive agriculture to ensure food security by increased productivity and improving the
livelihood of small holders (Thimmaiah, 2010). Reducing the cost of production and transforming
agriculture into sustainable, productive and profitable by low-cost technologies is warranted.
Amongst different technologies available, bio-digesters are low-cost and apt for the resource poor
small farmers.

Bio-digesters are waterproof containers made using bricks and cement to ferment the biomass like
weeds and crop residues that are available in the farm to prepare liquid manures to address the crop
nutrition and pest management of a variety of crops. This low cost technology not only reduces the
cost of production but also empowers the small holder farmers. It can be constructed by an
individual farmer or group of farmers


in one village and can become even more economical. This technology is promoted in Bhutan by
the National Organic Program (NoP) to support and facilitate the small holder farmers to reduce the
cost of production by efficiently utilizing the local natural resources and build capacities of farming
communities to produce all inputs on-farm. The complementary use of resources from animal
husbandry has been the basis for developing highly productive agriculture systems. The by-products
of the animal husbandry like, manure and urine are efficiently used through bio-digester for
preparing liquid manures for improving the crop nutrition and managing pests.
139

Methods and Materials
Bio-digesters are simple water proof containers used to ferment the biomass which can be
constructed in the farm by using the locally available materials. The materials required for a bio-
digester are:
a. cement tank (dimension 3 metres x 2 metres x 1 metres)
b. green plants (weeds, crop residues, leaf litter etc )
c. animal manure
d. cattle urine

A waterproof cement tank is constructed of the dimension 3metres length, 2 metres width and 1
metre depth. The length of the tank can be increased up to 5 metres depending on the area of the
farm. In remote villages or mountain regions, the local construction materials can be used. An outlet
pipe is fixed with a control valve to open and close the flow of the liquid when required. The
biomass available in the farm like weeds, leaf litter, crop residues are filled up to the brim of the
tank while the outlet pipe is kept closed. A layer of cattle manure about 15 centimetres layer is
spread on the top of the biomass. Wherever cattle urine is available in plenty the tank can be filled
with cattle urine otherwise water can be used. The tank is covered with a thatched roof to prevent
the rain and sunshine on the degrading material. The degradation of the biomass will be completed
in approximately 30-45 days. The fermented biomass is mixed well and the outlet of the tank at the
base is opened to collect the solution. The solution is diluted and used in agriculture.

In mountainous region wherever transportation of materials is difficult an appropriate and simple
method can be developed. A pit of the above dimension (3x2x1 metres) is made in the soil and lined
with polythene sheet to facilitate the retention of water/cattle urine. The liquid manure after the
fermentation of the biomass is removed manually and filtered before application in the field.

Results and Conclusions
The liquid manure that is produced by the bio-digester is very effective in addressing crop nutrition
in organic agriculture. One part of the solution is diluted in 10 parts of water and sprayed on the
foliage of the crops. The solution can also be used through irrigation water and also linked to drip
and sprinkler irrigation systems.

An effective brew made by a combination of tree leaves, grasses, soft and hard weeds results in a
good mix of nutrients. Weeds from the garden contain different stored plant nutrients and when
recycled reduces the leaching of valuable elements from the soil. Similarly, trees, being relatively
deep-rooted compared with flowers and vegetables

tend to uptake a different combination of minerals. In crops wherein the pests are a major problem,
traditional medicinal plants or weeds that have strong odour like, Argemone mexicana, Artemesia
sp., Calotropis gigantea, Clitoria terneata, Croton sparsiflorus, Eupatorium sp., Gomphrena
globosa, Leucas aspera, Lantana camara, Ocimum canum and Parthenium hysterophorus are very
effective.

Bio-digester can offer lot of benefits to small farmers. The liquid manure that is produced after the
fermentation in a bio-digester can be used to,
a. to provide nutrients to crops by foliar sprays
b. to protect crops from pests and diseases
c. help to avoid the use of synthetic chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides.
d. the local resources can be used efficiently
e. helps to save costs in crop production
f. the preparations are environmentally friendly and protects the beneficial organisms
140
g. helps to use the local and traditional knowledge
h. empowers the farmers to be self reliant

The low cost organic farming technologies are regenerative as they restore nutrients and carbon in
the soil, resulting in higher nutrient density in crops and increased yields. (Thimmaiah, 2007). A
regenerative system improves the capacity of the farming systems and when properly managed with
respect to the local conditions. If these regenerative organic farming practices are applied to all the
worlds 3.5 billion tillable acres, close to 40 percent of all global CO2 emissions can be mitigated.
Organic systems produce significantly better yields under drought stress and in wet years, and
produce comparable yields in years with favorable weather conditions. Drought has a major impact
on food production, accounting for 60 percent of food emergencies (Tim et al., 2008). Low cost
organic agriculture solutions like bio-digester offers many options to increase productivity, improve
food security and livelihood for smallholder farmers, given that agro-ecological methods are
properly and appropriately implemented.

References
Easterling, W.E., Aggarwal P.K, Batima. P, Brander K.M, Erda L, Howden S.M, Kirilenko A,
Morton J, Soussana J, Schmidhuber J and Tubiello F.N. 2007.Food, fibre and forest products.
Climate Change 2007:Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to
the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, UK, 273313.
IAASTD.2008. International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge (IAASTD), Science and
Technology for Development Global Report.
World Bank. 2007. World Development Report: Agriculture for Development. The World
Bank,Washington DC.
Thimmaiah, A .2007. A Guide to Organic Agriculture in Bhutan. Published by Ministry of
Agriculture and Forests (MoAF), Royal Government of Bhutan, Thimphu, Bhutan.
Thimmaiah,A. 2010. Organic Agriculture: Addressing Food security in a Changing Climate.
Palawija News, Newsletter of the Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Secondary Crops
Development in Asia and Pacific (CAPSA), Indonesia, a regional Institution of United
Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and Pacific
(UNESCAP).Vol.27(2).August2010.http://www.uncapsa.org/Palawija_Detail.asp?VJournalK
ey=823
Tim, L, Paul, H, Amadou D. 2008. The Organic Green Revolution. The Rodale Institute, Kutztown,
Pennsylvania,USA.
141
Organic Cultivation of Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol Production

Amit Kesarwani
1
, Shih Shiung Chen
2
1
Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Chung
Hsing University-40227, Taichung, Taiwan
Email: gekesar@gmail.com
2
Department of Post Modern Agriculture, Ming Dao University, Chang Hwa county, Taiwan
Email: organic@mdu.edu.tw

Keywords: biofuel, sweet sorghum, organic agriculture, ethanol, compost

Introduction
Sweet sorghum is special purpose sorghum with a sugar-rich stalk, similar to sugarcane. Besides
having rapid growth, high sugar accumulation, and biomass production potential, sweet sorghum
uses less N and water compared to maize [3], and can yield more ethanol production per acre with
fewer inputs [5]. Burning petroleum for power contributes to a major portion of carbon dioxide
emissions to the atmosphere, raising concerns about global climate change. According to the
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), India could save nearly 80
million L of petrol annually if petrol is blended with alcohol by 10 per cent [1]. The underutilization
of the existing molasses-based ethanol distilleries and the deficit in ethanol requirement can be
made good if sweet sorghum cultivation is promoted for ethanol production.

A wealth of information is available on the beneficial effects of the individual organic manures or
inorganic fertilizers. However, information on effect of organic source of N on growth, and yield
with particular reference to sweet sorghum is fewer. With this background in view, a field
experiment was carried out at the Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Gandhi Krishi Vignana
Kendra (GKVK), Bangalore (India) during kharif 2006 under rainfed conditions, to find out the
effect of organic nutrient practices on the growth parameters and yield of sweet sorghum for ethanol
production.

Methods and Materials
A field experiment was carried out at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, GKVK, University of
Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India during kharif 2006 under rainfed conditions on the red
sandy loam soils with pH 6.97, organic carbon 0.62 per cent, low in available N, medium in
available phosphorus and potassium of 246.50, 29.20 and 221.30 kg ha
-1
, respectively.

Low cost inputs were prepared in advance as Panchagavya, Beejamrutha and Jeevamrutha from the
indigenous cow products i.e., cow dung, urine, milk, etc. where they found promising in flowering
of crops and resulted in higher yield production [7], for better vigourness and growth of plant and to
enhance the microbial fauna. The organic manures viz., compost, vermicompost and neem cake was
analyzed for available N content [4] which was approx. 1.12, 1.65 and 1.9 percent, respectively and
manures applied equivalent to N requirement through recommended dose in amount of 8.93, 6.05
and 5.26 t ha
-1
, respectively as soil application. Ten treatments laid out in Randomized Complete
Block Design (RCBD) with three replications as: 100 % recommended N through compost (T1);
75 % recommended N through compost + 25 % recommended N through neemcake (top dressing)
(T2); 75 % recommended N through compost + 25 % recommended N through vermicompost (top
dressing) (T3); 100 % recommended N through compost + panchagavya @ 1% (spraying at 30
DAS and flowering stage) (T4); 100 % recommended N through compost +Subhash Palekars
method [beejamrutha (seed treatment) + jeevamrutha (soil application) + straw mulch] (T5); 100 %
recommended N through compost + biofertilizers (Azospirillum + Azotobacter +PSB) (T6);
Subhash Palekars method [beejamrutha (seed treatment) + jeevamrutha (soil application) + straw
142
mulch] (T7); 75 % recommended N through compost + 25 % recommended N through fertilizers
(T8); Recommended dose of fertilizers @ 100:75:40 kg N:P
2
O
5
:K
2
O ha
-1
(T9) and; Control (T10).

The sweet sorghum cultivar SSV-74 sown in 45x15 cm on July, 2006 and well decomposed
compost was incorporated 4 to 5 days before sowing and on the day of sowing, Beejamrutha and
biofertilizers were applied as seed treatment. A day before sowing Jeevamrutha was sprayed at the
rate of 500 litre ha
-1
; Panchagavya was sprayed at 1% solution at 30
th
day after sowing and at
flowering stage. Vermicompost and neem cake were top dressed after eight days of sowing.
Recommended dose of fertilizer at the rate of 100:75:40 kg NPK ha
-1
as Urea, single super
phosphate and muriate of potash were used. Nitrogen was applied in three equal splits, first
application at the time of sowing and remaining at 20
th
and 40
th
day after sowing. The entire
quantity of P
2
O
5
and K
2
O was applied at the time of sowing as basal dose.

The biometrical (crop growth, yield parameters, millable stalk) observations were recorded at
various growth stages (viz., seedling emergence, 30, 45, 60, 75 days after sowing and at harvest) of
the crop. The yield components, millable stalk yield and total biological yield (t ha
-1
) were recorded
and calculated at 90 days after sowing. Similarly the ethanol was estimated by colorimetric method
[2]. Data recorded on various characters were subjected to Fishers method of ANOVA and
interpretation of data was done according to standard method. The level of significance used in f
andt tests were P = 0.05, critical difference values were calculated wherever the f test was
significant.

Results and Conclusions
Different nutrient sources showed varied nature of effect on sweet sorghum millable stalk and
ethanol yield. Application of recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) i.e., T9 showed significant
improvement and increased millable stalk, and ethanol yield (51.85 t ha
-1
and 745.62 l ha
-1
,
respectively), however, it was on par with the application of 75 % recommended N through
compost + 25 % recommended N through fertilizers (46.80 t ha
-1
and 649.29 l ha
-1
, respectively). In
silage sorghum [9] integration of inorganic and organic nutrient source work as ultimate source to
provide immediate and subsequent nutrition requirement overall plant growth. Early seedling
emergence, significantly higher leaf area index (LAI) and number of leaves in these treatments were
responsible for high solar radiation interception, carbon dioxide assimilation coupled with better
nutrients availability (Table 1). Different sorghum cultivars have shown similar results in different
conditions [10] [8]. The substantial potential of organic composts have found for improving plant
growth significantly and ultimately yield when used as amendment to soil (table 2) compared to
control. Millable stalk, and ethanol yield of sweet sorghum recorded with the application of 100 %
recommended N through compost + Subhash Palekars method were intermediate as compared
to RDF and
143
Table 1. Growth and yield parameters of sweet sorghum as influenced by different organic
sources of nutrients

NS: Non significant; DAS: Days after sowing
C: Compost
@ 8.9 t ha
-1
;
NC: Neem
Cake @ 5.26 t
ha
-1
; PG:
Panchagavya @ 1% (spraying at 30 DAS and flowering stage); VC: vermicompost @ 6 t ha
-1
;
SP method: Subhash Palekars method [Beejamrutha (seed treatment) + Jeevamrutha (soil
application) + Straw mulch]; BF: Biofertilizers (Azospirillum + Azotobacter + phosphate
solubilising bacteria)

Table 2. Yield parameters and millable stalk and ethanol yield of sweet sorghum as influenced
by different organic sources of nutrients


















NS: Non
significant; DAS: Days
after sowing
C: Compost @
8.9 t ha
-1
; NC: Neem
Treatment
Days to
seedling
emergence
Plant
height (cm.)
Total
Dry
weight (g.)
Leaf area
index (LAI)
30
DAS
75
DAS
30
DAS
At
harvest
30
DAS
At
harvest
T1 7.3 16.5 211.4 3.17 78.17 0.77 3.62
T2 7.3 17.6 217.0 4.17 86.83 0.96 3.82
T3 6.7 19.5 220.4 5.20 100.83 1.05 4.62
T4 6.7 18.3 218.7 4.33 88.0 1.02 4.19
T5 6.7 20.7 234.5 5.83 102.67 1.07 4.88
T6 6.3 19.5 219.0 4.50 91.83 1.00 4.22
T7 6.7 16.8 214.7 3.67 85.5 0.85 3.76
T8 6.3 23.4 238.1 6.50 123.33 1.32 5.57
T9 5.7 27.4 245.7 9.33 126.5 1.91 5.72
T10 7.3 13.3 187.1 2.67 72.83 0.56 2.91
S.E.m 0.4 1.3 10.1 0.30 3.66 0.07 0.18
CD at 5% NS 3.9 29.9 0.90 10.89 0.20 0.53
Treatment
Length of
internode (cm) at
harvest
Millable
stalk yield
(t ha
-1
)
Ethanol yield
(l ha
-1
)
T1 21.1 29.02 337.27
T2 22.9 34.07 407.66
T3 23.7 42.37 565.73
T4 23.1 37.43 463.76
T5 24.6 44.44 619.75
T6 23.5 38.78 492.75
T7 22.1 30.22 368.89
T8 25.9 46.80 649.29
T9 26.0 51.85 745.62
T10 21.9 26.96 268.10
S.E.m 0.9 2.41 8.04
CD at 5% 2.5 7.15 23.88
144
Cake @ 5.26 t ha
-1
; PG: Panchagavya @ 1% (spraying at 30 DAS and flowering stage); VC:
vermicompost @ 6 t ha
-1
; SP method: Subhash Palekars method [Beejamrutha (seed treatment)
+ Jeevamrutha (soil application) + Straw mulch]; BF: Biofertilizers (Azospirillum + Azotobacter
+ phosphate solubilising bacteria)



(44.44 t ha
-1
, and 619.75 l ha
-1
, respectively) integration of organics and inorganics. Further studies
reported higher millable stalk yield of sweet sorghum with urban compost at 16 t ha
-1
(40.48 t ha
-1
)
also [11]. This may be attributed to the values of growth (table 1) and yield parameters may be due
to release of nutrients slowly overall growth of plants, rest of the nutrient sources shown not
satisfactory growth improvement but the effect of compost or vermicompost on plant growth
depends on the source of material used for compost or vermicompost preparation, role of
microorganisms and nutrient content.

Possible reason might be the short term only a season application of these compost had slow release
of nutrients from these organic sources which doesnt match the nutrient demand of intensive
nutrient consuming sweet sorghum even under favourable environment and soil moisture conditions
but had great chance for more improvement as soil health increased under this experiment through
organic sources (data not shown). Similar results are in conformity with earlier research [6] which
recorded improvement in stalk yield of sweet sorghum under composts. In the future, need further
assessment of nutrient analysis in these organic sources and their consumption rate with any
antagonistic effect.

References
Arbatti, S.V. Brief review of alcohol industry. Bharatiya Sugar, 2001, March, 119121.
Caputi, A., Ueda, J.M. and Brown, T. Spectrophotometric determination of chromic complex
formed during oxidation of alcohol. American J. Ethanol Viticulture, 1968, 19, 160-165.
Geng, S., Hills, F.J., Johnson, S.S. and Sah, R.N. Potential yields and on-farm ethanol production
cost of corn, sweet sorghum, fodderbeet, and sugarbeet. J. Agron. and Crop Sci., 1989, 162,
21-29.
Jackson, M.L., 1973, Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Keeney, D.R., and DeLuca, T.H. Biomass as an energy source for the Midwestern U.S. American J.
Alternative Agric., 1992, 7, 137-144.
Naganagouda, M. Response of kharif pop sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes to
integrated nutrient management in black soils under rainfed conditions, M. Sc.
(Agri.)Thesis,Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 2001.
Nayagam, G. Indigenous paddy cultivation-Experiences of a farmer Sri. Gomathy Nayagam.
Pesticide Post, 2001, 9 (3), 1.
Negalur, R.B. Response of kharif pop sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes to farm
yard manure and mineral fertilizer in black soil under rainfed conditions. M. Sc.
(Agri.)Thesis,Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 2000.
Nemeth, T. and Izsaki, Z. Effect of N- supply on the dry matter accumulation and nutrient uptake of
silage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L. Moench). Cereal Research Communications, 2005,
33(1), 81-84.
Parasuraman, P., Duraisamy, P. and Mani, A.K. Effect of organic, inorganic and biofertilizers on
soil fertility under double cropping system in rainfed red soils. Indian J. Agron, 2000, 45(2),
242-247.
Rukmangada Reddy, S. Effect of FYM, sewage sludge and urban compost on grain yield and juice
quality of sweet sorghum [(Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)]. M. Sc. (Agri.)Thesis,Univ.of
Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, 2004.
145
Synergy between Biogas Production and Organic Agriculture

Erik Fog and Peter Mejnertsen
Knowledge Centre for Agriculture,Organic Farming. Denmark
erf@vfl.dk
www.vfl.dk/organic

Key words: Biogas, synergy, plant production, fertilizer, yield.

Introduction
The potentials of organic agriculture could be stronger if organic farming is combined with
the production of renewable energy in the form of methane from biogas.

The yields in organic plant production are very dependent on nitrogen from legumes in the
rotation. Legume crops as clover grass or alfalfa are very productive, fixate a lot of nitrogen
and reduce the weed pressure and are therefore needed in most organic rotations. On farms
with cattle the legume crops can be utilised as feed but on cattle free farms clover grass or
alfalfa will only serve as green manure and that is costly and not very efficient. Green manure
can even cause negative environmental and climate effects as nitrate leaching or evaporation
of nitrous oxide. By utilizing the green manure crops for biogas production the nitrogen can
be utilized more efficiently as fertilizer and the farmer can earn money from the energy
production.

By combining organic farming with production of renewable energy organic agriculture will
add a new valuable dimension that can enhance the support from society to promote the
conversion of agriculture into organic production.

Experiences from Denmark
Organic farming in Denmark has experienced a substantial growth in the 90es and the
domestic market for organic produce is one of the largest worldwide. Despite this there is a
need to speed up the conversion of Danish farms into organic production to reach the official
goal of a doubling of the organic area in 2020. The dairy production is the main organic
production in Denmark but a further and quicker conversion must include arable farms.
Denmark has a high density of farm animals and organic plant production has been based
partly on nutrients from conventional manure. It has been decided by the Danish organic
farmers to phase out the use of conventional manure during the years 2015 to 2021. This will
entail a great need for organic nutrients. Organic plant production on the base of green
manure will in most conditions not be economic feasible and nutrients from green manure
treated in biogas plants are expected to be an attractive solution.

In field trials different crops have been grown to find the potentials for biogas production.
The most promising crops are clover grass and alfalfa with potential gas production of 2,300
and 3,000 Nm
3
pr. hectare. Maize has shown a little higher gas potential of 3,800 Nm
3

pr.
hectare, but in contrast to clover grass and alfalfa maize need nitrogen fertilizing and emit
more green house gasses. With the same gas production the net energy balance of maize is
only 80 % of the net energy balance of clover grass.
146
From German experiences it is known that cereal yields can be raised with approximately
20 % when fertilizing is changed from traditional green manure to fertilizers from biogas
fermented crops.

The energy supply in Denmark is based for 80 % on fossil energy and a governmental climate
commission has formulated recommendations for a conversion to fossil free energy supply in
2050. It is anticipated that 70 % of the future energy supply will be electricity mainly from
wind energy. Biomass from agriculture will be an important part of the last 30 % and biogas
will be one of the most important technologies.

Model calculations have shown that a conversion of 10 % of Danish arable farms will fulfil
the goal of a doubling of the organically farmed land. In the same time it will contribute with
4 % of the total reduction of green house gas emissions from agriculture.

Integration of biogas production in organic agriculture on an economic viable basis brings
some important challenges. The technology for big scale fermenting of clover grass is not
very well developed and has given problems for the pioneers in the field. Experiences from
Germany will be used to develop a useful model for Danish organic farmers.

Integration of biogas produced from organic biomasses into the common energy supply
system also offers challenges. Among the most important can be mentioned: Financial
support for establishing new biogas plants that can ferment organic biomasses, sufficient
prices on the produced biogas/energy and upgrading the gas to distribution in the public
nature gas grid.

Conclusions
Integration of biogas production on the basis of legume crops is a promising strategy to get a
better supply of organic fertilizers and thereby better yields and economy in organic
production.
Production of renewable energy as an integrated part of organic agriculture will add a new
valuable dimension promoting the support of organic production in the future.
Danish experiences show promising possibilities but also new challenges that have to be met.

References
Mejnertsen, Peter, 2010. Biomasse til kologisk biogasproduktion. (in Danish) (Biomass for
organic biogas production)
www.landbrugsinfo.dk:
http://app4.landscentret.dk/DyrkVejl/Forms/Main.aspx?page=Vejledning&cropID=227
Fog, Erik, 2010, Biogas og kologisk landbrug en god cocktail. (in Danish) (Biogas and
organic agriculture a good cocktail)
www.landbrugsinfo.dk:
http://www.landbrugsinfo.dk/Oekologi/biogas/Sider/erf_101130_Biogashafte.aspx

147
Characterization and Initial Evaluation of Food and Energy
Integrated Agroecological Production Systems in Cuba

Funes-Monzote, F.R.
1
, Martn Martn, G.J.
1
, Surez, J.
1
, Blanco, D.
1
, Rivero, J.L.
2
, Rodrguez, E.
3
,
Del Valle, Y.
4
, Sotolongo, J.A.
4
& Boillat, S.
5
Key words: crop/livestock, agroenergy, diversification, energy efficiency.

Abstract
The use of lands for biofuel production is being one of the fundamental causes of food prices risings,
land concentration by transnational enterprises and food market speculation, provoking rural
poverty, hunger and social inequity (IAASTD 2009). In this scenario, agricultural systems should be
designed to be more resilient to these and other phenomena by increasing their energy and
technology sovereignty, allowing them to reach their food sovereignty. The three sovereignties of
agroecology according to Altieri (2009). The use of all sources of energy available for farming
systems development, in special biomass, including biofuels, appears to be a solution for
environmental and socio-economic problems related to energy use in the food system. This research
documents the preliminary results of an international project carried out in Cuba, aiming at the
development of alternatives for integrated food and energy production by using agroecological
approaches.
Introduction
Plants, as photoautotrophic organisms, can make use of only 1% of the solar energy impacting the
terrestrial surface (Pimentel & Pimentel 2008). A special case constitutes C
4
plants, like maize,
sugar cane and sorghum, among others that possess a greater photosynthetic efficiency. Of these,
some 7600 species exist (3% of the total known plants species). Particularly the poacea family
accrue for 61% of the C
4
species (Zhu et al. 2008). These are able to capture until 5% of the solar
energy and this way they are able to fix bigger quantities of CO
2
and to convert it in organic
compounds of longer carbonate chains. Therefore, they have the potential of producing big
quantities of energy for unit of cultivated surface and given time. Equally, other C
3
Materials and methods
plants, like
jatropha (Jatropha curcas), moringa (Moringa oleifera), soya (Glycine max), sunflower (Helianthus
annus), among other plants and oleaginous trees, are able to produce fruits with high energy value
as foods, feeds and/or fuel. Animals, as heterotrophic organisms, depend on plants to survive;
therefore, animal production systems are intrinsically less efficient in producing energy for humans
than crop production systems (Schiere et al. 2002). However, animals play a key role in sustainable
resource management and closing ecological cycles to achieve better use of energy and nutrients.
Thus, strengthening crop/livestock integration mechanisms can provide valuable opportunities for
adaptation to climate change, increasing productivity, and reducing energy costs of food production,
among other socio-economic and environmental benefits. In this paper we intend to characterize
and preliminarily identify and evaluate types of farming for food and energy production, taking as
an analytical base previous works by Funes-Monzote et al. (2009) regarding the relationship among
diversity, productivity and efficiency of agroecological production.
1
Estacin Experimental Indio Hatuey, Universidad de Matanzas, Central Espaa Republicana, Perico, Matanzas, Cuba. Email: mgahonam@enet.cu
2
Estacin Experimental de Pastos Las Tunas, Instituto de Investigaciones de Pastos y Forrajes, MINAG
3
Estacin Experimental de Pastos Sancti Spritus, Instituto de Investigaciones de Pastos y Forrajes, MINAG
4
Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnolgicas para el Desarrollo Sostenible (CATEDES), CITMA
5
Agencia de Cooperacin Suiza para la Cooperacin y el Desarrollo (COSUDE)

148
A group of 25 farms participating in the project BIOMAS-Cuba were monitored during one year-
period (2009). The farms are distributed in the provinces of Matanzas (7), Sancti Spritus (7), Las
Tunas (6) and Guantnamo (5). They vary in their affiliation to different forms of organization
(cooperatives), farm sizes and farm structure. Heterogeneity (among farms) and different levels of
crop, animal and forestry species diversity of farms characterize the sample. So, each farm
represents a special case that is not comparable with others due to their production purposes, market
relationships, management characteristics, etc. Indicators were evaluated for each farm following
equations in figure 1, and the best performance obtained among all farms for each indicator was
pondered. The values were transformed into 1-10 scale. Biodiversity indicators (IM+H),
productivity indicators (Pe+Pp) and efficiency indicators (IUT+BE+CEP) were summed to obtain a
Biodiversity index (DIV), Productivity index (PROD) and Energy efficiency index (EE). They were
summed and transformed into 1-100 scale to obtain a Diversity-Productivity-Efficiency index (DPE),
then ranked. If the indicator is to be maximized (e.g. Pp), the value of the indicator is expressed as
percentage of the maximum value (% = Value/Max 100). If the indicator is to be minimized (e.g.
CEP), the value of the indicator is expressed as the inverse of the percentage of the minimum value (%
= 1/(Value/Min) 100).
) ln(
1
N
S
IM

=

=

=
P
p
P
p
H
i
S
i
i
S
ln *
1 e
S
i
i
i
i
e
R
A
e
r
m
P

=
=
1
*
100
*
p
S
i
i i
i
p
R
A
p r
m
P

=
=
1
100
*
100
*

=
=
S
i i
i
S
M
P
IUT
1

=
=
=
T
j
j j
S
i
i i
f I
e m
BE
1
1
*
*

=
=
=
S
i
i
i
T
j
j j
p
m
f I
CEP
1
1
100
*
*
Eq. 1 Eq. 2 Eq. 3
Eq. 4 Eq. 5 Eq. 6
Eq. 7


Figure 1. Procedure for indicators calculations.

Note: Species richness, Margalef index (IM) (Eq.1), where: S= total number of species; N= total
number of individuals of all species (incl. animals, crops, fruit and forestry). Diversity of
production, Shannon index (H) (Eq.2), where: S= number of products; Pi= production of each
product; P= total production. People feed energy (Pe) (Eq.3): Where: S= number of products; mi=
production of each product (kg); ri= percentage of consumable part; ei= energy content for each
product (g/100g); A= farm area (ha); Re= energy intake requirement (kg/yr). People feed protein
(Pp) (Eq.4), where: S=number of products; mi= production of each product (kg); ri= percentage of
consumable part; ei= protein content for each product (g/100g); A= farm area (ha); Re= protein
intake requirement (kg/yr). Land equivalent ratio (IUT) (Eq.5), where: S= number of products;
Pi= yields (i) in polycrop; Mi= yield (i) in monocrop. Energy balance (BE) (Eq.6), where: S=
number of products; m= production of each product (kg); e= energy content of product (MJ/kg); T=
number of inputs; I= amount of inputs (kg); f= energy equivalence of the input. Energy cost of
protein (CEP) (Eq.7), where: T= number of inputs; I= amount of inputs (kg); f= energy equivalence
of the input (MJ/kg); S= number of products; m= production per each product (kg); Pi= protein
content for each product (%).

The farms were characterized in detail in order to know their structure and functioning as better as
possible at this early stage of the study, which is intended to be expanded for six years, including a
greater number of farms. On farm participatory methods of investigation were applied to collect the
information (Chambers 1994). We have accomplished farm walks, informal discussions,
participatory workshops, talks and semi-structured interviews with farmers and their families as
well as directly farming systems measurements and checking of farm records. Seven indicators were
selected for evaluation, these were validated by Funes-Monzote et al. (2009) in previous integrated
149
farming systems studies. We used the energy equivalences for inputs proposed by Garca-Trujillo
(1996), energy and protein content values of (Gebhardt et al. 2007) and human energy and protein
requirements (Porrata et al. 1996).
Results and discussion
Table 1: Indicators evaluation
Farm Area (ha) IM H Pe Pp IUT BE CEP
1. El Estabulado, Mtz. 42.0 4.7 1.9 10.7 3.4 0.9 0.4 231.7
2. Plcido, Mtz. 10.7 3.9 2.3 7.1 16.1 1.2 2.2 173.8
3. La Quinta, Mtz. 33.0 2.8 1.2 8.0 1.6 0.7 0.3 179.8
4. La Arboleda, Mtz. 3.8 11.3 2.0 3.4 3.8 1.3 1.0 151.5
5. Primavera, Mtz. 5.8 2.2 2.3 10.3 24.2 1.4 3.4 70.1
6. Santa Catalina, Mtz. 46.0 1.6 1.3 15.8 12.2 1.1 2.2 97.7
7. Cayo Piedra, Mtz. 40.0 4.1 2.1 21.1 12.5 1.8 11.2 27.3
8. Flor del Cayo, SSp. 10.0 11.1 2.0 12.8 38.4 1.5 0.7 158.1
9. San Manuel, SSp. 13.4 2.8 1.4 3.1 6.6 0.9 2.1 81.5
10. La Bienvenida, SSp. 2.5 9.2 1.9 3.3 13.8 2.0 6.8 38.1
11. San Jos, SSp. 8.4 12.3 1.8 8.9 16.3 1.7 1.6 44.2
12. La Caoba, SSp. 4.0 6.5 2.0 2.1 6.9 1.4 20.0 23.8
13. La Esperanza, SSp. 10.3 4.2 1.8 14.8 37.3 1.8 4.1 186.2
14. Finca del Medio, SSp. 11.0 8.3 2.4 11.1 34.0 1.4 30.0 58.4
15. San J. Parnaso, LTu. 7.4 3.5 1.7 9.7 21.7 1.1 0.3 60.4
16. Vaquera 17, LTu. 134.2 1.4 0.4 1.6 2.1 0.5 0.7 146.7
17. Vaquera 12, LTu. 80.0 1.5 0.5 1.4 2.8 0.5 0.6 175.6
18. Estacin de Pastos, LTu. 96.0 6.5 2.0 6.4 6.1 1.1 6.00 56.3
19. San Jos, LTu. 13.0 10.1 1.7 3.3 7.4 1.2 6.9 42.1
20. Los Eduardos, LTu. 10.0 2.5 1.8 2.3 4.3 0.8 2.5 59.1
21. El salao de 4 caminos, Gtn. 9.5 2.3 0.5 0.7 1.8 0.3 0.8 26.1
22. La Esperanza, Gtn. 8.0 2.0 0.8 0.3 1.7 0.9 0.3 49.8
23. La Deseada, Gtn. 13.4 2.1 0.7 0.9 3.4 0.8 1.1 43.6
24. Finca BIOMAS, Gtn. 30.0 2.4 0.4 2.3 3.4 0.4 0.7 82.4
25. Villa Josefa, Gtn. 13.2 3.2 1.7 4.6 7.5 1.1 2.4 68.7
Note: Mtz.: Matanzas, SSp.: Sancti Spritus, LTu.: Las Tunas, Gtn.: Guantnamo. Values in bold
are the best porformance for each indicator.
This preliminary evaluation, including seven indicators of diversity, productivity and efficiency,
clearly shows the wide diversity and heterogeneity of farming systems under study (table 1). At
calculating and ranking the farm performance we found that smaller farms (except Cayo Piedra)
were those achieving better indexes values for diversity, productivity and efficiency, and therefore,
higher values of DPE (table 2). This confirms findings of Funes-Monzote et al. (2009), but also
opens new questions on the feasibility of highly diverse farming systems at higher scales.
Table 2. Average performance of farm typologies based on DPE index.
Farm type

DIV
index
PROD
index
EE
index
DPE
index
Mean DPE
St. dev.
BIOMAS 1A 14.50 10.14 16.07 78.30 11.20
BIOMAS 1B 11.70 6.55 8.71 51.87 5.58
BIOMAS 1C 5.29 1.89 7.25 27.76 8.24
Note: BIOMAS 1A (farms 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 19), with a DPE index 60; BIOMAS 1B
(farms 1, 2, 4, 6, 15, 18 and 25), with a DPE index between 40 and 60; BIOMAS 1C (farms 3, 9, 16,
17, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24) with a DPE 40.
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Conclusions
There is a clear differentiation among the three typologies for DIV index and PROD index, but
BIOMAS 1B and 1C have similar EE index. However, the combination of these three indexes into a
DPE index let clear the difference among the three types (table 2). Further impact of green
technologies introduction for energy production from biomass (biogas, biodiesel and gasification)
as well as other renewable energy technologies (windmills, hydraulic pumps, solar panels, etc.) will
be evaluated in the long term (2009-2014). Therefore, these preliminary results serve as a reference
for wider studies in the upcoming years.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Swiss cooperation agency for development (COSUDE), Cuban participant institutions,
Experimental Station Indio Hatuey and farmers involved in the project.
References
Altieri, M.A. (2009). La paradoja de la agricultura cubana. Reflexiones agroecolgicas basadas en
una visita reciente a Cuba. http://www.ecoportal.net/
Chambers, R. (1994). Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA): Analysis of experience. World
Development 22:1253-1268.
Funes-Monzote, F.R., Monzote, M., Lantinga, E.A., Ter Braak, C.J.F., Snchez, J.E., Van Keulen,
H. (2009). Agro-Ecological Indicators (AEIs) for dairy and mixed farming systems
classification: Identifying alternatives for the Cuban livestock sector. Journal of Sustainable
Agriculture 33 (4), 435-460. DOI: 10.1080/10440040902835118
Garca Trujillo, R. (1996). Los animales en los sistemas agroecolgicos. La Habana: ACAO.
Gebhardt, S.E., Pehrsson, P.R., Cutrufelli, R.L., Lemar, L.E., Howe, J.C., Haytowitz, D.B., Nickle,
M.S., Holcomb, G.T., Showell, B.A., Thomas, R.G., Exler, J., Holden, J.M. (2007). USDA
national nutrient database for standard reference, release 20. USDA National Nutrient Database
for Standard Reference. www.ars.udsda.gov/nutrientdata.
Pimentel, D., Pimentel, M.H. (2008). Food, Energy and Society. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Fl.
Porrata, C., Hernndez, M., Argeyes, J.M. (1996). Recomendaciones nutricionales y guas de
alimentacin para la poblacin cubana. INHA. La Habana.
Schiere, Johannes B., Ibrahim, M.N.M., van Keulen, H. (2002). The Role of Livestock for
Sustainability in Mixed Farming: Criteria and Scenario Studies under Varying Resource
Allocation. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 90:139-153.
Zhu, Xin-Guang, Long, S.P., Ort, R.D. (2008). What is the maximum efficiency with which
photosynthesis can convert solar energy into biomass? Current Opinion in Biotechnology 19 (2):
153159. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2008.02.004. PMID 18374559.
151
Sustainable Energy- and Land Use Project with an Organic Smallholder
Organization


Saro Gerd Ratter
Soil & Energy gGmbH, Landsberger Str. 527, 81241 Munich, Germany
email: ratter@soilandenergy.com
www.soilandenergy.com

INTRODUCTION

Deforestation and land-use change are responsible for over 20% of the worlds greenhouse gas
emissions, biodiversity decline, and an incredible loss of ecological capital. (1)

Agroforestry systems can provide food and biomass for renewable energy. However the
development of sustainable agroforestry systems is a huge challenge and most farmers need a lot of
support to invest in it. However after the initial phase it can lead to multiple benefits like:
Protection and improvement of soil and water sources
Increased efficiency in land use.
Long-term production of fuel and timber
Increased production of food and cash crops
Improved year-round use of labour.

The company Soil & Energy gGmbH develops and supports projects that combine sustainable
energy- and land use. The approach is to grow food and energy crops adapted for local cultivation
and the local use of that energy to promote rural development.

In India the company conducted a feasibility study about an agroforestry and renewable energy
project with financial support from Heidehof-Stiftung (www.heidehof-stiftung.de), which led to the
implementation of a first pilot project with an organic smallholder organisation in Karnataka, India.


METHODS AND MATERIALS

The project is implemented with the organic smallholder organisation Renuka Foundation and is
located in a cotton growing area of Northern Karnataka, India. The organisation is a society
registered under the Indian Societies Act. The basic objectives are environmental protection,
sustainable agriculture, better living standards for the farmer's and workers' families, more hygienic
living conditions and halting the migration of youth from the rural areas to urban areas by making
agriculture a profitable activity and by creating vocational opportunities in the rural areas.

The pilot project started in 2009 with training of organic farmers in agroforestry methods and the
planting of 25,000 tree saplings. In the year 2010 already 75,000 tree saplings have been planted to
enlarge the agroforestry area. The construction of an oilmill and a biogas plant for renewable energy
generation and agro-processing started in February 2010.

The planting of trees with all its ecological benefits is part of an improved land use system that is
more resilient to climate change and extreme weather events. At the same time the system is more
productive compared to normal agricultural land use. It increases the income of the rural population
and provides the basis for a renewable energy supply. The main tree products will be oilseeds that
provide biofuel and feedstock for a biogas plant and electricity generation.
152

The availability of electricity promotes agro-processing activities in the villages and herewith the
economic development.

Improved cooking stoves with higher energy efficiency will reduce the carbon emissions from open
fire cooking and reduce the negative health impacts of the smoke in the kitchens.

The required oil-press and the material for the high performance biogas plant have been imported
from Germany.


EXPECTED RESULTS

The pilot project size will cover an area of 2,000 acres with 100,000 oil crop trees integrated in the
organic farming system. About 250 organic farmers will be involved.

The pure plant oil production is planned with 30,000 litres per year which will be used in special
plant oil stoves and replacing Diesel for running tractors in the villages.

The yearly output of electricity generation from biogas could be 40,000 to 72,000 kWh depending
on availability and quality of the feedstock.

The waste heat from the biogas genset will be used for agro-food processing as far as possible.

Soil & Energy has built up a network of competent experts and companies that can play a crucial
role in the pilot project and the multiplication of the model in other areas and countries. The whole
project design is based on the Triple Bottom Line concept to ensure positive effects on the
social, ecological and economic level. It includes many training and capacity building measures,
which will ensure the successful introduction of new cultivation methods and efficient energy
generation technology.

The main target is to show the technical and economic viability of sustainable clean energy
generation with a positive impact on smallholder farmers, rural population as well as local small
and medium size enterprises. The implementation could create a real win-win situation for the
involved parties and the environment because it generates additional income in rural areas and
reduces the emission of greenhouse gases.

REFERENCES:
The Forest Carbon Portal, www.forestcarbonportal.com
153
Agriculture, Bioenergy and Food Security: Using Befs to Guide
Agricultural Change

Yasmeen Khwaja & Irini Maltsoglou

Introduction
Agriculture: the need for regeneration.
A potent argument for bioenergy development lies in the ability of the sector to unlock agricultural
potential by bringing in much needed investments to raise agricultural productivity for the benefits
of food security and poverty reduction. By providing the tools that test this thesis,
the BEFS project can support the policy machinery in its consideration of whether bioenergy
should be pursued and if so how. The starting point for the BEFS analytical framework is the
recognition that agriculture remains an important sector for the livelihoods of the most vulnerable
and poorest populations. Bioenergy is just one instrument amongst an array of other possible
measures that may regenerate agriculture. The project therefore should not be seen as an
endorsement of bioenergy. Ex ante, it is not possible to either support or reject bioenergy in a given
context. What the BEFS tools offer are an exploration into bioenergy potential for the public good.
Thus BEFS extends beyond a feasibility study of the sector. Instead it offers an integrated approach
to analysing bioenergy potential that combines the technical viability/ feasibility of the sector with
the social and economic objectives prevailing in the development agenda of Tanzania. Specifically,
the project considers whether the agricultural sector firstly has the capability to support bioenergy
developments and if so, can it do so for the benefit of the poor. The feasibility component of BEFS
differs from the kind of feasibility analysis carried out by the private sector where principles of
profit maximization dominate. By contrast, the BEFS feasibility component deliberately considers
the extent to which the inclusion of smallholders in the industrial set-up can be cost competitive.
This kind of analysis may provide strong support to governments in the dialogue with the private
sector and can support to some extent the harmonization of private objectives with broader social
objectives.

The food and energy nexus
The advantages for promoting biofuels in Tanzania are numerous. The diversification of domestic
energy supply would lead to increased energy security as well as hedge against energy price
fluctuations, overcome energy access shortages and the resulting negative effects on overall
development. As Tanzania is a net importer of oil, domestically produced biofuels may remove
some of the uncertainty associated with development budgets because of reductions in the oil
import bill while increasing foreign exchange savings. The returns generated by the industry could
have a positive impact on food security especially if smallholders in rural areas play a key role in
supplying feedstocks.
Moreover, the dependency on firewood for fuel needs would be reduced. As women have the
primary responsibility for gathering firewood, new energy sources would release their time for other
more remunerative activities with positive effects for their food security. The development of agro-
industry can offer new rural employment opportunities. The combined effect would be to increase
the standard of living of the rural poor and also improve the linkages between agriculture and other
sectors in the economy. Understandably there are concerns about biofuels because of the
competition it creates for the resources needed to produce food crops. Secondly, given the interests
of largely private investors there is a risk that smallholders may be overlooked in biofuel
developments in favour of large-scale production units. These are valid concerns. However, the
issue is less about food-feedstock competition but rather one of how to regenerate a stagnant
agricultural sector so that yields increase improving the incomes of poor farmers. Maintaining the
status quo of Tanzanian agriculture is not an option. This will not improve livelihoods nor will it
protect natural ecosystems. The integration of food crops with biofuel production could offer a
solution for sustainable land use. Capital, technology transfer and capacity building are essential
154
ingredients of an agricultural revolution. Biofuel investors can bring in these necessary requisites to
Tanzanian agriculture to address both food and energy security. While biofuel production and
processing in Tanzania is in its infancy, in the future there is scope that with the right policies the
many smallholders that characterize Tanzanias agricultural landscape may be more involved in
biofuel crops. The challenge will be one of how to integrate them in the value chain. Clearly,
leaving the industry entirely to market forces could isolate smallholders. Much depends on the route
which bioenergy development takes. A poorly considered bioenergy development path could bypass
smallholders and severely compromise the food security of the poor. Thus, for Tanzania the key
consideration is how best to manage the process of biofuel development in order to maximize
potential gains and minimize the costs. The BEFS tools are one instrument that can help guide the
policy process in deciding the best pathway for biofuel development.

1.1 Understanding The Effects Of Bioenergy On Food Security
1. Bioenergy can impact on food security through changes in incomes and food prices. Income is an
important element in the food security status of the poor. Income influences both the quantity and
quality of food purchased by households. The exact effects of food prices on food security are more
complex and require an understanding of whether households are net food producers and net food
consumers. In general, higher food prices hurt net food consumers but farmers who are net food
producers are likely to benefit from higher prices and increase their incomes, other things being
equal. Some people will find they are better off while others are worse off.

2. Bioenergy production is likely to compete for inputs with food production. The main inputs are
land, labour, water and fertilizer. Food crops that are used for bioenergy production compete
directly with food supplies. In addition, competition for inputs places an upward pressure on food
prices, even if the feedstock is a non-food crop or is grown on previously unused land. The
competition for inputs depends on agricultural efficiency which is a function of agricultural
investment. The right agricultural management practices coupled with investment could allow for
increased food production using fewer resources for a given amount of bioenergy. A system that
allows for synergies between food and energy production could improve yields of food crops while
addressing energy demand.

3. Bioenergy developments place particular pressures on smallholders and the rural poor. Increased
demand for food crops generated by the biofuel sector could lead to increased food prices. The
sheer speed of biofuel expansion may generate new pressures on land tenure arrangements, leading
to alienation. Poor households may feel pressured to sell their lands or be forced to relocate in the
rush to meet the increasing demands of the bioenergy sector for feedstocks. This has happened to
some degree in Mukuranga. Contractual arrangements with large-scale biofuel producers could
potentially disadvantage smallholders unless comprehensive legal structures exist to protect their
rights. With the development of new second generation technologies, the first generation
technologies developed in Tanzania may become non-competitive. Finally, much depends on the
long-term price trajectory of fossil fuels. Should these come down permanently, the biofuel sector
would not be able to compete.

1.2 Bioenergy, The Environment And Food Security
Bioenergy development, through its effects on the environment, affects food securityindirectly in a
number of ways. Environmental constraints can limit the biophysical and technical production of
bioenergy and food. Water is a limiting factor in energy crop production. However, where bioenergy
crops are grown on marginal land this may improve
the quality of the land making previously unproductive agricultural land productive. This has
implications for local incomes. Ex ante, it is difficult to say whether the effects of bioenergy on the
environment have positive or negative effects. This can only be considered at very local levels.
However, there are a number of issues relevant for food security.
155

1. Sensible use of agrochemicals and fertilizers can increase crop yields. However, widespread use
of these inputs has adverse effects on land and water quality. Excessive applications of fertilizer
reduce water quality. How agriculture is managed is critical for sustainable food production.
2. Food and bioenergy production face water constraints on their production. Understanding the
water needs of crops and how this need can be beneficially altered under diverse agricultural
management systems is an important step to maintain and even augment agricultural production be
it for food or for bioenergy. Irrigation and new biotechnology can increase yields of crops for food
and bioenergy production and should be considered as part of a larger agenda for agricultural
improvement.
3. How land is used and for what purpose affects long-term soil productivity. Different crop
production techniques alter the soil quality. Soil quality is also affected by livestock grazing which
may have implications for the productivity of new lands brought under crops. Intensive agricultural
practices deplete the soil of nutrients rapidly impacting on productivity and food availability.
Consequently, lower productivity affects the availability of food resources. Some bioenergy crops,
notably jatropha, can be grown on poor or marginal lands which can contribute to the improvement
of soil quality extending the total area of land under crop production. However, it should be noted
that the evidence for the long-term viability of jatropha is largely absent. Whilst in theory it appears
to do well on marginal lands much more research is needed to consider the degree to which jatropha
can be scaled up and whether productivity levels can be enhanced even on poor lands. The food and
energy nexus is complex especially for a poor country such as Tanzania. Although, global food and
oil prices have started to come down, future high prices remain a concern for the country. A focus
on agricultural development in Tanzania is critical in order to achieve long-term sustained food
security. Can a bioenergy sector serve as a catalyst for wider agricultural growth and development?
Bioenergy may yield higher returns on investment compared to conventional agriculture. This could
lead to an overall increase in rural investment, making capital available for enhancing agricultural
productivity levels of all production systems but particularly those of food. Feedstocks such as
sugar cane, cassava and sunflower can be sold in both food and fuel markets and so hedge against
the risk of failure in energy markets in particular. Environmental degradation and loss of
biodiversity can be reduced depending on the bioenergy system developed. The Government of
Tanzania is enthusiastic about the potential benefits of bioenergy and is doing much to help
facilitate new investment in the sector and to ensure that poor farmers are not bypassed (see Chapter
3). The BEFS analysis of Tanzania provides some important directions for policy while the BEFS
tools can be used to incorporate new concerns in the analysis of bioenergy. These are discussed in
the next sections.
1.3 The Befs Approach
In order to assist countries in the development of a food secure bioenergy industry, the BEFS
project has developed an assessment approach to analyse the impacts of bioenergy developments on
food security. The approach uses real country data to run the assessment. BEFS mainly focuses on
food availability and access, the strongest links between bioenergy production and food security.
While there are clear concerns with respect to utilization and nutrition and price stability, the
complexity of the analysis does not permit a full examination of these dimensions. However, as all
four dimensions are interlinked, addressing food availability and access will ultimately affect
nutrition and long-term food access.

Within the BEFS approach there are two key elements to the BEFS assessment, namely:
a. The feasibility of producing bioenergy
This element of BEFS allows the country to identify:
_ the areas potentially most suitable for bioenergy production;
_ which production chains are technically viable and most competitive;
_ how to integrate smallholders competitively into bioenergy production.
b. The economy wide and food security viability of bioenergy development
156
This element of BEFS allows the country to assess:
_ whether bioenergy developments in the country can lead to economic growth and
poverty reduction;
_ which trade-offs may be in place;
_ what the agriculture markets outlook is and how bioenergy might impact this;
_ household level food security and vulnerability;
_ food-feedstock competition areas.
In order to achieve this, BEFS uses an Analytical Framework which consists of five
building blocks, namely Module 1: Biomass Potential, Module 2: Biofuel Supply Chain
Production Costs, Module 3: Agriculture Markets Outlook, Module 4: Economy-wide
Effects, Module 5: Household-level Food Security.
Figure 2.1 illustrates the questions answered by each module.

F I G U R E 2. The BEFS Approach. .


These five technical components of BEFS form a technical basis that can feed in and support
development of bioenergy policies and regulations in Tanzania and places policymakers in the
position to make informed decisions. In particular, the BEFS tools are designed to help answer the
following key question for guiding bioenergy policies:

1.3.1 THE FIVE MODULES OF THE BEFS APPROACH AND ITS QUESTIONS
Module 1: Biomass Potential
The analysis in Module 1 allows stakeholders to understand better the extent and location of areas
suitable for bioenergy crop production under different agricultural production systems and level of
inputs. The crops analysed in this module are cassava, sunflower, sugar cane, sweet sorghum and
palm oil. Once the crop suitability has been determined, productivity and long-term sustainability of
bioenergy developments can be assessed. Overall this will allow stakeholders to structure their land
use planning strategy including for bioenergy developments, while identifying key food production
areas.
This Module will help:
_ identify the areas suitable and available for growing the relevant bioenergy crops;
_ establish production and yields of different biofuel crops;
_ illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of different agricultural production systems;
_ establish in which areas there might be a conflict between food and bioenergy
production.
157
Module 2: Biofuel Supply Chain Production Costs
Module 2 assesses bioenergy productions costs. Five feedstocks have been analysed in this Module,
namely molasses, cassava, palm oil and jatropha. Each feedstock is assesse under different
processing systems given the following conditions:
_ stand alone versus integrated mill and refinery;
_ plant scale: large, medium or small;
_ feedstock origin: (a) commercial, (b) outgrowers (c) a mix of these two.
Based on the relevant mix of the above points, Module 2 evaluates the technical and economic
viability of biofuel production given the local knowledge base and manufacturing
capacity. This Module will allow stakeholders to determine which biomass supply chain is
technically and economically feasible in Tanzania and to what degree outgrowers can be included;
an important component within poverty reduction strategies.
This Module will help assess:
_ costs of production of the biofuel at the factory gate and distribution to domestic and international
markets;
_ accessibility of technology and availability of infrastructure and the required human skills; _
opportunities for rural development through production systems inclusive of outgrower and
combined plantations-outgrower schemes;
_ processing of waste by-products into valuable co-products focusing on use in local
settings.
Module 3: Agriculture Markets Outlook
Module 3 focuses on domestic agriculture markets and can assist Tanzania in understanding the
impact of international and domestic biofuel policies on its domestic markets. The Module is based
on an OECD-FAO outlook tool that assesses the impact of policies for a ten-year outlook period.
The analysis presented investigates the impacts of domestic and international bioenergy
developments on domestic food production trends. This Module gives stakeholders an
understanding of how international and domestic policies on biofuels may impact the domestic
industry with implications for food security.
This Module will help assess:
_ what is the domestic market outlook;
_ what is the impact of bioenergy development on the domestic agriculture market;
_ what is the influence of international policies.
Module 4: Economy-wide Effects
Module 4 builds on the results of production costs derived in Module 2 and links them to the
national economy of Tanzania. From a policy perspective, it is important to assess whether the
implementation of a new sector, such as bioenergy, can be beneficial for economic growth and
poverty reduction. In order to strategically target poverty reduction, linking the production costs
results to the economy-wide effects can help policy-makers consider the necessary interventions
needed to include smallscale outgrowers in the development of the sector and the preferred
combination of large-scale estate and the small-scale outgrowers scheme. This Module utilizes a
Computable General Equilibrium model of Tanzanias economy. The structure of the model
includes a detailed breakdown of the agricultural sector and of the other sectors of the economy.
The bioenergy sector competes for resources (land, labour, inputs and capital) and is initially very
small. The sector consequently grows due to investments in the sector. Biofuel scenarios differ
according to their production technologies and strategies, namely feedstock, scale of feedstock
production and intensive versus extensive strategies.
This Module will help assess:
_ the economy-wide trade-offs bioenergy poses;
_ which bioenergy production chain is most growth enhancing;
_ which bioenergy production chain is most poverty reducing;
_ which sector loses and how the allocation of resources change.

158
Module 5: Household-level Food Security
Developing a domestic biofuel sector takes time. The establishment of a new industry typically
requires a medium- to long-term perspective. However, households, in the short term can still suffer
food security impacts because of international price movements, some of which may be caused by
biofuel policies being implemented elsewhere. It is important to realize that, while there may have
been no significant bioenergy developments within the country to date, international biofuel
mandates have been gaining steam. Changes in food prices derive from international and domestic
supply and demand shocks which include additional biofuel demand. In the short term, household
food security is affected by the increase in food prices. From a policy perspective, it is necessary to
understand how the price changes can impact the country as a whole and which price changes the
poorer segments of the population are most vulnerable to. We initially assess which price changes
the country is most vulnerable to by investigating the countrys macroeconomic net trade position
by crop. Secondly, we look at actual price movement in key food crops over relevant time periods.
This Module will help assess:
_ the most important food crops;
_ recent price trends in key food crops;
_ which price changes the country as a whole is most vulnerable to;
_ which are the most vulnerable segments of the population.

1.4 Befs In Tanzania: The Policy Issues
Before deciding on how to realize a bioenergy sector it is important to understand the full range of
net impacts of bioenergy pathways on food security issues. The BEFS tools allow for a
comprehensive analysis of how different bioenergy pathways can affect poverty and food security.
In doing so BEFS can help inform and shape the direction of policy so that it promotes a sector that
contributes to inclusive growth and development. There are a number of conditions that influence
bioenergy development at national level. These are:
_ the agro-ecological and agro-edaphic conditions and availability of land resources;
_ the suitability, productivity and production potential of various biofuels feedstock;
_ the technical capabilities needed for the biofuels industry.
These factors determine the where and the how of setting up an industry. However, any
consideration of these factors needs to be accompanied by an analysis of how bioenergy impacts on
the agricultural sector, the wider economy and the household. Bioenergy developments have
impacts on national food systems which could be positive or negative but require rigorous analysis
to determine the precise nature of these effects. Suppose Tanzania chooses a particular pathway for
bioenergy development based only on the biophysical and technical feasibility factors because this
is the most cost-effective choice That pathway may have wider impacts on food security through
adverse changes in prices, income and employment. Thus, knowing what the likely impacts a priori
are of certain choices may alter the where and the how of bioenergy development. Policy
instruments and institutional developments can be constructed in order to adapt to changes or
shocks to the food system so that Tanzanias goals on food security and poverty reduction are not
compromised.

1.5 The Bioenergy And Food Security Crop List In Tanzania
The analysis within the assessment addresses a number of bioenergy and food security crops. These
crops will be the common thread throughout the analysis, although each Module may focus on
particular crops because of the nature of the analysis as well as issues of data availability.
The list of bioenergy crops was put forward by the government and includes cassava, sugar cane,
palm oil, jatropha, sweet sorghum and sunflower.
The key food security crops were selected on a per capita calorie consumption basis, (Table 2.1).


159
T A B L E 2 . 1 Calorie contribution by commodity for Tanzania.


In order to identify the most important food security crops, crops were ranked based on their calorie
contribution share. What this means is that the amount of calorie intake by crop for the country as a
whole was determined. Based on the calorie contribution ranking, the crops that provide the highest
share of calories in Tanzania are, in order of magnitude, maize, cassava, rice, wheat, sorghum, sweet
potatoes, sugar, palm oil, beans and plantains. For example, as shown in the Table, maize
contributes 33.4 percent of calories to the country as a whole, 15.2 percent comes from cassava, 7.9
percent from rice, 4.0 percent from wheat and 4.0 percent from sorghum. Other crops all contribute
less that 4 percent to calorie intake, as for example sweet potatoes, sugar, palm oil and beans. It can
be noted that maize and cassava together provide households close to half of their calorie intake.
For completeness, Table 1 also includes non-crop food stuffs as, for example, dairy products and
meat, nevertheless the table shows that access to livestock products remains limited.
An overview of the crops by Module is provided in Table 2.2

T A B L E 2 . 2 Crop list by Module of the BEFS Analytical Framework

160


Capacity Building
161
Role of Indegenous Knowledge and Practices of Tharu Ethnic Communiy on
Organic Vegetables Production in Nepal

Basanta Rana Bhat
Ecological Services Centre, Nepal
ecoscentre@wlink.com.np

Key words: Indigenous, Ethnic community, plant resources, pesticidal plants, farmers field
experiment.

Introduction
Indigenous knowledge is the knowledge of indigenous people understood as cultures that evolved
over many generations in a particular natural environment and that maintain through practices,
consciousness of universal natural law as it is expressed in local force of nature (Willett, 1993).
Ethnobotany deals with study of the relationship between people and plants and most commonly
refers to the study of how people of a particular culture and region make use of indigenous plants.
The term 'Ethnobotany' was first used by Harsberger (1896) who defined it as the study of
relationship that exits between people of primitive societies and their plant environment
(Rajbhandari, 2001). Modern definition given by Nancy Turner in 1996 is that Ethnobotany is the
Science of peoples interactions with plants. Ethnobotanical studies are now in progress throughout
the world.

The Tharu are a culturally and linguistically diverse ethnic category who live along the Indo-Nepal
border, in the region known as the Terai. There are almost 1.2 million Tharu in Nepal, and smaller
numbers live in the adjacent areas of India. In the last census, the Tharus appear as one of the most
numerous ethnic minorities of Nepal.

Vegetables are importance crops of economic value and are grown in wide range of agro- climates
zones of Nepal. Despite the apparent potential of vegetables production, they also have some
problems. Among these problems, damage caused by diseases and insect pests is one of the major
problems. In spite of heavy use of chemical pesticides, pests are not controlled. Small farmers are
also not in a position to spend high amount on pesticides. Farmers are looking for effective,
economically viable, safe and ecologically friendly alternatives.

Organic pest management consists of a range of activities that support each other. Most of
management practices are long-term activities that aim at preventing pests and diseases from
affecting a crop. It includes several activities to minimize the pests population including use of
botanical plant products.

Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L. cv. zucchini) is becoming popular vegeable in Nepal. It is rich in
Vitamin B and C and minerals. It can be grown from terai to the mid hills in Nepal. Red pumpkin
beetle (Aulacophora foveicollis) is the most important pest. It is susceptible to powdery and downy
mildew and fruit fly.

The majority of the farmers cannot afford to purchase expensive pesticides. Nepal is rich in
ethnobotanical knowledge and botanical pesticides. However, a detailed study of these botanical
pesticides is required.




162
Materials and methods
There were mainly two parts of this study. The first part of this study included collection of
information on Tharu ethnobotanical knowledge on pest management and second part of the study
included of farmers field experiment.

Questionnaire for the semi-structure interviews were prepared to collect the information on Tharu
ethnobotanical knowledge especially on pest management.

Dibya Nagar and Megauli VDCs of Chitwan district were purposively selected for this study to
have better Tharu ethnobotanical knowledge. For the selection of key informants, one preliminary
survey was carried out in these sites. Altogether, 20 informants from different villages of the
Dibyanagar and 20 informants from Meghauli VDCs were selected. Designed questionnaires were
pre-tested with five informants.

A total of forty household surveys were made from both VDCs. Family members were encouraged
to participate during the process of information collection. Due care was given to collect reliable
information from the informants and at the same time it was done with the help of cross-questioning
and triangulation. Two verification meetings were organized to verify collected information.

A list of Twenty-four locally available pesticidal plants have been prepared based on the
information collected from the household survey and information verification meetings. From this,
only four most promising plants were selected to test their efficacy in the farmers field experiment
with the help of pair-wise preference ranking.

Farmers field experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with
five treatments and five replication in the farmers field.

Primary solution was prepared with one kg of plant leaves by pulverizing them over the stone
grinder. Upon getting the slurry, same amount of water was added over it, and the slurry was
screened through the thin muslin clothes. Final solution was prepared in the ratio of 1:5 of the
primary solution and water. Such solution were put in the bucket individually and named as
individual treatment which was sprayed over zucchini plants in seven days intervals as different
treatments. Biological information such as scale of damage and total marketable yield were
recorded. The effectiveness of plant materials was assessed in the percentage leaf damage in the
scale of 1-5 in the descending order.

Recorded parameters from farmers field experiment were analyzed using MSTAT-C software
package. Duncans Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to measure the significant differences
among the treatment means.

Results
This study reveals that Tharus have rich knowledge on distribution, abundance, cultural practices,
pest management, harvesting, and proper use of the plant resources. The ethnobotancal knowledge,
however, differs in extent among the different occupational, social and age groups with Tharu
ethnic communities. The faith healers (Gurau) of Tharu community and elderly people have sound
knowledge on plants and their use in health care and pest management.

Although pests are major problems for crop production, the severity, extent, types and losses are
different in different groups of crops. It is found that there is different level of pests severity in
different crops. Vegetables have been found most susceptible to insects pests.

163
Based on the information collected from the household survey and information verification
meetings, information on 24 locally available pesticidal plants has been collected and only four
most promising plant species have been selected for the farmers filed experiment to test the
efficacy of selected plant species over insect pests of Zucchini with the help of pair-wise preference
ranking.

Table 1. List of locally available pesticidal plants
SN Local
name
Scientific name
SN Local
name
Scientific name
1 Neem Azadirachta indica 13 Aank Calotropis gigantea
2 Asuro Justicia adhatoda 14 Lasun Allium sativum
3 Bisundari Persicaria barbata 15 Siundi Eubhorbia royleana
4 Titepati Artemisia indica 16 Sajiwan Jatropa curcas
5 Pirre
Spilanthes ciliata
17 Mewa Carica papaya
6 Surti Nicotiana tabacum 18 Pyaj Allium cepa
7 Khursani Capsicum annuum 19 Andir Ricinus communis
8 Timur Zanthoxylum
armatum
20 Khirro Sapium insigne
9 Sayapatri Tagetus petula,
T. erecta
21 Chyapi Allium sp.
10 Bojho Acorus calamus 22 Sisnu Urtica dioica
11 Tulasi Ocimum tenuiflorum 23 Kans Saccharum spontaneum
12 Bakaino Melia azedarach 24 Gindari Premna integrifolia

The selected plants to test their efficacy against insect pest of Zucchini are Neem (A. indica), Asuro
(Justicia adhatoda), Bisundari (P. barbata), and Artemisia (Artemisia indica).

Table 2: Mean of plant height (cm), number of leaves per plant, number of insects per plants, scale
of damage and production (ton/hac.) of Zucchini on farmers field condition in 2006.
Treatments Plant
height
No. of
leaves
No. of
insects
Scale of
damage
Production
Asuro 9.332
a
7.302
ab
3.050
a
2.872
ab
8.40
bc

Bisundari 9.292
a
7.732
ab
2.900
a
2.702
b
11.40
ab

Titepati 9.430
a
7.500
ab
3.550
a
2.884
ab
9.30
b

Neem 9.318
a
8.052
a
1.650
a
2.584
b
15.90
a

Control 8.818
a
6.662
b
3.650
a
3.306
a
4.20
c

CV 8.92% 12.38% 62.03% 12.94% 36.52%
SEm 0.3685 0.4123 0.8211 0.1661 1.607
LSD
0.05
1.105 1.236 2.462 0.4981 4.818

Means followed by the same letter for each treatment are not significantly different at 5% (P = 0.05)
level according to Duncans multiple range tests.
Discussion
Based on the analysis of variance and Duncans multiple range tests, Neem (A. indica) has been
found most effective followed by Bishundari (P. barbata) in term of damaged by insect pest and
total marketable yield.

164
Some of the parameter such as height of plant and number of insects were found to be insignificant
among the treatments (P= >0.05). Similarly, the observation for some other parameter such as
numbers of leaves, scale of damage and production were found significantly different (P=<0.05)
among the treatments. But, the height of plants and number of insect were found non significant
among different treatments.

From this experiment, it is found that Neem (A. indica) possessed most promising effect on insect
pest of Zucchini plants however all other treatments resulted some sorts of positive effect for the
management of insect pests of Zucchini.

Neupane (1999) reported that Neem has insecticidal, repelling, antifeeding, growth inhibiting,
fungicidal, and nematicidal etc. properties and can control larvae and adult of chewing insects,
sucking insects including insect pests of cucurbits.

Conclusions
Tharu ethnic comunities of Nepal are rich in ethnobotanical knowledge on the utilization of plants
for various proposes to fulfill their daily needs of food, fodder, timber, fuel wood etc. The faith
healer (Gurau) of Tharu communities and elderly people have sound knowledge on medicinal and
pesticidal plants and their use in health care and pest management.

Neem (A. indica) has been found most effective followed by Bishundari (P. barbata) in term of
damaged by insect pest and total marketable yield among four selected and 24 locally available
pesticidal plants.

Acknowledgments
I would like to express thanks to Ecological Services Centre for providing me financial support for
this study. I am also thankful to farmers involved in study for their valuable information and active
participation in experiment.

References
Neupane, F. P. (1999): Field evaluation of botanicals for the management of cruciferous vegetable
insect pests. Nepal Journal of Science vol. 2, p. 95-100.

Rajbhandari, K. R. (2001): Ethnobotany of Nepal. Ethnobotanical Society of Nepal, Kathmandu,
Nepal, xi p.

Willett, A. B. (1993): Indigenous Knowledge and its implication for agricultural development and
agricultural education: A case study of the Vedic tradition in Nepal. Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa.
165
School Farm Activities: Educational Efforts to Integrate Organic Farming into
Childrens Dietary Life

Choi, Byeong-Chan
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Support Center for Agriculture & Rural Life,Korea
E-mail: hardpine@empal.com

Key words: School farm, organic farming education, student dietary education, rural social
(eoconomy) enterprise, job creation, agricultural cooperative

Abstract
This paper describes the case of the Support Center for Agriculture & Rural Lifes success in
facilitating the promotion of organic farming in Korea through its School-Farm-in-Our-School
program. The school farm program primarily aims to promote rural farmers and urban childrens
interests in organic farming in collaboration with its mother company, the Gosam Agricultural
Cooperative. It offers experiential field learning integrated within the school curriculum, and serves
as a learning place to foster emotional development of children, educate students on the importance
of a healthy dietary life, and encourage children to develop a correct value system regarding
agriculture and farm villages.

Introduction
The entire process and effects of organic farming encompasses three vital components:
production, facilitation or mediation, and consumption.
Production focuses on maximizing yields and efficiency at the farm level. Facilitation or
mediation refers to enabling the application of organic agriculture principles to contribute to
ecologically sustainable and socio-economic development through capacity building and expansion
efforts. Consumption meanwhile refers to the recognition by a discerning market of consumers of
the greater food value of organic produce in terms of nutrition value, food safety and environment-
friendly practices.
The school farm program initiated by the Support Center for Agriculture & Rural Life, a
social economy enterprise, is one exemplary case of facilitation by promoting organic farming in
Korea. Its activities include promoting rural farmers and urban childrens interests in organic
farming in collaboration of its mother company, the Gosam Agricultural Cooperative.
Its experiences have delivered some major implications and have spelled out future tasks in terms
of educational efforts, rural social economy, and agricultural cooperative for the development of
organic farming system in the country.

Definition of a School Farm
The term school farm or School-Farm-in-Our-School refers to experiential fields (farms)
set up in the school grounds and operated by students. School farms can be used as experiential
learning fields integrated within the school curriculum, and as learning places to foster emotional
development of children, educate students on the importance of a healthy dietary life, and
166
encourage children to develop a correct value system regarding agriculture and farm villages.
(http://www.schoolfarm.net/ in Korean)
In order to ensure that school farms are efficient and effective as a mechanism to promote
organic farming, three requirements must be met: 1) the establishment and operation of school
farms need to be easy; 2) they must provide fun to teachers and students; and 3) they must
contribute aesthetically to school gardens.
The School-Farm-in-Our-School program is a new social service model where the Support
Center for Agriculture & Rural Life provides support in partnership with its mother company,
Gosam Agricultural Cooperative, by using agricultural resources to resolve the physical and
technical difficulties for teachers and school administrators in establishing and operating
experiential farms in their school grounds.

Conceptual Framework of School Farm
The conceptual framework of the School Farm program is illustrated in Figure 1. The framework
has been historically developed and continuously improved since 1994. At that time, the UR/GATT
agricultural agreement was enforcing Korean farmers to adapt and give in to an international trade
regime, the WTO, which took effect on J anuary 1, 1995. In the struggle to protect farmers
household economy and mitigate the negative impacts of the WTO on local farming communities,
the Gosam Agricultural Cooperative initiated its own long-term development plan which included
introduction of organic farming as a type of value-added agricultural production. In the process, the
Gosam Agricultural Cooperative as a mediator organized organic farmers in production areas and
organic consumers in consuming areas, finally establishing an organic farming and distribution
system (a-d in Figure 1), and extending its benefits to both sides in terms of economic, health and
emotional stability.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of School Farm Program







After the establishment of the initial organic farming system in its basic form in more than 10
years, the Gosam Agricultural Cooperative began to expand its beneficial effects to a broader
society, formulating a supporting system (e-i in Figure 1) to backstop its expansion efforts. The
agricultural cooperative invested in its own rural social economy enterprise, the Support Center for
Agriculture & Rural Life.
In 2004, the social enterprise started organizing retired farmers as a way of providing social
services and creating jobs in rural villages. It established three service sections: 1) manufacturing
h. Educate
i. Grow e. Invest
Production
Mediation Consumption
Organic Farmers
Retired Farmers
Gosam Agri. Co-op.
Social Enterprise
Organic Consumers
Organic Children
a. Order b. Organize
c. Deliver d. Provide
f. Organize
g. Employ
School Farm Activities
Support Center for
Agriculture & Rural Life
167
organic agricultural inputs such as micro-organism additives for animal feeds; 2) packaging and
delivering organic products; and 3) providing social cultural services such as cleaning small-stream
campaigns. It also embarked on a continuous effort to consolidate activities and services and find
out ways to improve the organic farming and consumption circulation system in a broader area with
the investment of the Gosam Agricultural Cooperative.
As a result, the Support Center for Agriculture & Rural Life identified newly emerging needs
in relation to expanding the scope and benefits of its organic farming initiatives. In response to
these needs, a third section was developed into a unit providing services in three categories: 1)
experiential school organic farming education; 2) experiential organic daily necessity
manufacturing education; and 3) organic food dietary education and provision of school lunch
program for kindergarten children and elementary school students starting 2009.
With the introduction of this unit, the benefits from the School Farm service activities were
finally felt in terms of contributing to the expansion and improvement of the organic farming
system (a-i in Figure 1) in logical, organizational and commercial terms. Logically, the educational
program for children completes the benefit cycle of organic farming. Organizationally, the local
level agricultural cooperative and its social economy enterprise have become more effective in
facilitating the production and consumption areas. Commercially, the Gosam Agricultural
Cooperative is able to explore a new market of organic foods for the school lunch program. Thus,
the conceptual framework clearly illustrates the vital role of the Support Center for Agriculture &
Rural Life in enhancing the sustainability of organic farming in the local area.

Operational Procedure and Offerings
The operational procedure of the School Farm service begins with reception of applications from
kindergartens, elementary schools or agricultural cooperative marketing teams. Kindergarten or
elementary schools may request the Support Center for Agriculture & Rural Life to provide school
farm services for their children or students. The organic farm product marketing team of the Gosam
Agricultural Cooperative may also ask the Center to provide their services as a promotional
program to get organic food supply orders from a school. The Center then approaches the schools
on the type of service they require or appropriate for them.
Categories of service offerings are shown in the Figure 2. The Center sets up an experiential organic
farm in a kindergarten or elementary school and regularly visits with retired organic farmers to
teach students how to organically grow crops like lettuce, cabbage or radish. In one program, the
Center provides education service to help students cook traditional foods and learn a good dietary
habit. Another program involves giving the students opportunities to experience manufacturing
organic daily goods such as hand towel dyed with natural ingredients (onions or mugwort), or soap
added with rice bran.
In addition, the Center creates business opportunities for agricultural cooperatives to supply
organic produces for school lunch meals. The Centers service can be availed in two ways: A-type
is a visiting service program at school, while B-type is a field service program at the center. In order
to provide the field service, the Center must have its experiential farm within the school.




168
Figure 2. Categories of School Farm service offerings







Successful Cases
The number of applicants for the School Farm service has been increasing since 2009. During its
first year of the service, the Center served 8 elementary schools. At the second year, it served 28. As
of J uly 2011, it has served 19 classes in child care nurseries, kindergarten and elementary schools.

Table 1. Number of School Farm Classes by year (2009-As of July 2011)
Classes 2009 2010 2011 Total
School Farming (Vegetables) 4 10 13 27
Traditional Farming Culture Education 4 6 1 11
Traditional Food & Dietary Education 0 12 5 17
Total 8 28 19 55

The most popular class is the experiential organic school farm program. One successful case
is shown in Figure 3. The Dojewon elementary school located in Namyangju city applied for the
service in 2010. The Center set up an organic school farm using a vacant lot in front of the school
and has since helped students to broaden experiential opportunities from organic farming to organic
daily goods manufacturing class.
Figure 3. Successful case of experiential organic school farm program

Vacant lot before setting up the farm Lively students after the farm has been set up
1. Experiential Organic
Farm in school garden
2. Traditional Foods &
Dietary Education Class
3. Experiential Organic
Product Manufacturing
4. Organic Food Supply
for School Lunch Program
Supporting Center
for Agriculture &
Rural Life
A-type: At School
B-type: At the Center
169

Planting flowers Dye making using natural ingredients

In child care nursery schools, the program is also received well. In 2011, the Guacheon-cheongsa
child care nursery located inside the Guacheon government building applied for the children
organic farm class. The Center visited the nursery school to find out the appropriate place for the
farm, as well as to determine the requirements and purpose of the school farm for children under 7
years old. The most difficult challenge was to develop a program that will not only satisfy the
childrens interests but will also take into consideration the nursery teachers management
capacities. As a result, box-garden type organic farm was suggested to the nursery. Figure 4 shows
the organic farm set up by the Center and children experiencing and playing with organic sources
such as soil, earthworms, and fresh green sprouts.

Figure 4. Experiential organic farm program for child care nursery

Before setting up the farm Children playing with farmers in their organic farm

Commercially successful cases are also created in the school farm program. The program has an
effect on teachers and decision makers of the school to feel familiarity and trust to organic farm
products. Thus, the Centers school farm program has created opportunities for its mother company,
the Gosam Agricultural Cooperative, to provide organic farm produces for school lunch meals. In
addition, the Centers traditional food & dietary education class also draws parents attention and
interests in it, finally leading to purchase of organic farm products. Figure 5 shows the traditional
food & dietary education class and the promotional activities of food supply for school lunch
program by the Gosam agricultural cooperative.

Figure 5. Commercial opportunities of school farm program
170

Traditional food and dietary education class. Promotion of school farm program.

Organic food supply for school lunch program. Students enjoying organic school lunch.

Implications and tasks ahead
In order to expand the implementation and benefits of the School-Farm-in-Our-School program,
necessary infrastructure and various models are required so that pilot projects can be established in
each region. Models such as brick type, log type or box-garden type, depending on the requirement
of each school, must be developed and tested. In addition, detailed programs on the operation of
school farms should be integrated seamlessly within the academic curriculum of the school. To
this end, guidance teachers for school farms need to be nurtured and trained, and a cooperative
network among school farms need to be built.
The School-Farm-in-Our-School program has three purposes: promoting stable dietary lives and
supporting experiential education on agriculture as integrated into the academic curriculum;
helping children to learn the value of agriculture and farm villages, and the traditional dietary
culture; and creating jobs by developing an agriculture-based social service model within cities.
171
Bridging the Skills Gap in Organic Agriculture in Nigeria

Isaac O. O. Aiyelaagbe,
1,*
, Philip J. C. Harris
2
, Victor I. O. Olowe
1
, Taiwo .A. Adedokun
1
,
Elizabeth J. Trenchard
2
1
University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria.
2
Coventry University, United Kingdom
*
ola_olu57@yahoo.com
*
www.unaab.edu.ng


Key words: Entrepreneurship, Nigeria, skills gap, training

Abstract

Between 2007 and 2010, three training programmes were conducted to bridge Nigerias
perceived skills gap in organic agriculture. The aim was to equip trainees with entrepreneurial
skills to enable them to start their own businesses. Sixty graduates and undergraduates took
part in the training programmes which included theoretical and practical training in organic
agriculture, and advice and support in the establishment of small enterprises. As a result of
the programmes several trainees have started their own small scale businesses in vegetable
production, fruit production and marketing, while aquaculture, honey production, food
processing and ornamental enterprises had lower establishment rate.

Introduction

Global sales of organic products attained 46.1 billion US Dollars in 2007, with a projected
annual increase of over five billion US Dollars (Willer and Kilcher, 2009). This boom has
created a significant business opportunity for developing countries with agrarian economies.
Whereas African countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Ghana have taken advantage of this
boom, Nigeria has yet to engage fully in the international organic farming enterprise owing to
a dearth of in-depth understanding of organic production, produce handling, certification and
trade. A persistent high level of unemployment is of serious social concern in Nigeria. While
young graduates seeking opportunities for improved livelihoods are eager to engage in
organic agriculture, they lack the prerequisite skills. Previous studies indicated that organic
agriculture hardly featured in the curriculum for training at the tertiary education level.
Where it did, there was only part inclusion by way of modules within a course or as an
elective (Aiyelaagbe, 2009). Thus there is a skills gap in organic agriculture in Nigeria. A
skills gap is a significant gap between an industrys skills needs and the current capabilities
of its workforce. It is the point at which an industry can no longer grow and/or remain
competitive in its industry because its employees do not have the right skills to help drive
business results and support the organizations strategies and goals (ASTD, 2006). To bridge
the skills gap three capacity building programmes were undertaken between 2007 and 2010
to provide young graduates and undergraduates with skills in various aspects of organic
agriculture with a view to encouraging them to engage in small scale organic farming and
trade.


Methods and materials

172
Young graduates ( 30 years old) were targeted as the beneficiaries of capacity building
programmes on the assumption that they would be early adopters. Three programmes of
training were designed. These were; 1.A 6-month internship course, 2. The Work, Earn,
Learn Programme (WELP1) (Aiyelaagbe et al., 2009) and 3. WELP2. Each of the training
activities took place at the University of Agriculture Abeokuta (UNAAB) in south-western
Nigeria.

Internship programme

Between 2007 and 2008, two Nigerian graduates who had completed a Masters research
programme in sustainable agriculture at Coventry University in the UK undertook a 6-month
programme to transfer the skills they had learnt to the Nigerian situation. The programme
included establishing and operating a small organic vegetable plot, producing and multiplying
organic seed, raising local awareness on organic agriculture and selling organic produce.
Their experiences in the UK and in Nigeria played an important role during a national
workshop on curriculum development which initiated the process of developing an organic
agriculture curriculum for tertiary institutions in Nigeria (Aiyelaagbe and Harris, 2008).
Three members of UNAAB staff undertook a UK study tour funded by the England African
Partnership Programme of the UK Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and
contributed to the curriculum development and subsequent training programmes.

WELP1

This was a 7-week course held March-May 2009 comprising a 4-week intensive residential
training in organic agriculture (field crops, horticultural crops, livestock production and
health, aquaculture, non-timber forest resources, farm accounting and marketing, and group
dynamics) and a 3-week attachment on farms to gain experience in agricultural
entrepreneurship. As an incentive for high performance, the five most outstanding trainees
were awarded a grant for an overseas study tour to Benin or the UK to enable them to learn
about organic research, marketing and standards. Additionally, follow up advisory services
were provide free of charge for the course participants. Twenty three graduates from all over
Nigeria were selected for the programmes from among 75 applicants.

WELP2

This was a demand-driven course designed at the request of fourth year UNAAB
undergraduates who had learnt about the potential of organic agriculture through various
awareness programmes but were unable to take a break from their studies during WELP1.
The students undertook a 6-week part-time programme, with a focus on vegetable production,
in their spare time during term time (March-April, 2010). The trainees were taught the
components of organic vegetable production in exchange for their help on the project Skills
Plot. For their own individual organic enterprises, the trainees selected which commodity
they wanted to produce and were then allotted a 3.5 x 6 m plot each. Trainees were then
advanced credit in the form of seeds and organic fertilizers and also given access to a market
stall. Their allotments were supervised for organic compliance and optimum productivity. At
maturity, trainees were able to sell their vegetables at the Project Organic Produce Kiosk
located in a high pedestrian traffic area of the University. From the revenue generated the
cost of inputs was recovered and the trainees kept the balance. Thirty-two undergraduates
enlisted and were trained in three batches. Besides vegetable production, two postgraduate
173
students opted for organic poultry production. Their training operated on the same principle
but took 3-4 months to obtain results.

Figures and tables

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
None
Vegetable production
Fruit production
Marketing/Customer services
Composting
Poultry
Snail production
Aquaculture/fishery
Honey production
Ornamental
Food processing
Adoption (%)


Figure 1: Establishment of enterprises in organic farming by trainees


Results and conclusions

In total, the above programmes have trained 60 young graduates and students (18 female and
42 male). Only five percent of them had any previous skills in organic agriculture. Post
training evaluation showed that all trainees judged the programmes useful as new skills were
acquired. Some of the trainees adopted components of the programme and have begun to use
them for income generation. Organic vegetable production has had the highest adoption rate
while aquaculture, honey production, food processing and ornamentals have had the lowest
adoption rate (Figure 1). While 40% of the trainees had not yet started organic enterprises
some trainees had adopted more than one line of business with the result that the values in
Figure 1 total more than 100%.

As a result of the training scheme, the level of awareness of organic agriculture has increased
in Nigeria. Two WELP1 graduates have started an organic farmers group in Kwara State in
the central zone of Nigeria. Four WELP1 graduates have also started their own organic farms
diversifying into composting as well as turkey, chicken, snail, cucumber, maize, plantain and
banana production. The volume and diversity of organic produce available for sale on the
University campus has doubled since inception of the programme. It now includes assorted
vegetables and fruits. In addition, two endangered indigenous vegetables, Basella alba and
Occimum gratisimum are being popularised.

The high adoption rate for organic vegetable production could likely be due to the short
maturity of the commodity, fewer technicalities involved and the relatively lower investment
174
required to establish the enterprise. For those enterprises with low adoption rates a number of
factors affecting adoption were identified. Time is an issue for organic snail production; aside
from any conversion period required, it takes about a year to establish production. Organic
aquaculture is very technical and requires considerable investment. The major factor
restricting the adoption of organic poultry production was the availability of organic feed.
Based on levels of adoption by trainees, in addition to vegetable production the three other
key enterprises to promote would be fruit production, composting for organic fertilizer and
development of marketing skills in organic produce. These will form the focus of subsequent
training programmes.

The large number of applications received for training in organic agriculture indicates the
increasing awareness of the potential of organic agriculture, the desire to bridge the skills gap
by graduates and an opportunity to optimise this potential (Aiyelaagbe et al., 2010). The
continued request for training attests to this. Varying the mode of training made it possible to
accommodate more requests. Interaction during training sessions enabled the training team to
evaluate the suitability of the course material for inclusion in the draft curriculum proposed
for teaching organic agriculture at the tertiary education level in Nigeria. Feedback was also
used to inform modifications incorporated into subsequent training courses such as the
International Summer Course held in September 2010 in UNAAB.

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Education
Partnerships in Africa project The Work, Learn, Earn Programme for Developing
Entrepreneurship in Organic Agriculture among Graduates in Nigeria.

References
ASTD (2006): Bridging the skills gap. Alexandria. American Society for Training and
Development Press. 32 p.
Aiyelaagbe I. O. O., Harris P. J. C. (2008): Enhancing institutional capacity in organic
agriculture in West Africa: Lessons from EAP136. In: Aiyelaagbe, I. O. O., Adetunji.
M. T., Osei, S. A. (eds.): Organic agriculture and the millennium development goals.
Proceedings of the 1
st
West African Summit and 4
th
National Conference of the Organic
Agriculture Project in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria (OAPTIN), University of
Abeokuta, Nigeria, 17-21 November 2008, p. 46-48.
Aiyelaagbe, I., Harris, P. Atungwu, J. Olowe, V. (2010). Organic agriculture: Business is
booming in Nigeria. Chronica Hort. 50(3): 28-29.
Aiyelaagbe I. O. O., Harris P. J. C., Trenchard E., Atungwu J. J. (2009): Organic agriculture
in higher education in West Africa. Ecology & Farming 45:31-33.
Willer H., Kilcher L. (2009): The world of organic agriculture: Statistics and emerging trends
2009. FiBL-IFOAM Report. IFOAM, Bonn, FiBL. Frick, ITC, Geneva, 286 p.
175
IFOAM Leads the Organic Youth
Julia Lernoud & Tobias Bandel
El Rincn Orgnico, Argentina; Soil & More International, The Netherlands
julialernoud@elrinconorganico.com.ar ; tobias.bandel@soilandmore.com

Key words: Youth, organic, leadership, consumers, movement

Introduction
Unite and stimulate young organic people around the world by creating a network where they
can exchange information and knowledge regarding organic agriculture in its full diversity.
Strengthen the movement, generating activities and ideas from a young perspective. The
network, in the style of the loose digital networks that mobilize young people today, should
be open to everyone that wants to work, have fun, create, and be part of the change.
Generate ideas for projects that involve schools, communities, culture and art centres, etc.
Participation in events (conferences, rock festivals, eco meetings, cultural and regional
celebrations, etc) promoting the organic opportunities.
Link with different NGOs that involve young people and cooperate in campaigns and projects
Transfer the wisdom and the experience from the founders to the new generations, building
future organic leaders.

Methods
Contact key people that might be interested in the project, introduce them to the idea and get
their support and help to promote it.
Promote the project through IFOAM.
Organize meetings and small regional seminars to get to know each other and later review the
feedback to adjust the project.
After the first 6 months make an evaluation, after the 1st year study the results systematically
and make the corrections needed.

Results and Conclusions
Different heads around the world connect creating a young network.
The dynamic of young people generate a stronger and more visible movement.
Local market and consumers awareness is developed by the actions.
Experience from the last BioFach 2011: around 100 youngsters joined the seminar on
Organic & Fairtrade vision from the next generation. As a result the young organic
movement got 50 email addressees of people who want to actively continue working for the
change.
176
College Education for Next-generation Leaders of Organic Agriculture
Based on the Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries Case

Kim, J. S.
Professor, Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries; Former president,
Korean Association of Organic Agriculture

Key words ; organic agriculture education , college curriculum

Introduction
The Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries (KNCAF) is an agricultural
college established by the Korean government to nurture professionals in agriculture
and fisheries based on the policy direction emphasizing the importance of agricultural
human resources following the opening of the agriculture market marked by the
Uruguay Round. Since its foundation in 1997, the collage has produced about 2,500
graduates and 94% of the graduates work in the agricultural industry.
As the purpose of the school is to nurture talented people intended to work in
agriculture, KNCAF has a differentiated curriculum heavy-loaded with on-site training,
compared those of typical colleges of agriculture that focus on the academic side or aim
to prepare their students to enter other agriculture-related areas. In the second year of
the three-year program, students are required to finish at least 10 months of on-site
training in domestic or overseas farms. Over 90% of the students are from farming
households and many of them are anticipated to lead the future of the Korean
agriculture on the basis their parents have established.
Organic agriculture education is implemented through an integrated course called
Environmentally Friendly Agriculture in a semester without a separate department or
major. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current state of organic agriculture
education in Korea based on the KNCAF case and identify future tasks to improve the
organic agriculture education of Korea.
Current college curriculum of organic agriculture education
The three-year program of KNCAF which has gone through several reforms since the
opening of the school is comprised of eight departments and 10 majors. Courses offered
in the eight departments deal with not only production related subjects such as physio-
ecology of crops and livestock, soil, crop protection, livestock hygiene, and farming
technology, but also management-related topics such as agro-machinery, computer,
business administration, marketing, processing, and agro-tourism.
The Environmentally Friendly Agriculture course is a required organic farming course
since KNCAFs foundation that every KNCAF student has to finish regardless of his
department or major. The course takes an integrated approach covering a
comprehensive range of organic agriculture issues from the relationship between
agriculture and environment, and production, distribution, consumption, business
administration, marketing and policies of organic agriculture. As the technical aspects
of organic agriculture often conflicts with those of conventional agriculture taught in
other regular courses on soil, crop protection and cultivation management, students
often got confused and some of them even became negative toward organic farming.
177
Some perceived organic agriculture not as a system but as a technique hard to realize.
Some others thought organic farming is not a technique but an unrealistic ideology. So
far, organic agriculture education has been implemented at a low level only focusing to
give general knowledge such as the relationship of agriculture with environment and
ecological problems caused by conventional farming practices and the reduction of the
use of chemical pesticides. The attitude of KNCAF students toward organic agriculture
began to change in the late 2000s. Students have increasingly embraced organic
agriculture, beginning to easily linking environmentally friendly agriculture to organic
agriculture.
Tab. 1: Academic departments and organic agriculture curriculum of KNCAF (2011)
D e p a r t m e n t
Food
crops
Industrial Crops
Mushrooms
Vega
table
Crop
s
Fruit
Tree
Floric
ulture

Beef &
Dairy
Science
Swine
&
Poulty
Aquarc
ulture
T o t a l
Medicinal-Indus
T r i a l
Crops
Mus
hroo
ms
Number of student
40 30 30 40 40 40 40 40 30 330
Organic
agricultur
e related
courses

Require
d
Environmentally friendly agriculture and fisheries( An integrated course on relation between agriculture
and environment, and production, consumption, management, maketing and policies organic
agriculture)
Elective
s

Partially
include
d
Parti
ally
inclu
ded

Orga
nic
vaga
table
Environ
mentally
friendly
orchard
managem
ent

Environ
mentally
friendly
cattle
farming
and
utilizatio
n of
cattle
manure
Utilizat
ion of
Livesto
ck
manure


Level of interest in
organic agriculture
Moderat
e
High
Moderat
e
High Moderate Low Moderate Low
Moder
ate
Mod
erate

As for elective courses, there was no course carrying the words environmentally
friendly in its title prior to 2009 (2007 in the case of livestock courses). As a result of
curriculum reform, environmentally friendly agriculture courses began to be offered to
reflect the expanded weight of organic agriculture (10%) in the industry and rising
consumer awareness. For instance, the Department of Vegetable Crops adopted a degree
program in organic vegetables in 2009. As for the Medicinal-Industrial Crops major, the
curriculum includes organic farming related subjects even though the course titles do
not carry organic or environmentally friendly due to the particular importance of
safety and efficacy of medicinal-industrial crops. Compared to other departments,
livestock-related departments show relatively low levels of attention to organic
livestock farming, only acknowledging the need to utilize livestock manure as a
valuable resource.
Recently, the public interest in antibiotics-free livestock farming is increasing and the
issue of animal well-being is also attracting peoples attention. Most students in the
livestock-related departments of KNCAF are, however, children of small-scale livestock
farmers and thus only a few of them are showing aspiration for organic livestock
farming. The situation is similar with the Floriculture students as the products of their
interest are not food items and thus less sensitive to safety issues. Only a few students
interested in flowers for food, tea or cosmetics pay attention to pesticide-free flower
cultivation.
178
Teaching methods and contents
The environmentally friendly agriculture education in KNCAF is primarily theoretical
education. Through lectures and audio-visual materials, students understand the
relationship of agriculture with environment and ecosystem, theories of organic farming
aiming for the balance between the natural ecosystem and the agricultural ecosystem,
and explore management methods and techniques that enable farmers to pursue
environment values and economic values at the same time through best practice cases at
home and abroad.
While most of the departments offer on-site training in organic agriculture, the
opportunities are not available as much as those in conventional agriculture. Moreover,
the few opportunities of field training are seldom carried out in farms with an eco-
friendly farming system. Consequently, students are dissatisfied with the theory-
centered teaching. In particular, the second-year students cannot receive enough on-site
training in organic agriculture due to the very little number of organic farms available.
The shortage of on-site training is partly compensated for by extracurricular activities
through the student club called Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Research Group
where not all but many organic agriculture-aspired students of KNCAF get together and
visit organic farms to hear the story of the farm owners experience while dining
together and learn the farms environment, technology and farm running know-how.
The organic farmers become mentors of the students providing continued guidance.
In addition, the club members grow cabbage in an organic method in the KNCAF test
field, experiencing technical difficulties associated with organic agriculture. Through
the experience, they realize that organic agriculture requires extra care and diligence.
Finally, the students share the harvested cabbage with people in need.
Conclusions
The effect of organic agriculture education for the next-generation leaders in
agriculture turned out differently depending on the reasons why students chose
agriculture, as some chose agriculture as a way of living and some others chose
agriculture primarily as a source of income. In addition, a students attitude toward
organic agriculture is influenced by his parents farming method and philosophy.
Consequently, technical education alone is insufficient to change students attitude and
persuade students to embrace organic agriculture. Therefore, organic agriculture
education should be able to suggest a feasible organic farming model which also makes
an economic sense and should encompass a comprehensive range of related subjects
from production technology to sales methods and business management techniques.
The basis on which to nurture organic farmers equipped with multi-dimensional
management skills is ecological sensitivity. The programs and contents of organic
agriculture education that can develop ecological sensitivity of students should be
provided through college education. In order to develop respect for lives, sense of
community, and understanding of ecosystem, students learning organic agriculture
should be helped to acquire knowledge not only on natural sciences but also on
humanities. Therefore, the curriculum of agriculture education needs to be
complemented with more courses on ecology, literature and sociology.

179
Ways to Facilitate Environmentally Friendly Organic Agriculture

A Study of Namyangju, the Host City of IFOAM OWC 2011

Lee K. I.
Donong-dong, Namyangju, Korea

Introduction
Purposes
It is necessary to prove that becoming environmentally friendly and to engage in organic agriculture
is the answer for humans in the future; not just to produce food but to survive in a globally
competitive environment. Against this backdrop, this study is focused on environmentally friendly
agriculture theoretically so as to take the 17
th
IFOAM Organic World Congress 2011, which will be
held in Namyangju, as an opportunity to raise awareness of consumers in organic agricultural
products, while reviewing the necessities of environmentally friendly organic agriculture. The
current status and problems of organic agriculture of Korea mainly based on the status of organic
agriculture in Namyangju is discussed, as well as efforts to find ways to overcome them.

Research methods
We conducted the research mainly by compiling and analyzing papers released until recently along
with governmental data and periodicals on existing materials and literature published by
associations or organizations.

I. The current status of organic agriculture in the Namyangju area
1.1 Current status of agriculture in Namyangju
1. 42.3% of Namyangju is a special management area for water supply and 41% is area where
development is limited, which means that livestock or greenhouse farming is restricted in 83.3% of
the city. Its proximity to Seoul makes it easier to ship agricultural products but it lacks facilities
necessary for distributing products from a place of production.
2. The citys agricultural population is 5,415 households, 18.654 persons, and the size of paddy
fields is 712ha and that of dry fields is 3,516ha. The size of paddy field per a household is 0.13ha,
16% of the average of Gyeonggi Province or the whole country. The size of dry fields per
household is 0.65ha, about 10% higher than that of Gyeonggi Province or the whole country,
accounting for 87.5% of the total farmland of 4,228ha.
3. Vegetables are the crops mainly cultivated in the city. If you see Table 1 which shows that
vegetables account for more than 50% of the total volume of agricultural production of the city, you
can find that vegetables are becoming major agricultural products of the city, with 29.196kg (kg /
10ha) produced in 37.7% (1,326.5ha) of field of 3.516ha as of 2007.

Tab. 1: Current status of production of vegetables
(Unit: ha M/T)
Clas
sific
atio
n
Yea
r
Total
Oriental
Melons
Eggplants Cucumbers Pumpkins Tomato
Siz
e
Amou
nt of
Produ
ction
Siz
e
Amou
nt of
Produ
ction
Siz
e
Amou
nt of
Produ
ction
Siz
e
Amount
of
Productio
n
Siz
e
Amount of
Production
Siz
e
Amou
nt of
Produc
tion
Gree
ns
and
Fruit
200
3
264 6,531 1 20 3 66 105 3,020 145 3,058 10 367
200
4
223 6,057 1 20 3 68 89 2,782 120 2,817 10 410


180
s 200
5
273 7,633 1 20 4 88 110 3,410 147 3,635 11 440
200
6
324 9,581 1 20 4 100 145 5,365 158 3,366 16 730
200
7
183 6,421 2 60 147 5,200 23 578 11 583

Classi
ficatio
n
Yr
Total
Chinese
Cabbages
Spinach Lettuce Cabbages
Size
Amount
of
Productio
n
Size
Amount
of
Product
ion
Size
Amount
of
Productio
n
Size
Amount
of
Productio
n
Siz
e
Amou
nt of
Produ
ction
Gree
n
Veg
etabl
es
2003
1,32
4
31,905 254 9,012 360 5,143 710 17,750
2004
1,32
4
33,352 244 8,984 350 5,018 720 18,350
2005
1,37
1
36,177 397 15,580 386 5,597 588 14,700
2006
1,18
5
26,891 174 5,326 464 7,888 534 13,851 13 175
2007 882 21,520 143 2,989 334 7,643 393 10,767 12 121

Classification Yr
Total White Radish Carrots
Size
Amount of
Production
Size
Amount of
Production
Size
Amount of
Production
Root
Vegetables
2003 176 5,468 175 5,435 1 32
2004 156 5,043 155 5,011 1 32
2005 118 4,127 117 4,095 1 32
2006 106 3,540 96 3,320 10 220
2007 38 1,255 35 1,205 3 20

Source: General Status of Agriculture of Namyang (2007)

1.2 Current status of Namyangjus organic agriculture
1. Its proximity to Seoul makes it easier to sell agricultural products compared to other regions and
its environmentally friendly agriculture is rapidly emerging along its water source protection area
near Han River, a water source for the metropolitan area (Seoul).
2. The number of certified environmentally friendly farms in Namyangju was a total of 158 (165ha)
as of 2008 with 68 farms (51ha) producing organic agricultural products, 29 farms (47ha) producing
agricultural products free of agricultural pesticides, and 61 farms (67ha) using a small amount of
agricultural pesticides (Tab. 2).
3. The proportion of certified farms compared to the whole farms in Namyangju is 2.4% or half of
Gyeonggi Province at 4.4%, showing a sharp gap with that of the whole country at 13.8%. The
proportion of land certified for organic farming out of total land is 3.5%, the same as that of
Gyeonggi Province but falls far short of that of the whole nation at 9.7% (Tab. 2).
4. Regional distribution of certified farms indicates that 46% or 72 farms out of the total 158 farms
are located in Joan-myeon, showing that environmentally friendly agricultural products are
cultivated in the Han River water source protection area.

181
5. Current status of crops cultivated in an environmentally friendly way by certified farms (Tab. 3)
shows that 135 out of the total certified 158 farms or 85% cultivate vegetables and Korean pears,
indicating that they are main crops that are cultivated in an environmentally friendly way in the city.
67 certified organic farms cultivate vegetables which account for 98.5% of the total organic crops
cultivated in the city.

Tab. 2: Current status of environmentally friendly certification (2008)
Classifica
tion
No. of
farms
(household
s)
Size of
Farmland
(ha)
No. of certified
environmentally
friendly farms
(households)
Proportion
s
(%)
Size of certified
environmentally
friendly lands
(ha)
Amount
of
agricultur
al
products
shipped
Nationwi
de
1,245,000
1,882,00
0
172,553 13.8 174,107 (9.7%)
2,188.31
1
Gyeonggi
Province
136,000 190,000 6,002 4.4 6,652 (3.5%) 101.035
Namyang
ju
6,389 4,719 158 2.4 165 (3.5%) 3.894
Source: National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, Namyangju (2008)

Tab. 3: No. of crops environmentally friendly cultivated by certified farms
Classification Vegetables
Korean
Pears
Rice
Bean
Sprouts
Wild-grown
Ginseng
Cash
Crops
Mushroo
ms
Total
Total 73 62 14 3 1 4 1 158
Organic 67 1 68
Free of
agricultural
pesticides
6 14 3 1 4 1 29
Use of less
agricultural
pesticides
61 61
Source: Namyangju City Government (2008)

II. Ways to facilitate eco-friendly organic agriculture
2.1 General characteristics of agricultural products
Agricultural products are different from industrial products in that producers cannot participate in
the process of determination of prices. Also, the cost of preservation and distribution are high in the
case of agricultural products, which make the costs occur to the point of consumer purchasing aside
from production costs. If the costs of preservation and distribution can be reduced, income of farms
will be increased because the costs saved are directly related to the income of farms.
2.2 The environmental conditions of Namyangju
As an urban-rural complex city, Namyangju neighbors with Seoul, making it easier to ship
agricultural products to large cities and reduce distribution costs. Also, it is a water source
protection area. Therefore conditions for environmentally friendly agriculture are already created.
Distribution of certified organic farms in Namyangju shows that they are mainly located in Joan-
myeon, a water source protection area.
2.3 Ways to facilitate environmentally friendly organic agriculture in Namyangju
1) Using geographical and environmental conditions


182
Namyangju has geographical advantages. Its proximity to Seoul makes it easier to ship agricultural
products to downtown areas, cutting distribution costs. In turn, the income of farms increases. The
city is a water source protection area, thus conditions for environmentally friendly organic
agriculture are already made. If the city produces high quality environmentally friendly organic
agricultural products by using these regional environmental conditions suitable for organic
agriculture, it is believed that the city will take a leading role in organic agriculture where the city
has lots of advantages.
2) Using synergy effects created by hosting the Organic World Congress
The government has provided support for environmentally friendly organic farming and publicity
activities have been made nation-wide as Namyangju hosts IFOAM OWC 2011. As a result, interest
among ordinary consumers in organic agricultural products will increase. Farmers in the city will
learn about organic technologies and products of advanced countries through the event so that the
event will be a chance to develop the citys organic agriculture. Consumption of organic
agricultural products will increase thanks to the event, which will lead to revitalization of economy
of the city.
3) Branding vegetables grown in facilities as organic agricultural products
37.7% (1,326.5ha) of the total farmland of the city cultivated vegetables grown in facilities as of
2007, producing 29,196kg (kg/10ha). As a result, vegetables grown in facilities accounted for more
than 50% of the total agricultural production. This shows that they are both the representative and
the most competitive crop in the city, not only in terms of the amount of production but also in
terms of the size of land used for cultivation and output. As indicated in Tab. 3, as many as 67
certified eco-friendly farms out of 68 cultivated vegetables, with only one farm growing Korean
pears.
We propose to intensively nurture vegetables with the highest organic certification rate as organic
agricultural products and brand them as environmentally friendly agricultural products of
Namyangju. If vegetables grown in facilities are intensively nurtured and branded as organic
agricultural products, organic agricultural products of the city will be developed into premium
products. Hosting IFOAM OWC will be an opportunity to strengthen the foundation for
environmentally friendly organic agriculture and facilitate it. Then Namyangju will become a
pioneer in environmentally friendly organic agriculture of Korea and consequently able to enter the
global market.

Conclusions
Korean agricultural industry is under the threat from countries that are more advanced in agriculture
in a tide of market liberalization accelerated by informatization and globalization arising from
scientific development.
It is unavoidable to shift the current labor-intensive agriculture to a quality-driven one to survive the
price competition. This is because high quality agricultural products are produced through
environmentally friendly agricultural techniques.
We need to protect Korean farm villages by nurturing environmentally friendly agriculture in order
to strengthen the fundamentals of our agricultural sector and ensure the stable income of farms.
We must nurture and develop environmentally friendly organic agriculture to ensure a healthy life,
and we must preserve the environment and make efforts to maintain the order of natures ecosystem,
and do everything in our power to leave a clean natural environment for our future generations.

References
Food Science and Industry (2006): Sep. 39(3).
Kim M. J. (2007): Survey & Analysis of Consumers Recognition of Organic Agricultural Products
and
Satisfaction. Masters degree thesis.
Jeon S. H. (2007): Marketing tactics based on Market Characteristics of Consumers of Eco-friendly
183
Organic Products. Ph. D. thesis.

184
The Organic Leadership Course
An intensive, practice-centered further education
course;
Tuition by prominent organic experts;
Short, intense residential courses, complemented by
online learning and collaboration;
Global outlook, regionalized approach.

Participants Benefits
The full picture: Organic Agriculture from field to
plate;
Invaluable leadership and management skills;
Effective, sustainable strategies tailored to
individual needs;
Deepened understanding of the organic principles;
Inspiration for organic development;
An action network of likeminded peers.
The IFOAM Academy: First South Asian Opportunity to Build Future
Organic Leadership Is Coming Up

A new IFOAM service, supported by Hivos, implemented in partnership with Grolink

Markus Arbenz, IFOAM Executive Director
Abstract
Impressive personalities, the organic pioneers initiated Organic Agriculture in the early
20th century. Drivers of the organic development today are committed and competent
leaders in the organic sector, who are advanced in thinking and inspiring in their actions.
Their roles are diverse, but they share a vision of a more sustainable, a healthier and a
fairer organic world.
Under the title IFOAM Academy IFOAM puts its mission - leading, uniting and
assisting the organic world into practice in new ways: a capacity building program
aimed specifically at current and future leaders of organic sector and sustainable
agriculture development. Through the Organic Leadership Course, IFOAM provides a
space for learning and experience, and for developing innovative strategies and strong
networks.

The IFOAM Academy for Organic Excellence: Cultivating Organic Leadership
Impressive personalities, the organic
pioneers initiated Organic Agriculture in
the early 20th century. Drivers of the
organic development today are committed
and competent leaders in the organic
sector, who are advanced in thinking and
inspiring in their actions. They are farmers,
activists, scientists, teachers, advisors,
networkers, advocates, processors, traders,
communicators, certifiers or consumers.
Their roles are diverse, but they share a
vision of a more sustainable, a healthier
and a fairer organic world.
Organic development in our current
dynamic times, in which the world
urgently needs organic solutions to
address its environmental and social
challenges, is in the hands of our leaders
worldwide.
185
Organic people can be organic leaders. Leadership needs talent, vision and commitment,
but it needs also learning and interaction with likeminded people. In order to support
organic leadership, IFOAM offers a course for people assuming present or future
responsibilities in the organic world. Through the Organic Leadership Course, IFOAM
provides a space for learning and experience, and for developing innovative strategies and
strong networks. The course is targeted at present and future leaders of the organic
movement. It guides them through a one year, on the job learning process that empowers
them to actively assume greater responsibility in pushing the world towards increased
sustainability.
Eligible participants are women and men, committed to the principles of Organic
Agriculture, who wish to achieve personal development and leadership within the Organic
Agriculture movement. The training will broaden participantshorizon. It follows a holistic
approach, allowing participants to develop their knowledge, e.g. facts about Organic
Agriculture, Skills, e.g. sound management know-how and Attitude, e.g. a leaders
personality. It is geared towards enabling and supporting concrete action. A variety of
methods are used to facilitate learning at different levels (action, reflection and theory), as
well as learning with and from each other.
Two highly intensive residential modules are complemented by periods of online learning.
During these periods, the trainees study the materials provided on the learning platform at
their own pace and meet on a regular basis in webinars (web-based seminars), consisting of
lectures and discussions with subject experts. In this phase, trainees have the opportunity to
apply the lessons from the first intensive course to a project of their own choosing, on
which they then report and receive feedback from the group. In total, the course offers 150
hours of intensive training, 16 days in person in a class of 20-25 participants and 10 half
day webinars in the same group.
Participatory Curricula Development
The IFOAM leadership training course is a result of a two years participatory curriculum
development process which included the following steps:
1. Market analyses and competence profile development
2. Training System development
3. Syllabus development
4. Training material development
5. Training the trainers
6. Promotion of the training
7. Scholarship development
8. First pilot training implementation
9. Evaluation and adaptation of the curriculum
10. Organize and start implementation of the second pilot training
186

The first IFOAM Leadership Course will be held in India in 2012. The maximum number
of participants is 25. While the contents of the course will focus on South Asia, applicants
from other parts of the world are welcome to apply. The language of instruction is English.
The course will run from February 1 to November 30, with two full-time residential
modules of 10 and 6 days each (March and November) and a part-time e-learning phase
that includes 10 webinars. IFOAM supports finding scholarships to cover (part of) some
participants course fees.
South Asia Course 2012
Courses in Taiwan and elsewhere?
IFOAM proposed to the Government of Taiwan to host the second pilot of the Organic
Leadership Training in collaboration with, the Association of Taiwan Organic Agriculture
Promotion (ATOAP). It would be the first comprehensive organic leadership training in
East Asia region, aiming at the development of a regional permanent training. Taiwan
would become a hub for capacity building in organic agriculture in Asia, providing
expertise, for other countries by analyzing and disseminating e.g. existing marketing,
research and certification best practices of organic production. After a preparation phase,
during which the competence profile, the training system already developed and the
curriculum will be translated into Mandarin and adapted to address specific regional needs.
IFOAM is open to enter new partnerships to organize courses with the same purposes and
similar, regionally adapted curricula in other regions e.g. in Latin America, in Africa, North
America, the Middle East or in Europe.

More information: www.ifoam.org/academy or academy@ifoam.org

187
Green Plant Protection Mobile Learning for Slovakian Farmers

1
Monika Tthov -
2
Lszl Radics -
3
Salvatore Basile
2
Ildik Vrs -
1
Peter Tth

1
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia
2
Association for Hungarian Organic Farming, Hungary
3
Biocert Association, Italy
E-mail: monika.tothova@uniag.sk
Website: www.greenplantprotection.eu

Key words: lifelong learning, eLearning, ecological agriculture, plant protection

Introduction
Green plant protection (GPP) is a shortcut of the Leonardo da Vinci project - Transfer of innovation
under the title of Utilization of advances of information communication technologies (ICT)
developments in mobile learning in order to promote interactive learning for adult people in the
field of ecological agriculture (2009-1-SK1-LEO-05-00792). The project is based on previous
Leonardo da Vinci pilot project ECOLOGICA (HU 05/B/F/PP-170018), which developed central
data bank (Ecolibrary) of various digital resources managed to 14 modules designed for the
advisers education in organic agriculture (Radics et al. 2007). For the GPP project the parental
module is Plant Protection. The achievements and results of ECOLOGICA were also transferred for
further utilisation in Organic.Edunet project of the eContentplus program (ECP-2006-EDU-410012
Organic.Edunet). Organic.Edunet aims to facilitate access, usage and exploitation of digital
educational content related to organic agriculture and agroecology (Radics et al. 2010).

GPP is designed for education of organic farmers using mobile devices. Mobile learning
(mLearning) is generally defined as eLearning using a mobile device and wireless transmission
(Hoppe et al. 2003 in Ally, 2009). Mobile devices were chosen as a tool of lifelong learning in GPP,
because they are pervasive and ubiquitous (Ally, 2009), they are portable, personalized,
increasingly convergent and people always have them on hand (Herrington et al. 2009).

Results and conclusions
Green plant protection (GPP) is an initiative to promote interactive mobile learning of adult people
in the field of ecological agriculture. GPP will provide all what is important to know about plant
protection in ecological agriculture using web platform designed for standard
(www.greenplantprotection.eu) and mobile version (m.greenplantprotection.eu). Plant protection is
focused on Slovak conditions, as there is no such comprehensive source available until now. GPP is
dealing with animal pests, plant pathogens and weeds in cropland. Each category has the same
layout within the four key chapters - general parts, field crops, orchards and vineyards, and
greenhouses. Materials are designed to help users quickly locate the relevant GPP content. Learning
resources are focused on symptoms and morphology with hyperlinks to pictures, and on different
control strategies. These data are complemented by bionomy and host plants. Mobile version of the
page has simple but clear design, with no animation. It is a prerequisite for ensuring the access to
information with moderate cost even in the field, where the internet connection is usually weak. The
mobile GPP platform will contain only the main content of the standard web site to help find
188
information requested more easier, with as less 'clicks' as possible. All documents will be suited to
the iPhone screen to avoid unnecessary side scrolling and zooming (Tthov et al. 2010).
Internet is the key media of modules designed for eLearning and mLearning environment and the
content can easily be upgraded. Training material is prepared in Slovak, Hungarian, Italian and
English languages. Users will access the on-line learning resources after the registration on the web
site.

The project will ensure active access to lifelong learning. The need of lifelong learning in Slovakia
is underlined by the fact, that almost 40% of the Slovakian land area is farmed (Demo et al. 2004)
and the most numerous working group are the workers 45-49 year old with lower-secondary
education (MP SR, 2006). To spread GPP initiative ideas and information covered in the web and
mobile versions, the book under the title of Green plant protection will be published at the end of
the project.

The main advantage of GPP mobile learning is that the learning is not bound to a location, it is
interwoven with other everyday activities, and learning phase is located to the rural areas and the
farmers natural environment. However target group of the project are organic farmers, the
environmentally sound pest control methods and thus GPP mLearning should also be used in
conventional agriculture.
Except of providing of vocational education in the field of plant protection, the idea of GPP
mLearning is to promote the use of information and communication technologies in agriculture to
overcome digital exclusion and promote awareness in what benefits information society can offer.

References
Ally M. ed. (2009): Mobile learning: transforming the delivery of education and training.
Edmonton : AU Press, 2009. 297 p. ISBN 978-1-897425-43-5.
Demo M. et al. (2004): Projektovanie trvalo udratench ponohospodrskych systmov v krajine.
Nitra : Slovensk ponohospodrska univerzita, 2004. 720 s. ISBN 80-8069-391-9.
Herrington A. et al. (2009): Design principles for mobile learning,
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&context=edupapers, (accessed 2010-
11-11).
MP SR (2006): Nrodn strategick pln rozvoja vidieka SR na programovacie obdobie 2007
2013, http://mpsr.sk/sk/?start&navID=2&navID2=2&sID=43&id=33, (accessed 2010-11-11).
Radics L. et al. (2007): Leonardo da Vinci Pilot program: Development of central data bank on
European level for the education of ecological farming advisers. Budapest : Corvinus
University, 2007. 142 p. ISBN 978-963-9736-48-1.
Radics L. et al. (2010): Future of Education - Organic.Edunet Web Portal for Organic Agriculture
and Agroecology, abstract, ISOFAR/MOAN Symposium, 23-25 March 2010, Sousse, Tunisia,
Book of Abstracts p. 53.
Tthov M. et al. (2010): Green plan protection - mobile learning in ecological agriculture. In:
International Conference on "IT- Enhanced Organic, Agro - Ecological & Environmental
Education : abstract, September 16-17 2010, Budapest, Hungary. Budapest : Corvinus
University of Budapest, 2010. p. 10.
189
The Rule of Training in Developing an Organic System the Israeli Case

Dr. Ornit Raz, CEO
Israel Bio-Organic Agriculture Association
1 Hayasmin st. Ramat Efal 52960,
Israel
mankal@organic-israel.org.il
ornit@mit.edu
Tel: 972-3-7361097/8 or 972-6336682

ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates the robustness of the rule of training in developing the organic
agriculture in Israel.

The IBOAA (Israeli Bio-Organic Agriculture Association) system considers knowledge as the
major key to success. In most countries, the responsibility for acquiring the know-how
necessary for practicing the organic process, is
placed on the producers themselves, while in Israel, the IBOAA is committed to advancing
and accelerating its members' proficiency in the field.
Furthermore, whereas the international rules and standards portray the conversion process in
terms of the time factor (3/ 2 years), the IBOAA standards require, in addition, that their
members undergo a training program during the conversion period.

In accordance with this system, in order to qualify for organic certification by the
certification body, it is necessary for the person to attend an intensive course encompassing
the extensive range of topics associated with the organic system, including, amongst other
things, the theoretic aspects like the principles of organic agriculture, history of organic
agriculture development, organic agriculture and the environment, certification
procedures, organic law and legal requirements, and the practical aspects like the
permitted substances, fertilization and soil nutrition.

Professional assistance is the core value of the organic association's (IBOAA) activities, and
is performed by providing the grower with continuous, hands on, in field training & support
during conversion period and subsequent to granting the certification. This assistance
includes field research and experiments. Workshops and conferences on organic issues are
available for the association members throughout the year.

The IBOAA system reduces the likelihood of the occurrence of inadvertent mistakes, as well
as indicating the credibility, reliability and trust of the Israeli production.
190
Organic Edunet Achieving interoperability of Organic Agriculture
and Agroecology digital repositories

Radics, L.
1
, Pusztai, P.
2
, Csambalik, L.
3
, Szalai, Z.
4
, Tbis, A.
5
Key words: Organic.Edunet, digital education, e-learning, Organic Agriculture, Agroecology

Abstract
Organic.Edunet (ECP-2006-EDU-410012 Organic.Edunet) aims to facilitate access, usage and
exploitation of digital educational content related to Organic Agriculture (OA) and Agroecology. It
deploys a multilingual online federation and digital environment of learning repositories, populated
with quality content from various content producers.
Organic.Edunet focuses on achieving interoperability between the digital collections of OA and
Agroecology content of various EU countries. In this way, digital content that can be used to
educate European Youth about the benefits of OA and Agroecology, becomes easily accessible,
usable and exploitable.
As the end of the project approaching the system has been set up and located to content providers
preserving the network system. All partners related to education has uploaded all of their learning
objects. In order to ensure the sustainability of the portal all partners contribute to affiliated
partners organization. The project offers a digital and user defined portfolio for them even in
regular learning systems or life long learning.

Introduction
Consumer demand for food quality and safety, as well as, society's demand for more sustainable
development, provide new opportunities for the agricultural sector (WILLIAMS, 2002). Consumers'
fears, triggered by food scares and technological developments such as genetic modification and
food irradiation, have been translated into serious concern about food safety, increasing demands
for quality assurance and more information about production methods (HAMMITT, 1990). In
addition, public awareness of the irreversible damage done to the environment by practices that lead
to soil and water pollution, depletion of natural resources, and destruction of delicate ecosystems,
has led to calls for a more responsible attitude towards our natural heritage (GRUNERT & JUHL,
1995).
Against this background, Organic Agriculture (OA) has come to the fore as an agricultural approach
that can not only produce safer agricultural products but is environmentally sound too (STOLZE et
al. 2000).
In this light, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming (2004) has identified the need
for actions supporting the training and education of all stakeholders related to OA, covering aspects
related to production, processing and marketing of OA products and their benefits, plus targeting
OA products as the preferred option for both producers and consumers (SCHMID et al. 2008).
Efficiency of organic farming can either grow or decrease over time depending on the nature of the
technology and the learning process (SIPILINEN - LANSINK, 2005). The European Commission
and social partner organisations at EU level encourage the lifelong development of qualifications
and competence. This is reflected in many policy reports and reviews (FIELD, 2000).
1
Corvinus University of Budapest, Faculty of Horticultural Sciences, Department of Ecological and Sustainable Production Systems, Budapest H-1118,
Villnyi t 29-43., laszlo.radics@uni-corvinus.hu
2
As above, peter.pusztai@uni-corvinus.hu
3
As above, laszlo.csambalik@uni-corvinus.hu
4
As above, magdolnazita.szalai@uni-corvinus.hu
5
As above, andrea.tobias@uni-corvinus.hu
191
The resources that are developed to support learning activities must be easily located, retrieved and
be well selected to meet the needs of those persons to whom they are delivered (TZIKOPOULOS et
al. 2005). That is why repositories (systems for the storage, location and retrieval of content) are so
essential to the further integration of information technologies and learning (HOLDEN, 2003).
Digital repositories, in the broadest sense, are used to store any digital material. However digital
repositories for learning resources are considerably more complex both in terms of what needs to be
stored and how it may be delivered (DUNCAN, 2002). The definition of a digital learning
repository (DLR) is the following: a digital repository is a DLR if it is created in order to provide
access to digital educational materials and if the nature of its content or metadata reflects an interest
in those materials being used in an educational context (HOLDEN, 2003).
Materials and methods
It is always a key point to determine the most applicable method to store the digital LOs (Learning
Objects) for further use or search. SCAM (Standardized Content Archive Management) is web
based content archive concept and gives you the possibility to use metadata and make the resources
structured and well defined.
Confolio, which is a SCAM learning object repository, aims to provide a structured background
depot for the uploaded LOs. This system is a user structured electronic portfolio to store and make
accessible the content.
Main tool for it is the Organic.Edunet Portal, using the structured contents and make it searchable.
User may just simple use the back-end to get information on his own or may organise complete
education courses upon it. To fulfil this requirement all the contents must be collected in an
applicable format.
Results
First phase of building Organic.Edunet was to set up the criteria for collecting the LOs. The
expected over 10.000 contents all belong to organic agriculture and agroecology both scientific and
information level.

Confolio Home Page - http://oe.confolio.org
Confolio is the system which enables for educational bodies to upload and edit their own learning
materials and share them with other interested parties. In the phase of project work only official
project partners could use Confolio. However, the choice is up to every external content provider to
become an affiliated partner and make use of Confolio. In order to starting use Confolio as an
Organic.Edunet Repository first of all one has to create a user name and a password, which has to
be written in the Login window.

Uploading a resource
After successful login, the registered user can upload a resource clicking on File button.
The whole file system is built up on partner institutions folders. Source of uploading can be chosen
easily by Browse button. Format and type of the desired file can be selected from a drop-down list.
Title and description of the file should be given in separate boxes.
In order to make all uploaded Learning Objects (LO) valuable for all partners and interested users
English has been determined as a common language, therefore all essential information related to a
LO has to be provided in English and native language, even though the LO e.g. a text file- is in
native language. After completing the required data in both languages, the LO will be uploaded to
Confolio.
The web application Confolio is just the container to store the data but it was necessary to make
exact description in Confolio about the contents. The metadata system must be based on ontology
and other parameters that enhance the utilization of a LO.
192
Uploaded documents are mainly handbooks, publications, presentations, pictures, links, videos and
references with the aim to give deep information a specific subject of organic agriculture or
agroecology.
Typical content sources are the contents of Organic.Edunet Consortium members, ECOLOGICA
Project Resources, FAO Capacity Building Portal, AGROASIS Project Resources, ENOAT
Learning Resources, Estonian and Spanish Organic Agriculture Learning Resources and INTUTE
Learning Resources.

Searching for a Learning Object
Searching of LOs is important for end-users of the system, e.g. pupils, students, teachers and
lecturers. The Front-end page of Confolio can be found at http://portal.organic-
edunet.eu/index.php. As the portal is designed user-friendly, proper use of it can be explored
individually.
Users have three options for searching: Text based search, Semantic search and Tag based search,
as well as free browsing and tag cloud can be found at the main page of the Organic.Edunet portal.
Text-Based Search works in a typical text-based searching way. It looks for the keywords that the
user is typing, into the title and description of all the educational resources in the federation.
Semantic Navigation allows users to search for resources according to an ontology of Organic
Agriculture concepts, providing results that are related to the particular concepts in the ontology.
Users can directly ask for resources that are related to a particular concept in the ontology. For a
more elaborated search, users may define a number of interest points upon the ontology, and ask for
resources that are related to them.
Tag-Based Search allows users to search for resources according to the way other users have
annotated (e.g. tagged or rated) them in the past. Users can either search for resources that have
been tagged with a particular word, or can see which resources are most popular to other users (i.e.
the ones that have been rated highly).

Educational Scenarios
Organic.Edunet team described the main points of possible end user situations mainly in education.
Partner institutions developed several education scenarios where Organic.Edunet may be integrated
or used as only resource for secondary schools and universities.
The philosophy of using Organic.Edunet in direct education based on the concept of involving
students into learning material gathering and processing. After a special collection work of a tutor,
main resources are listed to students and they are free to download and use them in their own work.
This system is fitted to regular secondary or university lecture structure but gives wider interactivity
to both parties.
The concept of using Organic.Edunet in distant learning systems gives just access to the repository
and students will search and use the content independently. It means less tutor activity and better fit
to e-learning situation.

Conclusions
The project studies educational scenarios that introduce the use of the Organic.Edunet portal and
content to support teaching of topics related to OA and Agroecology in two cases of formal
educational systems, i.e., high-schools and agricultural universities.
Wide range of possibilities provides new ways to users in building up own scenarios based on
Organic.Edunet portal.
Moreover, multilingual online environment of Organic.Edunet portal makes it tractable and
available world-wide. This gives a good possibility for all countries to join as affiliated partner or as
user of free education materials.
193
Organic.Edunet aims to become an international platform supporting knowledge flow in the topic of
OA and Agroecology.
Acknowledgments
The mentioned project is funded by the European Commission under the name of "Organic.Edunet:
A Multilingual Federation of Learning Repositories with Quality Content for the Awareness and
Education of European Youth about Organic Agriculture and Agroecology" Targeted Project of the
eContentplus programme (ECP-2006-EDU-410012 Organic.Edunet).
References
DUNCAN C. (2002): Digital Repositories: the back-office of e-Learning or all e-Learning? in
Proc. of ALT-C 2002, Sunderland, 9-11 September.
FIELD J. (2000): Governing the Ungovernable. Why Lifelong Learning Policies Promise so Much
Yet Deliver so Little. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Vol. 28, No. 3,
249-261
GRUNERT S. C. - JUHL H. J. (1995): Values, environmental attitudes, and buying of organic
foods. Journal of Economic Psychology. Vol. 16, Issue 1, Pages 39-62
HAMMITT J. K. (1990): Risk perceptions and food choice: an exploratory analysis of organic-
versus conventional-produce buyers. Risk Analysis. Volume 10 Issue 3, Pages 367 374
HOLDEN, C. (2003): From Local Challenges to a Global Community: Learning Repositories and
the Global Learning Repositories Summit. Version 1.0, Academic ADL Co-Lab, November 11.
SCHMID O. - DABBERT S. - EICHERT C. - GONZLVEZ V. - LAMPKIN N. - MICHELSEN J.
- SLABE A. - STOKKERS R. STOLZE M. - STOPES C. - WOLLMUTHOV P. - VAIRO D.
- ZANOLI R. (2008): Organic Action Plans. Development, implementation and evaluation. pp.
114.
SIPILINEN T. - LANSINK A. O. (2005): Learning in Organic Farming an application on
Finnish dairy farms. XIth Congress of the EAAE (European Association of Agricultural
Economists), Copenhagen, Denmark, August 24-27, 2005
STOLZE M. - PIORR A. - HRING A. M. - DABBERT S. (2000): Environmental impacts of
organic farming in Europe. Organic Farming in Europe: Economics and Policy. Vol. 6.
Universitt Hohenheim, Stuttgart-Hohenheim.
TZIKOPOULOS A. - MANOUSELIS N. - COSTOPOULOU C. - YALOURIS C. - SIDERIDIS A.
(2005): Investigating Digital Learning Repositories Coverage of Agriculture-related Topics.
Proc. of the International Congress on Information Technologies in Agriculture, Food and
Environment (ITAFE05), Adana, Turkey October 12-14, 2005.
WILLIAMS C. M. (2002): Nutritional quality of organic food: shades of grey or shades of green?
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2002), 61:19-24
194
Empowerment of Tharu Community on Organic Production through Farmers
Field School

Rajan Ghimire
1
, Basanta Ranabhat
2
and Rishi Ram Adhikari
2

1
University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA
2
Ecological Services Centre, Bharatpur, Nepal
Correspondence: rghimire@uwyo.edu

Key words: organic vegetables, farmers field school, marginal community, participatory
approach

Abstract
A five-month-long farmers field school was conducted in Bachheuli, Chitwan, Nepal in 2008 to
empower Tharu women-groups and upscale their traditional farming to the organic vegetable
production practices. Thirty woman-farmers from three existing woman-groups participated in the
study, and they grew pumpkins, French beans, tomatoes and coriander in small plots. Production of
crops based on applied inputs along with the empowerment of Tharu women in leadership skills,
sharing of experiences, and group decision making were evaluated as indicators of the success of
the program. By the end of the field school, farmers became knowledgeable on several techniques
by learning in the classes and by practically experiencing cultural operations on the field. Besides,
they developed skill to analyze the farm agro-ecosystem, identify problems like pest and disease
incidences and their management, and to handle postharvest activities. There was variation in yield
of vegetables grown by different groups, which was resulted from the difference in group judgment
of crop requirements and efficiency on rational decision making by the group to the manage the
problem. However, the farmers field school became an effective tool for the empowerment of
community toward organic vegetable production.

Introduction
Farmers' field school (FFS) involves the process of learning in the field through observation,
discussion and experimentation. It is a knowledge building approach where farmer-to-farmer
learning is exercised with technical backstopping from trained specialists (Pontius et al., 2002). FFS
was started in 1997 through a national integrated pest management program in Nepal (PPD, 2005).
However, this program became an important participatory learning and technology transfer tool in
different aspects of Nepalese agriculture including organic and sustainable farming practices.

Ecological Services Centre, one of the leading organizations in the field of organic agriculture
movement in Nepal, had been endorsing FFS as an important participatory technology transfer tool
for the promotion of organic agriculture since a decade. Organic crop production and management
practices had been transferred through this "school without walls" where 25-30 farmers in a group
participate regularly in the intensive training, analyze farm agro-ecosystem, discuss the problems
and develop their own solutions with or without technical backstopping from facilitators. Thus,
years of experience in FFS encouraged us to promote organic vegetable production through this
approach in remote areas and ethnic niches where farmers rely on local resources and need to
upscale their technologies to increase production with minimum environmental risk. Tharu
community of Chitwan, Nepal is one of the best examples of this kind of story.

Tharus are one of the major ethnic groups, mostly inhabiting the Terai plains of Nepal and relying
on the locally available plant resources for living (Matthews et al., 2000; Dangol, 2008). They
follow the traditional practices to manage their agriculture and are not included in the mainstream
development activities of the government. Tharus were hardly included in the FFS program
although the government of Nepal emphasized the program to cover all regions and farming
communities throughout the country (Upadhaya, 2001). Thus, we organized this field school as an
195
initiative to bring the marginalized Tharu community to the forefront of agriculture by empowering
them through vegetable production and scaling up of the traditional practices to the organic
production practices.

Material and methods
Farmers' Field School was conducted in Bachhauli VDC of Chitwan district for five months in 2008.
Thirty women farmers from three existing groups (Table 1) participated in the field school and grew
pumpkins, French beans, tomatoes and coriander. Total participants were divided into three sub-
groups and one plot was provided to a group for growing the four vegetable species. The plots
provided for each group were divided into smaller sub-plots of 11.8 x 1.5 m
2
for each vegetable
species. The same cultural practices were applied for the production of a crop by each group.

Table 1. Women groups participated in the field school, Bachheuli, Nepal
S.N. Name of Group Address No. of Member
1. Milijuli Women Group Bagmara, Bachhauli 9
2. Chaudari Women Group Odara, Bachhauli 11
3. Tara Jyoti Women Group Siswar, Bachhauli 10

The farmers practiced agro-ecosystem analyses in the field, which included observation of
production environments like temperature and humidity, pest and disease conditions, water and
nutrient supply, and regular intercultural operations. They applied farmyard manure, HB 101, liquid
manure and neem-based pesticides as the major organic inputs for growing vegetables (Table 2).
All crops received irrigation for five times during an entire growing season. Women-groups
recorded the yield of the vegetable crops, which was utilized as the basis for the judgment of the
group learning. Besides, we also considered the empowerment of farmers on leadership skills,
experience-sharing abilities and decision-making qualities as other indicators of the program
success.

Table 2. Major inputs applied in field plots, Bachheuli, Nepal
S.N. Material Quantity
1. Farmyard manure (FYM) 40 kg
2. H. B. 101 (organic multi-nutrient solution) 10 ml
3. Liquid manure 30 lit
4. Niconeem (neem based pesticide) 100 ml
5. Irrigation 5 times

Besides practical exercise in the field and sharing of experiences among participants, farmers
regularly participated in the classes regarding cultural operations, possible pest and disease threats,
and the best management practices through organic inputs. Technical backstopping of participants
through audio-visual lectures and an exposure visit to an established organic farm was also included
in the program for developing better understanding of the production problems and their
management strategies.

Result and discussions
Farmers empowerment socially and technically was the main aim and achievement of the field
school conducted in Bachheuli. Farmers learned the technique from nursery bed preparation to
postharvest management of study crops through intensive field classes and practical experiences in
the field. Farmers reported that they became familiar with the production problems, which were
regularly observed but never realized in the past. For example, the production problems farmers
realized include early indicators of pest incidence and disease outbreak, specific growth stages of
fertilizer and water requirement, and physiological indicators of nutrient deficiency diseases.
196
Farmers have seen the similar kind of signs and symptoms in plants but they were not aware of the
correlation between these responses and specific problems or the crop requirements. Moreover,
farmers social skill on exchanging ideas, documenting and sharing their expertise/experiences to
the other groups, and exploring the solutions for problems in other crops similar to the study crops
were also strengthened. Major technical and social skills earned by farmers during the five month
long intensive training are listed in Table 3 below.

Table 3. Key technical and social skills developed during FFS, Bachheuli, 2008
1. Various aspects of organic vegetable production, from farm planning to post
harvest management of crops
2. Exchange of diverse experiences on soil, crop and pest management by utilizing
local resources
3. In-depth skill on the production and management of the four vegetable crops
4. Mainstreaming local techniques that maintain pristine agro-environment and
healthy production systems
5. Scaling up of the local practices that are not supportive to organic and
sustainable production situations
6. Leadership skills, sharing abilities, and group mobilization expertise
7. Agro-ecosystem analysis and understanding the critical aspects of soil, crop and
pest management
8. Hands-on-skills on preparing liquid manure, post-harvest processing vegetables,
and making tomato ketchup

Besides technical and social empowerment, farmers became able to produce vegetables during this
field learning process (Table 4). Productions of the vegetables were significantly different from one
to the other group although the same areas were assigned for each group and the same technology
was delivered to all farmers during the field classes. The variation in the yield of a vegetable in
different groups might be due to the difference in efficiency of women groups for the rational
decision making on production problems like identification of specific days of nutrient and water
requirements, and insect-pest and disease incidences and the time of their management.

Group decisions for the management of production problems were based on their prior
understanding and leaning in the field classes. One group seemed proficient on the production of
one vegetable crop whereas the other group on the production of the other. However, all groups
benefitted equally by gaining knowledge regarding crop management, agro-ecosystem analysis, pest
and diseases, predators and parasitoids of the insect-pests, and post-harvest handling of the crops.
They traded their learning with other groups during the field classes, which helped them to develop
wider insight on the production issues. These achievements helped them to strengthen their skills in
the overall management of the study crops and further employ the same skills to the other crops.
Table 4. Area and production of different vegetables by field school participants, Bachheuli,
Nepal (Production- Kg, area - m
2
)
S.
N.
Name of
group
Tomato Pumpkin Bean Coriander
Prodn Area Prodn Area Prodn Area Prodn Area
1 Tara Jyoti 15.80 16.77 8.50 16.77 10.37 16.77 6.00 16.77
2 Mili Juli 7.05 22.24 20.00 22.24 6.50 22.24 0.57 22.24
3 Chaudari 15.60 16.77 11.50 16.77 9.85 16.77 1.89 16.77
Total 38.45 55.78 40.00 55.78 26.72 55.78 8.46 55.78

Exposure visit became an effective tool to develop wider insight of the farmers on organic
agriculture and also supported to develop confidence on the organic production techniques. Farmers
also learned the techniques of preparing liquid manure and tomato ketchup demonstrated during the
197
field classes. In addition to the nutrient supplying and insect repelling effects of liquid manure, it
also helped in utilizing insect-pest repellent weeds and shrubs present in the field and alley-ways.
Farmers utilized the weeds for better production, weed control and insect repellence.

Conclusion and Recommendations
Farmers field school conducted in Bachheuli became effective strategy to empower the marginal
Tharu community towards the organic vegetable production and also strengthen them on the key
social issues. It became an effective forum to transfer technical knowledge, increase social
interaction, and strengthen leadership quality of the farmers. However, some important
recommendations based on our experiences during the program include:
Learning by experiences, and transferring techniques through farmer to farmer sharing are the
fastest methods of extension
Implementation of the program based on prior analysis of the farmers problems increases the
effectiveness of the program and generates the better outputs
Local perceptions counts one of the factors of program efficacy, therefore, it is important to
analyze local situations and mainstream farmers perceptions

Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the farmers group for their active participation and the Ecological
Services Centre for its role on successful implementation of the program.

References
Dangol, D.R. 2008. Traditional uses of plants of common land habitats in western Chitwan, Nepal.
J. Inst. Agric. Anim. Sci. 29:71-78.
Matthews, S. A., Shivakoti, G. P. and Chhetri, N. 2000. Population Forces and Environmental
Change: Observations from Western Chitwan, Nepal. Society & Natural Resources, 13: 763
775. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ content~db=all~content=a713847597
Pontius, J.C., Dilts, R. and Bartlett, A. 2002. From farmer field school to community IPM: Ten
years of IPM training in Asia. RAP/2002/15, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
Bangkok. 106 pp
PPD, 2005. Proceedings of officer level training of facilitators in vegetable IPM. Government of
Nepal, Plant Protection Divisoion and Food and Agriculture Organization. June 13-
September 25, 2004, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Upadhaya, S. 2001. Pesticide and environment. In: Agriculture and environment, communication
issue, pp 15-19, published on the occasion of World environment/population day, Ministry
of Agriculture Kathmandu, Nepal.
198
Establishment of Organic Agriculture University in Samcheok, Korea

Sang Mok Sohn
1
Dankook University, Cheonan & Kangwon National University, Samcheok
& Sung Kyo Choi
Email: smsohn@dankook.ac.kr & skchoi@kangwon.ac.kr

Keywords: Organic agriculture university, University, Education, Samcheok, Korea

Introduction

Since the enactment of the Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Promotion Act, Korea has
endeavored to foster a sustainable development of eco-friendly agriculture. Nevertheless, a recent
survey on organic farms showed that an insufficient know-how about farming techniques (organic
seed, crop rotation, soil fertility, prevention of disease and pest, weeding, etc.) remains the largest
obstacle to the practice of organic farming.

Until December 2010 when the 2
nd
five-year plan for eco-friendly agricultural development was
completed, the governments policy on eco-friendly agriculture was mainly centered upon financial
support for eco-friendly farmers, thus there appeared to be a lack of technological development or
systemic education policy for organic farming.

The 3
rd
five-year plan for eco-friendly agricultural development which starts in 2011 should give
priority to dissemination of organic farming technology and establishment of an education system
for organic agriculture.

In Korea, agricultural departments are currently operated by 50 universities (24 national universities
and 26 private universities), but there is virtually no university which conducts systemic education
about organic farming.

The success of environmentally friendly agriculture depends on eco-friendly farming education and
training. Here, the expansion of professional education is of particular importance with its main
focus on the reinforcement of a basis for environmentally friendly farming:

Utilizing the carrot approach for national and private universities to open organic farming-
related departments (Dept. of organic food production, organic animal production, organic food
processing, etc.)
Stimulating massive investment in creation of organic agriculture graduate schools and
universities

As Samcheok City retains an International Research & Education Center for Organic Agriculture &
Fisheries as well as an Experimental Farm, the Samcheok Government is promoting the scheme for
reorganizing them into an Organic Agriculture University.

1
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Dankook University, Cheonan 330-714, Republic of Korea, E-Mail: smsohn@dankook.ac.kr, Internet:
www.rioa.or.kr
199

Figure 1: A Panoramic View of the Main Buildings of the Organic Agriculture University

Formation and Operation of Organic Agriculture University
The Organic Agriculture University will consist of a graduate school (Ms and PhD courses),
organic agriculture master college (professional bachelors course), and organic farming school for
agricultural return. As a regular course, the graduate school will cover organic crops, organic
horticulture, organic animal production, organic aquaculture, organic food processing & marketing,
while the organic agriculture master college and organic farming school for agricultural return will
be also in operation:

Graduate School: student capacity for each department - 10 students for a masters course & 5
students for a PhD course
Organic Agriculture Master College: student capacity for 4 majors under professional
bachelors course - 20 students per major
Separate operation of professional bachelors program (two-year junior college) and
organic master program
Organic Farming School for Agricultural Return: student capacity for 5 classes - 20 students
per class











President

University
Headquarters
Graduate School
(Head)
Affiliate
Organization
Industry-
Academic
Cooperation


Administration
Office
Bureau of
Academic
Affairs

Department of Crop
Production
Department of
Horticulture
Inst. of Organic Crop
Production


Inst. of Organic
Horticulture
Office of Intl
Cooperation

Business
Incubation

School-
based
Enterprise
200







Figure 2: Organizational Structure of the Organic Agriculture Graduate School & University


Education System and Student Capacity of Organic Agriculture University

The graduate school will consist of a two-year masters course and a three-year PhD course,
covering organic crops, organic horticulture, organic animal husbandry, organic aquaculture,
organic food processing & marketing.

The organic agriculture master college will offer a professional bachelors program and a
professional master program on four majors in organic confectionary & baking, organic dairy
processing, organic meat processing, and organic fermented food. Here, the professional bachelors
course and organic master course will be operated on the basis of two years and six months
respectively.

A one-year organic farming school for agricultural return will provide five courses such as organic
horticulture, organic animal husbandry, organic food processing, organic medicinal herb, and
organic fermented food.
























Figure 3: Course Formation of Organic Agriculture University

Office of
School
Affairs

Office of
Student
Affairs

Department of
Animal Husbandry
Department of
Aquaculture
Dept of Food Pro-
cessing & Marketing

Inst. of Organic
Animal Husbandry
Inst. of Organic
Aquaculture
Inst. of Food Proce-
ss ing & Marketing
Library
Experimental
Farm
Central Analysis
Center

OAU Courses
Regular Course

Short-term
Intensive Course

Graduate
School
Organic Agriculture
Master College

Organic Farming School
for Agricultural Return

Professional Course
for Organic
Agriculture
Organic Crop
Production
Organic
Horticulture
Organic Animal
Husbandry
Organic
Aquaculture
Organic Food
Processing &
Marketing
Professional
Bachelors
Course

Organic
Confectionar
y & Baking

Organic
Dairy
Processing
Organic
Meat
Processing
Organic
Fermented
Food

Organic
Master mechanic
Course
Organic
Confectionary &
Baking

Organic Dairy
Processing

Organic Meat
Processing

Organic
Fermented Food

Organic
Horticulture Class
Organic Animal
Husbandry Class
Organic Food
Processing Class
Organic
Medicinal Herb
Class
Organic
Fermented Food
Class

Advanced CEO
Course for
Organic
Agriculture
Short-term
Intensive Course
for Organic
Farming
Organic
Farming Course
for Consumers
Voucher-based
Education for
Organic Farming
201
Conclusion
Samcheok City with some 70,000 citizens have already completed the construction of an
International Research & Education Center for Organic Agriculture & Fisheries plus an
Experimental Farm funded entirely from its municipal budget (KRW 19.8 billion = 18 Million $).
However, it has not yet obtained approval for the establishment of an Organic Agriculture
University. In Korea, the opening of an Organic Agriculture University is an essential prerequisite
not only for the quantitative and qualitative development of organic farming but also for the
sustainable growth of secondary and tertiary industries.
Samcheok City hopes to be designated as an educational cooperation organization of the
International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR) and open a National Organic
AgricultureUniversity by the end of 2013 through close cooperation with the central government
(the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries & the Ministry of Education, Science
and Technology).

Literature
Sang Mok Sohn (2010): Feasibility Study on Expanding of Research Center for Environmentally
Sound Agriculture and Reform Measure on Education of Environmentally Sound & Organic
Agriculture. Research Report funded by Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery
11-1541000-000574-01. 31 December 2010
Sang Mok Sohn, Sung Kyo Choi, Young Ho Kim, Kyung Seok Oh, Sang Myeong Choi (2010):
International Research & Education Center for Organic Agriculture & Fisheries. Research
Report funded by Samcheok City and Kangwon National University. 25 Feb 2010.
202
Internship Program for Organic Apple Cultivation
Sanggiel Shin
Director
International Organic Agriculture Research Institute

Introduction
The International Organic Agriculture Research Institute (IOARI) has established an
organic certification agency in cooperation with the Global Organic Agriculturist
Association (GOAA) in 2005. We have taught organic farming technology, piloted
organic farms, and nurtured organic farmers, sparing no effort in building the
groundwork for Korea's organic farming.

Harmonize with nature, and be a part of nature.
A farmer produces food, the fundamental source of life,
And farming is the work that benefits people in the most honest way.
1


(1) IOARI conducted organic farming education for organic apple cultivation at the
Agricultural Technology Center of Gyeongsangbuk-do:
Organic Farming Technology Education Performance (2005-2010)

2005, IFOAM Certification System, Organic Farming Basic and Advance Courses (12
sessions), 480 participants

2006, IFOAM Certification System, Organic Farming Basic and Advance Courses (16
sessions), 640 participants

2007, IFOAM Certification System, Organic Farming Advance Course / Rice, Premium
Apple (16 sessions), 640 participants

2008, Organic Farming Basic Course & Certification System, Organic Farming
Guideline/ Fruits and Vegetables, Antioxidants (16 sessions), 800 participants

2009, Organic Farming Advanced Course/ Premium Apple and Apple of Miracle, Pre-
Internship Program, (7 sessions), 806 participants

2010, IFOAM Certification System, Organic Apple & Brown Rice, Internship Program
(20 sessions/19 people completed) 170 participants, 19 students completed the
Internship program, 3,545 people completed education courses

The 6 years of education laid the foundation for the potential of Korean agriculture
industry as it enhanced the understanding of organic farming and technology. In
1
From the last chapter of "Farming" by Hyun-Bu Lee, invited lecturer for the Organic
Farming Basic Course in 2007
203
addition, organic farming can play a role of life-giving education for the future of
human beings as it seeks new ways of agriculture.

(2) IOARI acted as a pioneer of organic apple cultivation technology, consumer market,
and overall organic farming in Korea after operating a pilot organic apple farm:
Pureun Chojang Farm in Cheongsong, Gyeongsangbuk-do is an organic orchard of
20,000m2 founded 40 years ago by president Kye-yong Son. This orchard played a key
role in making the Cheongsong area the largest apple producer in Korea as it adopted
new technology and pioneered direct trade with export companies.

President Son suffered from health problems due to difficulties in developing organic
apples from 2004 to 2006. However, after such effort, he received organic agricultural
technology education from IORI and was awarded with the IFOAM Certificate for his
organic apples in 2007. With such momentum, he received the Gold Tower Order of
Industrial Service Merit for Korean organic farming technology on November 11, 2008,
as proof of the quality of his apples.

He has overcome various adversaries and become the master of organic apples. In
addition, his apples outshined other apples in an international nutrients analysis. On
February 1, 2009 he was able to pay back his huge debt of KRW 250 million that he had
accumulated over the past 30 years thanks to an interest-free loan from Farmland Bank.
On December 21, 2009, he repaid the debt to that bank with the revenue he made during
that year. In addition, he received KRW 208 million in additional payment on the Lunar
New Years Day of 2010, becoming a wealthy farmer without debt and an organic apple
master at the same time.In the spring of 2010, his apples were awarded as "Premium"
apples, and now have the highest added value in the international market.

"Agriculture is an industry of life and farmers are in charge of what their brothers,
neighbors, and people take in. So, being a farmer myself, I am very proud to challenge
myself in producing better food.
2

".
(3) IOARI started an internship program for organic apple cultivation to disperse the
technology:

Tab. 1: Organic Agriculture Cultivation Interns (Second Class)
No. Name Farm No. Name Farm
01 Kyo-Hun Kim Sunmoon Farm 06
Chang-Won
Bae
Geumbaksan
Farm
02
Yong-Wook
Kim
Hogye Farm 07 Dae-Won Seo Woolim Farm
03
Kyung-Jae
Moon
Sannae Farm 08 In-Seup Jang Jangsu Farm
04 Kyu-Won Park Wonjin Farm 09 Seok-Woo Cho Hanbit Farm
2
From the acceptance speech of president Kye-yong Son
204
05 Won-Jin Bae Geosong Farm 10 Sung-Hee Cho Hanbit Farm

Organic Apple Cultivation Internship Schedule:
Opening Ceremony: January 14, 2010
First Semester: 1.14-15, 18-19, 3.23-24, 4.20-21 5.18-19
Second Semester: 6.10-11, 7.19-20, 9.20-21, 10.19-20, 11.23-24
Completion Ceremony: November 24, 2010

Tuition and Payment Data:
Registration Fee for Internship KRW 500,000 (Textbook and research & training fee)
Tuition for First Semester KRW 500,000 (Technical education fee)
Tuition for Second Semester KRW 500,000 (Technical education fee & expenses)

Organic Apple Cultivation Internship Curriculum:
Basic Course
- Special Lecture: Organic farming and life, Peace movement by Professor Sung-Won
Park (2 Lectures)
- Organic Farming Guideline by Professor Sanggiel Shin (2 Lectures)
Advanced Course
Organic Apple Cultivation Theory
Chapter 1. Cultivating apple according to
regional characteristics
Chapter 2. Selecting suitable land for
apple cultivation and weather
Chapter 3. Improving fertility of apple
orchard
Chapter 4. Selecting seedling and
planting
Chapter 5. Innovative technology in apple
cultivation
Chapter 6. Preventing insects and
disease damage
Chapter 7. Using organic fertilizer and
pesticides
Chapter 8. Apple harvest, storage, and
maintenance
Chapter 9. Distribution methods
suitable to local economy
Chapter 10. Leading farmers in
organic apple cultivation
- Organic Apple Cultivation Theory (Chapter 1-10) / Professor Sanggiel Shin (10
Lectures)
- Organic Apple Cultivation Practicum (Chapter 1-24) / Professor Kye-Yong Son (20
Lectures)
Organic Apple Cultivation Internship Program
Lecture 1. Organic farming guidelines
Lecture 2. Production standard of organic food (Codex guidelines)
Lecture 3. Understanding natural conditions
Lecture 4. Culture of the vertical axis and Solexe system
Lecture 5. Analyzing land and improving fertilization
Lecture 6. Understanding and utilizing agricultural microorganism
Lecture 7. Nano silver
Lecture 8. Egg yolk oil insect control
Lecture 9. Using lime-sulfur compound
205
Lecture 10. Chitosan
Lecture 11. Managing insect and disease damage in apple orchard
Lecture 12. Insect control using natural enemy
Lecture 13. Phytochemical (Antioxidant)
Lecture 14. Using ethylene gas adsorbent
Lecture 15. Sod-culture for apple cultivation
Lecture 16. International Organic Standard
Lecture 17. Changes in and responses to the apple industry at home and abroad
Lecture 18. Examples of circular agriculture
Lecture 19. Introduction of green energy
Lecture 20. Understanding online shopping malls
Lecture 21. Online shopping mall practicum
Certification Guideline
- National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service / Professor Sanggiel Shin
(3 Lectures)
- IFOAM Organic Certification / Professor Sanggiel Shin (3 Lectures)
Field Investigation
- Report on Farms / Introduction of Apple Orchards - Interns
- Joint Consulting / Professor Chang-Won Bae

Conclusion
The 1-year internship for organic cultivation of the International Organic Research
Institute can be summarized as below:

First, it is an internship program that has nurtured human resources for organic apple
cultivation for the past 5 years.

Second, it is a comprehensive training course that educates theories and skills
necessary for apple cultivation.

Third, the fee for the training is paid by the participants, not the government or a
sponsor.

Fourth, participating interns attend professors lectures on theories and practices,
conduct research and present and discuss their studies, and become experts in the field
via experience-based education.

Fifth, after finishing the internship, the interns conduct experiment at apple orchards,
check the result, and submit a paper on the experiment.

Sixth, interns must submit their final paper on their experiments in their specialties
before the completion of the program. After a review of their paper, they can receive the
completion certificate.

Seventh, interns who completed the program must acquire Organic Certificate through
the IFOAM accreditation process.

206


Rice Production
207
Study on Organic Export Value Chain Development in Ethiopia: Opportunities
and Challenges

Addisu Alemayehu
1
Ethiopian Association of Organic Agriculture (EAOA)

1. Introduction
Agriculture is the dominant economic sector in Ethiopia and accounts for about 45% of the GDP,
75% of exports and 85% of the total employment (EPA, 2003). It is characterized by smallholder
farmers with less than 1 ha of cultivated land practicing mixed farming (livestock and crops) in the
highlands of Ethiopia, mostly under rain-fed conditions, and pastoralist / agro-pastoral communities
depending on livestock production in the lower semi-arid and arid parts of the country.
Even though the concept and principle of organic agriculture have been co-existed and introduced
in Ethiopian farming systems long time ago by using different terms such as biofarming
agroforesrty sustainable farming, integrated pest management (IPM), ecological farming,
conservation agriculture and home garden certified organic agriculture was nonexistent until 1990s.
The geographical location of the country in relation to several important international markets, such
as the Near East and Europe, and the unexploited potential for organic agriculture are some of the
reasons to support organic agriculture.
Despite organic agricultures potential vital contribution for sustainable economic development,
food security, poverty reduction and natural resource conservation in the country, to date there was
no official study to collect the basic data on organic production, export market, standard and
certification in Ethiopia. In response to this study on organic export value chain development in
Ethiopia was conducted in year 2008 as part of the organic baseline survey study in order to assess
the major organic export opportunities and challenges for the organic export market development.
The Ethiopian Association of Organic Agriculture was contracted to carry out this study with the
support of Aco Ersha Ltd.

2. material and methods
This organic export value chain development report does not include the whole information about
organic agriculture in the Ethiopia: it mainly focuses on the status of organic production,
certification, local and export market development, organic policy development and research.
In order to make the study both primary and secondary information were collected through a desk
review and field visit interviews. A questionnaire was prepared to collect the primary information
and data by interviewing the participants when farms were visited physically and, if physical
visiting was not possible, the questionnaire was sent out by email in October 2008.
The respondents were proposed by the EAOA board members to represent farmers unions, private
companies, government offices (GOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and
certification bodies in the country. A total of 5 respondents from farmers unions, 23 from private
companies, 12 from NGOs, 7 from GOs and 3 certification bodies were interviewed and/or sent
back the questionnaire with follow-up by telephone.
After the complete information was collected and/or received from the respondents, it was studied
and the findings compiled into this report. In order to enrich the findings and the report, secondary
information was added from internet searches, books, published and unpublished data. The
compilation was prepared and edited by both Aco Ersha staff and board advisors.
Detailed information for each of the companies and respondents has not been included in this report
for the sake of confidentiality. Instead, the information and data are presented as total numbers.

1
Addisu Alemayehu, Founder and Board member of EAOA, Deputy Manager of Aco Ersha Ltd, P.O. Box 687, Code
1230, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Tel. + 251-911807523, Email: alfrd05@yahoo.com
208
3. Results and Conclusions

3.1 Results
I) Organic Production
From a commercial point of view, organic agriculture was started in 1996 by a private company
called Mandura' Ethiopia in the north western part of the country, where it focused on producing
organic sesame which is followed by organic coffee and honey. During the past decade Ethiopia
become one of the leading countries for organic agriculture in Africa and a rapid organic sector
growth has been seen in the last seven years. The study revealed that there were 137,822 hectares of
land under organic certification for export market that spread throughout the country with
predominantly concentrate in four regions: Oromia, SNNP Tigray and Addis Ababa, which includes
around 110,861 organic farmers.
Table 1: Number of Organic Certified Farmers, Farms and Certified Organic Land Area as recorded
by Certification Bodies in Ethiopia
Certifiers Number of
certified farmers
Number of certified
companies / unions / farms
Amount certified
land in ha
BCS 100,893 24 115,365
IMO 6,632 6 11,450
Control union* X 2 5,636
Ceres 3,336 8 5,371
Total 110,861 40 137,822
Note X - information not available
The only initiative in certified processed or value-added organic export products from Ethiopia
comes from one Ethiopian company called Selet Hulling PLC in collaboration with a foreign
company call Tradin, which is processing organic hulled sesame. There is also a significant area in
conversion for wild harvested products.
II) Domestic Market and International Trade
Currently there are 23 private companies and 5 farmers cooperatives involved in organic export
and organic export sector grew by 50% during 2005 to 2008. The core certified organic products for
export market are: Coffee, Sesame, Honey and Beeswax. Other crops include some certified organic
wild products, such as frankincense, herbal tea, essential oils and mushrooms (IFOAM & FiBL
2010). The total organic export is 53712.3Mt where Coffee and Sesame accounted around 87 % and
11 % respectively where as wild Gums and Resin (Boswellia sp. and Commiphora sp) export
accounted 1891Mt. The total export value in year 2008 was around $127 Million USD where the
majority (88%) of the export were coffee followed by sesame (5.5 %). During the 2007/08 cropping
year for organic fair trade coffee it was paid 2.35-2.24$/Ib which is substantially above the price of
1.75$/Ib for the conventional coffee. Even some report showed that organic coffee farm gate price
is three times more than the conventional coffee.
The domestic market for organic produce is still very small. Main organic local products include
fresh fruits and vegetables, jams, juices, herbal teas, fruit wines, and cosmetics. Perhaps the most
successful local marketing company for organic products is ECOPIA which based in Addis Ababa
it markets high quality organic products (PGS scheme) to high class supermarket, at its monthly
bazaar and through direct sale.
III) Organic Export Value Chain
The organic export value chain varies from products to products. Generally there are three types of
organic export value chain: through direct export by farmers cooperatives, investors and/or through
209
exporters out growers scheme. However, the last value chain scheme ceased due to the launch of
the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange which isnt in favour of vertical integration.
IV) Organic Export Market Opportunities and Challenges
In addition to the growth of the global demand for organic products, the main opportunities are
prevalence of diverse agro climatic zones in different parts of the country suitable for the
production of different organic products, wide range of crop farming, high genetic biodiversity
resources, and easy conversion of the existing farming systems to certified organic, establishment of
organic movement and favourable agricultural and investment policy.
On the other hand it has also challenges and among them inadequate knowledge and skills in
organic production, certification, marketing and marketing strategies, lack of consistence supply of
high quality product, high cost of certification, lack of coordinated organic research, education and
extension services, lack of access and service to organic market information and trade barriers.
V) Organic Legislation and Certification
The growth of the organic (formal and informal) was recognized by the government of Ethiopia. In
2006, the government passed the Ethiopian Organic Agriculture Production System Proclamation
to support, guide and direct the organic sector development. Yet, this has not been put into practice
through legislation.
There is no locally established certification company in Ethiopia. Certification is carried out by
foreign certifiers such as BCS, IMO, Control Union and Ceres. The largest part of organic
production in Ethiopia is certified according to the EU, USA and JAS regulations for organic
products. There is no official organic certification for the local market
VI) Organic Agriculture Supporting Institutions
Ethiopian Association of Organic Agriculture (EAOA) established in year 2007, is the umbrella
organization dedicated to organic agriculture development and promotion. There are other
organizations that support organic farming, certification, marketing and value addition such as
SSNC, SNV, Fintrac USAID, Agriservice Ethiopia and GTZ.

210
3.2 Conclusions
Demand for organic products has been strong and the global organic market share has been tripled
from 1999 to 2008 and reached to $50 Billions. USA is the world leading market destination for
both organic and conventional products and in 2008 the US organic market share reached to$ 23
Billion which is 46% of the world organic market. Even though Ethiopia has an immense and
unexploited potential for organic production and export, certified organic export is very limited to
three types of crops: Coffee, Sesame and Honey and Bees Wax. Besides, the export quantities of
these products is very small compare to the annual production which was 35%, 6% and 87%
2
Development of the organic export value chains can improve the livelihood of millions of
Ethiopias poor farmers and maximises the countrys benefits from the growing organic sector for
sustainable economic development, food security, poverty reduction and mitigation of climatic
change; however, this is if- and only if- consolidated efforts: regarding training, research, product
diversification and marketing done to addressed the challenges and exploit the opportunities as well.

respectively in 2009.

4. References
Abate, T. unpublished paper. On Use of Neem Seed Powder to Control Stalk borer in Sorghum in
Atsbi Teferi Area.
Aco Ersha (2009): The Status of Organic Agriculture in Ethiopia 2008: A Baseline Survey, Addis
Ababa.
Amare, T. & Abate, A. 2008. An Assessment of Pesticide Use, Practice and Hazards in the
Ethiopian Rift Valley. ISD, PAN-UK, EU and ASP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Amare, T. 2008. A Comparative Study of Cotton IPM in the Rift Valley of Southern Ethiopia, 2008.
ISD, PAN-UK, EU and ASP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Araya, H. 2003. Seed Security Study in Ethiopia with Emphasis on Cereals: A case of Tigray
Region. Paper Commissioned by African Biodiversity Network (ABN)
Edwards, S. 2007. Role of Organic Agriculture in Preventing and Reversing Land Degradation.
Chapt. 29 In: Sivakumar, Mannava V.K. & Ndiangui, Ndegwa (eds). Climate and Land
Degradation. Subseries: Environmental Science, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New
York.
El-Hage Sciallaba, N. and Caroline. 2002. Organic Agriculture, Environment and Food Security.
Rome (Italy), FAO: Environment and Natural Resources Series: No. 4.
IFOAM .2004. Organic and Like Minded Movements in Africa: Development and Status. Bonn.
Germany.
IFOAM & FiBL (2010): The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2010.
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Bonn &
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, pp. 103119.
Rundgren, G. 2004. Best practices for Organic Policy. What Developing Country Governments can
do to Promote the Organic Agriculture Sector? UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building
Task Force. Trade, Environment and Development.
2
Less than 5% of the annual honey production in Ethiopia is exported. That why it makes the highest share
211
North East INDIA a Land of Organic Moutains
Akali Sema
Central Institute of Horticulture,DAC,Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India
Medziphema : Dimapur Nagaland, Telefax : 03862-247707
E-mail : cihnerdir@gmail.com

1.Introduction.
North East Region (NER) of India is a different world in itself comprising of eight states :
Arunachal Pradesh - the land of the rising sun , Assam the home of the widest river the
Brahmaputra and India's only wet evergreen rainforest with the most species of wildcats- Jeypore,
Manipur famous for Loktak lake- the largest freshwater lake in India (6,475 ha),;-, Meghalaya the youngest
state and a land of once a highest rainfall -Cherrapunji, Mizoram very t peaceful state, famous
for bamboo dance, Nagaland - a place of rich , colorful tradition and great hospitability famous
for hornbill festival , Sikkim a heaven on earth and a land known for - Mt Kachenjunga- queen of
mountains, Tripura the land of unique splendor formerly a princely state. The uniqueness of the region
lies in the similarities and diversities of these eight states. While these states have huge
similarities in terms of its rich natural resources, great biodiversity, hilly terrains, it is so diverse
in terms of its culture , traditions and customs. The region is nestled in the highest mountain of
the world the greater Himalayas and bounded by China in the north of Sikkim and Arunachal
Pradesh, Bhutan in the east of Sikkim, China and Myanmar to the east and north of Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram and Myanmar and Bangladesh in the south of
Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya.
The region occupying a total geographical area of 18,374 million ha, has its Strength in its
abundant natural resources ,with huge forest cover (171.08 lakh ha), agriculture land(39.08
lakh ha) & jhum land of 16.72 lakh ha . It also has rich crop residue and livestock population.,
a gene center for economically important species like rice, citrus, banana, cucumis, brinjal, tea
and cotton, having about 3000 Indigenous crop germplasm . 1600 Orchids species, 119
medicinal plants species and considered as the 8
th
mega biodiversity hotspots. The region with
1500m altitude and annual rainfall > 2000 mm, having rich water resources with rivers
stretching to 20,050 km and water bodies covering 2.08 lakh ha. It has 6 major agro-ecological
Zones like Alpine zone, Temperate and sub-alpine zone, Sub-tropical hill zone, Sub-tropical
plain zone, Mild tropical hill zone, Mild tropical plain zone. A wide variation of climate ranging
from cold to warm pre-humid and the soils rich in organic matter and acidic in reaction, offers a
congenial condition for growing wide range of crops The niche crops of the region includes
brown rice, buck weed, hottest chili of the world called the Naga Mircha, curcumin rich
turmeric, fibreless ginger, sweetest and almost fibreless pineapple, high quality kiwi , passion
fruit ,oldest known medicinal plants etc .Another uniqueness of the region is farming in the
mountains and the valleys , where all types of crops can be grown.
However, in spite of all its rich and bountiful blessings, the region has geographical and logistic
difficulties because of its hilly terrains and still struggling with lack of sufficient infrastructures
that has eluded the region from emerging as a potential horticulture hub and a name to be
reckoned upon for various niche crops of the region as an organic produce.
212
2.North East India : a potential hub for organic agriculture
North East India being at far end corner and away from the mainland, had immense logistics
challenges. The farmers of the region either out of ignorance or their rigidity with traditional
practices or their slowness to adopt modern technologies were practicing organic farming
naturally. Abundance of rainfall offering an opportunity of rainfed agriculture ,the hilly terrain
preventing the application of inorganic inputs( out of farm resources) and making them utilize
their farm resources ,the small and marginal land holding capacity of the farmer hindering them
to produce on commercial scale ,all these has eluded them of the benefits of green revolution
and the production and productivity of the region remained very low as compared to the national
level .However ,all these which were once considered as weaknesses has now turned to be the
strength and offers a great opportunity for organic farming...The low average usage of chemicals
and fertilizers in the region is indicative of the fact that large number of farmers have not used
chemicals at all and that huge area of the region are chemical free .It is for this reason that the
region has always been considered as Organic by default. However, the greatest challenges lies
in converting the region from organic by default to organic by design. With proper planning
and right attention at the right time, NER can be the most significant area of organic farming and
can be a global player for organic food.
2.1. Strength for Organic Agriculture in North Eastern Region
Varied agro-ecological zones that offer production of a wide range of crops
16.72 lac ha area under shifting cultivation where no inorganic input ever used
Land tenure system including small land holding pattern
Dependence of mid and high altitude farmers on within farm renewable resources
Very less use of fertilizers and pesticides ( 49.14kg/ha ) far below national average
( 128.58kg/ha)
Time tested Indigenous Farming Systems and rich ITKs (Jhum/Shifting
cultivation/Alder based farming/ Rice based / Agro forestry/panikheti /Silvi pastoral
System/Agri-Horti-Silvi-Pastoral System)
Village leadership pattern whose decision is binding .

2.1.1. Traditional practices as a way of organic farming in NER
Jhuming nutrient requirement met by natural resources (biomass ash )
Growing of some spp of crop in same area is avoided, this minimizes the insect or pest
occurrence which reduces the need of chemicals and pesticide
Use of fallen leaves as mulch/animal wastes / natural enemies of pests / indigenous
practices of pest control
Alder based farming as nutrient requirement supplement
Contour bunding with available resources( wood/bamboo) and growing of crops along
the contour lines for soil moisture and nutrient conservation
Intercropping or mixed cropping with leguminous crops in jhum fields - supplementing
nutrient requirement.

2.2.Constraints of organic farming in NER
213
Lack of proper marketing channel and access to markets .
Insufficient facilities for processing, post harvest and value addition.
Lack of proper linkages amongst organic stakeholders
Insufficient government incentives for promotion of organic farming
Cost and process of certification
Lack of Product labeling and Brand Name

3.Present status of organic farming in NER
The area under organic farming in the North East India is increasing with almost all the states
taking up organic program. The state government supports the farmers especially in the process
of certification and developing market linkages of organic produce., besides giving various
organic inputs . Various states of NER are venturing into organic farming by identifying areas
and crops for organic farming in collaboration with various organizations. The process of
certification have been initiated already in many states of NER. The government also provides
an alternatives to chemical inputs and taking steps to enhance the production of organic inputs
Besides these, the government in collaboration with the research centers/ institutions and other
agencies imparts trainings for capacity building and creating awareness about organic farming
and its standards as well as the market avenues. Some states have also constituted an organic
board with council of ministers , bureaucrats and officials and other concerned agencies. as
board members. The ICAR Research Centers , Agricultural Universities and institutions carry
out research works to develop technologies for organic farming . Besides these, various KVKs,
Boards , Regional Centre for organic farming, NGOs , Financial Institutions are also involved in
promoting organic farming in the region. One of the most prominent growths of organic farming
in the NE region is the state of Sikkim, where the state Government took a decision to adopt
organic farming in the entire state and is probably the first state in India to bring resolution in
State Assembly. A Mission called Sikkim Organic Mission 2015 has been launched with a
clear objective to make the entire Sikkim an organic state by the year 2015.
The region portrays an ample opportunity and scope for organic agriculture. Limited use of
chemical fertilizer and pesticides, hill topography, immense traditional and indigenous
knowledge, rich biomass, varied agro-climatic zones, and communization programmes make
North East an ideal region for organic agriculture..However, Lack of awareness of technology
for organic production, high cost of certification, weak extension services, weak market linkage
are some important limiting factors for organic production which need to be addressed. The
region no doubt still has to go a long way to stabilize, sustain and most of all profit from organic
agriculture. Development of suitable production technologies, strengthening of marketing chain,
proper coordination among stakeholders and proper utilization of schemes and implementation
of developmental programmes will go a long way in gearing up the momentum of tapping the
full potential of the region for organic farming.



214
4.Status of organic farming in North East India (2009-2010).
Sl.
No
States Total Area in Ha Total No. of farmers
Organic In-
conversion
Total Organic In-
conversion
Total
1 Arunachal
Pradesh
523.17 1374.33 1897.5 116 590 706
2 Assam 1598.18 3510.74 5108.92 479 2768 3247
3 Manipur 1247.16 1924.15 3171.31 2066 2901 4967
4 Mizoram 18002.27 9857.55 27859.82 14177 13878 28055
5 Meghalaya 1366.01 1677.1 3043.11 823 2685 3508
6 Nagaland 3091.3 6554.39 9645.69 3459 15639 19098
7 Sikkim 2872.73 4521.49 7394.22 3130 4697 7827
8 Tripura 203.56 77.5 281.06 1 295 296
Total 28904.38 29497.25 58401.63 24251 43453 67704
Source: Organic farming news letter 6(4) December, 2010.
5. A Way forward in organic farming
Identifying the potential areas/commodities within the region
Use of organic inputs and putting a ban on use of inorganic inputs to be monitored by
government
Popularizing and propagating the indigenous farming system and traditional practices.
Promoting use of bio fertilizers , bio control agents, cover crops and eco-friendly inputs
Adhering to strict phyto-sanitary measures and up gradation of post harvest facilities
Direct and indirect effects of organic farming to be quantified on long term basis
Incentives to the growers in the initial years of shifting to organic farming & also for
certification
Creating awareness among the farmers about benefits of organic farming
Capacity building of extension functionaries & farmers through intensive training.
Identifying local certification agency in the region
Creating and updating data bank on potential market supply-demand of various organic
products
Strengthening of research back up for developing location/ commodity specific POP
Facilitate for domestic and international markets of organic produce
Mass production of organic inputs in government and private sectors.
Adoption of proper soil and water conservation measures
Strengthening of Infrastructures for post harvest management.
Establishment/ adoption of organic villages /blocks in identified areas.
Collaborative effort involving research ,development and extension agencies.
215
Organic Production Quality Management in So Paulo State Brazil

Allemann, R.
1


Key words: Participative Guarantee System SPG; organic quality management;
compliance evaluation; organic agriculture; Participative Guarantee Organism.

Abstract

In Brazil, during the 1990s decade, the first compliance evaluation regulations arose to
guarantee the organic productions quality originated either by certification audits or along
with motions by groups of producers, consumers, distributors and tradesmen, NGOs and
technicians. Organic farming was regulated after the federal law 10.831/2003, as a result of a
joint action between social motions for organics and the Brazilian government. The creation
of the Brazilian System of Compliance Evaluation SISORG, in the Brazilian acronym
organizes the management in three modes: contemplate certification companies
Compliance Evaluation Organisms, participatory social organizations of producers and consumers of
organic products involved in building participatory guarantee systems Participatory Guarantee Systems, and
in the direct sale to the consumers Social Control Organisms. The present work had as objective to research
local actions during 2009 and 2010 against the legal demand for the organic agriculture quality management in
So Paulo State and the adequacy to the entities laws that act in the sector.
2



Introduction

In Brazil, the quality of organic products produced in the country is managed in three
different ways: with audits certification, the Participative Guarantee Systems and the Social
Control to direct sales without certification. However, only two modes of
quality certification are used to form the SISORG Brazilian System of Organic Compliance
Evaluation. The SISORG is formed by the Certification System and the Participative
Guarantee System, and the Brazilian legislation defines acting areas for the organism of
organic compliance evaluation, that can be accredited to work in one or more areas.
The Brazilian legislation provided for the organic production is the
1
Agronomist Engineer, Masters degree in Integrated Management of Occupational Health and
Environment at SENAC University Center and expert on Analysis, Use and Conservation of Natural
Resources by UNICAMP / NEPAM. Address: PO Box 29703, So Paulo - SP, CEP: 04836-970, email:
rosallemann@terra.com.br.
federal law 10831/2003, regulated by the
2
The areas are defined as: primary animal production, primary plant production, organic
sustainable extraction, processing of vegetable products; processing products of animal origin; processing
of agricultural inputs, processing of livestock inputs;
processing of herbal medicine; cosmetics processing; processing of textiles; trade, transportation and
storage; restaurants, cafeterias and the like. According to Article 2, paragraph V of the Federal Decree
6323/2007 which sets the scope.

216
federal decree 6326/2007 and by Normative
Instructions IN that indicate and sort the management of the organic production quality, such as IN 17/2009,
18/2009 and 19/2009.

According the IN 19/2009, the evaluation mechanism of organic production compliance projects the
certificating companies must create an OAC compliance evaluation organisms for third part certificating
companies that must be accredited in MAPA and by INMETRO; the social entities may create either a SPG and
an OPAC participative organism of compliance evaluation for participative guarantee systems SPG; and, for
those who do not certificate the production by Certification or SPG/OPAC, like the smaller producers, these may
create an OCS social control organisms, option predicted in the law for farmers interested in direct sale to the
consumer. The initiatives and trends of So Paulos organic agriculture for adjustments in federal Brazilian laws
are presented in this article.
Materials and methods

This article derives from the master's research on the theme of quality management of organic production in the
State of So Paulo. The methodological steps for the paper development were literature and field
search, with questionnaires. The referred field search was constituted by:
1) identification and selection of entities after their acting in the So Paulo State, classified and cataloged
according to their respective acting ways inside the States organic productive system; 2) questionnaire
development; 3) questionnaire application; 4) results analysis.

The methodology is characterized both as a qualitative and quantitative as long as it treats the analysis of
organic production management quality and the main difficulties faced by the technical assistance entities,
organic producers associations and national and international certificating companies working in this State.
With the field search, we have tried to organize the following information:
certifiers, bodies and technical advisory assistance, and producers associations adequacies to the legal
standards of compliance evaluation, data about the type of market they work local, regional, national,
international; area amount of nowadays organic production in the State of So Paulo; kind of production,
amount produced, type of commercialization inner or outer market.
A relevant question about this research field concerns the lifting of the difficulties of public and private
institutions that provide technical assistance to organic producers and certify these productions. It was intend,
by this, to know better this reality, when, where, what is produced and for whom it is the production in the areas
of organic productive system in the State of So Paulo. This data were worth to support the investigation of the
hypothesis on which the main adjustments and trends of the involved in the compliance evaluation that work
with organics in the State along with the regulation of the sector in the country. In this survey we
selected 30 most significant representatives, a sample of certifiers, associations and technical
assistance agencies, according to the non-probability sampling technique for trial

.
Results

With the regulation of the Brazilian system of organic compliance evaluation, by the
publishing of Decree number 6.323/2007, the system projects the coordination of MAPA and
INMETRO. Regarding the structure, the State of So Paulo, like the other Federation units,
has been counting as a technician assessor to the producers who would like to join the system
through the installation of CPORG So Paulo, that represents, like in other States, the
217
Organic Production Committees CPORG-UF.
3
Big are the challenges for using compliance evaluation programs as market regulatory tools.
According to Gleber & Palhares 2007, with the intensification of the globalization of
agricultural markets, countries have been adopting frequently social environmental quality
criteria, or sustainable production criteria agrochemical-free, genetically modified organisms,
and others are applied, in practice, as technical barriers. This is demanded to make sure of the
organic products quality certified by certifiers and by participative certifiers follow the same
rights and rules established.

One must consider that new paradigms of quality products continue being adopted to the extent
that any instance of domestic and international markets is consolidated. With the strengthening of the World
Trade Organization OMC, the space for the creation of technical barriers has been reduced. And
the big challenge is to properly use the compliance evaluation programs as instruments of market
regulators
A complex infrastructure is required to be deployed compliance evaluation programs.
The
.
infrastructure needed to meet basic needs, such as methodological standards, the official body for
accrediting organisms and accredited laboratories of calibration and testing; accredited bodies for conformity
assessment, collection of standards and regulations, mechanisms for monitoring the
In Brazil, to attest the compliance insurance it is used a seal of guaranteed issued by the
federal government,
market, as defined by
INMETRO 2007.
which shows the product with a label identifying the origin of the
mechanism for ensuring compliance of the organic product derived from the participatory system audit and
certification by the

2011.

Figure 1 Official Seal of the Brazilian System of organic compliance evaluation
according to the IN 50/November 2009.
Source: Normative Instruction #50, November 5
th

, 2009 (BRASIL 2009a).
As for the organic production in the State of So Paulo, according Camargo et. Al. (2006),
the occupied area with organic production in 2004 was of 10.2 thousands of hectares.
The prominence corresponded to the production of cane sugar, which represented 73% of the
total area, and five other types of crops: coffee, oranges, bananas and lettuce, which accounted for
18%, besides the 88 dairy farmers, chickens, eggs and bee. The distribution of organic production in the State
area covered a total of 89 of the 645 existing municipalities, as the regional division of the State
Department of Agriculture and
3
According to Brazil 2008 and Fonseca et. al. 2009 CPOrgs are coordinated by the Technicians
appointed by the Federal Agriculture Superintendents (SFAs) in each state, that are responsible for
conducting the selection process, by the private sector, of its representatives. The heads of the Technical
Divisions of SFAs are responsible for setting the members representing the public sector, for it must
listen to representatives from the private sector. In IN 54 you can check the powers of CPORGs.
Supply with the Regional Development Offices EDR. In 2007/2008, the
cultivated area occupied with organic production in the State rose to 32,109.7 ha, with cane sugar as main crop
(CAMARGO & CAMARGO FILHO 2009), corresponding to 113 cultivated species. The organic area was

218
distributed in 2008 with the following cultivations: cane sugar with 21,071.50 ha; fruits with an area of 5,185.1
ha; coffee, grains and cereals with an area of 2,666.5 ha; pasture 1,392.7 ha; rubber tree, palmetto and other
forest types 451.5 ha; flowers nursery, ornamental and others 71.1 ha; flowers for cutting and vases 23.4 ha;
medicinal herbs 9.9 ha.

According to IBGE (BRASIL 2006), the data of the State of So Paulo organic
agriculture represents a total of 3.72% of the national organic production sites and 18.01% compared to
establishments in the Southeast with organic agriculture. And 1.48% from the total production plant in the
state which represents 3,371 establishments, which 451 have certification and 2,920 that do not have it.
These considerations allow it to scale that, when compared with other states of Brazil, the State of
So Paulo concentrates mainly on organic production of export products, in contrast to the scenario within the
state where the production of organic foods in nature, is drawn mainly by family agriculture that supplies the
domestic market.
In Table 1, the results are shown after the data obtained from the present research on the trends of the
entities in the creation of compliance evaluation organisms. The organization of the
sector is represented by the choice of four entities in the construction of an OPAC, an entity will
choose to organize an OCS, and two for the accreditation of the certifiers for the creation of an OAC.
Regarding the adequacy of entities to the regulatory law, it was found
that among certifiers, only one is ready to adapt to the law while the other three have not started
the accreditation process by the MAPA to the measures necessary to adjust to meet the Brazilian
standards. However, only certifier A came in February 2010 with the application
for accreditation with the CPORG Sao Paulo. The certifier E passed through the
stage of accreditation in MAPA and waits for the accreditation process in INMETRO, as shown in
Table 1. As for associations, there are some questions and some of them initiated dialogues among
their peers for the creation of OPAC, all are in the initial discussion of how the process will
be. The dynamics of the consumer market influenced and marked distinctly the models and
standards for certification by the regulatory framework in Brazil. As for quality management pertaining to
the entities surveyed demonstrates that the process is in early development and maturation of the entities.
In relation to research conducted with the active entities in the State of So Paulo, who mentioned the
intention to adopt the SPG, it was found that among the respondents, 18 subjects, classified as certifying and
associations of organic farmers. One third of organizations surveyed mentioned the intention to organize
themselves into GSP: ABD, ANC, Organic Producers Association of
Franca, PROTER, Terra Viva Association and Ecovida Association for Agro ecology

.




ENTITIES INVOLVED IN
RESEARCH
Early
stages of Appropriateness and adequacy of entities trends facing law No. 1
0831/2003 and IN 19/2009 of the respondents to the theme
OAC initial
in the
questionnaires
INMETRO OPAC NOT ANSERED
DIRECT
SELLING
Certifier

A

Certifier

B

Certifier

C

Certifier

D

Certifier

E

219
Association

ABD

Association

ANC

Organic Producers
Association of

Franca and region


Ecological Society of Friends

of Embu


AAO

PROTER

Association

TERRA VIVA

Association

Ecovida of
Agroecology (REDE ECOVIDA)


AOVALE


Table 1 Stages, processes and trends for entities adequacies towards legislation
by 2010.
Source: data from the research, 2010.

The pre-existing SPG in the State of So Paulo, such as Cooperafloresta in Bara do Turvo,
linked with the Ecovida network and the Terra Viva Network in the region of Ribeirao Preto,
should be adequate to the law and deploy the quality management of its organic
production mechanism of increasing the systematic compliance evaluation of quality assurance adored by
the SPG. Creating production standards, record of all collective actions such as meeting minutes, verification
visits, collective decisions, and the creation of a participatory body for conformity assessment -
OPACs represent the SPG along the MAPA (BRAZIL 2009b).
The main obstacles and difficulties presented by the authorities were identified, and these were: accessibility to
information, superficial knowledge on the regulation of the sector, access to bureaucracy and access to
technical assistance for family farmers, the need of organizations to change the status based on the regulation
to SPG and the creation of internal control and rules. Some relevant points were highlighted in the research
such as the inclusion of family farmers in the institutional market, improving organic production to

regulate the
sector.
Discussion

The data identified that the impacts resulting from changes to law adequacy are from administrative, social
organization, participation on law building in the sector, as well as pointing to a better access to the markets. As
an example of administrative change, it was observed that the ABD and TERRA VIVA shall change their status
for law adequacy as the creation of OPAC. For PROTER, as a difficulty factor, will result in the
creation of rules for internal control, because there will be a transition period in the choice of the guarantee
mechanism. The selection process will be gradual and first of all the group
certification for subsequent migration to the creation of an OPAC in a planned period of two years
Because it is a new process, it brings difficulties of social organization and administrative
sorts.
. It will
also make it easier the access to the Food Acquiring Program Simultaneous Donation, as it
was indicated by PROTER.
What can be seen in the increase of documentation such as records,
statements and worksheets. Therefore, an increase in cost due to increased bureaucracy. With
the regulation of organic products in Brazil, it is observed that there are
still some gaps not provided and / or are not clearly understood, causing difficulties and creating doubts about
220
filling in the demands of conformity assessment.
As an example, noting the organic official rules the way it was adopted, it can be seen clearly that it
is possible to focus on just one aspect of the production cycle of organic products. Whereas
the conditions are not similar for all, since, for issues related to the costs of certification by a third party and
by technical and cultural difficulties that separate apart farmers from commercial relations and interests, it is
considered that certification by third party is still established as a process that contributes for exclusion of
familiar agriculture and of small enterprises.
From the standpoint of the consumer, focus attention on complimenting standards regarding the production
rules and respect them, however, ignoring or disregarding aspects of labor relations of rural workers and their
life quality, and the action of middlemen and / or
production distributors, that can not be met by these regulations, failing to serve and protect
the rights and meet basic obligations. Another important
issue concerns a possible leveling of low standards and requirements, enabling certain certification to not be
interest in adjusting to more stringent standards, only to meet basic
requirements, ignoring aspects related to labor relations and principles considered important for the organic
agriculture. On the other hand, if leveled in severe restrictions and strict standards, it can
result in a pattern that usually will not be fulfilled entirely by OPAC and OCS.
The interests of markets and trade relations define the interests and pursued profits from the
production of large scale organic monoculture. Other relevant aspects to be addressed are related to network
management or OPAC and organizational culture of a group, built over time with the dedication of everyone
involved, which requires a long time to materialize. The social and cultural factors in these cases are as
restricting as the lack of necessary infrastructure and management of organic production, which is mainly due
to the lack of trained technicians to provide expert advice.
The trend observed in the present survey on the formation of OPAC by associations leaves doubts up to the
construction of a participatory guarantee relationship because it is generally regarded as a process that is the
result of a trust condition among its members, which requires time and capability to
overcome differences and challenges. Questions appear, especially because of trust issues, the active
participation of members and the systematization of internal processes and development of these entities. It is
proposed as a suggestion for future research, to ascertain if indeed the prediction given by the Associations
is to confirm the future of these entities.
It is not possible to explain how each entity will define its strategies, except in cases where vital information
like its activities and financial statements is made available. The conclusion of the research on the comparative
analysis of the audit certification and SPG, is described as the words: [] individual access to certification
services is a barrier to the engagement of small-scale producers in organic production and income

.[].
(MEDAETS & MEDEIROS 2004, p.1).
Conclusions

Progress is very significant when considering exclusively the regulation but, in general, the quality
management of organic products in relation to mechanisms for compliance evaluation varies depending on the
nature of the entities surveyed. In this sense, regarding the problem of this research, it was found that there
is trend of a third of the surveyed in adopting the SPG as a system of participatory evaluation of quality
assurance.
In general, the certifying companies are more easily to adapt to the legislation,
something identified as predictable. Certification organisms operate in the State of So Paulo under the
influence of ISO certification, to serve foreign markets. The regulation imposes rules that do
not change this trend.
For the producers associations, there is a tendency to opt for compliance evaluation mechanisms of OPAC
type - participative organism of compliance evaluation and OCS - Social Control
221
Organisms. However, given its participatory nature, they must demand more time for its construction,
implementation and, therefore, evaluation of results. The OPACs are a result of relationships
networks that are built over time. The systematization of information overload can be a drag on growth in the
sector. The specific organization of this segment demands more attention, especially by the state, which is
expected a more active stance, especially in the opening of credit lines and providing specialized technical
assistance.
The data from this study indicate the trend of producer associations to form OPAC to enforce the
law. But only after several years of deployment and operation it will be possible to evaluate its results and
effects, also requiring a process of maturing of social networks.
Most organic production in the State of So Paulo is from the so-called "agro business",
in particular sugar and organic coffee, which is characterized as a production for international markets with a
predominance of growing cane sugar and coffee in large scale. It is needed further research regarding the
management of entities that choose OPAC and OCS, to verify the development of relations and social
strategies to improve the quality of production. Research on market access will be the
same for the participatory guarantee systems and direct sales when related to the certifiers in 2011, and
the contribution of these bodies for compliance evaluation to the entities.
Another key issue is the institutional support for the transition from conventional to
organic agriculture, because for years the institutional technical assistance focused actions in
the Green Revolution. Technicians must be formed and trained to increase organic technical
assistance and also in quality management of organic production in the State of So Paulo,
supporting the construction of organization social networks as well as training in the systematization of
the actions taken by farmers to facilitate this

legal necessity.
It is a recent subject and demands more thought for the institutionalization and the compliance evaluation
mechanisms should lead to many changes in this sector, and researchers should be alert to assist in the
indication of research demands for this sector

.

References
BRASIL. IBGE INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATISTICA. (2006):
Confronto dos resultados dos dados estruturais dos censos agropecurio: perodo de 1970-
2006. So Paulo: IBGE. Disponvel em:
<http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/economia/agropecuaria/censoagro/2006/tabela1
_3_20.pdf> Acesso em: 10 de agosto de 2009.
BRASIL. Presidncia da Repblica. Ministrio da Agricultura, Pecuria e do Abastecimento.
(2007): Decreto federal 6.323. Regulamenta a Lei no 10.831, de 23 de dezembro de 2003,
que dispe sobre a agricultura orgnica, e d outras providncias. Dirio Oficial da
Unio. Braslia, de 27 de dezembro de 2007.
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Normativa N. 54, Estrutura, composio e atribuies das comisses da produo
orgnica. Dirio Oficial da Unio. Braslia, 22 de outubro de 2008.
BRASIL. Ministrio da Agricultura, Pecuria e do Abastecimento. (2009a): Instruo
Normativa N. 19, Mecanismos de controle e informao da qualidade orgnica. Dirio
Oficial da Unio. Braslia, de 28 de maio de 2009.
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BRASIL. Ministrio da Agricultura, Pecuria e do Abastecimento. (2009b): INSTRUO
NORMATIVA N. 50, institui o selo nico oficial do Sistema Brasileiro de Avaliao de
Conformidade orgnica. Dirio Oficial da Unio. Braslia, 5 de novembro de 2009.
CAMARGO, A. M. P. de; CASER, D. V.; CAMARGO FILHO, W. P.; CAMARGO, F. P. de
& COELHO, P. J. (2006): rea cultivada com agricultura orgnica no Estado de So
Paulo. Informaes econmicas, So Paulo, v. 36, n. 3.
CAMARGO, F. P. de; NGELO, J. A. & CAMARGO FILHO, W. P. de. (2009): rea
cultivada com agricultura orgnica no Estado de So Paulo. Horticultura Brasileira, v. 27,
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FONSECA, M. F. de A. C. (org.); SOUZA, C. de; SILVA, G. R. R. da; COLNAGO, N. F. &
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mercados dos produtos orgnicos no Brasil, Niteri PESAGRO-RIO.
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INMETRO. (2007): Avaliao da conformidade: diretoria da qualidade. Instituto Nacional de
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MEDAETS, J. P. & MEDEIROS, J. X. (2004): A ao coletiva no controle da qualidade da
produo orgnica familiar: anlise comparativa entre a certificao por auditoria externa
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223






































Organic Farming in the Italian Penitentiary System to Rehabilitate Detainees

Anna Ciaperoni
AIAB Associazione Italiana per l'Agricoltura Biologica

Key words: social farming, penitentiary system, integration, rehabilitation
1. Introduction
224
The Italian Association for Organic Farming (AIAB), has been involved in an intense activity on
social agriculture within the Italian penitentiary system. The project Social farming and detention:
a future pact, carried out on 2009 and supported by the Italian Ministry of Labor and Social
Policies together with the Ministry of Justice, realized studies, researches and training courses
regarding organic agricultural activities within prisons. The project focused on both the census of
the activities within the prisons on nationwide and agricultural work quality for the training and
rehabilitation of detainees. The project aimed at checking the food activity potential for the inmates
and for those people under alternatives to imprisonment. Furthermore the project aimed at checking
the employment opportunities to use at the end of the imprisonment, particularly in the organic
production sector. The project mainly regarded the following objectives:
-to check the opportunities of agricultural activity to provide new professional skills to detainees, by
the use of agricultural lands within prisons;
-to identify employment opportunities in agricultural sector for people under alternatives to
imprisonment, according to the Italian penitentiary regulation (L. n. 354/1975);
-to identify the rehabilitation power of the work carried out in an organic system, in order to
improve the accountability either the well-being of the detainees and to facilitate the social
reintegration at the end of the imprisonment
-to improve the communication and integration between the detainees and the local communities
living near by the prison.
The project aimed at creating a less distressing life perspective, enhancing the agricultural work
inside and outside the prisons. The activities carried out on farm have highly involved the detainees.
The work on the farm is flexible and multifunctional, including a strong relationship with plants and
animals. Thus the work showed to have a strong potential in terms of social inclusion and
rehabilitation of disadvantages people (with mental and physical disabilities) together with the
detainees. The same results have been carried out in the prisons where the inmates work with
organic method. The organic production involves all the prisons although not all production is
certified.
2. Materials and methods
The project focused on several educational, training and dissemination activities, together with the
promotion of the products realized within the Italian prisons. In particular AIAB realized a census
on social and organic farms hosting inmates (with an exit permit from jail for work reasons) or
former inmates. The census regarded also the different agricultural activities within the prisons.
AIAB published the results in two specific publications.
Furthermore the project included the following actions:
-a research on the heritage and the agricultural activity of the prisons, by means of a specific
questionnaire sent to 205 Italian jails
-a research on farms or cooperatives including detainees or former detainees, by means of a specific
questionnaire sent to farmers.
-a dissemination activity with a specific dossier published on BioagriCultura- AIAB bi-monthly
magazine- and on BioagriCultura notizie, the weekly newsletter.
-information and dissemination of best practices. Creation of a brochure and a video shot inside
some prison, with an interview to detainees and educators.
-training activity for the operators of the agricultural sector and prison system
-research activity: AIAB realized several workshop in Rome and other cities. The association
carried out a study-day for the penitentiary practitioners and for agro-socio operators within Milano
Opera, the biggest Italian prison.
225
-promotion of the detainees agricultural products at some local fair and local organic market.
3. Figures and tables
Table 1a. Growth of agricultural work regarding Italian detainees
275
472
197 (71,63%
on the
previous
year)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
n farmers detainees increase of employed
detainees
Growth of agricultural work regarding Italian detainees
31.12.2007
31.12.2008

(*) Data referring to 32 colonies and agricultural plots surveyed by DAP (Department for Prison Administration).

Table 1b. Total employment in agriculture in Italy
Geographic areas Total employment in agriculture
North 46
Center 63
South 363
TOTAL at 31/12/2008 472
Total at 31/12/2007 275

Table 2. On 31/12/2008, Vocational Courses (VC) completed. (AIAB data processing on DAP data)
VC Type n. courses Members Promoted
Gardening and agriculture 35 477 353
Computer 37 468 340
Catering 24 308 242
Crafts 28 273 173

4. Results and Conclusions
Good results came out from the project in terms of quality and quantity. The census on the prisons
highlighted a development of agricultural activities and an employment growth, compared to the
overall figures on the employment of inmates, for years stagnant. In fact, while since at least ten
years the percentage of employing detainees remains steady at 23-25%, in 2008 the inmates
engaged in agricultural activities grew more than 70% compared to the previous year. The farmer
detainees who were 275 on 31.6.07 (2,06% of employed detainees), increase at 472 (3,37% of the
employed detainees) at the end of 2008, an increase of 71,63% compared to the previous year.
These data identify a positive trend in line with the free labor market, where the employees in
agriculture are about 3% of employees. Dap official data show that the prisons engaged in
agricultural activities are 32 (4 agricultural penal colonies and 28 plots), of which 19 directly
managed by the Prison Administration (AP) and 9 by outsiders, (usually social cooperatives). AIAB
research found a much more extensive, confirmed by the same DAP.
The Prison Administration allowed the increase of organic production with financial support to
vocational training and to the restoration of organic production in abandoned agricultural lands. The
Department for Prison Administration (Ministry of Justice) wrote: in 2008 the commitment to start
farming productions has been carried out. The type of the production is linked to the agricultural
vocation of the territory, to production facilities, to agricultural practitioners and technicians and to
the professional skills of the detainees. The inmates carried out several activities including the
organic horticulture, the greenhouse production, the breeding rabbits, the flower farming, the fish
farming and the beekeeping. The AIAB census showed that there are 55 prisons focused on
agricultural, nursery and breeding activities, compared to the previous 40 prisons, while the number
of the farmer detainees increased of 71,63%, compared to the previous year. Furthermore the
prison food production increased, including some excellent products such as Padova sweets, Milano
226
Opera ice cream and quail eggs, coffee and chocolate from Turin, the beer from Saluzzo, the
biscuits from Siracusa and the wine from Velletri. The data on vocational training confirm the
positive trend: the largest number of participant was in agricultural and nursery sector.
The most important result of the project was the effectiveness of the agricultural work for the
rehabilitation and education of prisoners, regarding the quality of detention either the social
replacement at the end of the imprisonment. Thus the agricultural activity showed to have a strong
potential regarding social inclusion and rehabilitation of disadvantages people (with mental and
physical disabilities) together with the detainees.
Several data collected from the observation of direct experience (e.g. interviews), as in USA or in
Europe
1
-the work outdoors improves the well-being of prisoners.
, show that good results have been carried out in agricultural projects within prisons. Also
AIAB project achieved these results. AIAB focused its research on several detainees and prison
operators testimonials, with the following main positive data:
-the work outdoors has a "therapeutic" function: it engages the mind and decreases the tensions, it
decreases the manifestations of violence and it gives an -opportunity to await the arrival of a new
day.
-the relationship with air, ground and water helps the acquisition of responsibility towards plants
and animals. These natural elements need constant cares, facilitating the rehabilitation and social
replacement projects.
-the multiplicity of the tasks allows to develop a non-repetitive and alienating activity, together with
an adaptation to the different personal attitudes.

The following testimonials show the effectiveness of the work in organic farming.
-A former inmate of Gorgona (Livorno, Italy) colony said: the arrival to Gorgona changed my life.
Working in the fields and taking care of animals by means of homeopathy improved my life both on
the psychological and emotional. Today he is married, he has a son, he is a bricklayer and he
studies the homeopathy.- Florence, May 2009, meeting on social agriculture.
-The agricultural activity has a high educational value directly working with natural elements
(ground, air, water) and the organic farming favors a rehabilitation pathway. Anna Berton, Cipaat
Veneto Training course on organic farming in Vicenza home district.
-A student prisoner ...while attending this training course, my days were busy and I realized that
the time passed so quickly Im sure that these things will be useful in the future for a work or a
hobby Dean, a detainee in Vicenza home district.
The research showed that the current experiences can implement an extensible model in the
prisons of other country which have agricultural land. Inside the prisons it is possible to develop
working activities, together with vocational paths, that really help detainees towards the difficult
placement within the society.

The project enabled the implementation of best practices at national level and the carrying out of the
following projects involving AIAB in different regions (on 2010):
- C.O.L.O.N.I.A" project, focused on the conversion and organic certification of agricultural and
zoo technical activities in sardines agricultural colonies
- project An organic farm model aimed at promoting short chain and focused on the placement of
disadvantages people" that realized a training course on organic farming. The project allowed the
placement of 9 detainees of Bergamo prison within the surrounding farms;
- project Cultivates Values, supported by the Minor Justice Centre of Rome, that implemented a
roof organic garden within the First Reception Centre for minors.

1 Nora Louise Hunter- Horticolture and programs in prisons- 1970

227
5. References:
Quaderno1: Lagricoltura oltre le mura. I risultati della ricerca di AIAB sulle attivit agricole negli
istituti penitenziari, AIAB 2009.
Quaderno2: Lagricoltura fuori le mura. I risultati della ricerca di AIAB sulle attivit agricole
allesterno degli istituti penitenziari, AIAB 2009.
Ciaperoni.A (a cura), Agricoltura e detenzione, un percorso di futuro, dossier Aiab 2009.
Ciaperoni A., Dalle colonie agricole dell' '800 a vere occasioni di riscatto BioagriCultura,
bimestrale di AIAB, n.113/09. CIPAT Veneto La terra oltre il cancello - Esperienze di
agricoltura biologica presso la casa circondariale S.Pio di Vicenza. D'Alonzo R., Noferi M. -
Agricoltura sociale e agricoltura di comunit in Toscana - Arsia materiali di lavoro. Frontiera
Lavoro e Consorzio Moltiplica (2007) - Filiera di inclusione socio lavorativa per persone in
esecuzione penale.
Giar F., Agricoltura dentro e fuori le mura - BioagriCultura, bimestrale di AIAB, n.114/09. Noferi
M. (a cura) (2007) - Agricoltura sociale e agricoltura di comunit Arsia Regione Toscana.
Ristretti Orizzonti, mensile.
Verdone M., Relazioni dinamiche nell'isola carcere di Gorgona (2007). 1 Congresso di Omeopatia
Veterinaria;
Giannini G., (2004) - Agricoltura e carcere: un binomio possibile- indagine sulle attivit agricole
dei detenuti del Lazio Tesi di laurea Universit della Tuscia. Articoli Bac.
Produzione di due video aiab: Filiere corte bio e soggetti svantaggiati, Agricoltura e detenzione.
Un percorso di futuro.
228
DVD Multi-Media Presentation Material

Video production. 2010.Organic Farming: Pagsasakang May Konsensya (Organic Farming: Farming
with a Conscience), a 27-minute documentary video in DVD format presents the UPLB-NEDA*
Organic Vegetable Project implemented over 3 years to smallholder farmers in 3 municipalities in
Southern Luzon, Philippines. The video presents the projects guiding philosophy, project framework,
activities, impacts and testimonies of capacity enhancement and success of partner farmer
organizations, local governance units and supporting government agencies. Produced under the
Philippine-Japan Grant Assistance for Under Privileged Farmers.

Dr. Blesilda M Calub, as Project Leader provided the video production concept, wrote the main script
and was involved in the film editing.

*UPLB: University of the Philippines Los Baos
NEDA: National Economic Development Authority

Submitted by:

Blesilda M. Calub, PhD
University Researcher and Project Leader
Integrated Farming Systems and Agricultural Extension Division
Agricultural Systems Cluster, College of Agriculture
University of the Philippines Los Baos
College, Laguna 4031 PHILIPPINES
Tel No. 63 49 536 3229
63 49 536 2459
TeleFAX: 63 49 536 5282
Email: bmcalub@gmail.com

229
Organic Policies in Latinamerica: a Review

Carlos, Escobar
Conexin Ecolgica, Colombia
info@econexos.org
www.econexos.com

Key words: policies, Latin-American, developing countries.

Introduction
Currently, Latin America is covered with laws and / or technical regulations focused on Organic
Agriculture which is influencing on the development of it. Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Peru,
Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina are the countries that have a combination between law and technical
regulations while Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador,
Dominican Republic, Belize and Uruguay have only technical regulations, especially used for the
certification process.
The present study correspondent to an analysis of the different regulatory framework in Latin
America to distinguish common, non common and innovate elements. Also, the study shows the
current political situation about the organic agriculture in the region.

Methods and materials
The study only considered the analysis of the official rules (laws and technical regulations)
published by the authorities.

Results and Conclusions
The first rule focused to organic agriculture was issued in Argentina at 1992. Then, countries like
Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Guatemala, Chile and Brazil developed similar technical rules
between 1992 and 1999. After 2000, the rest of countries developed both technical rules and laws,
as the case. Also, the rules were improved in other cases. Today, the situation is:

Country Law Main Technical Rule
Argentina Organic Production Law No. 25.127 of
1999

Ministerial Agreement about
production, trading and certification
of organic products No. 423 of 1992
(updated by the Resolution No. 116
and 188 of 1994 and 1995,
respectively, by IASCAV)
SENASAs Resolution about
organic husbandry No. 1286 of 1993
Ministerial Agreement about the
prohibition of GMO and inclusion of
new inputs for animal husbandry No.
270 of 2000
Ministerial Agreement about the
special tariff for organic products No.
160 of 2002
Presidential Decree No. 97 of 2001
that regulates the organic production
law
Presidential Decree No. 206 of 2001
that creates the National Organic
Agriculture Program and regulates
230
Country Law Main Technical Rule
the system of production, trading,
control and certification.
Bolivia Organic Production Law No. 3525 of
2006

Ministerial Agreement about the
production, trading and certification
of the organic products No. 005 of
2000; modified by the Ministerial
Agreement No. 280 of 2006
Presidential Decree No. 28558 of
2005 to promotes the organic
agriculture; replaced by the organic
law.
SENASAGs Resolution No. 217 of
2006 that regulates the national
system for the control in organic
agriculture
Brazil Organic Production Law No. 10.831 of
2003
Ministerial Agreement about the
production, processing, trading and
certification of the organic products
No. 7 of 1999; modified by the No.
064 of 2008 and No. 017, 018 and
019 of 2009
Presidential Decree No. 6323 of 2007
that regulates the organic production
law No. 10.831 of 2003
Ministerial Agreement about the
creation of national logo of organic
agriculture No. 050 of 2009
Ministerial Agreement about the
creation of Commission of Organic
Production No. 054 of 2008
Chile Organic Production Law No. 20.089 of
2006

Ministerial Agreement about the
production and certification of the
organic products No. 2034 and 2072
of 1999; modified by No. 2439 de
2004 and No. 17 of 2007
Ministerial Agreement No. 36 of
2006 that regulates the organic
production law.
Colombia None Ministerial Agreement about the
production, processing, trading and
certification of the organic products
No. 0544 of 1995 modified by the
No. 0074 of 2004 and the No. 0187
of 2006
Ministerial Agreement No. 0184 of
2004 that creates the national logo of
organic products
ICAs Resolution No. 150 of 2003
that creates the technical rules for
organic fertilizers
Costa Rica Law for the development and , Ministerial Agreement about the
231
Country Law Main Technical Rule
promotion of the organic agriculture No.
8542 of 2006 modified by the Law No.
8591 of 2007
Organic Production No. 29782 of
2000; modified by the No. 35242 of
2008 like the regulation of the
organic agriculture law.
Creation of the national logo of the
organic products in 2000 (no decree
or ministerial agreement)
Dominican
Republic
None Presidential Decree No. 223 of 2008
that promote the regulation of the
organic agriculture and the creation
of the National Council of the
Organic Agriculture
Ministerial Agreement No. 15 of
2008 that establishes the regulation
of the organic agriculture
Ecuador None Ministerial Agreement for the Rules
for the Organic Production No. 177
of 2003 modified by the No. 302 of
2006
SESAs Resolution No. 16 of 2005
about the procedures and forms of the
national system of control for the
organic agriculture.
El Salvador None Presidential Decree about the
production, trading and certification
of the organic products No. 052 of
2004
National Policy for the Organic
Agriculture (no decree or ministerial
agreement) issued in 2008
Guatemala None Ministerial Agreement No. 1173 of
1999 that creates the national
commission of the organic
agriculture; modified by the No. 652
of 2007.
Ministerial Agreement about
production, trading and certification
of the organic products No. 1317 of
2002
Ministerial Agreement No. 400 of
2008 that approved the manual for
the evaluation of the certification of
the small growers groups
The National Agency of
Accreditation issued the Criteria for
Accreditation of Organic Certifiers in
2005
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal
Husbandry and Food issued a
Technical Manual for Organic
Agriculture in 2004
232
Country Law Main Technical Rule
Honduras None Ministerial Agreement about the
Regulation for the Organic Agriculture
No.146 of 2003
Mxico Organic Products Law of 2006

Ministerial Agreement for the
production, trading and certification of
the organic products No. 037FITO of
1995; modified by the Presidential
Decree under the name Regulation of
the Organic Product Law
Nicaragua None Technical Rule about the Organic
Agriculture (compulsory) No NTON-
11010 of 2003
Panama Law for the regulation of the organic
production No. 8 of 2002
Presidential Decree No. 146 of 2004
that regulates the Law No. 8 of 2002
Ministerial Agreement No. DAL-
067-ADM-05 of 2005 that elected
both the authority for the control and
the authority for the development of
the organic agriculture
Paraguay Law for the development and control of
the organic agriculture No. 3.481 of
2008
SENAVEs Resolution No. 974 and
975 of 1992 about the regulation for
the production, trading and
certification of the organic products;
modified by the No. 404 of 2006.
Presidential Decree No. 4.577 of
2010 that regulates the Law No.
3.481 of 2008
Ministerial Agreement No. 893 of
2008 that approved the National Plan
for the Development of the Organic
Agriculture and the Agroecology.
Peru Law for the development of the Organic
Agriculture No. 29196 of 2008
Technical Rule for the Organic
Production issued by the National
Commission of the Organic
Production in 2002; modified and
approved by the Presidential Decree
No. 044 of 2006
Presidential Decree No. 061 of 2006
that establish the database of the
organic certifiers.
Uruguay None Ministerial Agreement No. 360/992 of
1992 and No. 19/993 of 1993 that
regulates the organic production;
modified by the No. 557 of 2008.

In case of the technical policies, all are focus to set up the rules for the production, processing,
trading and certification, including, the accreditation process. Inclusive, some rule included the
same inputs approved by other governments like USDA, MAFF and European Commission. In
case of the laws, the analysis shows common items like the location of organic agriculture as a
strategic business development and national interest, the definition of a single agency to promote,
control and information, the definition of the accreditation body, the non-acceptance of GM crops in
233
production systems and organic food and gives a key role to education, research and extension,
among others. Also non commons and innovate items can be seen like the recognition of
participatory certification as a formal certification system, the structure of economic incentives and
sanctions and the exaltation of the working conditions inside the certified organic projects.

In general, the review evidences that the organic policies in Latin-American has different political
status (from the simple and revocable ministerial agreement until integral Congress decisions).
According to it, the organic agriculture could be only control and certification activities or the
organic agriculture could be fortified with educational programs, financial support, rural extension
and consumers involved, among others. It means:



In case of... Laws (only includes
parliamentary status)
Technical Rules (including Resolutions
and Decrees)
Focus Promotion, development and
control of the organic agriculture
Control of the organic agriculture
Actors
involved
A wide range of institutions like
ministries, decentralized public
organism, universities, national
associations, consumers leagues,
certifiers, other stakeholders
National control authority (can be Ministry
of Agriculture or phytosanitary authority),
certifiers, certified stakeholders
Main
differences and
impacts

Greater inclusion of organic

agriculture in the agricultural
policies of current and future
governments.

Constitutionally, laws have

greater political weight
because are of parliamentary
origin

Can include sanctions if

breached.

Are indefinite and include

rights and duties. It means that
financial funds from public
origin can be budgeted for the
development (rural advisory,
consumers education, etc).

In case of the organic

agriculture, the law cans
assignments new
responsibilities to Ministry of
Agriculture, create new work
units, among others key items.

The ruling of a law takes time,

normally, because it includes a
general consensus with the
civic society and even might
not be approved.

A decree or decision of the President

and / or his ministries can be a
regulation of a law or not. For that, it
also can be revoked by anyway
government.

If the decree is regulated by a technical

rule, it is converted to a voluntary
document that contains technical
specifications based on the results of
the experience and technological
development.

In case of budge, the economic

resources are focusing to control
activities. Not necessarily other
programs (education, consumptions,
promotion, etc) are considered.

A decree, resolution or rule technique

can be initiated by the government
without a general consensus


234
Also, the review shows that there is difference between countries although some of them are very
close by other context (i.e. MERCOSUR, CAN, etc.). Considering the previous, Central American
countries are working on the harmonization and development of the unique technical rule to
improve the market access. Also, since July 2008, the Latin-American Networks of National
Authorities of the Organic Agriculture created the Interamerican Commission of the Organic
Agriculture to coordinate the promotion, coordination and control of Organic Agriculture in Latin-
America.

The Latin-American experience teaches that to makes a law is not enough. It is most important to
develop an organic agriculture policy that must include technical rules, educational programs,
financial funds, rural advisory program, among others; and, very important, to have the public and
private institutional capacity to implement it. While laws may be just paper without any
comprehensive benefit organic agriculture, and the final, to be applied as a standard technique.

References
Official Laws and Rules by Country (you can see a resume in
http://www.agriculturaorganicaamericas.net/Paginas/DocsOficial.aspx or
http://www.econexos.com)
235
Socio Economic Analysis of Organic Farming in Indian Punjab

D.K.Grover &Inderpal Singh
Department of Economics Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - India

Chemical or the inorganic farming system approach based on hi-tech advances in
agriculture, embodied in the Green Revolutions strategy of external high-yielding varieties, high
doses of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, energy intensive farm machinery, energized well
irrigation, etc. has been developed and implemented in India especially in northern region
including Punjab to get rid of the severe food shortages in the country. Over the years, it has been
felt that this farming system has deteriorated the natural soil fertility. The intensive chemical use
has led to contamination and pollution of soil, water, air, atmosphere, plants and crops. The
damage caused through agro-chemical pollution to environment and human health, directly and
through the human food chain, sustainable agriculture and food security is irreparable. In many
cases, over 90 per cent of the inorganic produce of vegetables, food grains, fruits, milk, etc.
produced with chemicals contains poisonous residues harmful and unsuitable for consumption.
Therefore, organic farming is desirable. The 9
th
and 10
th
five-year plan emphasized promotion of
and encouragement to organic farming with the use of organic waste, integrated pest management
and integrated nutrient management. However, there is no pertinent research work done and knowledge
available on various economic aspects of organic farming/produce with regard to input use pattern, yield
potential and profitability to the farmers etc in the state. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to conduct
an intensive study in this regard. The present study has therefore been and comprehensive attempt in this
direction. The specific objectives of the study were (i) To study the present status and crop wise
coverage of organic farming/cultivation in Punjab; (ii) To work out the comparative input use
pattern, cost- benefit and resource productivity of organic produce vis --vis inorganic produce in
the context of sustainable agriculture and food security; (iii) To study the supply chain
management, and problems associated with marketing of organic products in domestic and
international market; and (iv) To make policy recommendations for encouraging and developing
organic farming on a large scale in India in general and Punjab in particular.
Secondary data on total fertilizer consumption, pesticide consumption, pesticide contamination of
food and feed, export of organic products from India, state wise number of vermiculture/manure units and
organic manure units set up in India, etc were collected from various secondary sources such as FAOSTAT
database and Statistical Abstracts of India/Punjab, Ministry of chemicals & fertilizers, department of
fertilizers and various other such publications. To update the available information/data various relevant
websites such as India stat.com etc were also browsed to extract the relevant information. The organic
farming was not practiced on a large scale in irrigated areas of the state. Since, the status of
organic farming in the state was not well documented; State Departments of Agriculture
/Horticulture and concerned scientists/experts and extension functionaries from State Agricultural
University were consulted to gather basic information on the present status of organic farming with
respect to food grains, fruits, vegetables, and fodder etc in the state. Based on the concentration of
organic growers/acreage, one block from each district namely, Nabha from Patiala and Kotkapura
from Faridkot district were selected for the field survey. A complete list of organic growers in
these sampled blocks of Patiala and Faridkot districts was prepared in consultation with extension
specialists/key informants in the area. The list of organic growers, so diagnosed has been appended.
The organic growers were found scattered over a number of villages in these blocks. A random
sample of 75 organic growers, spreading over about 30 villages of Nabha block and 10 organic
growers from Jaito block, totaling 85 organic growers were taken. Besides, 75 inorganic growers
were also randomly chosen from the area that formed controlled group for comparison purpose in
the study. The study has therefore been based on the total sample of 160 farmers (85 organic
growers and 75 inorganic growers) in Patiala and Faridkot districts in all. Though organic farming
is much beyond the use of chemicals, the farmers who were not using chemical fertilizers and
chemical pesticides/weedicides for the last three years were considered as the organic growers in
236
the present study. Farmers were found growing crops like wheat, paddy, sugarcane, vegetables and
fodders in the study area. Keeping in view the most commonly produced crops, study has been
restricted to two crops only i.e. wheat and paddy. The reference period of the study was 2008-09.
Different statistical tools such as average, percentage, compound growth rate (CGR), coefficient of variation
(CV), and students t-test, Z test etc. were applied to make the results more relevant. The regression analysis
and marginal value productivity analysis were also applied to know the resource use efficiency for paddy and
wheat production.
The high nutritional requirements of paddy and wheat, the major crop rotation in the state has
exhausted the soil of nutrients. Resultantly, Punjab state which has just around 3 percent of cultivated area
accounts for about 10 percent of total chemical fertilizer consumption in the country. The state is adding
1332 thousand tonnes of nitrogen, 379 thousand tonnes of phosphorus and 57 thousand tonnes of potassic
fertilizers to the soil annually. The use of chemical fertilizers in the state has gone up many times from
213 thousand tonnes in 1970-71 to 1768 thousand tonnes in 2008-09. More of the basic elements of the
soil have been extracted than what has been added. The fertility of Punjab soils has diminished over the
years with deficiency in nitrogen and phosphorus. This was soon followed by deficiency of zinc during
70s and other nutrients like potash, manganese and sulphur during 80s. Above all, the deficiency of
copper was also visualized since 90s. Thus, it is clear that the present farming system is not sustainable as
the soil is deficient of all the micro and macronutrients. The use of various production protection chemical
inputs has increased manifold in Punjab agriculture since the inception of Green Revolution due to the
emergence of variety of insects, pests and new generation of weeds. The consumption of insecticides and
pesticides has increased from 624 tonnes during 1960-61 to 6400 tonnes in 2002-03. This increase is more
than ten times during the five decades. Further, per hectare use of chemicals in technical grade has
increased from 0.132 kg to 0.818 kg during the above-mentioned period. Punjab accounts for 60 per cent
of the total weedicides consumption in India. More than 90 per cent of paddy and wheat growers use
weedicides. The insect-pests have become resistant to agro chemicals. Therefore, the farmers are using
various insecticide mixtures, which pose a serious threat for farming in the state as farmers also re-use
pesticide containers.
Consequently, organic products have been becoming popular world around. The area under
organic farming in India too has increased from 37000 ha to 103,000 ha during 2002-03 to 2007-08.
Similarly, organic farming has been introduced in the state of Punjab recently and gaining wide popularity.
The State wise certified, in conversion and total area under organic farming (certified +in conversion) has
been increasing in the recent years. The Punjab rank was 18 out of 24 states in respect to in- conversion
area under organic farming. Similarly Punjab rank was about 20 out of 26 states in respect to total area
under organic farming (certified +in conversion). Only 67 ha (0.016 percent) area was certified till 2008
and about 3253 ha (0.70 percent) area is under conversion during 2008. The total area under organic
farming (certified +in-conversion) was about 3320 ha (0.38 percent) during 2008 in the state. Export of
various organic products from India was about 100 Million US$ during 2007-08.The share of the cotton in
terms of value was 25 percent, followed by tea about 20 percent, dry fruits 18 percent, basmati paddy 13
percent, honey about 10 percent, processed fruits and spices 4 percent each, medicinal and herbal products,
sesame and others about 2 percent each.
Socio economic analysis has brought out that the organic growers were comparatively younger in age
which supports the tendency of young farmer to adopt new farming system. The literacy was marginally
higher among organic growers. Organic farming was adopted by those farmers whose main income source
was agriculture. The overall operational size of organic as well as inorganic growers was not found to be
significantly different in the study area. The study has highlighted that the sample organic growers were
better equipped in terms of farm power machinery and livestock than the sample inorganic growers. The
cropping pattern was dominated by wheat and paddy for both organic as well as inorganic sample growers.
Out of the total operational holding about one fourth has been put under organic cultivation by the organic
sample growers. More biodiversity has been observed for organic cultivation in case of both paddy and
wheat as compared to inorganic cultivation. Most of the organic growers were trained by NGOS for the
successful conduct of the innovative farming approach. Though organic farming has been viewed more
eco friendly yet the yield losses as been reported 15 /% and 34 % in case of organic paddy and wheat as
237
compared to inorganic ones. Around 99 percent of the total produce of inorganic paddy and 95 percent of
the inorganic wheat was sold in the market by sample organic growers. On the contrary to it about 55 and
95 percent of the organic wheat and paddy produce was sold in the market by organic growers. This
difference showed because for home consumption only organic paddy and wheat was used by the organic
growers. The 100 percent of the inorganic paddy and in-organic wheat was sold in market by organic
growers. So this was the additional benefit for the organic growers in terms of nutritional value of the
organic wheat and organic Paddy.
The net return over variable cost of organic paddy and inorganic paddy was Rs 31516 and Rs
20229 for organic growers. .The net return from organic paddy was about Rs 10000 more in comparison
to inorganic paddy. The total cost of organic paddy of organic growers was little lower in comparison to
inorganic paddy of inorganic growers but it is little higher to their own inorganic paddy, because organic
growers used less chemical fertilizer and pesticides for their inorganic paddy cultivation. The net return
over variable cost of organic wheat and inorganic wheat was Rs 21895 and Rs 16700 for organic growers.
Similarly net return over variable cost was Rs 16370 of inorganic wheat for inorganic growers .The net
return of organic wheat was about Rs 5000 more in comparison to inorganic wheat. The total cost of
organic wheat of organic growers was little lower in comparison to inorganic paddy of inorganic growers
but it is little higher to their own inorganic wheat, because organic growers used less chemical fertilizer
and pesticides for their inorganic wheat cultivation.
The coefficient of multiple determinations (R
2
) was 0.89 for organic paddy indicating that
organic paddy yield was influenced by the changes in the expenditure on inputs included in the model.
The resource use efficiency of organic paddy analyzed and results of regression coefficient showed that
one percent increase in expenditure of farm yard manure + jeev amrit ,organic pesticide, and interculture
has increased the value productivity by 0.067 percent, 0.060 percent, 0.108 percent respectively, it
showed significant impact on value productivity at five percent level of significance. Similarly, the
coefficient of multiple determinations (R
2
) was 0.87 for organic wheat indicating that organic wheat yield
was influenced by the changes in the expenditure on inputs included in the model. The resource use
efficiency of organic wheat analyzed and results of regression coefficient showed that one percent
increase in expenditure of farm yard manure +jeev amrit ,biodynamic and machine labour has increased
the value productivity by 0.114 percent, 0.703 percent, 0.556 percent, respectively, it showed significant
impact on value productivity. The coefficient of multiple determinations (R
2
) was 0.65 for inorganic
paddy indicating that inorganic paddy yield was influenced by the changes in the expenditure on inputs
included in the model. The resource use efficiency of inorganic paddy analyzed and results of regression
coefficient showed that one percent increase in cost of irrigation, zinc sulphate, human labour and
machine labour has increased the value productivity by 0.026 percent, 0.105 percent, 0.118 percent, 2.87
percent respectively, it showed significant impact on value productivity. Similarly, the coefficient of
multiple determinations (R
2
) was 0.89 for inorganic wheat indicating that inorganic wheat yield was
influenced by the changes in the expenditure on inputs included in the model. The resource use efficiency
of inorganic wheat analyzed and results of regression coefficient showed that one percent increase in
cost of seed treatment and machine labour has increased the value productivity by 0.498 percent and 0.199
percent, respectively, it showed significant impact on value productivity.
The biotic factor in respect to insect/pest, diseases and weeds reduced the yield of organic
paddy by 17, 16 and 5 percent respectively among sample organic growers. The biotic factor in respect to
insect/pest, diseases and weeds reduced the yield of organic wheat 7, 6, and 7 percent respectively. The
biotic factor in respect to insect/pest, diseases and weeds reduced the yield of inorganic paddy 7, 3 and 2.5
percent respectively in sample growers. The biotic factor in respect to insect/pest, diseases and weeds
reduced the yield of inorganic wheat 3, 3, and 3.5 percent respectively. This clearly indicated that biotic
constraints reduced more yield of organic paddy and organic wheat in comparison to inorganic paddy and
inorganic wheat. The major a biotic constraints in respect to input availability were s quality seed and
labour shortage for organic paddy. The price variability for the organic produce and high labour
requirements was major constraints for organic paddy. The environment constraint faced by the organic
paddy was heavy rain and high temperature. But these a biotic factors not caused very severe problem to
organic paddy. Similarly a biotic constraints faced by inorganic paddy in respect to availability of inputs
238
were improved seeds and labour shortage. Lack of proper marketing infrastructure in respect to assured
price and storage facilities, labour shortage were major marketing constraints faced by the inorganic
paddy. Heavy rain and high temperature was major environment constraints faced by inorganic paddy.
The major input availability constraints faced by organic wheat were improved and quality seed,
availability of improved or quality organic fertilizers and pesticides. Price variability and high labour
needs was the major marketing constraints faced by the organic wheat. Heavy rain and high temperature
were the major environment constraints faced by the organic wheat production. The major input
constraints faced by inorganic wheat were improved and quality seeds and cheap fertilizer. Labour
shortage and proper marketing infrastructure facilities in respect to storage was the major marketing
constraints faced by the inorganic wheat. The heavy rain and high temperature were the major
environment constraints faced by the inorganic wheat. One thing is clear that input, marketing and
environment constraints was not caused very severe problem for organic as well as inorganic crops.
Around 45 percent of the FYM was farm produced and remaining 55 percent had to
purchase from market for organic farming. Similarly about 70 percent of the input required for organic
pesticide was home/farm produced and rest 30 percent was bought from the market. This clearly
suggested that it was possible for the farmers to arrange the required organic inputs without much problem
for the production of the organic produce, being only small area under organic farming/ less number of
farmers engaged in the organic farming. It is worthwhile to mention that it will not be easy for the farmers
to develop this venture on large area due to the poor availability of organic inputs from the market, and
poor storage facilities. So, it will be very easy for the farmers to develop this venture on small area,
because by this they can easily handle all production process without any problem in respect to poor
availability of organic inputs, marketing as well as processing of the produce.
The investigation further revealed that certification was the major issue for organic products
in the sample area. Around 88 percent of the sample organic growers had no certification for their
produce /certification under process for their produce. The remaining 12 percent organic growers have
certificate for their produce, but this certificate was given by NGO working with them to promote organic
farming. Marketing was the main problem for its mass adoption, because most of the quantity sold to the
consumer in the lean season and for this purpose storage was required .Now, farmers can store this small
quantity and look after their small quantity in the storage. So, this is the main reason that farmers not
adopted organic farming on mass area. Now demand is higher for organic produce, thats why NGOs
wants that more area should comes under organic farming by the adoption of more number of farmers in
small percentage of the total cultivated area or mass adoption of marginal farmers. This farming system is
not sustainable on mass area .Now less organic produce is available in the market against its demand,
fetching good prices for their organic produce, but if farmers convert all the conventional area of wheat
and paddy to organic farming then its supply would surpass the demand and farmers will not be able to get
higher price for their produce.
Food security is serious concern for all scientists working in the agricultural field. It has been
found that organic growers used more local or desi varieties, being less susceptible to insects of both
paddy as well as wheat. These varieties require less fertilizers and even pesticides for their growth. The
organic farming yielded 34 percent less wheat and 20 percent less paddy as compared to the inorganic
farming, posing a serious concern for the state as well as Indian economy for the food security point of
view. The organic farming has been adopted on a very small scale only by a few farmers, even though
they had to purchase organic fertilizers from the market or from their fellow farmers in respect to
vermiculture compost, FYM and Bio dynamics. In case of its large scale adoption, the required inputs
may not be sufficient. If government promotes organic farming on mass area in the state then it will be the
responsibility of the government to provide appropriate quantity of organic inputs required for the
cultivation of the organic crops to the organic growers. Certification is another hurdle to promote organic
farming in the state, being a costly venture. The sample organic growers were in certification process from
the formal source and now they used certificate, which is provided by the NGO, who is working with
them for selling the produce to the market. Government institutions should come forward for certification
process of the organic produce on affordable charges. Marketing was the main problem for the farmers,
who grew organic wheat and paddy. The growers had to search for the buyers interested in organic
239
produce. The price variability was also the problems for these growers. So if government can provide
facilities in respect to marketing then the area under organic wheat and paddy can be increased, because
they sold all the organic wheat and paddy produce with the help of NGOS and with their own contacts, as
there is no assured price for organic products in the market. New suitable varieties should be introduced
for organic crops that can increase yield with the application of organic inputs and also new organic
pesticides and organic manures should be introduced that can increase yield, because biotic factors have
been the major constraint for the yield reduction of organic wheat and paddy. Organic farming requires
proper training for its adoption, so proper training should be provided by the government institutions to
the farmers for its adoption, because its a new venture in the present scenario. Therefore, there is a need
to develop complete package of practices for the cultivation of organic crops for its dissemination among
the farmers.

240
Development of the Organic Family Farming Policy: Colombian Experience

1st presenter - Escobar, Carlos
Conexion Ecologica, Colombia
info@econexos.org
www.econexos.com

Key words: Latin America, Colombia, Family Farming, Policies.

Resume
Within the framework of cooperation between the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for
development - AECI - and the Andean Community of Nations - CAN - launched a project aiming to
promote, identify and disseminate the organic family farming agriculture as a proposed operative to
deal with the problem of agrobiodiversity and food security, mainly. For such purposes, activities
such as mapping of relevant actors, general characterization of concerning estates and national
workshops both for socializing and feedback found to listen to proposals from civil society to
formulate a proposal for a national program results they were part of the actions have been
concluded to date.

The Colombian Organic Family Farming is characterized by being carried out by peasants,
indigenous and Afro-descendant nationwide that have traditionally been accompanied by non-
governmental organizations, and in recent years, with the support of public bodies as autonomous
corporations. According to official data, about 4731 production systems are linked to the ecological
agriculture but with this project were determined that the figure is more than 80 thousand
productive systems. The difference is that most is not linked to the organic certification of third
party, and therefore does not appear before the competent authority is the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development. Incidentally, also identify that additional organic certification of third part
exists in Colombia initiatives participatory certification, especially focused on the development and
consolidation of local markets. In policy terms, there is not a national policy focused to the organic
agriculture, much less to the organic family farming. However, in recent years, the Government has
made a number of policies that impact the development of the organic agriculture. These include
the resolution 0187 of 2006 used to perform the processes of organic certification of third party, the
national policy of health and safety of agricultural, national policy of food security and nutrition,
the national biodiversity policy and national policy production and sustainable consumption, among
others. There are also similar to regional and municipal governments level decisions. In
commercial terms, greater relevance such as coffee, banana, sugar and sugar, organic products are
mostly intended for the international market. For its part, available in supermarket chains, specialty
shops, farmers and services on-site, fairs, national market has been conquering important spaces. In
either case, there are official data on the volume and value of sales.

To have a programme of support that favours the consolidation of the organic family farming (and
the organic sector) as a viable socio-cultural, economic, environmental, productive and institutional
proposal is the main objective of this project. For that, after different consultation process, were
defined the main strategic issues and its objectives to 2012 and 2015.
241
Opportunities and Challenges for Converting Iranian Horticulture to
Organic Farming System

Hossein Mahmoudi
1
, Abdolmajid Mahdavi Damghani
2
& Houman Liaghati
3
Key words: horticultural crops, Iran, transition to organic

Abstract
Organic agriculture has rapidly developed during the last few years mainly as a response to
concerns about conventional agriculture. Traditional agriculture in Iran is a kind of non-
certified organic, because almost all practices and processes in these agroecosystems are
compatible with organic agriculture, but it has not been certified as organic. Iran with 15,000
ha of certified organically managed farmland does not have an acceptable place in organic
farming in Asia. It should be noted, however, that general principles of organic agriculture
are in fact derived from traditional agricultural practices which are still applying worldwide
including Iran. Traditional agriculture in Iran includes applying on-farm inputs, crop rotation,
mechanical and hand control of pests, diseases and weeds and aims for the long-term
sustainability and viability of the agroecosystems. Statistics show that more than 125,000 ha
of the horticultural crop cultivation area in Iran now receive no synthetic chemical fertilizers
or pesticides and there are more than 250,000 ha of lands which gardeners apply only
chemical fertilizers and no pesticides are applied which implies a good opportunity for
converting to organic. The present paper studies the potential capacity of horticultural sector
in Iran for converting to organic systems and highlights its opportunities and challenges.
Introduction
Iran, the second largest country in the Middle East, is located in the southwest of Asia with
an area of 1.65 million km
2
Agricultural systems in Iran can be divided to two main groups: traditional and modern
agriculture. In most cases, traditional agriculture in Iran is a kind of non-certified organic,
because almost all the practices and processes in these agroecosystems are compatible with
organic agriculture, but has not been recognized and certified as organic agriculture. Now,
according to the latest data, 15,000 ha agricultural land in Iran has officially been certified as
organic. It should be noted, however, that general principles of organic agriculture are in fact
derived from traditional agricultural practices which are still applying worldwide including
Iran. Traditional agriculture in Iran includes applying on-farm inputs, crop rotation,
. It has been a centre for the evolution of agriculture, since people
engaged in agriculture first settled here some 10,000 years ago. Since Iran spans a wide range
of latitudes and longitudes, it also has a diverse range of physiography, climate, vegetation
and biological productivity. Therefore, a wide range of field and horticultural crops are
growing in different parts of the country. In different years and depending mainly on climatic
conditions, 12-18 million ha of land are used for agricultural production (Koocheki and
Ghorbani, 2005).
1
Department of Agroecology, Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI), Shahid Beheshti University GC, Evin, Tehran, Iran, E-mail:
aseman421@gmail.com
2
Department of Agroecology, Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI), Shahid Beheshti University GC, Evin, Tehran, Iran, E-mail:
mahdavi.a@sbu.ac.ir
3
Department of Agroecology, Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI), Shahid Beheshti University GC, Evin, Tehran, Iran, E-mail:
h_liaghati@sbu.ac.ir
242
mechanical and hand control of pests, diseases and weeds and aims for the long-term
sustainability and viability of the agroecosystems.
Organic production of horticultural crops: capacities and concerns
There are several reasons to argue that there is a good capacity in Iranian horticultural section
for making the transition to organic agriculture. First, more than 6.2 million ha of arable lands
in Iran are rainfed farms. As a general principle in rainfed cultivation, less chemical fertilizer,
if any, is applied to prevent excessive vegetative growth. If a crop grows rapidly in the first
stages of its life cycle in rainfed farming, the water supply will soon become depleted and the
crop could not produce high yields. With the application of fertilizers, especially nitrogen,
vegetative growth increases and so farmers usually apply less fertilizer. Now, if farmers can
replace chemical fertilizers with other in-farm inputs, the transition to organic systems
becomes easier. Evaluating traditional agroecosystems in Iran shows that farmers have
applied other inputs and management practices during the evolution of agriculture through
their indigenous knowledge.
Statistics show that more than 125,000 ha under horticultural crop cultivation in Iran now
receive no synthetic chemical fertilizer or pesticide (Table 1). There are also more than
250,000 ha of land to which farmers apply only chemical fertilizers and no pesticide is
applied (Bagherzadeh, 2006). A wide range of crops including citrus, apple, fig, pomegranate,
apricot, date as well as medicinal plants are being cultivated in a low input manner. It is true
that removing synthetic agrochemicals from a farm does not at all mean complete conversion
to organic; but it is widely accepted that the most important challenge of transition to organic
agriculture is the management of plant nutrition (fertilizers) and protection against pests,
diseases and weeds (pesticides) during first years of conversion to prevent any yield
reduction. So, it can be deduced that, if these problems are solved on a farm, its transition
presents fewer challenges.
Table 1. Cultivated area of horticultural crops which no chemical fertilizer and
pesticide are used in different regions of Iran in 2001.
Region Horticultural crops Cultivated area
(ha)
Jiroft

Khorassan

Kordestan
Kerman



Yazd
Kermanshah

Markazi

Qom
Ghazvin
Citrus, date, pomegranate, fig, pear,
berry, quince, oleaster
Sour cherry, walnut, almond,
barberry, pomegranate, citrus
Grape, fig, almond, walnut, berry
Walnut, plum, quince, pear, apple,
citrus, stone fruits, almond, grape,
fig, barberry, date, pomegranate,
berry, hawthorn
Oleaster, pomegranate, berry
Pomegranate, walnut, almond, pear,
berry, fig
Walnut, almond, grape, sour cherry,
apricot, berry
Various horticultural crops
Grape
54056

37557

10715
8387



4893
3840

1930

1770
1478
243
Kohgiluye & Buyerahmad

Khuzestan
Tehran
Cheharmahal & Bakhtiari

Sum
Walnut, grape, pomegranate, citrus,
apple, fig
Citrus, fig, walnut, apple, grape,
pomegranate
Pomegranate
Apple
576

380
200
20

125,802
Source: Bagherzadeh 2006
One of the most important concerns of farmers for accepting organic agriculture is the
potential reduction in yield and, thus, in total farm income. This is not, however, true. First, it
seems that a precise management of the farm and the application of suitable practices and
alternative inputs would prevent any yield loss, even in the short-term. Lotter (2003) reported
that a literature review of 205 organic versus conventional farms has showed that, on average,
organically managed crops yielded 10% less than conventional crops. It is worth mentioning
that some studies even show that, under drought conditions, crops in organic agriculture
produce higher yields than comparable conventional crops. Therefore, since Iran is located in
a dry climate with the frequent occurrence of drought stress, the productivity of organic
systems would be comparable with that of conventional systems.
Second, organic products have worldwide premium prices because of their health and
environmental benefits and market mechanisms, therefore it is predicted that farm income
would increase overall by converting to organic agriculture. Improved living standards in the
country during recent years have resulted in increased public awareness about health topics
including food quality. In many cases, people prefer to consume potentially organic foods
rather than conventional ones because of agrochemical residues in conventionally managed
products. It means that this section of society will pay premium prices of organic products.
Therefore, there will be no economic concern for organic producers about selling their
products in the domestic markets. Educating the public, then, increases their awareness about
the benefits of organic foods and thereby widens their potential domestic markets.
Iran with 15,000 ha of certified organically managed farmland does not have an acceptable
place in organic farming in Asia. It seems that organic agriculture which has been called an
international phenomenon during recent years has been neglected here for several reasons.
Like many other developing countries, it can be attributed to factors such as population
growth that causes policy makers to try their best to produce more food in order to provide
food security without considering the environmental and health consequences of the high
pressure placed on the land and natural resources as well as on food quality. Therefore, it
seems that policy-makers prefer approaches like conventional and technologies such as
transgenic crops and genetic engineering to produce more food and fibre (Mahmoudi et al.,
2008).
According to recent activities in Iran in academic and policy-making atmosphere, although
there has not started any serious plan, there are signs of understanding organic movements
political and economic as well as environmental importance.
Conclusions
Analyses showed that Iran has a great advantage in horticultural crops for exporting to
European and other international markets, if these products become organic (Liaghati, 1998).
244
This is true for Iranian pomegranate, cherry, subtropical fruits. Even organic fruit nectars and
juices from Iran have a great chance to enter world organic markets.
The viability of the agricultural sector in Iran seems to be dependent on changing the current
conventional systems to more sustainable ones which would provide enough food for an
increasing population and, meanwhile, conserve natural resources thus, preventing further
environmental pollution and degradation as well as ensuring food chain health. Organic
agriculture is one of the best alternatives for this purpose and its development in Iran needs to
take account of the following points:
Recognize regions that have high potential for transition to organic systems,
Provide infrastructures for research on and education about organic agriculture,
Developing standards and regulations for production, processing and marketing of organic
foods,
Apply indigenous knowledge to the process of agricultural production,
Educate farmers about organic concepts and practices,
Educate consumers in order to increase their awareness about organic products.
References
Bagherzadeh A. (2006): A report on organic agriculture. Ministry of Agri-Jihad of Islamic
Republic of Iran, Tehran.
Koocheki A., Ghorbani R. (2005): Traditional agriculture in Iran and development challenges
for organic agriculture. International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management.
11: 1-7.
Lotter D.W. (2003): Organic agriculture. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. 21: 59-128.
Mahdavi Damghani A. Koocheki A., Zand E. (2006): Agroecosystem design and
management in sustainable agriculture. Key articles of the 9th Iranian crop science
congress, Tehran, 27-29 August, p. 36-59.
Mahmoudi H., Liaghati H., Mahdavi Damghani A. (2008): Developing organic agriculture in
field crops in Iran: prospects and perspectives. Green Farming. 1: 5-9.
245
25 Years Developing Organic Farming in Portugal

Jaime Ferreira *

Summary
This paper highlights the contribution of 25 years of AGROBIO The Portuguese Association for
Organic Agriculture - to the development of Organic Agriculture in Portugal. AGROBIO's
innovative role by developing certification for Agriculture in Portugal. Pioneership: training farmers
and advisors in Organic Agriculture. Awareness raising for production and demand of organic
products. Conversion to Organic Agriculture. Creating local markets; local markets' importance for
increasing farmers revenue and enhancing the demand for organic products. Contribution of
Organic Agriculture to Social Liability in urban areas. Promoting biodiversity through
implementing organic rice crops in Nature Reserves.












_________________________________________________
*President of AGROBIO Portuguese Association of Organic Farming direccao@agrobio.pt;
tm:00351912237056

246
Growing Organically: the Pacific Islands Organic Movement and the
Pacific Organic Standard

1st presenter Karen Mapusua, 2nd presenter Stephen Hazelman
Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade community (POETCom), Pacific Island Region, E-
karen@womeninbusiness.ws
Website (www.spc.int)

Key words: Pacific Islands, Organic Standards, Climate Change, Culture, Organic
Movement.

Introduction
Organic agriculture is not a new concept in the Pacific, it is very much the traditional farming
system that Pacific forefathers practiced sustainably for centuries. Today, current farming
practices in many communities are still based on age-old systems that are free from the
residues of agrichemicals and where environmental integrity remains largely intact. However,
the motives for organic farming have changed. In the past farming was predominantly for
subsistence living, but in the cash driven societies that we live in today, there is now a need
from overseas markets to ensure that products being labeled and sold as organic produce meet
international standards. While third party certification began in the Pacific in the late 1980s it
has been slow to develop.
The organic movement in the Pacific recognized one of the major challenges facing Pacific
Island organic producers is the high cost of certification, auditing and compliance involved in
meeting importing country organic standards and/or international standards. In order to
address this issue 2 projects commencing in 2007 funded by the International Fund for
Agricultural Development were undertaken and implemented by the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the Secretariat of the Pacific
Community(SPC) respectively. The main outcomes of these projects were: an analysis the
existing situation of organic agriculture and fair trade production in the Pacific islands and to
a set of Pacific Regional Standards for Organic Agriculture Products which was developed
through a locally owned process and multi-sector participation. These projects also facilitated
development of a regional strategy and national plans to lay the foundation of sustainable
organic agriculture development in the region. Two key groupings that were tasked with
driving organics forward in the Pacific were formed: the first, the Regional Organic Task
Force(ROTF) is a technical group representing all sectors and countries involved in organics.
This group was charged with developing the Pacific Standard and will be responsible for
implementing the Regional Action Plan. The second group, the Pacific High Level Organics
Group (PHLOG) consists of Pacific leaders who have shown a commitment to organics
development in the region and provide high level political support and advocacy.

The first Pacific Organic Standard was officially launched by the Chair of the PHLOG and
Prime Minster of Samoa, at the Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry Conference in Apia
Samoa in September 2008. This now provides a platform for further regional policy
development around organics.

In 2009 the ROTF recognized the need to evolve from a technical body to a representative
peak body for organics and fair trade in the region and so the Pacific Organic and Ethical
Trade Community (POETCom) was formed. POETCom which will remain housed in the
247
Secretariat of the Pacific Community is currently in the process of developing its governance
and management structure with technical assistance form the Food and Agriculture
Organisation(FAO). (Mapusua, 2009)

The Pacific Organic Standard (POS) and Development Strategy(PODS)
The Pacific Organic Standard is the third regional organic standard produced worldwide after
the EU regulation 2092/91 and the East Africa Organic Product Standard. The POS was
developed through a consultative process which brought together a multi-sectoral group of
organic practitioners from over 12 Pacific Island countries plus technical expertise from
Australia, New Zealand, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and further afield. The
provisions of the POS take into account both local agricultural traditions and the two global
organic standards, the IFOAM IBS and CODEX Alimentarius thus upholding internationally
recognised and agreed organic principles while at the same time holds true to the unique
cultures, traditions and physical and geographic circumstances of the diverse peoples,
ecosystems and natural resources that make up the Pacific Islands region. (POS, 2008) An
example of this is the inclusion in the POS of requirement to mitigate the effects of climate
change, recognition of culture, traditional practice and a strong social justice component. This
makes it a truly Pacific document

In developing the POS it was recognized that Organic farming has the potential to play a
huge role in addressing many of the issues facing Pacific Island countries and territories, and
so in the development The Pacific Organic Development Strategy a vision for the organic
sector was developed:

Pacific organics the key contributor to sustaining our cultures and improving farmer
livelihoods, communities, peoples health and the environment in the Pacific.(PODS, 2009)

It is anticipated that implementation of the POS and the strategy will assist in the
development of organics in the Pacific and contribute to improvements in:
local and regional food security;
farmer livelihoods, by enabling farmers to trade, with access to both domestic and
export markets, and by reducing their dependence on expensive, imported production
inputs;
human health, by providing better access to high-quality, clean and nutritious food;
the environment, by encouraging the use of environmentally friendly management
practices;
the well-being of people and communities, by promoting the adoption of ethical
labour and social justice principles.


Pacific organic principles
The 4 core principles of organic agriculture identified by IFOAM hold true also for the
Pacific Islands region but through the POS development and recognition of the small holder
farming family as the basis for all our societies the drafters felt it was important also to
acknowledge the role of culture and tradition in Pacific agriculture. Hence the following are
identified as the Pacific Organic Principles which guide the POS:
248
Health organic agriculture sustains and enhances the health of the soil, which enables
the production of healthy plants and animals to enhance the lives of people and their
environment, as one and indivisible.
Ecology organic agriculture is based on living ecological systems and cycles, works
with them, emulates them and helps to sustain them.
Fairness organic agriculture builds on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to
the common environment and life opportunities. The key role of farmers and rural
communities are recognised and benefits shared equitably with them.
Care organic agriculture is managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to
protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.
Culture and traditions Pacific organic agriculture recognizes the value of
contributions from traditional agriculture and Pacific cultures.

According to the POS the aims of Pacific organic agriculture are:
1) to produce optimal quantities of food and fibre compatible with human and
environmental needs, thus addressing food security risks, reducing reliance on imported
inputs, and lessening the impact of negative external economic events;
2) to produce food of high nutritional value that will help address local human health
issues;
3) to work within natural systems in ways that enhance those systems, thus
enabling effective management of pests, diseases, weeds and other risks to production;
4) to maintain and increase the long-term productivity of soil, that is, to stop land
degradation and erosion;
5) to promote wise use of land, water and vegetation and minimise the off farm
effects of agriculture on aquatic and terrestrial systems;
6) to foster local and regional production and distribution;
7) to use renewable resources as much as possible;
8) to maintain and increase the long-term fertility and biological activity of soils using
locally adapted cultural, biological and mechanical methods as opposed to relying on inputs;
9) to maintain and encourage agricultural and natural biodiversity on the farm and
surrounding areas through sustainable production systems and protection of plant and wildlife
habitats;
10) to provide balanced nutrients, optimise opportunities to cycle nutrients within the farm,
and recycle nutrients and energy that leave the farm or other farms in food and fibre products
that are not consumed (that is, organic waste containing energy and nutrients), with the aim
of feeding the soil ecosystem;
11) to provide livestock with conditions that satisfy their behavioural and physiological
needs;
12) to maintain, or increase as appropriate, the genetic diversity of domesticated and
native plants, animals and other organisms on the farm (this precludes the use of genetic
engineering techniques);
13) to ensure that everyone involved in organic production has a quality of life that covers
their basic needs and that they receive adequate return and satisfaction from their work,
including a safe working environment and protection from the negative impacts of chemicals;
14) to progress towards an entire organic production chain, which is both socially just and
ecologically responsible, and in which farmers are treated fairly and equitably;
15) to recognise the importance of, and protect and learn from, indigenous knowledge and
traditional farming systems;
249
16) to mitigate the adverse impacts of farming in relation to climate change and provide
strategies for adapting production systems to the effects of climate change;
17) to protect the region from the introduction of genetically modified organisms by
providing a viable alternative to the use of inputs and practices based on genetic engineering
techniques. (POS, 2008)
Recent Important Developments
2010 marked a milestone for the Pacific Region as the International Organic Accreditation
Service (IOAS) has assessed the Pacific Organic Standard (POS) and found it, after some
corrective actions, to be equivalent to the standards requirements of the European Union
regulations EC 834(2007) and EC 889(2008). This means that, according to the IOAS, the
POS is suitable for use by conformity assessment bodies in the Pacific region as a standard
for the certification of operators who may wish to export products to the European Union.
The POS is not yet in use for certification as the Organic Guarantee System is under
development but the IOAS assessment is seen as a significant step for Pacific producers
towards achieving market access for their products.
2010 also saw the Pacific regions first Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) become
operational in New Caledonia. The PGS uses the POS as its production standard. The PGS
BioCaledonia was developed in a joint project by the public institution the Chamber of
Agriculture and Arborfruits, a fruit farmers association. Producers and consumers were
involved in working groups to define the PGS scheme and the certification process. Official
institutions have also recognized this system as it includes an external controller.
BioCaledonia applied to POETCom for the license to use the Organic Pasifika PGS logo and
it was deemed they met all requirements and this has been granted.
The Government of the Solomon Islands became the first Pacific Government to endorse a
national organic policy in 2009. The purpose of this policy document is to outline the benefits
of producing and consuming organic products. It provides a guideline on how the Solomon
Islands Government should capitalise on opportunities, address challenges and constraints
and develop promotion strategies for organic agriculture for the betterment of Solomon
Islands and its people.
The policy development process included an opportunity for members of the organic
movement across the entire Pacific region through the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade
Community (POETCom) to provide input and the policy aligns well with the overall goals
and objectives of the POETCom regional strategic plan. It is hoped other Governments will
follow suit.(Mapusua, 2010)

Results and Conclusions
While the implementation of the POS has been slow due to resource constraints momentum
of the movement remains strong across the region and the outlook for the development of
organics in the region is positive. Interest in organic products from the region appears to be
growing with key challenges remaining around building production to meet projected
demands. Establishment of the OGS and POETCom governance structure within SPC will
facilitate implementation of the POS which will ultimately improve access to organic
certification for small holder farmers in the region and also provide a common standard for
joint marketing and promotion.

250
References (Please reference all sources, whether they are published articles, books, or
other material such as project reports or websites. If possible, include the location where
these can be accessed.)
251
Study on Current Status and Consumption Trends of the Korean
Organic Farming

Ki, J. D. & Lee, H.W.
Dept. of Agriculture, Korea National Open University
kjd6012@hanmir.com

Introduction
Currently, the Korean society pays enormous attention to food due to recent economic
growth and rising national incomes equal to the level of advanced nations.
Consequently Koreans voice a strong preference for safe and quality agricultural
products. The enormous demand for organic farming is closely associated with a great
interest in health and global awareness of environmental implications. Korea currently
stands in the transition from conventional agriculture to organic farming to reinforce
national competitiveness against massive imports of cheap farm products due to the
opening of its agricultural market.
Such agricultural shift is mainly driven by growing awareness of soil and water
pollution, pesticide poisoning among farmers, and food safety, and it can contribute to
boosting the overall competitiveness of Korean farm products against an inflow of
cheap foreign products amid the market opening. These factors represent the root causes
of Koreas recent departure for organic farming.
As mentioned above, global attention is now centered upon organic agriculture due to
its significant implications for environmental preservation, food safety, and health
promotion.
As the total volume of Korean organic farm produce is estimated at KRW 150 billion,
organic farming output goes up more than 30% per annum while consumer demands for
organic agricultural items post a rapid growth of around 40% on a yearly basis.
Given increasing demand for organic farm produce, this study looked into the current
status, public awareness, and consumption patterns of Korean organic farming.
Korean organic farming has so far been spearheaded by 33 organizations which
include the Korea Organic Farming Association, the Korean Natural Farming
Association, and the Korean Society for Research on Organic Farming. According to
statistical data, eco-friendly agricultural output grew by nearly 87 times from 27,000 ton
in 1999 (0.1% of total farm produce) to 2,358,000 ton in 2009 (12.2% of total farm
produce). In 2009, eco-friendly farmhouses totaled 199,000 households, a 15% increase
over the previous year, and their cultivation areas and total output also went up 16% and
7.8% respectively. In 2009, organic farm produce accounted for about 5% of the eco-
friendly agricultural output, whereas the ratio of pesticide-free and low-pesticide farm
products amounted to 37% and 58% respectively.
For now, Korean organic farming has not yet instituted its proprietary technological
system, which acts as a buffer against accurate technology dissemination across
individual farmhouses. The lack of composting facilities also prevents it from securing
sufficient compost resources from various organic sources. These factors can curtail
overall farmhouse incomes by increasing the overall production cost of organic farming,
and consequently organic farming might be only viable for those farmhouses equipped
with a certain scale of production facilities. That is why organic farm products are
confronted with the problem of higher prices.
To identify consumption patterns of organic farm produce, I conducted a questionnaire
survey among 80 consumers who visited the eco-friendly (organic) agricultural produce
section at a mega shopping mall in Mokpo City, Jeollanam-do. The age bracket of
252
respondents included those in the 20s (17 persons), 30s (39 persons), 40s (15 persons),
and 50s or older (9 persons), and their occupation fell into the three categories:
housewives (46 persons), office workers (29 persons), and other (5 persons). The
income level was classified into the upper class (7 persons), middle class (68 persons),
and lower class (5 persons).
88.75% of the respondents answered that organic farm products were overvalued,
which helped to weaken consumers purchase intention. As 93% of respondents
belonged to the middle class or the upper class, expensive prices hindered the working
class from buying organic farm produce, and consequently this raised the necessity of
lowering the price of organic agricultural items.
With regard to public awareness of organic farm produce, nearly 90% replied that they
had little knowledge of organic agricultural products, and this clearly illustrated a
serious lack of awareness and publicity surrounding organic farm produce. Although
many respondents preferred organic agricultural items due to potential health benefits,
their criterion or definition still remained vague. Therefore, Korean society should
promote a stringent management system while expanding public attention to
environmental issues. Meanwhile, vegetables accounted for 65% of the respondents
preferred organic (eco-friendly) items because of the narrow options given to consumers
as a result of the limited range of organic farm products.
Today Korean consumers tend to enjoy online purchase of organic farm products, but
direct online purchase from the farm has not flourished yet. Moreover, Korean organic
farming has difficulties in ensuring prompt delivery of fresh products and online
distribution and management based upon affordable prices. According to this study,
even though 52.5% of respondents usually bought organic (eco-friendly) farm products
at a mega shopping mall, they still felt great inconvenience because they could buy
organic farm products only at some limited spots. Meanwhile, consumption patterns of
organic agricultural produce shows lower level of purchase intention and satisfaction
among consumers.

Conclusion
For now, Korean organic agriculture tries to enhance the quality and safety of food
simply through reduction of pesticides and fertilizers. To improve consumer confidence
about organic farming, Koreans should focus more on environmental issues while
addressing the challenging issues surrounding organic farm products.
Previously, Korean farmers tended to misuse chemical materials like pesticides for
higher agricultural productivity, which led to the destruction of natural ecosystems
including soil and water pollution. However, Korean producers and consumers of farm
products now turn their attention to organic farming methods which follow the use of
natural compost or farming by-products but disallow any utilization of fertilizers,
pesticides, weed-killers, and growth regulators for environmental preservation.
As overall income growth broadens public attention to health promotion, Koreans now
show a stronger preference for organic farm produce with greater health and nutritional
benefits. Statistical data also confirms an annual increase in organic agricultural output
as well as a rapid surge in consumption of organic farm produce, and consumer
demands for organic agricultural products is now more diversified than ever before.
Therefore, the Korean organic farming needs to take up the challenges of organic farm
products in terms of production, publicity, and distribution for better satisfaction of
consumers. It can promote convenient and safe consumption of organic (eco-friendly)
farm products, thereby expanding the potential benefits to both farmers and consumers.

253
Eco-efficiency Analysis of Organic Agriculture in
Korea

Kim, Chang-Gil
1
and Hak-Kyun Jeong
2
Key words: organic farming, green growth, eco-efficiency,
data envelopment analysis, technical efficiency

Abstract
This research analyzes eco-efficiency with the case of organic
agriculture promoted as a key green growth policy. Thirty
questionnaires for farmers producing organic rice in
Hongseong-gun, Choongcheongnam-do were used for the
analysis. Eco-efficiency was measured by means of the amount
of used nitrogen with respect to the amount of income, and was
represented that organic agriculture was 32.0 higher than
conventional agriculture. The analytical result of technical
efficiency, using the (Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
model showed that it is 0.765 which has a possibility of 21% in
management improvement, and higher eco-efficiency was with
higher technical efficiency.
Introduction
The agricultural sector is promoting diversified green growth
policies to grow the environment-friendly life industry together
with the Low Carbon Green Growth policy of the Korean
government. Green growth in the agricultural sector is defined
as growth which is environmentally sound and economically
profitable, considering environmental capacity of the
agricultural ecosystem. Such green growth can be
1
Korea Rural Economic Institute, Senior Fellow, Korea, E-Mail Changgil@krei.re.kr
2
Korea Rural Economic Institute, Fellow, Korea, E-Mail hak8247@krei.re.kr
254
accomplished by conversion to the sustainable or organic
agricultural system, e.g., environment-friendly agriculture and
spreading low carbon agriculture.
There are some indicators for evaluating outcomes of green
growth among which the eco-efficiency indicator is used in this
paper. Eco-efficiency indicator is defined as a ratio of
economic outcomes to the environmental pressure which is a
key factor to be used as an index for evaluating green growth.
Examples of applying eco-efficiency to the agricultural sector
include research first attempted by Chang-Gil Kim and Hak-
Kyun Jeong (2009) for analyzing eco-efficiency of geothermal
heat pumps. This study is different from previous studies in
that eco-efficiency for organic agriculture is analyzed for
evaluating the outcomes of green growth then to compare it
with technical efficiency.

Methodology of Eco-efficiency Analysis
Eco-efficiency was made by synthesizing eco and efficiency
from ecology and economy, proposed by World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD, 2000) and
formally selected in the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in 1992. Eco-efficiency by connection of resource
efficiency with resource intensity is used as an indicator for
evaluating green growth for minimizing the impact on the
environment and achieving economic development as well by
means of efficient use of resources. Eco-efficiency is calculated
by dividing the value in the industrial sector (economic
productivity) by influence on the environment (environmental
load) and defined as in the following equation 1.
(1)
r
r
r
x
y
EE =

255
where EE represents eco-efficiency and r is a sector (r = 1,
2, ...., k). x denotes an input variable (environmental influence)
and y as an output variable (economic value).
The method of measuring eco-efficiency uses the input
indicator of environmental load for the input variable and the
economic productivity index for the output variable. For the
environmental influence, physical indicators are used, but
monetary indicators, e.g., sales, productivity and the like, are
used for the economic indicators <Table 1>.
Table 1. Evaluation of Eco-efficiency using Input and
Output
Category
Output indicator
(y)
Input indicator (x)
Type
Sales (or sale
price)
Production
Productivity
Annual profit
Unit element (energy,
resource, water, land,
waste, etc.)
General element
(general environmental
influence )
Evaluation
category
Production process (gate to gate)
Upper process (cradle to gate)
Entire process (cradle to grave)

Generally, eco-efficiency is represented as a ratio of economic
outcomes to an environmental load of a product. In this case, if
the environmental load is not reduced but economic outcomes
are improved, the eco-efficiency of the relevant product
increases to cause problems in exactly evaluating the
environmental outcomes. The Factor-X shown in equation 2
was proposed to solve such problems.
256
(2)
0
r
t
r
EE
EE
FX =

where EE
r
t
represents eco-efficiency of comparison time (t) and
EE
r
0
is eco-efficiency of reference time (0)
For measuring efficiency with respect to multi-input and multi-
output, DEA method developed by Charnes, Cooper, and
Rhodes(1978) was employed for calculating aggregate input in
which a weight is given to a plurality of input elements and
aggregate output in which a weight is given to a plurality of
outputs

Eco-efficiency Analysis of Organic Agriculture
Analytical Data
For analyzing eco-efficiency of organic agriculture,
questionnaire data (surveyed during 2010. 8. 20 ~ 9. 30) was
used from 32 farmers producing organic rice with duck
farming in Hongdong-myun, Hongseong-gun, Choongnam,
which is an area well known for organic agriculture in Korea.
The data showed that the farmers average age who were in the
analysis was 56.3 years; their school years were 12.1 years
which are the period for at least high school education; years of
practicing environment-friendly agriculture were 9.7 years;
they were trained for organic agriculture 3.8 times per year;
and the area for organic rice farming was 16,556 .
For analyzing eco-efficiency of conventional agriculture, it is
necessary to use questionnaire data from farmers of
conventional agriculture as for organic agriculture. The data of
Choongcheongnam-do for the volume of main inputs and
output were drawn from the Agricultural Production Cost
Survey Report provided by Statistics Korea.

257
Analytical Result
The basic data for analyzing eco-efficiency comprises the ratio
of nitrogen contents in mixed organic fertilizer, top soil,
livestock manures, and rice bran which are the input materials
applied to organic farming. The nitrogen contents of input
material were drawn from analytical data and experts advices
in the National Academy of Agricultural Science and Rural
Development. In addition, the data of farm management such
as yields and income in Choongnam province were employed
the Statistics of Cost for Producing Farm Products by
Statistics Korea.
The eco-efficiency index is an index of environmental pressure
ratio with respect to the economic outcome, and the eco-
efficiency of organic and conventional agriculture was
calculated by means of 'total income/amount of used nitrogen'.
The eco-efficiency index of organic agriculture was 83.4 which
was 32.0 higher than the eco-efficiency index of conventional
agriculture of 51.4. If the number for the level of
environmental pressure is limited to the amount of used
nitrogen, it is analyzed that organic agriculture contributes to
green growth more than conventional agriculture <Table 2>.
Table 2. Comparison of eco-eff in organic and conventional
agriculture

Amount
of used
N
(kg/10a)
Yield
(kg/10a)
Sale
Price
(won/kg)
Total
Income
(1,000
won/10a)
Eco-
efficiency
Indicator
Organic(A) 13.4 582 1,918 1,117 83.4
Conventional(B) 20.6 734 1,442 1,058 51.4
A-B -7.2 -151.7 476.0 58.7 32.0

Comparative Analysis of Technical Efficiency and Eco-Efficiency
258
Model and Data for Analyzing Technical Efficiency
For measuring the efficiency of farmers producing organic rice
in Hongseong-gun area, DEA method was modified to use total
income of farmers producing organic rice and the amount of
organic rice/10a as a yield variable, the cost of organic
fertilizer, the cost of organic agricultural materials, the cost of
labor and the amount of used nitrogen as input variables. The
analysis was carried out for 30 farmers producing organic rice
in the Hongseong-gun area. In this case, the linear
programming model for calculating technical efficiency of j'th
farmer in the Hongseong-gun area is shown in equation 3.
Here,
j

is a weight applied to the j'th farmer to modify the

farmer's yield or inputs to achieve piecewise linearization.
(3)
j
Min

=
=
I
j
jm j jm
M m y y t s
1
,..., 2 , 1 , . .

=
=
I
j
jn j jn j
N n x x
1
,..., 2 , 1 ,

J j
j
,..., 2 , 1 , 0 =

Analytical Result of Technical Efficiency
As a result of analyzing technical efficiency of 30
farmers producing organic rice, 9 farmers were technically
efficient. The 9 farmers formed an efficiency frontier and the
relative efficiency was determined for the rest 21 farmers. The
average technical efficiency was 0.79 which means a
possibility of 21% in management improvement.
It was shown that, as the level of technical efficiency is higher,
the level of yield is higher with low level of input. The most
efficient group (9 farmers) showed 1.17 times and 1.12 times
the entire group in terms of total income and the volume of
production, but showed that their level was lower than the
average of all farmers in terms of all of the cost of organic
fertilizer, the cost of organic agricultural materials, the cost of
259
labor and the amount of used nitrogen. That is, it is analyzed
that the higher technical level group is doing production of
more economic income but less environmental burden.
Summary and Conclusions
This research evaluated the performances of green growth for
organic agriculture which is a main green growth policy, using
eco-efficiency indicator which is a key factor for green growth.
The analytical results showed that an organic agriculture
contributes to green growth more than conventional agriculture.
In addition, higher technical efficiency groups exhibited higher
eco-efficiency indices. In this note, we need for expanding
organic farming which contributes more to green growth and to
train farmers of lower technical and eco-efficiency for nutrient
management through advanced cultivation training.
Since eco-efficiency indicator has a characteristic of partial
factor and evaluation was made only with the ratio of
environmental load to economic outcomes, it cannot represent
absolute increase in environmental pressure. However, it is
expected that analysis of eco-efficiency will be more important
as a means for diagnosing and evaluating the outcomes of
green growth in the agricultural sector. For analyzing eco-
efficiency, interdisciplinary research is necessary in the field of
agricultural economics, crop science, soil science, agricultural
ecology and the like, in parallel with further scientific and
technical research.
References
Charnes A., W.W. Cooper and E. Rhodes.(1978): Measuring
the Efficiency of Decision Making Units. European
Journal of Operational Research. 2: 429-444.
Kim, Chang-Gil and Hak-Kyun Jeong. (2009): Eco-efficiency
Analysis of Geothermal Application in Agriculture.
260
Proceedings of Annual Meeting in Korea Agricultural
Economics Association.
McGregor, M., et al. (2003): A Role of Eco-Efficiency in Farm
Management? - Case Study of Life Cycle Assessment of
Australian Grains. International Farm Management
Association, 14th Congress, Perth, Western Australia.
Meul, M., et al. (2007): Operationalising Eco-Efficiency in
Agriculture: The Example of Specialized Dairy Farms in
Flanders. Progress in Industrial Ecology. 4: 41-53.
Rural Development Administration and National Academy of
Agricultural Sciences. (2010): Components of Mixed
Organic Fertilizers. unpublished material and experts
interview.
261
Analysis on the Annual Increase of Organic Certifications by Professional
Certification Bodies in Korea

Kim, H.
1
, Ahn, J.
1
, Seo, H
1
, Kim, S
1
& Han, O
1
Key words: Organic certification, Agricultural products certification, Live stock products
certification, Group certification
.
Abstract
In an effort to pursue sustainable organic agriculture and preserve the environment, Korean
Government set up the regulation for the environment-friendly agricultural products certification.
As the legislation comes in action, organic certification business is gradually transferred from the
public certifications by National Agricultural Products Quality Management System to the
professional certifications by individually accredited certification bodies. Since the achievement of
certification as an organic agricultural product is the most important criteria for the direct payment
program for environment-friendly agricultural products, the number of farmers applying for organic
certification has been increased rapidly. In this paper, statistics on the organic certifications in
Korea for the last five years are presented and annual change of organic certifications is analyzed.
Results indicated that the number of operators, the area of certified farms, the amount of organic
products are rapidly increasing in overall. However, the increase strongly depended on the policies
of local governments regarding the Direct Payment Program for environment-friendly agricultural
products. Roles of of central or local government policies for the facilitation of organic certification
are discussed.

Introduction
Korean Government legislated the environmental agriculture promotion law in 1997 for the
promotion of sustainable agriculture and preserving the environment (Government publication,
1997). The environment-friendly agriculture promotion law has been revised several times and
environment-friendly agricultural products certification was gradually transferred from the
government certifications by National Agricultural Products Quality Management System (NAQS)
to the professional certifications by individually accredited certification bodies.The amount of
organic agricultural products in Korea has rapidly increased due to consumers preference for
organic agricultural products, governments policy for the promotion of organic agriculture, and
active roles of professional certification bodies (PCB). On the other hand, several local
governments has established plans to expand organic agricultural areas and developed a special
strategy to support organic farmers due to the growing pressure to open up agricultural products-
related markets as part of free trade agreements (FTA) (Lee & Han, 2008). In this paper, detailed
annual statistics on the certifications of enveironmrnt-friendly and organic agricultural products are
provided and organic certification by PCB are analyzed.

Materials and methods
All statistical data were extracted from Environment-friendly Agricultural Information System
(Korean National Agricultural Quality Management Service, 2010) and were analyzed with Origin
program v.7.5 (Microbial Origin).

1
CONU, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea, E-Mail oshan@chonnam.ac,kr
262
Results
Total number of environment-friendly agricultural products certifications by NAQS and PCB were
extracted from Environment-friendly Agricultural Information System (http://www.enviagro.go.kr/)
and results were ploted against years. As seen in Fig. 1A, the number of environment-friendly
agricultural products certifications including organic certifications increased exponentially and the
relative ratio of professional (PCB) to public (NAQS) certification was also increased remarkably.
There are currently 52 PCBs in Korea.

Figure 1: Annual growth curve of environment-friendly agricultural and oranic certification.
A: Environment-friendly agricultural products certified by NAQS and PCB, B: Organic
crops and livestocks certified by PCB

Since Fig. 1A indicated that certifications by PCB increased starting from 2006 and approached to
the saturation at 2010, the number of organic certification by PCB was examined in order to asses
organic certifications by PCB. As seen in Fig. 1B, most of organic certifications are for crops rather
than livestocks and organic certifications by PCB were increased from 2006 and are in rapidly
increasing phase for organic crops at 2010. This result can be interpreted that animal husbandry
requires longer transition period for conversion of conventional operation to organic farming. The
organic standard seems to be more difficult to be met for livestock than crop in Korea. However,
more organic livestock products are expected to come out in the future. Our data clearly imply that
Korea is a potential market for environment-friendly agricultural products.

Large number of operators for organic production in Korea is grouped as a small growers group and
the application for certification is managed by the group leader mostly. Individual and group
certifications weer compared to assess the role of small growers group in organic certification by
PCB. As seen in Fig. 2, group certifications in organic crops are rapidly increased starting from
2006 and group certifications in livestock started to increase recently. Several reasons for the delay
of the organic livestock compared to organic crop in group certifications can be considerd, for
example, problems in supplying organic feed, insufficient conditions for pasturage, etc. (Lee &
Han, 2009; IFOAM, 2005). However, the group certification of livestock was increased 3 times in
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000


N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

C
e
r
t
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
Year
NAQS
PCB
A
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400


N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

C
e
r
t
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
Year
OrganicCrop
OrganicLivestock
B
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
0
200
400
600
800
1000


N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

c
e
r
t
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
Year
CropInd
Cropgroup
A
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70


N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

C
e
r
t
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
Year
LSind
LSgroup
B
263
2010 compared with the year of 2009 as shown in Fig. 2B. Therefore, it is expected that organic
livestock certifications has a large potential to grow in Korea.

Figure 2: Annual growth curve of individual and group organic certifications by PCB. A:
Organic crop certifications, B: Organic livestocks certifications.

Discussion
Environment-friendly agricultural certifications includes low pesticide, pesticide-free, organic crops
and antibiotics-free, oranic, organic in transition livestocks. Our data indicates that the portion of
organic certifications in environment-friendly agricultural certifications is about 5 % in 2010. Since
most of organic operators are originated from conventional farmers, central and local governments
need to set more diverse policies to motivate conventional operators to be involved in organic
farming. Since group certifications in organic farming are rapidly increasing as seen in Fig. 2, more
active ways to establish small growers group are necessary to facilitate organic certifications. A few
local governments, particularly Chonnam province, launched several programs for the promotion of
organic certifications, which is promising for future sustainable agriculture in Korea

Conclusions
1. Roles of PCB are important factors in organic certifications in Korea
2. Small growers groups are important for expanding organic farming in Korea.

Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by CONU, Chonnam National University.

References
Government Publication (1997): Environmental Agriculture Promotion Law, Republic of Korea,
Government publication Law No. 5442.
Lee G., Han O. (2009): Certification Program for Environment-friendly Agricultural Products,
Chonnam National University, 1-3 p.
Lee G., Han, O (2008): Certification Program-IFOAM, CONU, 112-127 p.
IFOAM (2005): IFOAM norms for organic production and processing ver. 2005. 27-38 p.
Korean National Agricultural Quality Management Service (2010): Environment-friendly
Agricultural Information System 2010, http://www.enviagro.go.kr/, (accessed 2010-12-28).
264
Awareness and Utilization among Dietitians regarding Korean Traditional Food
Kim, K. M., Kim, Y. S., Kim, Y., Kim, G. C. & Kim, H. C.
Department of Food & Nutrition
Chung-Ang University
Ansung, 456-756, Republic of Korea

Key words: Korean traditional food, Awareness, Utilization, Dietician
Abstract
This study surveyed dietitians in the regions where locally farmed products are used in school
meal plans and where locally produced ingredients are not actively used in school meal plans to
investigate their perception of traditional food and how much they use traditional food in school
meal plans and educate their students on traditional food. The findings show that dietitians are well
aware of the concept of traditional food (75%) and getting information on traditional food primarily
from mass-media (58.1%). The dietitians surveyed consider traditional food when planning meal
menus (65.5%) and include traditional food during traditional holidays or new years holidays most
often. They use traditional food more than foreign food. Also, the percentage of schools that do not
educate their students on traditional food is higher (55.1%) and those schools that give traditional
food education do so mostly on the school homepage or bulletin boards with no school offering
direct education through extracurricular or lunch time activities. The dietitians studied cite the lack
of school time, space, and teaching material and the low awareness of the school authorities as
reasons why schools fail to give traditional food education. These problems should be addressed for
traditional food education to be facilitated. In the years to come, students should be provided more
opportunities to experience traditional food and diverse education programs aimed to help students
develop appropriate understanding of and pride in our traditional food should be created. Also
needed is training of school dietitians on traditional food.
Introduction
School meals are important as they provide nutrition to students for their sound physical and
mental development. They also contribute to improving the diet of the public and offer
opportunities to boost the peoples understanding of Koreas traditional food culture by serving
traditional Korean food as part of the meal menu. The dietary change resulting from the
westernization of lifestyle, however, has made students to prefer fast food, instant food, and eating
out, causing nutritional imbalance of growing young students and making it hard to protect the
traditional diet of Koreans. Therefore, school meals should rigorously use traditional Korean food
in their meal menu and ensure the meal planning considers the changing taste of the young
generation. At the same time, education on traditional food and food culture should be offered to
students so their awareness of and interest in traditional Korean cuisine should increase. This study
surveyed dietitians of elementary, secondary, and high schools in the seven study regions
(Yangcheon-gu of Seoul, Suncheon-si, Naju-si, Gumi-si, Donghae-si, Hapcheon-gun, and
Cheongsong-gun) to examine dietitians awareness of traditional Korean food, student education on
traditional Korean cuisine, and use of Korean food in school meal menu. The objective is to provide
the base data for measures to promote the utilization of traditional Korean food in school meals.
Materials and methods
Research targets and period
This study was carried out from February to April, 2010, on a sample of dietitians selected among
the elementary, secondary, and high school dietitians of the seven study regions (Yangcheon-gu of
Seoul, Suncheon-si, Naju-si, Gumi-si, Donghae-si, Hapcheon-gun, and Cheongsong-gun). A total of
198 questionnaire copies were distributed and 136 copies (68.7%) were collected and statistically
analyzed. The unanswered questions were not counted for the analysis.
265
Details and methods
A questionnaire was used to survey the dietitians awareness and utilization of traditional food in
school meals. The questions were created based on preceding researches (Gyeong-ae Kim et al.
2005, Nan-hi Jeong & Eun-rye Jeon 2005). The questionnaires were delivered to the dietitians via
post mail and the completed questionnaires were collected also through post mail. The
questionnaire consists of eight questions on general characteristics, four questions on the current
state of food services, eleven questions on the awareness and utilization of traditional Korean food
in school meals, and six questions on the current state and awareness of traditional food education.
The frequencies and relative frequencies of the answers were calculated by SPSS program.
Results
Awareness and utilization of traditional Korean food
It turned out that dieticians are well aware of the concept of traditional food (70.7%), and that they
find related information through mass-media (63.2%). When planning the school meal menu, they
tend to consider including traditional Korean food (66.9%), and do so during traditional holidays
and new-year period most frequently. They prefer traditional food over foreign food. .
Tab. 1: Dietitians awareness of traditional Korean food
Question Answer N (%)
How to get information on
traditional food
Mass-media (TV,
radio, newspaper,
etc.)
79(63.2)
Publications 16
(12.8)
School education
(university)
13
(10.4)
Other 12 (9.6)
Parental education 3 (2.4)
Culinary academies 2 (1.6)
How much aware of the
traditional food concept
Very well aware 28
(21.1)
Well aware 66
(49.6)
Aware 37
(27.8)
Not well aware 2 (1.5)
How much consider
traditional food when
planning meal menus
Always 25
(18.8)
Often 64
(48.1)
Sometimes 39
(29.3)
266
Not at all 5 (3.8)
When to eat traditional food Traditional holidays,
etc.
86
(64.2)
Ordinary times 42
(31.3)
School events 3 (2.2)
Other 3 (2.2)
Ratio of traditional food to
foreign food in school meal
menu
More traditional food 70
(52.2)
Equal 45
(33.6)
More foreign food 19
(14.2)
Current state and awareness of traditional food education
The number of schools where dietitians are offering traditional food education to students is
smaller, and schools that offer traditional food education do so indirectly through the school
homepage or bulletin boards.
Tab. 2: Current state and awareness of traditional food education
Question Answer N (%)
Student education
on traditional
Korean food
Yes 59 (44.0)
No 75 (56.0)
Methods of
traditional food
education
School homepage
and bulletin boards
17 (81.0)
Nutritional
consulting and
school
broadcasting
2 (9.5)
Hand-outs (letters
to parents,
pamphlets, etc.)
2 (9.5)
Direct education
during
extracurricular
activities or lunch
time
0 (0.0)
Reasons for failure
to offer traditional
food education
Lack of time and
space
70 (59.3)
Lack of teaching
materials
25 (21.2)
267
School authorities
low awareness and
cooperation level
(superintendents
and teachers)
15 (12.7)
Dont feel the need 5 (4.2)
Other 3 (2.5)
Discussion
The survey of dietitians in the seven study regions on their awareness and utilization of traditional
Korean food revealed that they know the concept of traditional Korean food very well and use
traditional Korean food more than foreign food in school meal menus. However, ways to promote
the day-to-day use of traditional food in school meals should be examined. In addition, diverse
sources of information on traditional Korean food should be made available to school dietitians and
traditional food training and education programs for school dietitians need to be developed and
offered.
Conclusions
The role of school dietitians is significant in endeavors to raise students awareness of traditional
Korean food and encourage students to choose a healthy diet through school meal plans. Also
important is the attention and cooperation of the government, parents, and school authorities.
References
Kyung-Ae Kim, Lan-Hee Jung, Eun-Raye Jeon, Jeong-Ah Jeong (2005):
Consciousness on the Korean traditional food of school food service dietitians. J. of Korea
Home Economics Association 43(2):127-142.
Lan-Hee Jung, Eun-Raye Jeon (2005): A Study on the Utilization of Korean Traditional
Food in Gwangju and Jeonnam Area Dietitians - For the Elementary, Middle and High Schools.
J. of Korea Home Economics Association 43(9):127-142.
268
The Soil Returns My Respect with Innumerable Rewards

Kim, S. E.
Seo-myun, Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea
E-mail: ksa5969@naver.com

Key words: eco-friendly materials , conventional farming, red pepper cultivation

Introduction
Minimum control of insect pests via organic and environmentally friendly farming, ecological
cyclical farming yield three or four times the quantity of conventional farming output.
In January 1998, my family moved to my hometown along the upper stream of the Bulyoung Valley
in anticipation of rural life. At that time, I felt great anxiety and worried about potential catastrophe
due to my foresight of the upcoming Asian Financial Crisis. After careful deliberation, I opted for
agricultural life in pursuit of fundamental values of life instead of my seemingly gorgeous lifestyle.
Moreover, my cousins in the home village recommended me to purchase my uncles house and
fields, thus I bought them as if having the foresight to prepare for the future. Even though I didnt
decide any specific crop, I envisage practicing environmentally friendly organic farming, my long-
cherished dream during my 10-year tenure at a multinational company and overseas life. My family
set foot in Bulgeun Village along the upstream of Bulyoung Valley, highly acclaimed as Koreas
typical rural hinterland, and it was inaccessible by car due to a steep incline of more than 60 degrees.
My return to farming has led me to recognize that I dont own the soil, but the soil owns me.
Basically, I shun a seemingly glamorous life, and I dont sugarcoat my farm produce under the
banner of safe foodstuffs for consumers. I have realized my profit-making goal, but I am fully
aware that it will be fair and worthwhile for me to earn money from organic farming buoyed by
safety, integrity, and conscience.

Soil never tells a lie
Now I undertake organic cultivation of red peppers, thereby harvesting dry red peppers of 3.2-3.8
ton per 16,000 . Most consumers are deeply impressed with my red pepper cultivation using
neither pesticides nor fertilizers. But, organic farming is quite easy once we understand its
principles. We can easily practice organic farming if we know the properties of 13 nutrients
(fertilizers) that are essential for botanical growth like nitrogen, phosphoric acid, kalium, calcium,
and magnesium. The soil and plants never deceive us. They require different nutrients according to
the nutrition cycle (i.e. the budding, flowering, ripening, and harvesting stages). Plants show an
immediate reaction to the timely provision of essential nutrients, and I feel much amusement
whenever I observe this process. Both soil and plants always repay us for our activity. Farming is
the best learning, cutting-edge science, and an embodiment of all sciences.

Agriculture covers horticulture, chemistry, meteorology, microbiology, physics, pedology,
bionanotechnology, and even medical science because farmers go to hospital when they are sick. I
didnt take this approach to farming from the outset, but several agricultural failures led me to delve
deeply into agricultural studies. I rang every doorbell to gain agricultural information, and I took
numerous classes nationwide including basic chemistry and IT courses for farmers run by the Uljin
Agricultural Technology Center. I retrieved necessary information via a PC at a nearby post office
because my home had no Internet connection. Just then I had the first encounter with Park, Seung-
min: examiner of quality certification at the National Agricultural Products Quality Management
Service. He broadened my horizons over organic farming while motivating me to visit famous
organic farms for vital clues to organic cultivation. I had to make desperate efforts to support my
family, but some leading organic farming experts demanded a great deal of money rather than
giving me useful tips, so I spent many days in tears on my way back home.

269
Furthermore, I had enormous difficulty in securing eco-friendly materials. Citing that eco-friendly
materials could create higher value-added outcomes, distributors seduced me into buying expensive
environmentally friendly materials which they said could fix all the problems. However, I didnt
purchase such high-priced items in the belief that a one-time purchase might result in the constant
purchase of expensive products. This experience enabled me to concentrate on studies into the
development of home-grown materials for organic farming. Just like a drowning man who catches
at a straw, I tried to capitalize on numerous materials nearby for organic farming. Today we can
easily look up information on environmentally friendly issues on the Internet and take numerous
eco-friendly education courses run by local autonomous entities, technology centers, and
agricultural cooperatives. At that time, however, basic data or education on environmentally
friendly farming was unavailable. Furthermore, most farmers shunned the disclosure of agricultural
know-how no matter how trivial it was. Thats why I have so far read domestic and overseas books
and papers on organic agriculture.

Life buoyed by hope
A perfect ecological cycle plays the most crucial role in my organic cultivation of red pepper, and
compost creation is its typical embodiment. Basic substances of my organic compost include leaf
mold from the mountains and cattle dung from nine cows currently under my cultivation. I blend
them with sesame seedcake, rice bran, fallen leaves, saw dust, charcoal, eggshell, and crab shell.
Then, I mix them again with an essential ingredient: sea water. Sea water is rich in over 100
nutrients essential for life including minerals, macro elements, micro elements, and trace elements. I
dilute sea water with clean water at the ratio of 1/2, blend it with the above compost, and apply it to
red pepper together with a self-made liquid fertilizer. Sometimes I mix them with my home-grown
nutritional substances which are diluted with water. I always treat plants with respect as if they were
humans, and thats why I was certified as an organic farmer of red pepper by the National
Agricultural Products Quality Management Service in 2000.

I believe that no one can practice organic farming without firm resolve and genuine enthusiasm. I
habitually manufacture about over 50 liquid fertilizers on my own given 13 nutrients for plants
which should be provided by humans. I mix them with water given nutritional interaction and
antagonism according to the nutrition and growth cycles. Then, I perform foliar application of these
self-made fertilizers at intervals of 7-10 days until the end of the harvesting season. Consequently,
red pepper harvests record no occurrence of insect pest, and other farmers as well as consumers are
fascinated to see how plants react to my genuine sincerity and heartfelt devotion.

Conclusions
In organic agriculture, I always stick to the following five principles:
1) I make every endeavor to abide by the IFOAM standards, and even now I continue to do so.
2) I never practice any organic farming whose total cost exceeds KRW 500 per 3.3 . Here, the
total cost includes materials costs for purchase of seed and vinyl and the creation of compost and
liquid fertilizer plus labor costs. Farmers will go bankrupt unless they curtail their farming costs.
3) I never use any paid materials. I reject them even in case I get them for nothing.
4) I never purchase any microbes from shops. I only use leaf mold and microbes which exist in the
air.
5) I only use my own self-made agricultural materials.
6) I always refuse those subsidy programs enforced by the government, local autonomous body, and
agricultural cooperative.

In general, organic farming yields less crop than conventional farming, but my red pepper output is
three or four times that of conventional farming. And my red pepper products sell like hot cakes
despite expensive prices. I wasnt afraid of any failure even when I was a novice farmer. Failure
encouraged me to try it again, and such motivation renewed my hope that someday I could practice
270
organic farming without pesticides and fertilizers. When I expressed my plan for organic farming in
my hometown, my friends as well as village elders continually told me that I must be crazy or even
on a spy mission, but I didnt care. At that time, the whole village was extremely skeptical about
organic cultivation with no use of pesticide and fertilizer. However, the possibility and hope
enabled me to endure an arduous process for so long, and consequently I succeeded in putting
organic farming into practice.

Today, local autonomous entities and agricultural cooperatives provide strong recommendations
and support and huge incentives for environmentally friendly farming. But, I opted for organic
farming without such recommendations or support, and consequently 98% of residents now practice
organic farming in my hometown. In 2007, I received a prize at a nationwide environmentally
friendly agricultural produce fair, which helped to intensify my conviction for organic farming. In
2008, I applied to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) for
organic certification. Even though the screening process was quite strict and complicated, I obtained
IFOAMs certification of organic vegetable cultivation. Now, I occasionally give a lecture at the
request of numerous agricultural organizations and farmers. Despite a tight farming schedule, I
heartily comply with their requests in the hope of sharing my agricultural know-how and instilling
agricultural aspiration into advocates for environmentally friendly agriculture and farmers who
return to the rural area.

So far I have delved deeply into life and ecology while being buoyed by fervent hope for a better
future, and red pepper trees have borne abundant fruits thanks to my aspiration for conscientious
and integral farming on this soil. I believe that consumers can eat safe food like red pepper without
fear or anxiety when more farmers practice organic farming like I do. Overall, organic farming
based upon integrity, cleanness, and non-pollution always acts a crucial prop to sustain my hope
during my lifetime.

271
Study on the Environmentally Friendly Organic Farming Experience Model in
Namyang-Ju City and Suggestions for Future Development

Kong, Y. K.
Agriculture Promotion Department,
Agricultural Technology Center in Namyangju City, Korea
E-mail: twodia00@korea.kr

Key words: Farming experience program, Agricultural tourism, Organic farming experience,
Association structure

Introduction
Currently, Koreas agricultural industry and rural farms are in a very difficult situation due to their
vulnerable income structure. This can be characterized by a large number of small-scale farms and
aggravated farm trade conditions (or parity index), poor maintenance of the relevant production
facilities, decrease in workforce in many rural areas, population aging, and openness to imported
agricultural goods. As a result, together with the need for more active response to the demand for
high-quality and safe agricultural products, agricultural tourism has emerged as a means to having
multi-dimensional values of agriculture established as a social consensus. Koreas agricultural
tourism started 25 years ago when the Special Act on Development of Farm and Fishing Villages
was enacted in 1984. Since then, it has been developed in a number of departments with unique
characteristics, and some independent models have been established reflecting the different local
environment. This study is an attempt to analyse those different development models for
agricultural tourism and to enhance the level of understanding by reviewing some of the farming
and rural life experience programs in Namyangju City provided as part of the regions plan to
promote environment-friendly organic farming.
Different types of agricultural tourism
It is not easy to classify the types of agricultural tourism since there are so many different kinds of
them. Koreas agricultural tour village project was first introduced in the 1980s, but its active
implementation has been carried out since 2000 after farm tour and farm stay programs in rural
villages gained popularity in the 1990s. Currently, Nonghyups (Nonghyup refers to the branch
office of NACF, National Agricultural Cooperative Federation) and a number of public and private
organizations are operating various specialized agricultural tourism programs. For example, the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery and Food and other governmental departments have
supported the construction of about 380 agricultural tour villages until 2006, which include Green
Rural Tour Villages, Traditional Theme Villages, Mountain Stay Villages, Fishing Stay Villages
and Arum Villages. Nonghyups are also carrying out One-Company-One-Village campaign, Farm
Stay project and Weekend Farm project.
Tour Farm
Tour farm refers to a farm located inside the project area which satisfies the given criteria in terms
of size and production conditions for fruit trees, special crops, livestock and income crops used for
sightseeing, recreation and sales.
Private Lodging Village
Private Lodging Village refers to a village that has plenty of tourism resources and where the
demand for private lodging is sufficient enough. At least 10 households in the village should
participate in the program. It is a village or an area where private lodging services are provided for
the tourists in a collective way
Rural Recreation Complex
272
Rural Recreation Complex is usually controlled by the Mayor or the County Chief and located in
the place that can be easily accessed through public transportation. In the surrounding area, there
should be beautiful natural scenery, historical monuments and cultural heritages. The development
job for the area of around 100,000 can be carried out either publicly or by an organization of
farmers and fishermen, e.g. NACF, NFFC, KFLC or Korea Rural Corporation. Their potential
resources will be used for developing the service industry that can serve as a source of income for
the people in the rural area. Between 1989 and 2000, 9 rural recreation centers were constructed.
After experiencing all those initial steps for the development of agricultural tourism, various
projects have been actively carried out, which include Green Rural Tour Villages, Traditional
Theme Villages, Mountain Stay Villages, Fishing Stay Villages, Farm Stay and One-Company-
One-Village campaign, farm stay and weekend farm programs.

Current Status of Agricultural Tourism in Namyangju City
Agricultural Characteristics of Namyangju City
In Namyangju City, there are a relatively large number of development restriction areas and water
source protection areas, which serve as a restraint on livestock farming and agricultural facilities.
Also, the number of people in the citys agricultural industry is decreasing despite a rapid expansion
of local population. Because the farming area is located in the suburban area of the city, the
production cost tends to be high and there are many tenant farms in the region. It may be
advantageous for product shipment but the citys logistical facility has not been well established.
Also, as the demand for recreation activities including agricultural village tours increases with the
spread of the 5 day work week system, farming and rural village experience and education
programs have been actively promoted, contributing to an increase in the farm income.
Current Operation Status of Agricultural Tourism in Namyangju City
Since 2000, agricultural tourism in Namyangju City has focused on building the foundation for
farming experience and education programs, conducting promotion activities both at home and
abroad, and developing various experience education programs that have been led by the
Agricultural Tourism Research Center. So far, the number of registered members to the Research
Center is 55, and currently about 30 farms are actively participating in these activities. The
development process of agricultural tourism in Namyangju City is different from general
development process in terms of the following factors.
First, the focus of the development was put on experience education farms (not on experience
education villages), utilizing the existing agricultural infrastructure and technology of individual
farms rather than providing large-scale investment or financing for a whole village. Second, the
experience education program has been planned usually for a day or half a day, rather than planned
as a long time, stay-based experience program. Therefore, the target customers are mainly young
students at childcare centers, kindergartens, elementary and middle schools. Naturally, the program
has more educational aspects than other tour-oriented programs. Third, experience programs have
been developed in a more systematic and specialized way in order to enhance the quality of the
program contents, thereby providing more creative education rather than just simple experiences. In
conclusion, the agricultural tourism in Namyangju City is pursuing a rather independent and
optimized model that is reflecting the regional characteristics.

273

Fiure 1: Map for Agriculture and Tourism in Namyangju City (marked with educational
areas, farming experience areas, sales areas, and farm stay areas)

Future direction for developing agricultural tourism in Namyangju City
The problems with the independent agricultural tourism model developed by Namyangju City can
be summarized as follows. First, it is hard for individual farms to deal with huge demand, for
example from schools, due to their limited capacity. Second, there are discrepancies among
individual farms in the level of facilities, services and programs, making it difficult for them to
evenly meet the customer requirements. One way to overcome such limitations is to scale-up those
agricultural tourism programs by forming a loose association among farms.
Establishment of a loose association
It is necessary to designate an organization or a person who can serve as a liaison office and quickly
handle large-scale demand. Probably, Namyangju City Agricultural Tour Research Center can
arrange that, and a loose association of farms will be formed as a result. This will be one of the
active responses to the need for scaling-up the citys agricultural tourism programs as well.
Improvement of the level of experience education farms
As a requirement to establish such a loose association, it is important to improve the level of
individual farms so that customers can be provided with equally good services from any of the
farms. This requires not only the efforts of individual farms but also more systematic support at the
organizational level, which includes the Research Centers efforts to acquire more knowledge and
advanced technology. And that should be the basic direction for supporting the citys agricultural
tourism in the future.

Conclusion
Agricultural tourism in Namyangju City has been established on the basis of environmentally
friendly organic farming. According to the study result, Namyangju City, which is located in the
suburban area, seems to be one of the best places that can satisfy the ever-increasing demand for
farming and rural life experience and education. Based on that, this study has suggested basic
directions for the future development of the citys agricultural tourism and complementary
measures to lessen its weaknesses through current status analysis. Once we are overcome by the big
wave of neo-liberalism represented by the WTO Doha Development Agenda and FTAs, it is likely
that we enter into an era where the importance of multi-dimensional values of agriculture will be
highly recognized. Therefore, the role of farming and rural life experience and education programs
will become more important in the future. Also, agricultural tourism in Namyangju City will serve
274
as one of the most useful means to propagate the important values of environmentally friendly
organic farming.

275
Promoting Environmentally Friendly Agriculture in Namyang-Ju upon the
IFOAM OWC 2011

Kwon, S. J.
Namyangju Agricultural Technology Center, Korea
E-mail: ksisis@korea.kr

Key words: Environmentally friendly agriculture, Useful microorganisms, Eco-friendly
certification

1. The prerequisites to nurture environmentally friendly agriculture in Namyangju
- A distinctive strategy to produce products that can compete with imported agricultural goods, and
to increase added-value technology and services to meet the changes of todays rural environment
- To ensure stability to meet the trust of consumers who place value on a relaxing lifestyle, and
maintaining good health
- No need for long-term food preservation and transporting, making the citys products
competitiveness in freshness and in quality
- Easy access for urban residents to experience farm tourism through an increased awareness and
interest in eco-friendly or organic rural environment
- Global efforts made for environmental conservation and safe agricultural products
- A rising number of serious environmental and economic factors, such as deteriorating quality of
soil and water worldwide, even in the rural areas
- To create a sustainable agricultural environment by eradicating the farming practices that use
chemical agents to grow food

2. The current production and distribution of environmentally friendly agriculture
Demand for environmentally friendly agriculture is rapidly increasing each year as consumers
interests in safe agricultural products and food are on the rise, and the technology for
environmentally friendly agriculture has developed
Shift from conventional methods to environmentally friendly methods will result in higher labor
and production costs, but profitability will also increase thanks to a higher sale price
The proportion of distribution through direct sales has recently decreased, while sales through the
National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (through companies specializing in distribution and
through large discount stores) has increased
The number of stores selling environmentally friendly agricultural products, such as department
stores and discount stores, is consistently increasing

Strategies to nurture environmentally friendly agriculture
1. How to promote environmentally friendly agriculture
Actively respond to changes by forming a clean agricultural belt area, and an eco-friendly
distribution center
Facilitate communication between the producers and the consumers, and nurture a win-win
agriculture for both urban and rural areas
Advance the four strategies: create a foundation for production, nurture an organization and
infrastructure for distribution, active community exchanges between urban and rural areas


276




















2. Vision and Goals
Increase the percentage of certified environmentally friendly agricultural products to 10% by
2010
Hosting of IFOAM OWC 2011
Decrease by 40% of the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers by 2013
Build an environmentally friendly agricultural system that follows the natural cycle where crops
and livestock farming are connected

Vision

Policy Directions

To produce fresh and safe,
premium agricultural
products
1. Build environmentally friendly agriculture that follows the
natural cycle based on harmony between agriculture and the
environment

2. Enhance the peoples quality of life supplying safe, high
quality agricultural goods
3. Improve quality competitiveness of Korean agricultural
produce by conducting environmentally friendly agriculture
4. Increase the income of environmentally friendly farmers, and
maintain their profitability

5. Contribute to the preservation of the environment by
conducting eco-friendly management of natural resources

3. Nurture regionally specialized crops
Prevent a fall in consumers awareness of crops at the market by cultivating a variety of products
Designate and nurture crops that are regionally specialized to enable increased cultivation
capacity, and to secure price competitiveness
- Build and implement a farming system that is regionally suitable, with high possibility of
sustainable environmentally friendly agriculture
- Develop a region-based system through comprehensive consideration of the farming environment,
of the use of farming machinery, and of available labor resources

To nurture a win-win agriculture for both
urban and rural areas
Promotion of environmentally friendly
agriculture
To build a
foundation for
production
To build a
distribution
structure
To build a
distribution
infrastructure

Urban-rural
Community
To build an enviro
nmentally friendly
farming area
To work on
earning a GAP
tifi ti
To build a
foundation for env
ironmentally
friendly

To nurture an eco-
friendly
distribution



To nurture a
producers structure
To nurture a
consumer structure
Eco-friendly
center for
distribution from
l f

Center for
exchanges
between urban and
l

To develop a Eco-
friendly brand

Establishing
network between
urban and rural

Exchanges
connecting one
consumer with one


Building a system
277
- First, select a complex of an appropriate size, and choose suitable crops, and then build a system
for farming technology and support
4. Facilitate distribution of environmentally friendly agricultural products
Go ahead with the building of an eco-friendly distribution center (led by Gyeonggi Provincial
Government) along the cities and counties near the Paldang watershed
Build a system that covers production, certification, and sales and secure sales channels by
developing sources of large demands
Expand direct sales between producers and consumers, and exchanges between urban and rural
areas by promoting eco-friendly distribution from the places of production
- Expand direct outlets which can increase market accessibility for most individual consumers
- Create a common ground by nurturing the distribution center into a medium for agricultural
produce and cultural exchanges
















Figure 1: Things to do to nurture environmentally friendly agriculture

1. Education on environmentally friendly agriculture
Contribute to promote environmentally friendly agriculture by emphasizing the necessity of
environmentally friendly agriculture as an alternative to crisis of the living environment
Lay a foundation for environmentally friendly agriculture through education and publicity
activities for the technology of organic agriculture, distribution, and process of environmentally
friendly agricultural products
Current situation of nurturing experts in organic farming
- Educate consultants who support the certification of environmentally friendly agricultural
products: 400 persons / year
- Professional course to obtain the National Technical Qualification Certificate for Craftsman
Organic Agriculture: 160 persons / year
- Professional course for environmentally friendly agriculture, Green Agriculture College: 170
persons / year
- Summer educational field trip on environmentally friendly agriculture: 1,000 persons / year
2. Reinforcement function of precise analysis of the soil environment
Present reasons to nurture environmentally friendly agriculture and to secure data about
development and to foster of specialized kind of crops through monitoring of changes in the soil
environment
Reduce the burden of farming households by establishing a precise analysis system for
agricultural environments, including soil, and water quality, fertilizers, manure, and machinery
1,300 samples or so analyzed, including 1,150 samples of soils and 150 samples of plants, water,
and manure
Namyangju
Producers

Producers

Producers

Producers

Namyangju
Eco-friendly Center for
Distribution from Place
of Production
Management and Distribution
of Environmentally Friendly
Agricultural Products
Expansion of Direct Sales for
Consumers


Place for Direct
Sales
Direct Delivery
to Homes
External
Markets
Center for Exchanges between
Urban and Rural Areas
Cultural Exchanges, Creation of
Common Ground


P
r
o
d
u
c
e
r
s


Cultural
flow

Logistics
&
Comm
ercial
flow

Producers
Village

Producers
Group

Producers
Organizations
Consumer
Village
Consumer
Organizations
Consumer
Groups

C
o
n
s
u
m
e
r
s



278
Securing conditions for analysis of eco-friendly certification through strengthening of function of
precise analysis of heavy metals by 2011
3. Nurture five major environmentally friendly crops for their premiumization
Select five major crops in the Top Ten list of greenhouse vegetables (Pimpinella brachycarpa,
mallow, chives, stonecrop, lettuce and napa cabbage) which are regionally specialized crops, in
terms of wholesale market share and nurture them into eco-friendly high quality agricultural
products, and increase their competitiveness as high-end brands that represent Namyangju
Introduce a recall system and traceability system through creation of a research society for each
crop, address injury by continuous cropping, and supply eco-friendly functional matters to
contribute to better receipt of products at wholesale markets through production of high quality
produce
4. Utilize environmentally friendly useful microorganisms
Improve the environment for livestock farming using useful microorganisms, and produce eco-
friendly and safe agricultural and livestock produce to meet the needs of consumers, and reduce the
cost of livestock management by producing and supplying probiotics that are distinctive, to each
kind of livestock, and fermented feed that is free from antibiotics
Produce facilities for useful microorganisms: 209.64 , annual production of 300 tons of lactic
acid bacteria, photosynthetic bacteria, and hay bacillus
Contribute to the production of safe food and the propagation of environmentally friendly
agriculture through the supply and spraying of probiotics at livestock facilities, removal of odors
from livestock excretion and of flies, soil improvement, inhibition of harmful bacteria, and quality
improvement
5. Nurture a pilot eco-friendly village
Create a pilot eco-friendly village which can satisfy the needs of consumers and farmers by the
Paldang water source protection area
Operate livestock and crop farming in manner that follows the natural cycle and where consumers
can experience environmentally friendly agriculture, and foster a pilot eco-friendly village where
there are direct sales of agricultural produce
Found a basis for places of experience, promote firefly festival, extend the cultivation of green
manure crops, establish places for direct sales, visitor-participation in the production and harvest of
crops, exchanges between urban and rural areas, education about the technology for eco-friendly
production, and consumer education: Joan-myeon, Siu-ri
6. Establish a system for sales of environmentally friendly agricultural products
Found a basis for stable production of environmentally friendly agricultural products by securing
sales channels through e-business
Increase consumer satisfaction by expanding local food movements and systems for a stable
production of environmentally friendly agricultural products
Build and operate a system for the sales of environmentally friendly agricultural products (Farm
City)
- Participation of producers, distributors, and marketing companies
- Build a system which can create synergy effects of divided roles
- Integrate a distribution center, a place for sales, and a shopping mall
- Secure transparency in the process of production and supply
- Operate memberships for citizens who make bulk purchases
- Create and nurture meetings for consumers into a long-term organic movement of producers and
consumers
- Countermeasures for the rising consumer prices and decreasing sales prices
- Guarantee the income of farmers and realize an organic life experience for citizens
7. Expand the production of certified environmentally friendly agricultural products
Promote the image of Namyangju by expanding the production of certified eco-friendly
agricultural products in order to earn trust from more consumers, and to increase the income of farm
households
279
Conserve sustainable ecological farming environments through environmentally friendly organic
agriculture
Education to implement organic agriculture, encourage more people to earn certificates for
organic farming, and actively provide the city governments support for machinery necessary for
environmentally friendly farming
Out of a total of 5,415 farm households (4,450ha) the aim is to have about 20% of the land (890
ha) at 1,000 farms to engage in organic farming as of 2011
Minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and relieve environmental burden by recycling
byproducts and developing and using crop production matters based on natural elements

Conclusion
Namyangju is trying to make the best of its opportunity of hosting the IFOAM Organic World
Congress 2011 to specialize its agriculture as environmentally friendly, and the citys local
authorities will take the initiative by intensively nurturing its environmentally friendly agriculture,
through which the citys natural environment will be preserved, and at the same time the city will be
developed in a balanced way.
280
Current Status of an Organic Potato and Bean Farmer

Lee, G. Y.
1149, Idam-ri, Gammool-myun, Goesan-goon, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea

Current status report by the farmer

Introduction

I obtained the certification of organic farming after undergoing both pesticide-free farming and two-
year conversion to organic farming. Currently, I practice both conventional farming and organic
farming at the same time. As such, I cultivate different varieties according to the requisite farming
methods of each with preventative measures to avoid the mixture of organic and conventional farm
products. In the necessary buffer zones, durra is cultivated for our own personal consumption.

As the area of organic cultivation amounts to 1,934m, I cultivate crops in the open field, inclusive
of potato in spring and Rhynchosia nolubilis (Yak-kong) in autumn.

As shown in Tab. 1, soil exceeds the optimum level in terms of pH, available phosphate, and
exchangeable magnesia. But, it is lower than the optimum level in terms of exchangeable kalium,
and it remains within the optimum level for other variables.

Tab. 1: Result of soil analysis
Classification
pH
(1:5)
Organic
Matter
(g/kg)
Available
Phosphate
(mg/kg)
Exchangeable Cation
(cmol+/kg)
EC
(dS/m)
K Ca Mg
Optimum
Level
6.0-6.5 25-35 350-450 0.7-0.8 5.0-6.0 1.5-2.0 0.0-2.0
Analysis
Value
7.2 26 889 0.62 5.1 3.6 0.0

Cultivation methods

1) Seed management
Regarding the potato cultivation, I put the seed of the seed potato (Superior variety) into a vinyl
house after cutting it with a disinfected knife in early spring. When it comes into bud, with the
chopped area turning blue, I begin to sow the seeds as the chopped part gets cured. In Rhynchosia
nolubilis (Yak-kong) cultivation, I use seed which is sourced from a self gathered source.

2) Crop rotation
Separate crop rotation is not necessary for potato and bean, which belong to different plant families.

3) Weed control and prevention
For prevention of weeds, polyethylene mulching is applied to ridges where crops are planted, and a
weeder is used along the boundary as part of mechanic weeding.

4) Prevention of blight and insect pests
No anti-pest agent is used here due to low occurrence of blight and inspect pest among potato and
bean.

5) Management of soil and nourishment
281
In early March, I fertilize the soil with 2,000kg of fungal culture fluid (sesame seedcake compost),
800 kg of sesame seedcake, and 20kg of sulfate of potash, but I do not apply any fertilizer to bean
cultivation.

6) Harvest and shipment
I directly transport the harvested crops to a farming cooperative. Potato and bean yields amount to
5,800kg and 440kg respectively.

282
Organization of Organic Farmers and Scientific Movement in Korean Organic
Agriculture

Lee, T.G. & Yoon, S.H.
Heuksalim Soil Research Institute
528 Aengcheon-Ri, Buljung-Myeon, Goesan-Gun, Chung-Buk, Korea
Internet: http://www.heuk.or.kr

Key words: Heuksalim, The farmers organization, Organic farming

Introduction
Organic agriculture in Korea was initiated by individual farmers in the 1970s and the movement
began to be organized through Farmers and Consumers organizations in the 1980s. Organic
farming technologies in the early days focused on replacing chemical/synthetical materials and were
highly dependent on the mass use of compost and imported soil microbes. On the belief that
application of organic farming principles should be backed by science, Heuksalim helped form a
farmers organization that researches and practices organic farming techniques back in 1991, and
have set up the Organic Farming Technology Research Center to promote a scientific approach
towards organic agriculture over the past two decades.

Methods and activities

1) Organization of organic farmers group and consumers group
Heuksalim began to welcome farmers to membership from 1993 and was authorized by the Korean
government to establish a corporation in 1996. Since then, 21 branches and sub-branches have
appeared nationwide. Training and workshops on theories and technologies of organic farming have
been held every year. Heuksalim also introduced localized organic farming techniques. The
farmers organization has naturally grown to serve as a supply base for organic agricultural
producers in Korea.
As of 2010, there are 10,000 farmers operating as members of the organic farmers community.
About 1,000 urban dwellers have joined Heuksalims community, called the Group of Soil-Loving
People since 2004. The members are supporting urban farming and vegetable garden cultivated
using organic farming technologies. On top of that, in order to enhance urban dwellers
understanding of organic farming, Heuksalim runs a production site visit program twice a year.

2) Organic farming technology movement
Heuksalims organic farming technology movement goes under the motto of making organic
agriculture scientific by running a Research Committee, which consists of pioneer farmers and
experts who contribute their expertise. At the outset, the Committee aimed at selecting and
commercializing excellent indigenous soil-microbes. It has developed microbes for disease
prevention, anti-insects, soil nutrition, and went a step further to apply the research outcomes to a
farming site through research cooperation with local farmers and researchers.
Heuksalim has studied, re-established and spread technologies and techniques, practiced by
individual organic farmers. It has also discovered weeding techniques which use mud snails and
made them available to organic farmers. In addition, it has looked into farming practices of fruits
and vegetables and offered best practices. Further, it has gathered data on organic rice farming
techniques, and disseminated them across Korea.
From 2009 to 2010, Heuksalim devised a small-scale crop-livestock farming model and studied the
enhancement of nutrient balance. It will expand a cyclic organic farming that can be put into
practice and reduce external input. In 2000, it launched a organic farming research center where
expert researchers partake in studying organic farming materials, equipments and organic farming
technologies. Consequently, research outcomes resulted in the development of a variety of products,
283
contributing to productivity growth of organic farming. Since 2002 when it joined IFOAM, it has
driven the organic farming initiative, upholding the principles and spirit of the global organic
agriculture movement. For the first time in Korea, it took on the development of Non-GMO feed for
domestic cattle and a GMO certification service in 2004. By doing so, it has provided technical
support which made it possible to produce domestic cattle fed on Non-GMO fodder.

3) Certification and verification of organic agricultural products
After years of preparation for certification of organic agricultural products, it established the first-
ever private certification institute in Korea in 2002, and began to provide service to its members.
Heuksalims certification system was benchmarked by many other certification centers that were set
up afterwards. Heuksalims certification system supported farmers to start from a low level and
gradually to advance to a higher level by offering education and training programs to farmers so
that they can be certified with organic certification in the end. In particular, it runs a consistent
certification policy with a focus on the local community, local groups and farmers. Aside from
certification of agricultural products, it devised and executed its own certification standards for
organic farming materials and processed organic foods earlier than the government, and the institute
helped the government to develop policies on organic materials and processed organic foods. The
institute has also nurtured full-time certification judges and independent certification judges for the
first time in Korea. To enhance judges competency, it also runs regular training programs in
cooperation with overseas specialized certification training institutes. Heuksalim started engaging in
global cooperation in the certification area from 2010. It also dispatched trainers to help
underdeveloped countries to set up certification systems. To verify the safety of agricultural
products, it purchased special equipments such as GC to run analysis in 2004. Heuksalim is the first
Korean institute to provide such analysis service among organic farming institutes. That enabled the
institute to crosscheck safety in addition to its certification service. As a result, confidence in
organic agricultural products was raised in Korea where there was a huge potential risk of
prohibited substance and contamination.

4) Training and specialized publications
Since the foundation of the institute, it has provided information on organic farming technologies to
members monthly. It has released a monthly magazine since 1998. Besides, it published 13
publications on organic farming. It has recently printed and distributed the 110
th

issue of the
newsletter carrying information on organic farming technologies. Training projects are essential in
spreading organic agriculture, and they center on organic farming technologies and social value
creation. The training center was constructed in 2000, and a total of 269 regular training sessions
have been conducted by the end of 2010. Each year roughly 5,000 people take training programs,
directly or indirectly.

Conclusions
Heuksalim is an organic agriculture NGO, initiated by the voluntary participation of Korean farmers
and researchers. It has worked for 20 years to realize organic agriculture values through technical
R&D, training and publication, so that scientific organic farming can take root in Korea.
Regenerating the earth and the environment, maintain the farmers profit and laying the foundation
for sustainable organic farming, it has come up with a proprietary organic farming certification
system and verification system. Now, Heuksalim aims to develop a distribution model for organic
farming products that supports the co-existence of urban and rural areas.

284
Organic Farming of Meokgol Pears of Namyangj-Ju

Lee, Y. J.
Jigeum-dong, Namyangju-si, Korea
Internet: www.yjbae.kr

Introduction
The first use of chemical pesticides occurred around 1860 by a German chemist called Justus Liebig.
The Green Revolution accelerated species improvement, automation, all weather farming, and
development of genetics and even genetically modified (GMO) food. The amount of chemical
fertilizers used in Korea has increased by 23 times in 47 years from 49,927 tons in 1951 to
1,631,000 tons in 1998. The use of pesticides has also increased by about 9 times from 771 tons in
1951 to 6,775 tons in 1998.
This study describes an organic farming method that excludes chemicals and uses food waste and
other edible items, fermented by micro-organisms, in growing organic Meokgol pears which can be
eaten whole without peeling skin.
Organic farming is what Korean farming must pursue. As late as 50 years ago, most agricultural
products in Korea were organic. However, there are few references to rely on or technology
accumulated. Organic farming is not easy to do and not more lucrative compared to conventional
farming. It is a fight with oneself and a challenge to the nature: Farming is a war.
This paper discusses an organic farming method of growing Meokgol pears, a variety indigenous to
Namyangju City and harvested once a year, from pruning to harvesting.
Materials and methods
A. Pruning
For any organic farming method to be successful, varieties regeneration should be done first. The
Shingo varieties which are vulnerable to such diseases as scab and rust need to be gradually
replaced with new varieties including Hwasan and Gamcheon. For pesticide-free farming in a large-
scale orchard, farmers leave three main branches per tree and grow sub-branches from the main
branches. Pears are harvested from the sub-branches. In a Y-type growth field of high density
culture, farmers recently prefer to leave two main branches from which to grow sub-branches which
look like fish bones. In Japan, farmers grow two main branches to 3-5m and lay the main branches
down to the sides at the height of around 1.5m so that they can easily work on them. Pears are then
harvested from sub-branches developed from the horizontal main branches.
B. Fertilization
Organic compost is expensive. A genuine organic farm should make organic compost on its own.
Lets discuss how to make organic compost fermented by micro-organism. The appropriate amount
for one-year use is about 1kg per pyeong (equivalent to approx. 3.3m
2
If the temperature of the day when compost is made is 20C, a sweet and savory fragrance can be
felt after about 30 days near the hill of the compost. While there are aerobic methods of making
compost where the materials constituting compost are stirred regularly, the method introduced in
this paper is an anaerobic method that prevents the compost from contacting with air. The EM-
fermented compost is applied to the ground surface in the same way as to sprinkle seeds after
). If too much compost is
applied at once, the malformation development rate increases. First, prepare rice bran (40%),
expeller cake (20%), fish scrap (20%), and bone dust (20%) and mix the materials in the amount of
1 ton. To the mixture, add 3 of effective micro-organism (EM), 3 of molasses, and 80 of warm
water (40C), and mix well using a stirrer. Finally, divide the mixture into lighter bundles that can
be easily moved and tie the mouth of each bundle firmly with elastic bands or cable ties. As EM is
mesophile micro-organism (20C-50C), fermentation becomes complete when the accumulated
temperature reaches 600C.
285
artificial pollination, and the use of the organic compost reduces male pear development
significantly. If applied right after a rain when the soil is still wet, the EM-fermented compost is
especially effective in increasing the number of micro-organism in soil.
C. Ways to reduce damage by blight and noxious insects
1) Rust
The best way to combat rust is to cut all Chinese juniper trees within the radius of 2km from the
orchard. If the measure is undoable, the only remaining option is prevention. A prevention method
is spraying the Bordeaux mixture when flowers begin to bloom, the period when pear trees are
especially vulnerable to rust. If the recommended amount is sprayed, pear trees could incur
chemical injury. Therefore, the amount of spray had better be slightly lower than the recommended
amount. The lasting time of prevention effect is about 10 days. Fill a 500- S.S. sprayer with 1 of
chitosan pyroligneous liquor, 2.5 of photosynthetic bacteria, 1 of EM5, 500cc of fish amino acid,
and 500g of bay salt. The formula is safe to be sprayed even onto flowers. While the suggested
interval between spraying is 1 week, it could be as short as three days depending on weather
conditions. Most diseases of pears are triggered by fungi. The EM-based formula prevents the
formation of fungi, rather than killing fungi after fungi have already developed.
2) Scab
Scab breaks out if fungi carried by leaves within the orchard or humans visiting the orchard stick to
leaves or fruits of pear trees usually right after winter when the temperature of 18C-20C and
relative humidity of 95% last for more than 10 hours. The sign of break-out is observable in 8-15
days after contamination. Accordingly, extra attention should be paid to weather conditions and
temperature. The odds for scab to break out can be reduced to near zero if the fungi causing scab are
eliminated from the orchard premise. Spraying the formula discussed previously in the same way
while closely watching temperature and humidity conditions could be very effective in preventing
scab.
3) Other types of blights caused by malicious fungi can be prevented in the same way. As pear trees
get vulnerable to blight if their immunity gets weaker, the soil should be kept fertile so that pear
trees have strong resistance against pathogens.
4) Other noxious insects
The spray of chitosan pyroligneous liquor in 500 folds can keep noxious insects at bay. As the
shells of most insects are comprised of chitinous substance, mummy-like dead bodies of insects are
found around three days after spraying chitosan pyroligneous liquor.
Even the spray of pure water can kill 50% of noxious insects. The use of chemical pesticide can
annihilate both benign and malignant insects.
D. Materials for organic farming
1) Chitosan pyroligneous liquor (5%)
Pour 20 of pyroligneous liquor in a large container (80-100 s), add 1kg of chitosan powder.
Carefully stir the formula using an industrial blender until the powder is completely mixed in the
liquid. Pour the completed 5% chitosan pyroligneous liquor into a 20 container and apply the
liquor onto leaves in 500 folds. Chitosan pyroligneous liquor can be used either right after making
of after storing for a long time.
2) Photosynthetic bacteria
Photosynthetic bacteria are said to be the first micro-organism to come to existence after the birth of
the earth. They are very useful bacteria that eat up all nasty odors and produce oxygen as a by-
product.
Mix 25 mals of water (1 mal = 18 s; seawater is also okay) + 10kg of fish inner part (well boiled)
+ 7kg of sea grass powder (kelp, sea mustard, or purple laver) + 5kg of crab shells + 1kg of rice
bran + 1kg of sesame curd + 1 of molasses + 3 of photosynthetic bacteria (fermented urine is also
okay). Put the container with the formula in a sunny place, cover it with transparent vinyl wrap to
protect from rain, and keep the temperature at around 40C. If the weather continues to be clear, the
formula is completely fermented in around 20 days.
3) EM 5 (organic ester) in case of 20
286
Organic ester is a chemical created from the combination of acid (vinegar) and alcohol. Due to the
sweet fragrance, organic ester has long been used as a seasoning. Pour 10 of water (or seawater;
warmed to about 40C), 2.5 of vinegar (fruit- or brown rice-based), 2.5 of EM, 2.5 of molasses,
and 2.5 of alcohol (35-degree Korean sake or soju) into a 20 container. Seal the container, turn it
upside down, place the container in a warm place (20-50C), and cover it with a blanket. After 4-5
days, you can find that the container is bulged due to gas. Turn the container again and remove the
cover to let the gas out. If the process is repeated about seven times, no more gas will be formed and
then the formula is completed. Fill another container with the formula without leaving any empty
space and place the container in a shaded place for long-term use. Application should be onto leaves
in 500 folds.
4) Fish amino acid
Pour 2 mals (approx. 40) of molasses, 5 of EM, and 1 mal of water (or seawater) in a 200
container. Fill the remaining space of the container with fish meal either at once or gradually
depending on the availability of fish meal (more ideally fish inner part). Cover the container so that
rain water cannot dilute the formula and let it ferment for six months or longer. While fresh water
fish is also fine, frozen fish is not. If whole fish are used, fermentation takes over one year. Mix the
top layer of oil and the bottom layer of sludge with compost and spray it to the orchard, and only
use the remainder in the middle. Spray 500cc of fish amino acid using a 500 sprayer.
5) Oil-based formula
The formula is a mixture of Melia fruits that grow in temperate or tropical regions, sesame oil, and
emulsifier. If sprayed right before and after covering pears with paper bags, the oil-based formula
can reduce the damage by oriental fruit moth, Hemiptera, and coccid, malicious insects that are fatal
to pear trees.
6) Calcium-based formula
(1) Mix baked oyster shells (the amount doesnt matter) in 2 of pyroligneous liquor, and age the
mixture for three months. Spray the formula diluted at the water-to-formula ratio of 500:1 using a
S.S. sprayer.
(2) Add 2kg of egg shells to 1 mal of pyroligneous liquor, and age the formula for 20 days. Spray
the formula diluted at the water-to-formula ratio of 500:1 using a S.S. sprayer.
E. Other formulas
1) Pyroligneous liquor
The best pyroligneous liquor for pear farming is pear pyroligneous liquor. If pyroligneous liquor
should be purchased, extra care should be taken. For instance, the liquid condensed from the smoke
that comes from the stovepipe when oak trees are burned to become charcoal is oak pyroligneous
liquor. The condensed liquid that is collected when oak trees are burned at temperature of 80-120C
should be aged for six months. The middle part in the container is the proper oak pyroligneous
liquor.
2) There are a number of ways to make formulas for organic farming using pyroligneous liquor.
While red pepper, garlic, gingko, and Korean angelica are commonly used, it is recommended to
use waste rather than buy new materials, a practice of circulation agricultural farming, so as to
contribute to preserving the natural environment.
3) Seawater (Bay salt)
Seawater is one of the most abundant natural resources on the planet and effective in preventing
damage by blight, insects, and weeds, and improving sweetness, storability, and other desirable
qualities. Seawater consists of 96.5% of water and 3.5% of various minerals. It is known that
seawater contains 75-80 different kinds of minerals. Likewise, bay salt also contains a number of
minerals. When seawater is used for foliar fertilization or irrigation, the seawater should be from an
unpolluted clean coastal area and the dilution concentration should be strictly controlled. When bay
salt is used, evenly sprinkle 20kg of bay salt per 300 pyeong in a similar way as sowing seeds
around three times per year (in spring, summer, and autumn), ideally after a rain. Foliar application
of seawater in over 100 folds in the interval of one week turned out to be fine.
4) Molasses
287
Molasses, one of the most popular materials used in organic farming, is a good source of energy,
organic substances, and minerals. In addition to significant sugar content, molasses also contains
non-sugar organic matters (N, P, etc.), minerals (K, Ca, Mg, etc.), and vitamins, substances that
facilitate the fermentation by micro-organisms.
5) Pear vinegar
Lets make pear vinegar using fallen or off-grade pears. Fill a 500 container with pears. Add 3 of
EM and 5 of molasses. Cover the container to prevent dilution by rainwater and let the formula age
for one year. Apply the formula by diluting 1-2 in 500 of water using a S.S. sprayer.
Conclusions
What is organic farming? It is to grow food only using natural materials excluding anything
chemical. This paper discussed chemical pesticide-free farming methods. One gram of fertile soil
contains over 1 billion counts of benign micro-organisms. By letting micro-organisms indigenous in
soil and EM symbiose, we can make the soil of a fruit orchard become fertile. Meokgol pears grown
from the organically fertilized soil can be safely eaten whole without wasting the pear skin which is
known to contain seven times more nutrients than the pulp. We are striving to make Meokgol pears
certified as organic. Furthermore, we will continue to develop ways to practice circulation
agricultural farming using fermented food waste, in particular the washing water of rice which is
blamed to be one of the primary pollutants of water along with synthetic detergents, to contribute to
preserving the precious natural environment.
References
Environment-friendly agriculture voucher curriculum of Korea Life AgricultureAssociation.
Summary of Newly Developed Technology, Rural Development Administration.
Higa, T. Our Future Reborn: EM Technology Changes the World.
Environment-friendly agriculture curriculum of Namyangju Agricultural Technology
Center (2008).
288
Status Quo of Organic Agriculture and Organic Food in China

Li Xianjun
1

, J iao Xiang
2

Keyword: Organic Agriculture, Organic Food, Status Quo, China

Abstract
Organic agriculture is one of the most important trend of agriculture all over the world in the new
century, and its also one of the most important models of development of agriculture in the new
development period in china. This report mainly focus on three aspects: China organic agricultural
production status, China organic food market status and China organic food development prospect.

Since 90s of last century, the world organic agriculture has witnessed a rapid development.
By the end of 2007, organic farms in the whole world totaled at least 700,000 with an area over 30.4
million hm
2
, accounting for 0.65% of the surveyed land area. We have seen a successively growing
of the demand for organic food globally, and the sales volume for organic food is increasing by the
rate of 5 billion USD every year. In 2007, the total trade volume on organic food in some countries
and areas including European countries, United States and J apan reached 46 billion USD
[1,2]
. The
flourishing international market demand promoted the rapid development of Chinas organic
agriculture. After the stage of research and exploration, the stage of laying a foundation, and the
stage of rapid development but more standardized, the development of organic agriculture
effectively protects the production environment in rural areas, greatly improves the competing
capacity of our agro-produce, and apparently enhances farmers employment and their income
increase, and also provides more healthier and safe food for consumers. Actually the Chinese
government has attached great importance and exerts strong support for organic agriculture
development. I would like to take this opportunity to report three aspects of organic agriculture in
China: first, the status quo of organic agricultural production in China; second, the status quo of
organic food market in China; and third, the future development of Chinas organic food.

I. The production scale of identified organic agro-products in China
1. The scale of Chinas organic agriculture
In 2007, China Organic Food Certification Center (COFCC, under the Ministry of Agriculture
of China) accomplished a project, Research on the Status Quo and the Development Mode of
Organic Agriculture in China. According to the data collected through this project, by the end of
2007, there have been a total of 23 certification agencies in China. The number of certification
agencies registered in foreign countries is 8. There are altogether 2512 organic producers in China
covering an area of 3.586 million hectares, and 158200 hectares under conversion, totaling 3.7442
million hectares. The total production of organic products is about 3.037 million tons. The sales
value domestically reached 7.56 billion RMB Yuan, and export value 304 million USD.
2. Production and sales volume of organic agro-products
Cropping: 1241 producers with an area of 254000 hectares; Production of 1.344 million tons,
sales value within China about 2.71 billion RMB Yuan and export value 120 million USD.
Livestock production: 62 producers with 3.512 million heads of animals, an area of 603600
hectares with 21000 tons of production; sales value within China 210 million Yuan and export value
19.7 million USD.
Aquatic production: 107 producers with an area of 297000 hectares, 83000 tons of
production; sales value within China 570 million Yuan and export value 50 million USD;
Bee products: 35 producers, 63000 swarms, production 13000 tons, sales value within China
310 million Yuan, export value 22.7 million USD;
Edible fungus: 23 producers with an area of 89000 hectares, production 7042 tons, sales value
within China 120 million Yuan, and export value 14.8 million USD;
Processing: 478 producers with a production of 1.508 million tons, sales income within China
1550 million Yuan, export value 21.2 million USD;
1
China Organic Food Certificate Center(COFCC), No.59 Xueyuan South Road,Haidian
District,100081,Beijing,China, E-Mail Lxj65@china.com, Internet www.ofcc.org.cn
2
As Above

289
Wild collection: 64 enterprises, covering an area of 1.494 million hectares, production 61000
tons, sales value within China 660 million Yuan, export value 20 million USD.
3. Features of Organic agro-production in China
There are about 50 major categories, or 400 to 500 varieties of organic and organic conversion
products, including vegetables, beans, minor cereals, aquatic products, and wild collections, mainly
primary production. The production involves in cropping, wild collecting, fishery production (in
open waters), and livestock production (grazing). The organic processing takes a minor proportion;
however, processing is on rising tendency with the products quality stably improving.
Recent years saw rather fast development of organic agricultural in China with the accelerated
products development. Some comparative advantages have been shown in some areas. Some have
become places for organic food production intensively. The growing of organic production is rising
by 30%.
4. Briefing on organic food certification by COFCC under the Ministry of Agriculture
of China
China Organic Food Certification Center is a certifying organization under the Ministry of
Agriculture of China. COFCC s mission is an important part of the strategy for the safety and
quality of agro-products of MOA, that is the strategy of Three in one, Proceed as a whole . By the
end of 2007, COFCC has already certified a total of 750 enterprises with 1.955 million tons of
products, accounting for over 30% of certified products nation wide. The sales value of these
products was 5530 million Yuan with the export value 128 million USD. The certified area totaled
2.469 million hectares, among which cropping area is 126000 hectares (50% of the total certified
area in China), grazing area 600,000 hectares, water area 249,000 hectares, and wild collecting area
1.494 million hectares. By the end of 2010, COFCC has already certified a total of 1202 enterprises.

II. Current situation of organic food market in China
[3]

1. Domestic market
1) Supply of Organic food
So far, most of the organic food in domestic market is food certified by certification agencies
as COFCC, including minor cereals, beans, fresh vegetable, tea, rice, fruits, dairy products and
honey. Organic products are easy available in supermarkets in cities like Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou.
2) Market scale
The major market for organic food domestically is in Beijing, accounting for one third share
of the national market. The rest of market share are in some medium and large cities as Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou, etc.
3) Price of organic food
According to the market survey in Beijing and Shanghai, the price for fresh organic
vegetables certified by COFCC is triple times of conventional vegetables in supermarkets of Beijing
and Shanghai municipalities. Whats more, these products are welcomed by consumers. The price
for organic rice certified by COFCC is two or three times of conventional rice of the same
categories in markets of various places in China. The price of other organic food is usually two
times higher than the conventional products.
4) Targeting consumers
As the improving of Chinese peoples living standard, there has been an apparent increasing
of organic food market in China. According to our investigation, there are mainly three groups of
consumers of organic food in China: First is the target consuming group, mostly people between 30
to 50 with monthly income more than 5000 Yuan, and higher education background, who pays
attention to health; Second, special consuming grouppregnant women, infants, and elder aged
people; Third is young people who is after a fashion and healthy lifestyle, would enjoy life more.
2. International market for Chinese organic food
There is great potential for Chinese organic food in international market. Some data shows
that global market for organic food is growing by 20% or 30%. By 2010, the global market for
organic food would have been 80 billion USD. The international demand for Chinese organic food
is increasing every year. It is shown by the ORGANIC MONITORs statistics that since 2005, the
organic food industry has been under supply shortage. Europe and North America are still the major
consuming areas for organic food, and more and more foreign traders would like to import organic
products from China, namely, soy-bean, rice, peanut, fresh vegetables, tea leaves, minor cereals,
beans, medicine herbs, sideline ago-produce, livestock products, aquatic products, camellia oil,
walnut oil, fast-frozen and dehydrated vegetables, honey, wine and other processed products.
In 2007, the total export value of Chinas agro-products was 37.01 billion USD, while that for
290
organic food was 304 million USD, accounting for 0.8%.
In 2007, the international organic food market totaled 46 billion USD, while Chinas organic
food was 304 million USD, taking up 0.66%.
3. Opportunities and channels for organic food import into China
Organic food produced in other countries would have to be certified prior to its importation
into China. Some organic dairy products by VALIO (Finland), Topfer (Gernmany), and
FONTERRO (New Zealand) are welcomed by Chinese customers, with the certification of COFCC.
The imported organic food could get into market by the following channels through distributors:
1) Traditional supermarket as Carrefour, Walmart, Metro, Chaoshifa, and Lotus Supermarket,
etc.
2) Organic food chain stores as Ostore, Lohao and High Quality, etc.
3) The J ennyLou chain store and AprilGourmet in Beijing, Cityshop and Pine Marketplace in
Shanghai;
4) Online shops as YiGuo, Ofood (Beijing), Helekang (Shanghai)Online shops though takes
a minor proportion, but growing very fast. Even food is not the mainstream product in online shops,
(mainly constrained by preserving factor in the delivery process); the online organic food supported
by family delivery service experienced a rather fast growing in the past year.

III. Prospective of organic agriculture and organic food in China (future 10 years)
New development opportunities for organic agriculture in China
[4,5]
:
First, it provides favorable conditions for organic agricultural development to build a
harmonious society, to coordinate human and the nature, to balance the relationship between
economic development and environmental protection, and to promote recourses-saving and
environmental friendly production mode. If the development mode for organic agriculture is
centered with the conceptions of harmonious coexistence of human and the nature, coexistence of
various species groups so as to promote the sustainable development of agriculture, we would easily
find the cutting point to develop organic agriculture in the process of building the modern
agriculture. And therefore, the organic agriculture will play a more important role in realizing the
above mentioned strategic mission.
Second, a rational administration, guidance, support and management will ensure a health
development of organic food industry. An open accreditation and certification market will enable
more organizations and institutions to be engaged in organic certification activities. A fair stage is
provided for all competitors under the regulated surveillance. Since the National Standard for
Organic Food and the Measures on Organic Products Certification Management were promulgated
by the Certification and Accreditation Administration, the development of organic food industry is
gradually stepping into the regulated track. Ministry of Agriculture, other related agencies and some
local governments issued a series of encouraging policies, vitalizing the accelerating development
of organic food industry. The Decision adopted by the Third Session of the seventeenth Party
Congress supports the development of green food and organic food. In the No.1 Document issued
by the central party in 2009, the part concerning supporting the building of production bases for
green and organic food, which exactly identified the development orientation and the guidance.
Third, both domestic and international market organic food is continuously growing by the
20% to 30% annually, which motivates greatly the development of organic food industry. In order
to expand the production and consumption of organic food, China Green Food Development Center
and Nuremburg International Exhibition Company jointly host BIOFACH CHINA in Shanghai
Municipality of China since 2007, an important event to expand the distribution channel for organic
food.
Therefore, I would predict that in the future 10 years:
1) The production area and yield of organic agriculture in China would increase annually by
20%30%
2Organic production would take up 1-1.5% in agricultural production, reaching 18 million to
23 million mu;
3The export of organic food would reach or exceed 5
4The market share of organic food would be or exceed 5
5China would be the forth large consumer nation for organic food, accounting for 1-1.5 of
its food consumption;
6Some organic food we would have to rely on imported products, especially diary products,
wine, cosmetics, textiles products, chocolate, oat, confectionary, and fruits, etc.
China, as a developing country facing shortage of resources and tense pressure of large
population must not take the old way of development based on high cost of the environment and
291
large amount of resources consumption. However, we should build the national economy and social
development on the sustainable use of resources and the environment. The development of
agriculture and organic food will not only find a development solution for Chinas agriculture, but
also help us to work for the ecological efficiency, protect agriculture and rural ecological
environment, and therefore make considerable contribution to the constant development of Chinas
agriculture and rural economy. At the same time, we could supply more organic food products of
high quality for the international market, contributing our share to the development of global
organic agriculture.

Looking back into the history, the basic reason for our Chinese people to live on this land
generation after generation, creating miracle s for the human beings contribution is the
harmonious relationship between human and the nature. Seeking a balanced and harmonious
situation is the continuation of organic agriculture thought. Therefore, we must recognize that in
the journey of our modernization, we must try to build a coordinated human-nature relation and
proceed on the sustainable development way.

References
Helga Willer,Minou Yusseefi (2007), The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics & Emerging
Trends 2007 (Excerpta),3-15.122-128.
Du Xiangge,Li Xianjun (2006), Organic agriculture in China, China's agricultural science and
technology publishing house.21-28.
Li XianJ un (2004). China organic agriculture development background, present situation and
prospect. World agriculture.7:7-11.
Ma Zhuo (2006). China organic agricultural development present situation, problems and
countermeasures.Chinese Agriculture Science Bulletin.11: 81
Matthias Stolze a,*, Nicolas Lampkin b(2009): Policy for organic farming: Rationale and concepts.
Food Policy.34:237-244.
292
Characteristics of Organic Producers in Murcia, Spain

Martnez-Carrasco, F.
1
, Schwentesius-Rindermann, R.
2
, Martnez-Paz, J
3
., Gmez-Cruz, M.
4


Key words: Organic farming, typology of farmers, environment.
Abstract
The Region of Murcia (Spain) has one of the main areas of organic fruit and vegetable
production in Europe, with extensions for some products of between 10 and 20 % of the
countrys organic agriculture surface. This work contains a survey carried out on 106 farmers,
along with a typology of organic cultivations. First, an analysis was performed by
conglomerates on the variables of each company, distinguishing small and large ones; later,
using logistic regression models, an analysis was carried out on the characteristics that define
the groups of farmers, the first one being the least professional but most environmentally
aware farmers. The typology found of these farmers suggests the interest for more
differentiated development policies for organic farming.
Introduction
The Region of Murcia, located in the southeast of the Spanish Mediterranean, contains a food
and agriculture sector that leads in Europe in the production of conventional fruit and
vegetables out of season, due to its weather conditions during the winter. The study of this
area is of great interest thanks to its high production levels in organic foods, so typical of the
Levante (citrics) and south of the Iberian peninsula (fruits, vegetables and flowers), as well as
other products in which Spain holds the world (olives and wine) or European leadership
(preserved vegetables and juices). In the Region of Murcia, the area of land with organic
certification is only 3.7 % of the total of the country (21 891 ha), although it stands out for
the added value of its
fruits, vegetables and agroidustrial products, being a very representative area of the
productive and commercial structure of the producers of organic agriculture (OA) of
southeastern Europe. This work sets forth the incoherence of the current subvention policies,
since support to farmers does not differentiate between large and small farms. These supports
go to full-time farmers, with fixed payments that vary depending on the type of product,
regardless of the size of the farms or the farmers objectives. On the other hand, small farms
should have special protection because they display greater coherence in agroecological
production models, and they would have greater commitment to the development of
sustainable productive and commercial models. They are also more vulnerable to competition
in food markets, due to their smaller size, which can be related to the reduction in numbers of
farmers in Spain, who, in the opinion of the authors of this work, should be given special
protection.

Materials and methods
The information comes from a survey carried out in the springtime of 2006 to workers of OA
farms and processing industries in the Region of Murcia, in all the target population
1
Departamento de Economa Aplicada. Facultadde Economa y empresa. Universidad de Murcia. 30100, Murcia, Spain, E-mail femartin@um.es
2
Programa de Agricultura Sustentable, Universidad Autnoma Chapingo. 56230, km. 38.5 Carretera Mxico-Texcoco, MX56230, Texcoco,
Estado de Mxico, E-mail rschwent@prodigy.net.mx
3
As Above 1
4
As Above 2
293
(registered operators). A total of 106 operators (80 farmers and 26 processors) answered the
survey. The target population is 850 operators, making the error 3.86 % in extreme
proportions (intermediate proportions, 6.39 %).

Methods
With the information obtained from the organic production system, an analysis sequence was
applied in accordance to the objectives:
1) The determination of an a priori undetermined number of typologies amongst farms
dedicated to OA, applying the Cluster Analysis on twenty structural variables in two stages
(sex, age, education level, size of farm, etc). This multivariate technique helps define more or
less homogenous conglomerates of farmers using mathematical algorithms, without having to
set their number beforehand. Schwarzs Bayesian information criterion was followed,
including continuous variables, previa tipificacion and discretas in the calculation. The main
interest in this work was to define business typologies within the OA system, using the
classification methods in described homogenous groups. This method has been used in
typification studies of different agrarian systems (Daskalopoulou and Petrou, 2002; Kbrich
et al., 2004), or further in the study of agrarian systems of some regions of Spain, with
multivariate techniques (Riedel et al., 2007; Iraizoz et al., 2007).
2) The study of the main reasons why farmers work on OA, and the analysis of possible
relations between farmers motivations (economic vs environmentalist self-valuations) and
their own characteristics (size, activity, etc.). After a first exercise
of bivariate relation analysis, logistical regression models were used (Hosmer and Lemeshow,
1989), which helped determine coincidences between farmers identified according to their
typologies and characteristics (including their productive motivations and their environmental
awareness). Ondersteijn et al. (2003) and Iqbal et al. (2006) have studied the criteria of
economic or environmental decisions of agricultural companies; there are several approaches
to the study of decision criteria in Spanish agriculture (Garca et al., 2002; Gil et al., 2003).

Results

Description of farmers in organic agriculture
Due to the contrasts between farming and the processing of foods, a separate analysis was
carried out on the separates groups of operators (farmers vs. processors). The descriptive
study of the data helped show the dispersion between farmers in a few variable structures:
surface, dedication, motivation, etc. From the cluster analysis it was possible to identify two
groups of farmers. The results help define a typology with three groups within the organic
farming system studied, which could, to a large extent, help describe the OA of other areas of
Europe:
1) Professional farmers (C1). The first group (40.5 % of farmers) is composed of large and
very productive land plots (surface and production), complete dedication and tradition in
farming activities; it corresponds to highly professional farmers and combines conventional
and organic farming methods. In this type of farmers, the percentage of production aimed at
external markets is high, mostly through commercialization cooperatives.
2) Part-time farmers (C2). The second conglomrate or cluster (59.5 % of farmers) is formed
by operators that work part-time on farming activities, but aimed exclusively at organic
production. In comparison to the farmers in the first group, these have better education levels
(several farmers have university degrees), they work a smaller land area, and the beginning of
their farming activities is recent. Also, their orientation is, to a greater extent, to the direct
294
commercialization of their products amongst consumers (by means of associations of
consumers, small markets, in the farm, etc.) or by new forms of sale (internet, direct sale to
specialized retailers, etc).
3) Processors (C3). An attempt was made to determine specific clusters in this group of
processing companies, and to include the analysis of total operators, along with farmers.
However, the analysis of results suggested a separate consideration, forming a separate group,
with clear structural differences regarding those in groups C1 and C2. In this group, only
19 % work exclusively in organic farming, and for some company managers with high
qualifications, it is not their main activity, which occurs in very small industries. The medium
size is not very large and the most frequent form of sale is directly to retailers.

Decisive factors in the incorporation of organic farming
The most important aspects that explain the dedication of those surveyed to organic farming
are environmental, related to moral and personal convictions of the farmers surveyed, or due
to a personal priority related to using a more environmentally friendly farming system. High
medium values are also reached by the search for greater profitability, since they deal with
high-quality products or with growth potential.The two motivations with a lower value of
their importances are the search to complete the offer for conventional products or the desire
to increase the profitability due to the lower production costs in relation to conventional
products. Out of the medium appreciations given by the three clusters considered (non-
parametric test), only in two cases were there significant differences (<0.05). Thus, in the
motivation for greater profitability due to better prices, farmers (as opposed to processors)
seem to appreciate more the importance of OA. In terms of the motivation of environmental
convictions and particular moral values, part-time farmers (C2) seem to give it greater value.

Conclusions
The study of operators in southeastern Spain from a survey in the Region of Murcia helped
obtain information about the characteristics and motivations of organic farmers and
processors. They display strong environmental and moral motivations that explain their
dedication to organic farming, which is usually combined with a search, as agrarian
businesspeople, for the economic benefits of organic produce, such as better quality, added
value, and potential for growth. Among the clusters defined (C1, C2 and C3), only
differences are accepted between valuations of the motives to work in this activity and
obtaining greater profitability for selling higher-quality products (M3), and for being more
environmentally friendly and a personal priority. The valuations of the latter motive are
higher among part-time farmers (C2). The self-valuation of more environmental motivations
are related to the characteristics of the operators, exclusive dedication to OA, which isvery
common among operators of group C2 of small farmers.
The logistic regression model used helped determine that the probability of belonging to
group C2 (environmentally aware part-time farmers) increases amongst operators that find
environmental and moral convictions more important in their decision to produce organic
food. A second model shows how the probability of belonging to group C1+C3 (professional
farmers, joined by processors) increases with production (size) of the operator, and if the
latter simultaneously works on OA conventional agriculture simultaneously.
The identification of three groups of farmers of OA in southeastern Spain, different in their
production systems (farmer vs. producer), size (small and part-time vs. large and
professional), characteristics (educated, young, years of experience in OA, etc.) and personal
productive motivations (more or less economic), reinforces the need for public support,
295
differentiated by its size and needs, without disregarding motivations and productive
objectives.

References
Anderson J., A. Desmond and R. Green. (2000): Determinants of farmer adoption of organic
production methods in the fresh-market produce sector in California: A logistic
regression analysis. Western Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting. 25 p.
Briz J. (2004): Agricultura ecolgica y alimentacin. Fundacin Alonso Martn Escudero.
Grupo Mundi-Prensa. Madrid. 367 p.
Daskalopoulou I. and A. Petrou. (2002) : Utilising a farm typology to identify potential
adopters of alternative farming activities in Greek agriculture. Journal of Rural Studies,
Vol. 18 1: 95103 pp.
Egea J.M., F. Martnez-Carrasco y M. Snchez. (2006): Estado actual de la produccin y
comercializacin de alimentos ecolgicos de la Regin de Murcia. VII Congreso SEAE
de Agricultura y Alimentacin Ecolgica. Zaragoza. No. 143. 9 p.
Ferrn M. (2001): SPSS para Windows. Anlisis estadstico. Ed. Orborne McGraw-Hill.
Madrid. 421 p.
Garca M., N. Poole, F. del Campo y D. Lpez. (2002): Identificacin de grupos estratgicos
en el sector hortofrutcola espaol. Revista de Economa Agraria y de Recursos
Naturales, Vol. 2 1: 89-114 pp.
Gil J.M., A. Perdiguero y M. Ben Caba. (2003): Factores determinantes de las expectativas
de futuro de los ganaderos aragoneses de ovino. Revista Espaola de Estudios
Agrosociales y Pesqueros 198: 151-182 pp.
Hosmer D.W. and S. Lemeshow. (1989): Applied logistic regression. John Wiley & Sons,
New York, NY. 307 p.
Iqbal S.M.M., C.R. Ireland and V.H.L. Rodrigo. (2006): A logistic analysis of the factors
determining the decision of smallholder farmers to intercrop. Agricultural Systems 87:
296312 pp.
Iraizoz B., M. Gorton and S. Davidova. (2007): Segmenting farms for analysing agricultural
trajectories: A case study of the Navarra Region in Spain. Agricultural Systems 93:
143169 pp.
Kbrich C., L. Villanueva y M. Sirven. (2004): Pobreza rural y agrcola: entre los activos, las
oportunidades y las polticas. Serie Desarrollo Productivo, CEPAL. Santiago Chile. 40
p
Riedel, J.L., I. Casass and A. Bernus. (2007) Sheep farming intensification and utilization
of natural resources in a Mediterranean pastoral agro-ecosystem. Livestock Science,
Vol. 111 1-2: 153163 pp.
296
The Actual Situation of Organic Production of Paddy Rice in Kou-Shin-Etsu
Areas

Miki.T
*
,S. Kato,D. Abe and S. Iwaishi
International Nature Farming Research Center, J apan
miki@infrc.or.jp
http://www.infrc.or.jp

Key words: Organic (nature) farming, paddy rice, soil organic matter, weeds control.

Introduction
In recent years, consumers interests in organic products is growing. On the other hand, there is no
enough knowledge on cultivation techniques. Especially, weeds control becomes an important issue
to stabilize the organic cultivation of paddy rice. Organic matter such as rice straw will help
improve the soil. However, there remains a lot of non-decomposed rice straw until the transplanting
time, which causes many problems fast decomposing in a short time (Iwaishi et al. 2001). As
described in our previous report (Miki et al. 2009), the undecomposed rice straw remaining the soil
until puddling time will decompose fast after rice seedling transplanting, causes soil reduction,
inhibit growth of rice plants and makes the paddy weeds such as Monochoria vaginalis var.
plantaginea dominant in the competition. In this paper, we summarize and clarify the relationship
of straw decomposition during the non-planting period to rice plant growth and weeds incidence in
the Kou-Shin-Etsu areas in J apan.

Methods and materials
As shown in Table 1, we recorded data in 2009 on the management of more than 30 organic paddy
rice farms in 3 prefectures of Niigata, Nagano and Yamanashi that are so-called Kou-Shin-Etsu
areas. At the maximum tillering stage, samples of rice plants and weeds were taken from a sampling
frame of 3030cm with 2 replicates in one field without weeds control in 2009 and 2010. At the
maturation stage, samples of rice spikes from 15 plants were taken in two sites in one field. The
whole plants in 2 m
2

were harvested in the neighbour sites to the spike sampling site and the plant
number and grain yield were calculated. In 2009, at the transplanting stage, six soil samples were
taken from one field with a cylinder of 6.5 cm diameter. In 2010, soil samples were taken 18 sites in
one field. In both years, the soil samples were taken from the 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm soil layers. The
organic residuals were collected from the soil sample by sieving into different sizes of 4 mm, 2 mm
and 1 mm. These half decomposed organic residuals were called paddy soil organic matters
(PSOM). Concentrations of carbon and nitrogen in the different sized soil residuals were measured.
297
Figures and tables
Table 1. The investigated paddy fields
Area
Soil type
Altitude (m) Gray lowland
soil
Andosol Glay soil
Niigata
(Murakami/Tainai/Niigata/Tookamachi
*2
)
(4)4 (3)3 (9)11
*1

1 - 200
Nagano (Saku/Matsumoto/Matsukawa) (6)6 (2)3 (2)2 600 - 700
Yamanashi (Hokuto) (3)4 700
total (10)10 (8)10 (11)13
*1 Data inside ( ) are in 2009 and data outside ( ) are in 2010 *2 Town name



Table 2. Accumulated temperature (day) during the non-growth period from harvest to the next
transplanting (MeanSD)
Soil type
Autumn of 2008 to 2009 transplanting time
Harvesting
time(2008)
Transplanti
ng
time(2009)
Execution
rate of
plow in
autumn
Accumulated
temperature
1

Harvesting
time to
Transplanti
ng time
Plowing to
Transplanti
ng time
Gray lowland soil
( n=10 )
9/284 5/297 80% 1954175 1322334
Andosol
( n=8 )
9/306 6/25 75% 1981169 1376442
Gray soil
( n=11 )
9/222 5/227 45% 1994253 922529
*1 calculated according to Korenaga (2002) using the local meteorological data.



Table 3. Paddy soil organic matter (PSOM), Growth of paddy rice and weed (MeanSD)

Rice
straw
(2008)
PSOM
(Soil depth 0-
10cm)

Maximum tiller
number stage

Harvest time

>4m
m
>2m
m
>1m
m

Weed
Paddy
rice

panicl
e
numb
er
Yield
g/ g/ g/ g/ g/ g/ /m
2
kg/ha
2
0
0
9

Gay lowland
soil(n=10)
676
166

204

62

166

60

199

47

37
25
131
43


264
73

4948

127
7
Andosol(n=8)
717
276

257

11
1

85

27

142

45

58
40
123
62


240
86

4023

708
Gley
soil(n=11)
559
204

267

13
2

309

28
1

283

17
6

104
44
138
48


239
56

4377

105
5
2
0
1
0

Gray lowland
soil(n=10)
554
162

286

10
7

116

20
0


45
39
148
52


266
62

5086

100
1
298
Andosol(n=10
)
498
127

274

10
2

64

18


52
21
132
75


254
114

4667

167
1
Gley
soil(n=13)
461
109

250

66

179

19
9


84
58
100
52


215
62

3963

956

299
15
25
35
45
>4mm>2mm>1mm>4mm>2mm>1mm
0-5cm 5-10cm
PSOM of each depth of soil
C
/
N
gray lowland soil gley soil andosol




0
50
100
150
200
250
0 100 200 300
PSOM gDW/m
2
W
e
e
d
s

g
D
W
/
m
2
2009
2010
0
100
200
300
400
500
0 200 400 600 800
Yield g/m
2
S
p
i
k
e

n
u
m
b
e
r

/
m
2
2009
2010








Results and Conclusions
Totally, 29 organic paddy fields in 2009 and 33 in 2010 were investigated in the Kou-Shin-Etsu
areas. The autumn plowing rate was 45% for gley soils and the accumulated soil temperature during
the period from plowing to transplanting was lower than in soils of other types (Table 2). Therefore,
the rice straw returned to soil was less and the PSOM was more in gray soils than in other soils
(Table 3). The ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C/N) was higher in the course soils with diameter larger
than 2 mm (Fig. 1), suggesting that the organic materials such as rice straw did not decompose
sufficiently during the time other than rice growth period. In maximum tillering stage, a lot of
M.vaginalis was seen (Fig.2). In the paddy fields with gley soils, where the plowing rate was low,
weeds were more at the maximum tillering stage if PSOM larger than 4 mm was more (Fig. 3).
Therefore, it was suggested that the un-decomposed rice straw promoted the paddy weed incidence.
The range of rice grain yield was from 1000 kg to 7000 kg ha
-1
Fig.2. Flora biomass ratios of M.
Vaginalis to total weeds.
(Fig. 4). Grain yield were higher if
Fig.1. Ratio of carbon to nitrogen in
PSOM.

Fig.4. Correlation between yield
and panicle number
Fig.3. Correlation between PSOM
and weeds
PSOM larger than 4 mm
The soil type is a gley soil.
The sampling depth is 5cm.
0
50
100
150
123456789
1
0
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
4
1
5
1
6
1
7
1
8
1
9
2
0
2
1
2
2
2
3
2
4
2
5
2
6
2
7
2
8
2
9
3
0
3
1
3
2
3
3
Field number
D
r
y

w
e
i
g
h
t

g
/
m
2
0
20
40
60
80
100
%
M
.
v
a
g
i
n
a
l
i
s

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

o
f

w
e
e
d
s
dry weight percentage
300
the spike number per m
2
In conclusion, the stabilization of the yield of organic rice could be achieved by guaranteeing the
early plant growth including the initial planting density and controlling the competitive weeds.
Further studies are needed to examine the decomposing extent of applied rice straw and its effect on
paddy weed incidence in the organic rice production.
was more, suggesting that the spike number per unit of land area was the
limiting factor to grain yield. The correlation between spike number and weed flora biomass ratio
was significantly negative (n=62, r =0.414, P 0.01). The competition of rice plants to weeds
limited the spike number. The correlation between spike number and plant number was significantly
negative (n=62, r =0.665, P0.01).

References
Iwaishi S., K. Harada, S. Kato and C. Quan. 2001. Characteristics and applications of paddy field
management with cultural weed control. V. Influences of rice straw applications. J ournal of
weed science and technology 46 (Suppl.):238-239.
Miki T., S. Iwaishi, D. Abe and S. Kato. 2009. Influence of amount of soil organic residues on the
rice plant growth and weed incidence in organic paddy-field. J apanese J ournal of Crop Science
78 (Extra 1):112-113.
301
Irans Organic Agriculture Potential: an Opportunity for the Middle East
Countries

Mohammadreza Davari
1
, Y.S. Shivay
2
& Mohammad Mirzakhani
3
1
Assistant Professor of Agroecology, PNU Arak Branch, Iran

2
Principal Scientist (Agronomy), Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
3
Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Islamic Azad University, Farahan Branch, Iran
Email: mrdavari@gmail.com
Website: www.markazipnu.ac.ir

Key words: Organic agriculture, Irans potential, Middle East Countries

Introduction
Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East with an area of 1.65 million km
2
. It is located
between latitude 260 to 380 N and longitude 440 to 630 E, bordering from north to Turkmenistan
and Azerbaijan, from west to Turkey and Iraq, from south to Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman and
from east to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Because of this wide range of latitude and longitude, this
country has a diverse type of physiographic, climate, vegetation and biological productivity
(Koocheki 2004).









Figure 1: Land types ratios of Iran (Mirhoseini, 2007)
Over 18 million ha of land are used for agriculture, producing 65 million tons of food, from field
crops to horticultural products, to feed a population of 70 million. Iran ranks thirtieth in the world in
terms of the amount of production, and eighth based on the diversity of products. Currently, 3.4
million farmers in Iran cultivate 18.5 million ha. Although traditional agriculture still operates in
some areas of so-called ignored organic farmers, this has not been recognized as organic
agriculture. Small-scale ignored organic farming systems product more than 80% of agricultural
products (Mirhoseini 2007). For the export of some special agricultural products such as Pistachio,
Dates and Saffron, Iran ranks first in International market. Contribution of agriculture to the GNP of
the country is 26% and this sector provides job opportunity for 24% of the active labor forces in the
country (Ministry of Agriculture of Islamic Republic of Iran 2000).

Organic agriculture in Iran
Organic farming is a method of crop and livestock production that involves much more than
choosing not to use certain pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, and
growth hormones that are not permitted by organic standards. In developing countries, certified
organic agricultural production is restricted. Nonetheless, significant shares of agricultural land are
under traditional or alternative production methods. Such areas could be converted to certified
agriculture relatively easily, provided that certification costs can be kept low (Vossenaar & Jha
2007). Organic agriculture offers the potential to enable Iranian smallholders to achieve household
forests
7%
agricultural land
14%
rangelands
56% deserts and
degraded lands
21%
urban areas lakes
and other lands
2%
302
food security and increase income, while regenerating the land, enhancing biodiversity, and
supplying quality food to local communities. Correspondingly, there is an increasing public concern
about food safety, but comparatively few people in Iran are aware of organic farming. A recent
survey tends to indicate that there is lack of information on organic farming (Ghorbani et al. 2007).
Iranian traditional agriculture looks by far alike organic agriculture in many facets. As an instance,
some products from the mountainous regions are completely organic. There are several reasons to
argue that there is a remarkable capacity in Iranian field crop cultivation for making the transition to
organic agriculture. Nevertheless, at the present time producers do not pay certification costs; these
are borne by the exporter (in limited extent), who has to arrange for inspections by foreign
certification bodies. Now, there is 1113 ha certified organic agricultural land in the country (Willer
and Kilcher 2009). Furthermore there are other non-certified organic cases such as an 85 ha olive
orchard which its yields are sold in local markets as organic as well as a 22,000 ha fig orchards. In
connection with distinction above, we emphasize that not all traditional farming systems that do not
use artificial pesticides and fertilisers are non-certified organic by default, because they may very
well be unsustainable due to soil degradation, etc. On the other hand, non-certified organic food
systems may be more in line with the organic values and principles than certified systems, because
the latter also face pressures of market competition and globalization (Liaghati, et al. 2008) (Figure
2).

Figure 2: Relation among Agricultural system



In 2008, producers were not paying for the costs of certification; export companies manage
arrangements for inspections by foreign certification bodies and bear the resultant costs. The
numbers of organic initiatives in Iran were few; an 11-hectare saffron farm is certified by a French
company, an 85-hectare olive orchard that sells its products in local markets, and there are 22000
hectares of fig production. Although none of them were certified organic according to national
standards or regulations, a fraction of the above-mentioned fig production had been certified
according to the AB standards (Agriculture Biologique, France), and the products were exported to
Europe (Willer et al. 2008). The first certified organic production (of sultanas) was in West
Azerbaidzhan, followed by almonds and pistachios near Isfahan, pomegranates near Shiraz, saffron
in the north eastern province of Mashad, and dates and citrus fruits in the south. Today, more than
7.000 organic farms, with 80,000 hectares, produce a wide range of crops, including roses, rose oil,
herbs and liquorice. The European certifiers Control Union, Ecocert and BCS were the main
certifiers in 2010. J avad Zare, one of the pioneers in organic agriculture in Iran, expects that the
certified area will expand in 2011 to more than 300,000 hectares. Although most organic production
is for export, there are also small first signs of a domestic market emerging. Last year the first
organic restaurant opened its doors in Tehran. Iran is a country with good natural conditions for
organic production, but it is a difficult country for exportoriented organic production. The political
303
situation makes international communications and banking relations difficult. The heavy
bureaucracy does not make it easy for exporters. Success greatly depends on developing good local
relations. Iranian producers had a booth at BioFach in 2010 for the first time and will participate
again in the fair this year (Brul P. 2011).

Government policies regarding organic agriculture
The government has started a program to mitigate the use of agrochemicals. Governmental subsidy
of agrochemicals has been reduced dramatically during the pasts, which is an initial step in the right
direction for the development of organic agriculture. Furthermore, the Committee on Organic
Agriculture was recently established in the Ministry of Agriculture in order to promote organic
farming policies and provide an action plan for development of organic agriculture in Iran
(Mahmoudi & Mahdavi 2008).

Organic food marketing in Middle East
The Middle East food market is developing great potential regarding the organic products market
and the related sectors like restoration and food equipment. The reasons of this growth can be find
in the huge per capita income, often tax free, that tempt consumer to spend money for organic food
products, and in the even larger investment of western companies in the countries of the Gulf
Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This growing demand for organic food and the high disposable income of the customers promote
also the spread of large supermarkets, related also to the climate condition of the region the demand
of beverage increases every year and there is the necessity of new retail points. Another factor that
augment the potential of organic and natural food market through Middle East is the growing of the
tourism industry, 25% of tourists comes from Europe and consequently the visitors have pleasure to
find their own dishes when they eat in the holiday village on the coast. But also the internal tourist
flow increase the growth of restaurant chains and hotels. This can be a great time to invest in the
proparty market in the Middle East include Iran. The potential of the Middle Easts market for
organic products is under explored and the sector has immense growth opportunities with a
predominant youth population in the territory taking to healthier and more eco-friendly lifestyles,
according to the organizers of the eighth edition of the Middle East Natural and Organic product
Expo 2010 (MENOPE 2010). MENOPE 2010 organiser mentioned that the regional organic food
market is currently valued at approximately US $300 million a year and was growing at a pace of
nearly 20 per cent, mainly driven by the rising affinity of the youth population to embrace healthy
and natural lifestyles. The organic products market in the region is on the threshold of grown and
the current demand and sales volume reflects the state of European markets between 1985-1990. In
comparison to other global markets, even at low volumes, Middle East is still the fattest growing
destination for natural and organic foods. The appeal of MENOPE as a platform for global organic
product companies to engage the Middle East market was evident from the enthusiastic
participation of over 100 companies from across the world despite the economic uncertainty.

Results and conclusion
Farmland area in Iran is 11-13 million ha in which most of it can be classified as traditional farming
systems which smallholder farmers are involved in subsistence agriculture. Since many farmers in
their small farms and gardens never use agrochemicals and use sustainable approaches for crop
production during land preparation, crop nutrition, soil fertility as well as pest, disease and weed
management, their agroecosystems are potentially organic or can be easily converted to organic.
These farmers grow wide range of crops i.e cereals, root crops and medicinal plants), fruits (nuts,
apple, pomegranate, citrus, fig and grapes and vegetables that all would be able to expanding
Middle East organic food market. There are, however, some obstacles in certifying these products
as organic.
In summary, these are Irans chief privileges in organic agriculture for Middle East:
304
- As far as Im concerned many farmers in Iran have not utilized chemical fertilizers as well
as pesticides. In regard to given reason, we do claim that uncontaminated land still
accessible to farmer in Iran.
- Iran is well placed to develop organic agriculture, due to the great diversity of growing
conditions. A return to more sustainable production systems in a country like Iran with a
long history of ecological agriculture could be one effective method to protect the fragile
local environments. Trends are emerging for production of organic herbs, spices, dried fruits
and nuts for export. To comply with this demand, international regulations must be
considered and proper national standards for organic agriculture need to be implemented.
On the other hand most of Middle East countries have an arid and hot climate, containing
limited containing restricted water resources for irrigation to support agriculture in limited
areas.
- Numbers of experts who are sufficiently knowledgeable in the field of agriculture in Iran are
high. According to collected data most of experts are graduated. it is one of most important
factor in the development of organic agriculture through the country.
- Iran has highly developed transport systems. By comparison with other countries (except of
Russia and China), Iran is strategic country in alternative transport connection from Central
Asia. Iranian ports are located in close proximity of the sea points to export Central Asian
products. On the contrary Iran would find outlet up north of its border as much lucrative
which is verifiable by means of taking a quick-look at local markets, which are
overwhelmed of Iranian products. The organic industry with government support need to
develop and get start producing organic yields in Iran from raw materials which produced in
Iran or imported from Central Asia, Pakistan and India. Approximate all of Iran organic
production is destined for export markets, primarily in Middle East.
References
Brul P. (2011): Iran: an emerging organic player. Ecology and farming (No. 1, February 2011). 52 p.
Ghorbani M., Mahmoudi H., Liaghati Houman (2007): Consumers Demands and Preferences for
Organic Foods: A Survey Study in Mashhad, Iran. Poster presented at the 3rd QLIF Congress:
Improving Sustainability in Organic and Low Input Food Production Systems, University of
Hohenheim, Germany, March 20-23, 2007. http://orgprints.org/9831/

Koocheki A. (2004): Organic farming in Iran. 6th IFAOM Asia scientific conference. Yangpyung,
Korea. 534p.
Liaghati H., Mahmoudi H., Kambozia J . (2008): Organic agriculture in Asia: Situation and
prospects. Green Farming, 1(10-11): 1-5.
Mahmoudi H., Mahdavi Damghani A. (2008): Country report: Organic agriculture in Iran. The
world of organic agriculture. IFOAM. Germany. 274 p.
Ministry of Agriculture of Islamic Republic of Iran, Agricultural Statistics and Information
Department (2000): Status of Iran in the World Agriculture, No. 4.
Mirhoseini M. (2007): Organic agriculture in Islamic rep. of Iran opportunities and challenges.
International Conference and Study Meeting on: Organic Agriculture for Promoting Green
Productivity and Agribusiness Exports.
New Delhi, India
Vossenaar R., J ha V. (2007): Trading opportunities for organic food products from developing
countries. United Nations.
Willer H., Yousefi M., Menzler., Sorensen, N. (2008): The world of organic agriculture (Statistics
& emerging trends 2008). IFOAM & FIBL report.
Willer H., Kilcher L. (2009): The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends
2009. FIBL-IFOAM Report.



305
Photosynthesis- CO2 Concentration Response of Korean Native
Phytoremediation Plant, I ris ensata
Nam H. H., Kwon M. K., Seong J. J. & Han Y. Y.
Gyeongsangbuk-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Korea
E-mail: whoisnam@korea.kr

Key words: Intercellular CO2 concentration, Stomatal conductance

Introduction
Iris ensata is a Korean native plant and perennial iris that grows fast and survives in different kinds
of soil conditions (Nam 2009). It is recognized as a phytoremediation plant that remediates soil in
an environmentally friendly way due to its high tolerence to flooding and heavy metal removal
capacity, including cadmium. Physiological and ecological research on useful resources plants,
which are needed due to increasing CO2 concentration and temperature by climate change, still falls
short. In this regard, this study was carried out to gain basic materials about physiological
characteristics for improving use and productivity of useful resources plants.

Methods and materials
On March 30, 2006, Iris ensata was divided from the genetic field of Gyeongsangbuk-do
Agricultural Research and Extension Services, then transplanted at a spacing of 30 cm x 30 cm. In
March 2007, it was applied with 5ton 10a-1 decomposed manure. Tab. 1 and Fig. 1 show physico-
chemical properties of experimental soil and meteorological conditions of the field. In March, May,
July, and September, photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were measured using a portable
photosynthesis measurement system equipped with CO2 cartridge and light source. CO2 was 25, 50,
100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1,000 and 1,500 molmol-1, light intensity was 800 molm-2 s-1, leaf
temperature was 25. C.E. (carboxylation efficiency), Vcmax (maximum rate of RuBP
carboxylation), Jmax (maximum rate of electron transport) were calculated based on the correlation
between intercellular CO2 and photosynthetic rate.

Figures and tables

Tab. 1: Physico-chemical properties of experimental soil.
pH
(1:5)
EC
(dsm-1)
O.M.
(gkg-1)
Av. P2O5
(mgkg-1)
Ex. cation
(cmol+kg-1)
Soil texture
(%)
K Ca Mg Clay Silt Sand
6.4 0.54 37.8 744 0.56 8.58 2.66 10 21 69


306
Fig. 2: Meterological conditons during experimental period.


Fig. 1: Photosynthesis-intercellular CO2 concentration response of Korean native
phytoremediation plant, I ris ensata.
Tab. 2: Photosynthetic characteristics as affected by intercellular CO2 concentrations and
growth periods in Korean native phytoremediation plant, I ris ensata.
Growing
season
CO2
compz
C.E.y Vcmaxx Jmaxw TPUv
Leaf
temp.
()
March 28.8 88.1 31.8 33.3 2.2 26.2
May 73.0 83.1 65.5 70.3 4.9 26.9
July 85.5 59.7 43.3 43.4 5.8 30.4
September 48.3 59.5 40.2 34.9 6.0 28.0

* * ** ** * -
zCO2 compensation point (molmol-1), yCarboxylation efficiency (mmolmol-1), xMaximum rate of
RuBP carboxylation (molm-2s-1), wMaximum rate of electron transport (molm-2s-1), vTriose-
phosphate utilization, *Significant for P<0.005, **Significant for P<0.001.

Results and conclusions
Fig. 2 indicates that the photosyntehtic rate increased as intercelluar CO2 concentration rose,
however, the rate was stagnant or declined at a certain level of concentration (A = -1.51 + 0.06Ci -
3.46Ci2, R2=0.94). For example, expected maximum rate of photosythesis was 22.7 molm-2s-1
when maximum rate of photosynthesis at Ci was 836 molmol-1. Photosynthetic rate of most
plants rises as CO2 concentration increases, even though the rise is different according to plant and
photosynthetic rate climbs up at a high light intensity as the CO2 concentration goes up (Makino &
Mae 1999). The pace of photosynthesis is determined by the pace of re-phosphorylate of CO2
fixation system at an area where CO2 concentration is high. Photosynthesis of plants exposed to
high CO2 concentration for a long time is inhibited by accumulated starch-grain, which hinders
spread of CO2 in a chloroplast (Ro et al. 2001).

It was confirmed that assimilation capacity of Iris ensata improves with the increase of CO2
concentration, however, further review is needed for longterm change. C.E. showed high value
during early or mid growing season, Vcmax, Jmax also showed high value in May and carbon use
efficiency in March and May was relatively high.

On the other hand, the efficiency was on the decline as the growing season matures (Tab. 2).
Carbon fixation capacity changed according to growth period and this is attributable to
307
envrionmental factors such as temeprature, light, soil moisture, etc (Cannel & Thornley 1998). C.E.,
TPU had negative correlation with leaf temperature and this means long-term temeperature increase
will affect carbon fixation capacity of Iris ensata negatively.

In conclusion, Iris ensata, a Korean native phytoremediation plant, showed high carbon fixation
capacity when it is exposed to high CO2 concentration for a short period of time. Its limiting
concentration was 836 molmol-1 and carbon use efficiency reduced according to leaf temperature
increase. It is expected that CO2 concentration in the atmosphere will rise by 600-1000ppm (Cox et
al. 2000). In this regard, Iris ensata will maintain its carbon fixation capacity and remain
physiologically active against long-term climate change and will be useful as a remediation plant.

References
Borjigidai A., Hikosaka K., Hirose T., Hasegawa T., Okada M., & Kobayashi K. (2006): Seasonal
changes in temperature dependence of photosynthetic rate in rice under a free-air CO2 enrichment.
Annals of Botany 97:549-557.

Cannel M.G.R. & Thornley J.H.M. (1998): Temperature and CO2 responses of leaf and canopy
photosynthesis: a clarification using the non-rectangular hyperbola model of photosynthesis. Annals
of Botany 82:883-892.

Cox P.M., Bets R.A. Jones C.D., Spall S.A. & Totterdell I.J. (2000): Acceleration of global
warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climatic model. Nature 408:184-187.

Farquhar G., von Caemmerer S., Berry J.A. (1980): A biochemical model of photosynthetic CO2
assimilation in leaves of C3 species. Planta, 149:7890.
Lee S.H. (2010): Cadmium removal ability of Iris pseidacorus and Acorus calamus for
phytoremediation. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Seoul. Korea.

Makino, A. & Mae, M. (1999) Photosynthesis and plant growth at elevated levels of CO2. Plant
Cell Physiol. 40:999-1006.

Nam H.H., Lee H.S. & Woo J.H. (2009): Seasonal changes of dry matter productivity of Korean
native plants, Aster koraiensis, Iris ensata, and Hemerocallis fulva. Kor. J. Hort. Sci. Technol.
27:371-379.

Ro H.M, Kim P.G., Lee I.B., Yiem M.S., & Woo S.Y. (2001) Photosynthetic characteristics and
growth responses of dwarf apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Fuji) saplings after 3 years of
exposure to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and temperature. Trees 15:195-203.

308
Status of Environmentally Friendly Farming Certification in Namyang-Ju City

Park, N.S. & Bea, W. H.
1
Namyangju City Agricultural Extension Center, Korea
pns@korea.kr

Key words: Environmentally friendly farming production, Promotion of certified
environmentally friendly farming, Farmers education, Consumers education, Organic
World Congress

Introduction
Since 1978, Namyangju City has been a major center of organic farming in Korea. In Namyangju,
using pesticide and fertilizer has been strictly restricted to provide clean water to the metropolitan
area. In addition, Namyangju has consumer markets with 20 million people and nationwide
distribution networks. At the IFOAM General Assembly held in Modena, Italy in 2008, Namyangju
was selected as the hosting city for the Organic World Congress for the first time among Asian
cities. Hosting the Organic World Congress will be a great opportunity for development in Korean
agriculture and for revitalization of organic farming in Korea.

Education on environmentally friendly farming certification
The Agriculture Technical Center in Namyangju has regularly held education sessions on
environmentally friendly farming certification once every month. Under the theme of economically
and technically sustainable environmentally friendly farming practices, farmers can learn about
environmentally friendly soil management, important environmentally friendly technologies,
making process of environmentally friendly farming materials, microorganisms, natural amino acids,
and organic liquid fertilizers. In particular, farmers can get support in acquiring certification of
environmentally friendly farming such as guidelines, methods and ways to get the certification of
environmentally friendly farming through field education. The practical environmentally friendly
farming education helps farmers in Namyangju to practice organic farming beyond low-pesticide
farming. To gain competitiveness and upgrade the city image as the center of environmentally
friendly farming, Namyangju has focused on expanding the number of households and areas which
engage in environmentally friendly farming.

International certification of environmentally friendly farming
Namyangju is number one in terms of the number of environmentally friendly farming household in
Korea. Pursuing international certification of environmentally friendly farming in 97 cases (113ha),
25 households which cultivate wood-cultivated jinseng, acanthopanax, mountain vegetables,
oriental raisin tree, and shiitake around Soodong areas received IFOAM certification on
acanthopanax, green vegetables and mountain vegetables produced in Namyangju. In addition, Wild
Grass Foods (CEO, Lee Euiyoung) is trying to gain access to the global organic market by receiving
certification for organic processing and management on dandelion extraction, tea, and acanthopanax
fermented tea. The total area received national and international organic certification has reached 30
ha and it is expected that the total areas of organic farming will be greatly increased. Namyangju
City and the agricultural cooperative association focus on nurturing international organic farming
and organic processing sectors through financial supports.

Current status of certified environmentally friendly farming

World Organic Farming
1
Namyangju City Agricultural Extension Center, Jingeon-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, E-Mail:
pns@korea.kr, Internet: www.nais.or.kr
309
As people are interested in well-being and food safety, organic farming has increased around the
world. According to an IFOAM report, 720,000 households in 132 countries were engaged in
organic farming at 3,000ha in 2006.
Korea Rural Economic Institute noted that the total organic farming areas around the world have
increased to 30,420,000ha in 2006 from 7,500,000ha in 1998 with an average growth rate of 19.1%
annually. The total number of organic farming household reaches 718,744 in 132 countries.
Australia (12,300,000ha) ranks the first, in terms of total organic farming area, followed by China
(2,300,000ha), Argentina (2,220,000ha), USA (1,620,000ha), and Italy (1,140,000ha). In particular,
thanks to strong support from the government, China had 4,615 organic food manufactures,
72,000,000 tons of outputs, and 9,990,000ha of inspection areas in 2006. In Japan, import of
organic agricultural products is increasing. Among 1,343,857 tons of certified organic agricultural
products, domestic certified organic agricultural products accounted for a mere 3.6% of 48,591 ton
and foreign certified products accounted for 1,295,266 ton in 2006 in Japan. Among foreign
certified products, fruits are the number one products with 131,538 ton, followed by vegetables with
106,199 ton.
The world organic food market recorded an average annual growth of 13.6% from USD 18 billion
in 2000 to USD 38.6 billion in 2006. North America and Europe account for 97% of total organic
food consumption. It is estimated that in 2006, the European market size was USD 20 billion.
Germany (USD 5.7 billion), the UK (USD $3.6 billion), Italy (USD 2.4 billion) and France (USD
2.1 billion) accounted for 75% of the organic market in Europe.
Though there are some national differences, organic farming is maintaining 10-20% of annual
growth globally. Europe, North America, and Australia, higher income countries, are leading the
organic market growth. It is expected that as incomes grow, the organic farming and organic food
market will be further expanded. The growth of organic farming will have a direct impact on the
organic processed food market in terms of market size.

Organic farming in Korea
The total organic farming production recorded 107,179 ton, or 6% of the total agricultural
production, as of December 2007.

Tab. 1: Agricultural products
Year
Total Organic Pesticide-free Low-pesticide
No. of
household
Area
(ha)
No. of
household
Area
(ha)
No. of
household
Area
(ha)
No. of
household
Area
(ha)
2007 131,460
122,
882
7,507 9,729 31,540 27,288 92,413
85,
865





Tab. 2: Livestock
Year
Total Organic HACCP
No. of
household
Output (ton)
No. of
household
Output (ton)
No.of
household
Output (ton)
2007 763 13,562 99 2,002 664 11,560
*Organic (transition) was incorporated into organic from March 29, 2007 according to the revision
of the Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Act

Tab. 3: Status of environmentally friendly agriculture certification in Namyangju (2008).
310
Year
Total Organic Pesticide-free Low-pesticide
No. of
household
Area
(ha)
No. of
household)
Area
(ha)
No. of
household
area(ha)
No. of
household
Area
(ha)
2008 169 165 68 51 44 47 57 67

Tab. 4: Status of Environmentally friendly Agriculture Certification by item in Namyangju
(2010)
Classifi
ed
Organic
(transition)
Pesticide-free Low-pesticide HACCP Total
No.
of
hous
ehol
d
Area
()
No.
of
hous
ehold
Area
()
No.
of
hous
ehold
Area
()
No. of
househ
old
Area
()
No.
of
house
hold
Area
()
Fruit 2 9,786 9 42,954 124
1,633,43
7
0 0 135
1,686,1
77
Vegetab
les
94 657,009 124 912,613 87 629,246 0 0 305
2,198,8
68
Crop 13 26,019 130 673,169 0 0 0 0 143
699,
188
Special
Crop
10 784,692 42 466,472 0 0 0 0 52
1,251,1
64
Livesto
ck
0 0 0 0 0 0 33 0 33 0
Total 119
1,477,50
6
305
2,095,20
8
211
2,262,68
3
33 0 668
5,835,3
97

Tab. 5: Target of environmentally friendly agriculture certification in Namyangju (2012).
Classified 2008 2010 2012
Organic
(transition)
Household 68 (1.3%) 119 (2.3%) 172 (3.3%)
Area (ha) 49 (1.2%) 147 (3.7%) 170 (4.2%)
Pesticide-free
Household 37 (0.7%) 305 (5.8%) 534 (10.2%)
Area (ha) 24 (0.6%) 210 (5.2%) 308 (7.7%)
Low-pesticide
Household 57 (1.1%) 211 (4.0%) 211 (4.0%)
Area (ha) 89 (2.2%) 227 (5.6%) 227 (5.6%)
GAP
Household - - 40 (0.8%)
Area (ha) - - 45 (1.1%)
HACCP
Household 7 (1.2%) 33 (6.2%) 43 (7.4%)
No. of head 1,100 (3.5%) 5,000 (16.0%) 6,350 (20.0%)
*Management of environmentally friendly agriculture certification: low-pesticide GAP,
pesticide-free, organic farming

The number of household with environmentally friendly agriculture certification in Namyangju is
expected to increase in the wake of holding the Organic World Congress in Korea. Farmers are
actively participating in organic farming with various city supports. As farmers express their
311
interest in the organic farming technician certification course, Namyangju will have a bright future
for its agriculture.

Education on organic farming and local food
Recently, many food issues have arisen. To provide safe food and food choice options to consumers,
education sessions on organic farming and local food were held on September 4-29, 2009 to
Namyangju citizens. The education sessions included topics such as what is organic farming,
environmentally friendly farming, and Local food, Slow food. By holding educational events
annually, we can promote consumption and understanding of organic farming and promote a change
in consumer behavior to purchase environmentally friendly certified products.

Conclusion
In these days, environmentally friendly farming is getting more familiar. By holding the Organic
World Congress from September 26 to October 5, 2011, Namyangju City plans to expand
environmentally friendly certified areas to 750ha by 2012 to increase agricultural household income.
To do this, Farmcity, an internet agricultural market, will be expanded and reorganized. In addition,
distribution channels using subway stations will be expanded. One of the most important
achievements of holding the Organic World Congress is that the city image of Namyangju is
upgraded to an eco-friendly city. In the wake of holding the event, Namyangju plans to nurture the
agricultural complex around North Han River into a global center for organic farming businesses
and to connect organic farming to the highest industry level (primary+secondary+tertiary industry
combined), creating synergy effects for realizing the value of agriculture.

312
Research of Economical and Social Potential within Organic Farming in
the Central Hungarian Region

R. VARGA* reka.varga@uni-corvinus.hu , L. RADICS*, A. DIVKY-ERTSEY*, A.
TOBIAS*, L. CSAMBALIK*
*DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGICAL AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM,
CORVINUS UNIVERSITY OF BUDAPEST, BUDAPEST, 1117, VILLNYI STREET 29-
43
TH
, HUNGARY

Introduction
Environment is now one of the most important issues in the Eurpean Union. Within these,
conservation of biodiversity has a great importance. From agricultural point of wiew organic
farming systems performs this criteria mostly. It is well known, that biodiversity of organic
farming is much higher than the conventional farming systems, however it is not possible to
quantify these differences between two organic farms or between an organic farmer and a
conventional farmer, etc. Indicators can be useful tools in this problem, for they can replicate
the complex reality. In our experiment we measured the organic farmers, traders and
processors of the central region of Hungary to examine the central regions farmers, traders
and processors, to measure the research development and to evolve a rating system between
the members of the organic sector. The experiment is realized with the aim of TMOP-
4.2.1/B-09/1/KMR-2010-0005, Fenntarthat fejlds lhet rgi lhet teleplsi tj.

Material and methods
The development of the indicators. We started the development of the indicators at the
autumn of 2010. To this we underlined the indicators from our previous projects and we
adopted a lot of indicators from other researchers survey. We founded some really good
indicators which could not have been used in Hungarian circumstances but gave really good
results at the original countrys survey. In these cases we adopted these indicators and
transformed them to the Hungarian circumstances. For example, Ambrosia artemisiifolia (L.)
is a common and irritating weed in Hungary but in Finland it doesnt make any problems. So
those indicators which searches the the weed population of a territory, but doesnt count with
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (L.) are not appropriate to this conditions. We discussed the
indicators at the department and some other places where we completed this survey with the
suggestions of the experts.

While we developed the indicators, it was very important to examine the companies as a
complex system not just an economic participant but a possible place for preservation of
genetic diversity so we investigated the diversity of species and types for example , as an
area of social responsibility so we investigated indicators of this question and as a
possible place of pollution so we investigated indicators of pollution as well.

The respondents. We are responding all farmers, traders and processors dealing with organic
farming of the Central Region of Hungary, who contributes us to visit them, examine their
conditions and ask for their opinion. We got the addresses from a public list of farmers,
traders and processors from one of the Hungarian inspection body, and we are planning to get
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addresses also from the other Hungarian inspection body as well. The total numbers of the
potential respondents are more than 150 but we as can down from the first few request lots of
them dont want to service us.

Indicator groups. There are some question which were asked to all of participants. We ask all
of the participants for example, the number of years they are dealing with organic
farming/products, the reasons why they are dealing with organic farming/products, we ask
their foreign language knowledge, the products they are dealing with, research topics whitch
they are interested in, their plans for the future, their forecast for their role of organic sector,
of their sales channels, of their commercial strategy, the infrastructure what they are using,
and some questions about their employment strategy etc.

There are some questions which are specifically speaks to he farmers/traders/processors. For
example we ask the farmers about their cropping and livestock system, their type usage (for
genetic diversity of cropping and livestock), for their soil usage system, crop rotation system,
for biological control system, from their pest management etc. We ask the traders from the
origin of the products they are trading with, etc.

Data collection methods. Our previous experiences showed that communication and data
collection from the farmers are not effective when we use internet and e-mail request and it
doesnt give an accurate and useful picture of farmers, so it is very important for us to make
personal contacts with the farmers.

We visit the farmers personally by appointment. The conversations usually hold for two-three
hours. After the questionnaires filling, it is able to observe the farms circumstances as well.

Results
Premiminary results of the survey. The first field recordings started in the October of 2010. It
runs untill June of 2011. In April 2010 we have some premiminary results which are now
published. We visited almost one fourth of the farmers, which is 25 producers and almost the
fifth of the traders, which is 10 companies. We havent start to visit the other inspection
bodys partners. Some conclusions can be already drawn from the preliminary results.

The farmers and the traders as well differed from each other in the aspect of the time dealing
with organic farming. Most of the farmer deals with organic farming more than 10 years. The
average time they are dealing with organic farming is 11 years. In contrast most of the traders
deals with organic faming less than 10 years, their average time dealing with organic farming
is 7 years.

There are several reasons why these people deals with organic farming. Traders usually
follow the market demand. Environment protection is a less typical reason within the sphere
of them. In the contrast of the traders most of the farmers more or less follows some kind of
environmental principes and only 14% of them justifies their business form with market
needs.

Most of the farmers produce only organic products while the traders do not follows this kind
of trend. Some of them trades only with organic goods, because for some of them trading
with organic goods doesnt have great importance or some of them trades more or less the
same volume of organic and conventional goods.
314

The farmers usually sell their goods fresh or unprocessed. They ususally dont make major
prosessing, only 14% of them does prosessing activity. Althuogh in this early stage of the
survey we met only with two processers so we may cannot get correct conclusions from their
activity but it seems that in this sector prosessing havent got too strong significance.

Most of the traders deal with import only, 20% of them trades also within the country. Less
traders deals with export but these exporters trades with bigger volumens than importers. The
traders are not too big. They usually emlpoing 1 or 2 person.

The farmers gereral wiew from the development of the farm was that the most limiting
factor was the lack of capital and the wholesalers low interest for their products. They also
resented that the low awareness and general ignodance of the society is drastical limiting
factor of their sellings.

The farmers and the traders language knowledge is variable. Generally they can speak
English or German, and sometimes French or Italian. It is not a unique among the farmers if
they cannot speak any forign language.

The buyers dont show any typical range of trends, there are more farmer, who sells his
whole crop for one customer for years. The occasional buyers are usually not too large-scaled.
In general the regular customers are the most dominant.

Conclusions
Indicatorst are good tools, to evaluate the complex systems as ecosystems. In our surway we
developed an indicator list which covers a wide area from the organic farming, prosessing
and trading, from the size of the company through socioeconomic aspects to diversity.
We have just started our research so we dont have our final results but there are some major
conclusions which can be deducted. Farmers usually deal with organic farming for longer
time than traders. Environmental protection have usually more importance for farmers than
traders. Organic farmers are usually small or medium sized, and they usually deal only with
unprocessed organic goods. In contrast of the farmers, the traders usually deal with
nonorganic goods also.
We finnish our mensuration at the spring of 2011 and we will have all the results to the
autumn of 2011.

315
Organic Agriculture in the Central Province of Sri Lanka
Ranjith de Silv
Gami Seva Sevana (Guarantee) Limited, Sri Lanka
gamiseva@sltnet.lk

Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian ocean and has an area of 64,000 Sq: Kilometers. Sri
Lanka was regarded as the granary of the East, which clearly indicates that Agriculture had
been flourishing in this country. This was due to the forward thinking and efforts of the
Kings who had built numerous tanks to irrigate the entire agricultural belt. Some of these
tanks still exist and bears witness to the attention the kings had paid to agriculture.

We are based in the Kandy District of the Central Province of Sri Lanka and engaged in the
promotion of Organic agriculture for the past 25 years. The soil and climatic conditions of
this district is favorable for agriculture. . Therefore farmers are able to achieve success in the
cultivation of Tea and spices like Black Pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg, Ginger Turmeric etc.. At
present Sri Lanka exports a substantial quantity of OrgancTea and Spices. We also produce
Organic Tea, Spices and Vegetables for local sales.

We have a network of farmers and categorized in groups, between 5 to 10 members in a
group and the total number of farmers are in the region of 500. At the moment no collective
marketing is done and the farmers sell their organic produce in the village itself. However
there is a big demand for organic produce in the towns and the small farmers are unable to
gain access to the urban markets as they are not in a position to guarantee consistent supplies.

The farmers have been given the requisite training to engage in organic agriculture. Training
programmes are conducted at our training center and at our Demonstration garden for the
benefit of the farmers and at the farmer land site if necessary. Our Extension Officers visit
these farmers weekly and conduct meetings. At these meetings the farmers bring forward the
problems encountered by them and the Extension officers are able to give the necessary
guidance to overcome such problems. Monthly meetings are also held for group leaders at
which time the Extension officers are able to give the necessary guidance which the leaders
are able to convey to the farmers.

At these meetings, the Extension Officers make it a point to educate the farmers on the
importance and benefits of becoming members of the Gami Seva Sevana Savings based
credit scheme. Our small group of farmers are eligible to become members of this scheme
and after a period of saving, a farmer qualifies to apply for a loan ranging from Sri Lankan
Rupees 5000.00 to . 50,000.00 to invest in the development of their Agricultural lands,
Animal Husbandry, Small Business enterprises and Trade. The group guarantees the
repayment of the loan but the Extension officers remind the farmers on the repayment and
also monitor the progress of the activity for which the loan were granted.

During the field visits the extension officers are able to carry out the internal inspection and
also go through the maintenance of the records by each farmer.

Initially we had carried out a survey of the farmers who had tea and spices in their home
gardens. Thereafter we were able to give the farmers the necessary guidance to increase
production in the organic way. Most of the farmers were able to sell their produce in the
local market. Now the groups wish to gain access to the city markets to market their spice
316
produce to increase value.. The farmers have begun to collectively attend to the drying
process. For this purpose a Solar Drier has been installed and the drying of the produce by
the utilization of the solar energy, it has become very beneficial and effective.. This drier is
used especially for the purpose of drying the spices. But we have had the opportunity to dry
Jak and Breadfruit. We are observing that some persons have shown keen interest in
purchasing Dried Jak and Breadfruit. Such dried produce could be kept for 6 months without
using preservative. .This has increased the income of the group.
317
Story of a Legendary Success in the Organic Farming Industry: Jangan Farm
Earns KRW 10 Billon from Lettuce

Ryu, G. M.
The representative of Jangan farm

Introduction
Jangan Farm, a new concept-based health-promotion product company in the 21st century, has been
called the worlds best farm of real organic vegetables. It is a company that delivers the true benefits
of nature by focusing on food, one of the many benefits of nature, returns the benefit back to nature,
and supplies consumers with pesticide-free, unprocessed vegetables.
My name is Ryu, Guen Mo and I am the CEO of Jangan Farm. We grow more than 150 kinds of
vegetables in 396,000 m
2
land located in Yongwon-ri, Sinni-myeon, Chungju-si,
Chungcheongbuk Province, Korea with over 200 employees. Our Differentiation-In-5-Areas-
Campaign for production, sales, consumption, health and pride is well-received by consumers.
About 10 consumers from around the nation visit the farm on every weekend not only to see the 135
vinyl greenhouses but also to experience various attractions including the organic cow ranch
operated to produce natural compost, and vegetable tasting events.

The organic vegetables of the farm are recognized as the best-quality produts by consumers, and
have received various certifications such as environmentally friendly, organic and high-grade
farming products (GAP) certifications, ISO 9001, Innoviz, etc. The products are sold for the highest
prices for its kind in the nation, and the sales volume of lettuce is KRW 10 billion. Also, the farm
has been supplying organic farming products to the United States Pacific Command since last year.

Conclusion
When everyone was leaving the agriculture, I believed that it was impossible to achieve a success
with ordinary ideas, ordinary methods and ordinary businesses. This belief led me to draw up
various new methods and translate them into action.
I have developed creative organic farming methods by continuing to endeavor with a strong will to
grow the worlds best organic lettuce for the first time in Korea. I have succeeded in receiving
certifications with a strong belief that corporate farming is the only future for the organic
agriculture. I hope that Jangan Farm will pave the way for the future of the Korean organic farming
industry.








318



The leftovers are used as feed to cows
Cultivation by using environmentally
friendly methods and compost
Packing with care
The best-quality products are provided to
10 farmers
319






320
Case Study on Operating Environmentally Friendly Organic Farm Experience
Program for Children at Childcare Centers

Song, J. S.
Toegyewon-myeon, Namyangju City, Korea

Introduction
My wife is operating two childcare centers and studying early childhood education at graduate
school, while I am running an organic farm. By linking my job (organic farming) and my wifes
(childcare), this study has been conducted to find a better way to provide safe organic food for the
children at the childcare centers in a more stable way and to enhance their health by utilizing the
organic farm as a place where children can get first-hand farming experience.

Materials and methods
General information about the 2 childcare centers

Ssangyong Piaget Childcare Center (Private Childcare Facility)

No. of Teachers: 7
No. of Registered Children: 30 (aged between 2 and 5)
Area: 132 (40 pyeong)

Kukdong Piaget Childcare Center (In-house Childcare Facility)

No. of Teachers: 10
No. of Registered Children: 20 (aged between 0 and 2) (childcare center exclusively for infants)
Area: 142 (43 pyeong)

General information about the organic farm

Location: Songneung-ri Jingen-eup Namyangju City, Korea
Area: About 660 (200 pyong)

Practicing farm experience program

Growing cucumbers and luffas in a tunnel structure

First, a tunnel structure that will prop up cucumber and luffa plants has been built using some
recycled bamboo that was going to be used as fuel, and it was built low enough to be reached by the
children when the fruits are born. Then, some old strings used for tying peppers have been tied on
the side of the structure to lead the cucumber and luffa stalks and discarded fishing nets were
covered on the top of the structure.

Tomato/Cherry tomato-picking experience
Melon and water melon-picking experience
Potato-digging experience
Sweet-potato digging experience
Pumpkin-picking experience

This year, there has been a serious damage on the pumpkins due to pumpkin fruit flies. If fruit flies
insert their ovipositors into pumpkins or gourds and lay eggs there, the eggs become maggots,
321
which eat the inside of the vegetables. Then those pumpkin or gourd fruits do not ripen and most of
them fall too early. Because of this problem, pumpkin-picking practice could not be performed.

Making scoops with gourds

As gourd fruits grow bigger, some bee-like insects attached themselves on the fruits and sucked the
fruit resins, and later the gourds turned black. It has been found out through the Internet that those
insects were indeed pumpkin fruit flies. Once those fruit flies insert their ovipositors into the gourds
and lay their eggs inside, the eggs become maggots, which eat the inside of the gourds. Then, even
after the gourd fruits fall to the ground, the fruit flies continue to grow under the ground. In order to
prevent the aggravation of the problem, grape envelopes were applied to cover around the gourd
fruits immediately, as recommended. Unfortunately, the action must have been too late and it was
not possible to perform the scoop-making practice using gourd fruits.

Organic cabbage and radish-harvesting practice

In 2008, the children at the two childcare centers were asked to participate in the cabbage and radish
harvesting process. Some photos of the children were taken when they were working, and each
student went home with one cabbage and one radish together with the photos, which delighted their
parents.

At that time, because some insecticide had been applied before seeding (or before planting in the
case of cabbage), strictly speaking, it was not pesticide-free farming. However, no pesticide was
used after the sowing process, which is why there were so many cabbage worms. As about 300
cabbages grew bigger, it became harder to eliminate those worms because they hid in the chasms of
the leaves, and our attempts to catch them with our hands caused lots of damage on the cabbage
leaves. Later, tweezers were used for catching the worms in order to prevent such damage.

In 2009, in order to avoid the same problem and block the cabbage butterflies, a cover was put up
on the cabbages right after the seedling process.

Due to the cover, there was little damage caused by the insects. This time, however, there were so
many aphids, and it was not noticed immediately because the cabbages were covered. Most of the
Aphids were controlled when egg yolk oil was applied on the cabbages. When the growth status
was compared between the cabbages on which pesticide or chemical fertilizer was not applied and
those where it was applied, it was visible that the size of the former was smaller than the latter.
However, we thought that the size doesnt really matter as far as we can eat safe and reliable food.

In October, in order to prevent freezing injury, all the cabbages were tied up. Radishes were left as
they were, but on November 2, they were all harvested because the weather forecast said there
would be a sudden cold wave on the next day and the temperature would go down to 6C. Some of
the radishes were separately stored so that they could be used for making winter kimchi. The next
day, the temperature really went down and all of the unharvested radishes in the neighborhood
farms were frozen. We tried to warn our neighbors about the weather through a text message, but
we heard later that the radishes of those unreached were all frozen and spoiled.

Management of organic farms

Weeding and disease and insect prevention

Weeding was done only through mulching and cutting, and no herbicide was used at all. For disease
and insect prevention, only environmentally friendly microbial pesticide was used and no organic
322
synthetic pesticide was used. However, because of that, cruciferous vegetables (cabbage and young
radish) were damaged quite seriously. Our cabbage and radish seeds were sown on April 7


and as
soon as they were budded, the damage started to appear. To prevent further injuries from any
diseases or insects, microbial pesticide (Parkland) was applied twice on May 2 and May 9, but the
result was not very good. So, we covered the vegetables, propped up by some discarded bamboo,
which seemed to be effective this time. After that, when the cover and microbial pesticide were
used together, the disease and insect prevention effect was improved.
Soil management

No chemical fertilizer or herbicide was used at all and only animal manure was used as fertilizer.
Also, ballast and vinyl screening job was done regularly and mud chunks were grinded in an effort
to continuously improve the physical quality of the soil.

Utilization of the slopes

In order to prevent soil loss, stonecrops were planted on the slope where previously livestock
manure was piled. Also, pumpkin seeds were sown on the mid slope so that later its vines would
cover the whole slope area.

Reaction of young children, their parents and teachers

The children loved participating in the farming experience program, and didnt mind tumbling on
the ground, touching the soil and getting dirty while doing the farming job. And it clearly indicated
the need for ecological education for young children.

Their parents also liked the farming experience more and more. In particular, they loved the idea of
not using any chemical fertilizers at all and having pesticide-free environmentally friendly organic
farming. If the size of the farm was big enough, it would be great to invite parents to participate in
the experience program together.

Teachers also seemed to like the farming experience program a lot. They went out to the field
together with the children, demonstrated them what to do, and asked them to practice it themselves.
Because the teachers knew the vegetables had been grown without any pesticides, they tasted the
vegetables on the spot and sometimes ate them together with the children.
The most efficient operation method

It will be most desirable if the experience farm is located near the childcare center or they are
located in the same space. In that case, safe food will be supplied in a stable manner and it will be
easier for everybody to participate in the farming experience program. Also the childcare center
could be decorated by various fruit plants such as luffas and gourds, which will provide better a
landscape and environment where our children can grow healthier and brighter.

Conclusion
Children are the hope of our future. If they cannot grow healthy, the future of our nation and all of
us will be dark. Considering this fact, this study has looked at a way to provide safe food for young
children at some childcare facilities on a constant basis. The conclusion suggests that one of the
most desirable ways to operate childcare centers in the future could be to combine the operation of
childcare centers with eco-friendly child education program at organic farms.

323
Impact Analysis of an Organic Farming Project in Tamil Nadu, India

Subramanian, K., Parimala, K., Balasubramanian, A.V. & Vijayalakshmi, K
1
Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems.

No. 30, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai600085, India.
E-mail: info@ciks.org
Website: www.ciks.org


Key words: Impact analysis, organic farming

Abstract
Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) is involved in promoting organic farming for the past
twelve years in Tamil Nadu state of India, focusing on capacity building of farmers in organic
farming, production of educational and training material, research in organic farming and the
building up of organic farmers institutions An impact analysis was carried out in the project area
where organic farming project has been implemented between the years 2007-2009. This study was
conducted in seven villages. The assessment utilized Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) as a
tool for impact assessment. The analysis revealed that organic farmers had improved levels of social
assets, knowledge assets and physical assets. From the study, it was evident that empowerment,
improvement in confidence and improvement in status vis--vis conventional farmers were also
noted. A project to promote organic farming in an area not only brings farm lands under organic
production methods but also generates useful assets and empowers organic farmers.

Introduction
Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) is a civil society organization promoting organic
farming and agro-biodiversity in India. It assists farmer groups in adoption of organic farming in
2400 ha in five districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. During the project period between 2007-
2009 selected farmers in three districts were trained in organic farming practices, organic
certification, provided assistance in marketing and aided in building farmers institutions like self-
help groups. In order to assess the impact of organic farming project, a study was commissioned in
seven villages where organic farming was promoted.

Objectives of the study
The major objective of the study was to assess the impact of organic farming among organic
farmers in terms of human assets, capital assets, financial assets, natural assets and physical assets
generated and identify changes in level of empowerment through participation in the organic
farming project.

Methodology
Seven villages in three districts of Dindigul, Thiruvannamalai, and Nagapattinam districts in Tamil
Nadu state of India were selected. Field visits and meetings with organic farmer groups were
conducted.

1
Subramanian, K., Parimala, K., Balasubramanian, A.V. & Vijayalakshmi, K
Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems.
No. 30, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai600085, India.
E-mail: info@ciks.org
Website: www.ciks.org

324
The major tool that was used in the study was Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF). The
Sustainable Livelihood Framework provides a framework that is more appropriate to the
perspectives and realities of poor people (Chambers, 1995). Livelihood refers broadly to a means of
making a living, and includes the assets, access to institutions and processes, and strategies that a
person utilizes to achieve livelihood outcomes (Ashley and Carney, 1999). There are a number of
SL frameworks that have been developed and adapted by donor agencies, NGOs, and research
organizations (Arun et al, 2004). During the process of assessment, emphasis was laid upon certain
key questions which helped in focusing the direction of assessment. This was to ensure that the
focus was not lost during the process of assessment of such a project with a set of diverse activities
and anticipated outputs. Central to empowerment is the building up of individual and collective
assets because assets are something which the farmers own, without which farmers do not have
much choice. These assets themselves are influenced by the organization and institutional context
which govern the use of these assets. Therefore after a thorough consideration as to what tool to be
used, finally it was decided to use the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) tool to for the
purpose of assessing the impact of the project.

Results
The study revealed that the project has been successful in many aspects especially in increasing the
various assets of farmers. Emphasis on various local technologies and organizing the farmers into
groups and provision of revolving fund, establishing village level physical infrastructures like
biofertilizer production units, oil expellers, neem seed crushing units etc. have increased the overall
dynamism within the project.

All the farmers of the project were aware of the various technologies at different levels being
recommended by CIKS as a part of the project. Major technologies included, green manuring,
vermicompost application, botanical pesticides which include five leaf extract, neem cake
application, panchagavya, biofertilizers application and other biological pest control measures like
use of parasites and predators. Farmers expressed that the technologies were comparatively easy for
them to adopt than conventional farming. Farmers were aware of the changes organic manures had
brought in their soil. They expressed that organic manures had improved their soil fertility by
making the soil more friable. Therefore they had converted only part of their lands into organic.
Farmers also expressed the fear that changing over to completely organic will reduce their yield and
that is one of the reasons why they are changing over partly. The cost of cultivation has come down
because of organic farming by around 30 40 %. Farmers expressed that introduction organic
farming technologies had actually increased their peace of mind and made them free from the
vicious cycle of continuous use of pesticides.


Figure 1: Overall status of Community Vermicompost Units in Sustainability Livelihood
Framework
325


The above figure depicts the vermicompost units in terms of livelihood assets, vulnerability context
and livelihood outcomes. The green arrows indicate positive factors while the red arrows indicate
negative factors for vermicompost production at the group level. The status of assets accessed by
organic farmers is explained as follows.

Social assets: Social asset status of organic farmers had by and large increased in the project area.
The contact with agricultural department had increased. Involvement of women groups in
agriculture had increased due to the introduction of organic farming project. This involvement is in
the form of members of women groups in preparation of vermicompost and other organic inputs
especially botanical pesticides.

Financial assets: Organic farming project had definitely increased the savings habit of the farmers
and the members in the group. This has also enhanced the credibility of the members of the group
with banks such that these banks are ready to provide loans to the groups based on their
performance within the group. Establishment of neem seed crushing unit in a project village had
increased the potential of organic farmers in enhancing their income by neem seed collection and
depositing the same at CIKS collection centres.

Physical assets: Among the physical assets made available through the project, provision of
agricultural implements had played a major role. CIKS had also helped in establishing a neem seed
crushing unit thereby enhancing the availability of organic manure for farmers. This has enhanced
the physical asset position of the organic farmers by establishing physical infrastructure. Setting up
of a seed bank had also increased the physical assets of organic farmers as now they can store their
organic seeds exclusively in seed banks.

Human assets: The knowledge, skills and attitudes of organic farmers had been enhanced through
the project on various aspects like health, information sharing on agriculture, livestock rearing
knowledge, certain legal aspects, leadership ability etc. Farmers had enhanced knowledge about
organic agricultural practices and this had been possible because of the farmers being organized as
groups.

326
Natural Assets: Natural assets which include water, land, biodiversity and local environment, had
not increased but minimally. The increase in natural resources as per farmers perception is in the
form of land fertility and increase in biodiversity, which included enhanced noticeable number of
earthworms in their soil and increase in natural enemy population in their fields.

Empowerment of farmers: According to farmers, before being a part of the organic farming
project, they were practicing chemical farming and they hardly had any choice. But after becoming
organic farmers they had a choice. When there is a perceived pest problem, then the farmers knew
what to do, since they have their solution to pest problem within their own households in the form
of botanical pesticides which was costing less. Moreover a number of trainings, exposure visits,
capacity building etc. on various aspects had helped the farmers in gaining knowledge, skills etc. in
various aspects of organic farming.

Conclusion

Farmers have been impacted by the organic farming project implemented by Centre for Indian
Knowledge Systems, by many positive ways. Organic farmers had improved their knowledge on a
new set of farming practice (organic farming technologies), drastically reduced their dependency on
external inputs and are able to produce inputs like neem cake and liquid organic nutrients. Their
respect in the community had improved after becoming organic farmers and now they had better
access to financial and natural assets, although they wanted improvement on these. The analysis
also revealed that their level of confidence and empowerment had increased after participation in
the project. It was evident that a project to promote organic farming in an area not only brought
farm lands under organic production but also generated useful assets and empowered organic
farmers.

References

Ashley, C & Carney, D. 1999. Sustainable livelihoods: Lessons from early experience. London:
Department for International Development
Chambers, R. 1987. Sustainable livelihoods, environment and development: putting poor rural
people first? Sussex: Institute of Development Studies
Chambers, R. 1995. Poverty and livelihoods: Whose reality counts? Sussex: Institute of
Development Studies.
Arun, S., Heeks, R. & Morgan, S. 2004. Researching ICT-based enterprise for women in
developing countries: A livelihoods perspective. Retrieved March 2, 2007 from
http://www.womenictenterprise.org/LivelihoodsResearch.doc

327
Environmental Benefits of Organic Farming Indian Experiences

Vaidya, C.S.
1
& Partap, T.
2


Key Words: Human health benefits, livestock health, Biodiversity, Ground water
recharging.

Abstract
The benefits of organic farming are not confined to economic superiority but are manifested
in the form of health benefits for farming families and livestock. There is a positive impact
on resurgence of medicinal weds and helpful predators and other wild life. This has helped
not only in enhancing biodiversity but has positive impact on crop productivity and cost of
cultivation. The on-farm benefits also include the better water retention capacity of farm soil
and decline in soil erosion and degradation. The present paper evaluates such environmental
benefits in terms of farmers responses in seven states of India.

Introduction
Organic agriculture is a serious option for improving crop productivity, food security and
environmental impact of agriculture. The challenge lies in creating an environment in which
organic is treated as a complimentary approach and efforts are focussed on harvesting
benefits of organic agriculture. At a time when India is facing slow growth rate in
agricultural sector, organic farming is taking roots and being talked about as a viable
alternative to address some of the ills of Indian agriculture. The Indian organic movement
has reached a stage where it is moving to secure a niche in by 2015. It has higher economic
viability and has numerous other benefits including environmental benefits and presently, an
effort has been made to document some of these environmental benefits of organic farming as
perceived by the farmers.

Materials and Methods
The survey was conducted in seven states of India, which covered a wide range of agro
climatic zones and agriculture systems with several lead crops. The lead crops investigated
are food crops, cotton, soybean, vegetables, medicinal herbs, plantation crops and
commercial field crops. A sample of 199 organic farmers was used. Information was gathered
through interactive group meetings in villages and discussions with the lead organic farmers.

Discussions and Conclusions
Organic Farming and Human Health Concerns
The availability of food without harmful chemicals is a boon for the health of farming
families and consumers as well. There was noticeable impact of non-use of poisonous
pesticides on the farming family members especially those growing commercial crops. About
53% farmers reported positive impact on health (Table 1). This percentage was highest in
Tamil Nadu due to nascent organic farming making immediate impact on the health
conditions. In states like Maharashtra and Karnataka positive health impact has been a
routine thing. Lowest percentage was found in Uttarakhand as farmers used low quantities of
fertilizer and no pesticides. As a result, the medical expenses have come down to about half.
1
Senior Research officer, AER Centre, H.P. University, Shimla (HP) 171005, India
2
Vice Chancellor, Sher-e- Kashmir Agricultural University, Srinagar (J&K), India
328
Organic farming has been able to significantly reduce accidental poisoning and suicides
among farming community.

Animal Health Concerns
The positive impact of organic farming on animal health has been due increased fodder
availability and improved quality. This adds to the economic gains. The percentage of
farmers who positively responded to impact of increased fodder availability on animal health
was only about 26 per cent (Table 1); it was due to failure to establish the relationship
between the two. The veterinary expenses have come down by 37 per cent. This percentage
was 20 to 30 percent in case of Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. The decline
was between 40-60 percent in Kerala and only 0-5 percent in Uttarakhand. In Karnataka and
Maharashtra, the farmers reported 50-100 percent reduction in veterinary expenses. The
increase in fodder supply has been predominant in Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra,
partially due to increase in on-farm weeds. In other states, 20-45 percent farmers reported
increased supply of fodder. The extent of such increase has been highest in Maharashtra with
20-30 percent increase.

Organic Milk and Organic Manure
Neither the farmers nor the consumers are still aware of the positive qualities of organic milk
as a result the organic milk production has not translated into higher demand or prices. A
small percentage of farmers, only about 7 per cent, reported increase in milk production as a
result of organic feed and other compatible practices. But it did not translate in to higher
demand for organic milk or higher prices mainly due to ignorance among consumers. On the
other hand the concept of organic manure was new to almost entire sample. Only about 10
per cent farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra understood that it is a channel for transferring
nutrients to crops without harmful impact of chemicals and it is an essential prerequisite for
maintaining organic integrity of crops. These farmers observed that organic manure retards
the growth of harmful organisms and are more beneficial. More than 90 per cent organic
farmers were oblivious of importance of this linkage for transferring harmful chemicals or
beneficial nutrients to crops.

Increased Incidence of Weeds and its Impact on Labour
Abstaining from all chemical inputs in farm operations has resulted in increased weed
production as affirmed by about 34 per cent farmers at over all level (Table 1). This
percentage varied from about 45 percent farmers in Maharashtra to only five percent in
Uttarakhand which hardly affected other farm operations. As such, none of the farmers had
to resort to hired human labour. None of the sampled farmers reported the higher cost of
cultivation because of increased weed production. Rather, such weeds are providing useful
material for use as mulch and hence helping in moisture conservation in soil.

Impact on Water Resources
About 60 per cent farmers (Table 1) with 22 percent farmers in Uttarakhand and 99 percent in
Maharashtra felt that the quality of natural water resources has gone down with use of
chemicals in farming. About 76 percent of the farmers in Maharashtra and 66 percent in
Kerala thought that the water quality has improved under organic regime. The low response
level in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu is due to recent origin of organic
farming in these states.


329
Effect on Aquatic Life
The farmers noticed improvement in the aquatic life prevailing in water bodies around the
village after they stopped the use of synthetic chemical inputs. Most important in this respect
has been Karnataka where there has been substantial improvement in fish catch ranging
between 15-25 percent. In other states, it was re-emergence frogs or other small creatures
living in or near water bodies. In all, about 33 per cent farmers observed positive impact of
organic farming on aquatic life (Table 1).

Incidence of Insects, Pests and Plant Diseases in Organic Farms
The farmers of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra were unanimous that the incidence of
harmful insects and pests (I&P) has declined over the time. In Kerala, the loss in paddy
production due to decline in the number of friendly predators has been in the range of 20-30
percent of the total loss. It was only in Hassan in Karnataka that the farmers estimated such
impact to be in the range of 5-10 percent at aggregate level. Another positive aspect has been
that about 80 per cent farmers reported decline in harmful pests and 91 per cent experienced
increase in strength of friendly insects and pests. The increase in overall variety of insects
and pests was observed by about 92 per cent farmers. From the environment point of view the
increase in bio-diversity is a healthy indicator for which the organic farming has been
instrumental.

Friendly Predators on Organic Farms
The increase in friendly predators like snakes, frogs and particularly earthworms has been
reported from all the organic farms in all the states. This had a direct impact on productivity
of crops by enriching the soils and control of harmful creatures like rats, insects and pests.
This phenomenon has been particularly noticeable in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala.
The decline of friendly predators on inorganic farms has been the factor responsible for
initiation towards organic farming in many cases. Large scale pollination failure due
massacre of bee colonies as a result of indiscriminate chemical sprays adversely affected
apple production in Himachal Pradesh and resultant shift to organic apple farming is an
example.
Water Retention capacity of Soil on Organic Farms
Organic farming has resulted in increased water retention capacity of soils. Large percentage
of organic farmers experienced increase in water retention capacity of soil on their farms.
Higher water retention capacity has benefitted the farmers in two ways. Firstly, the irrigation
requirements have marginally come down bringing down the cost of irrigation and labour and
hence the cost of cultivation. Secondly, the moisture present in soils for longer periods has
been responsible for ensuring higher crop productivity. This characteristic of organic farming
has very important implication for the future reducing the dependence on artificial irrigation
saving large investment on irrigation infrastructure. The responses in this concern ranged
between 95 per cent farmers of Maharashtra reporting 60 to 100 percent increase in water
retention capacity of soil to 25 per cent farmers of Himachal Pradesh reporting 5 to 10
percent increase in water retention capacity. The positive impact on crop productivity was
perceived only by 6 per cent farmers (Table 1). Only farmers of Karnataka and Maharashtra
were aware of the fact that higher soil moisture minimises soil loss due to wind and water
erosion. There is simultaneous increased water absorption capacity helping in recharging of
ground water resources. In all the areas under study the ground water level has been
continuously going down at the rate of about 1-2 feet per year. It is reported that there is
hardly any run-off on organic farms and most of the rain water percolates down replenishing
330
the ground water and thus, organic farming can be an effective instrument for replenishing
the ground water resource.

Tab. 1: Responses of organic farmers on different issues
Particulars Response
(%)
Positive impact on human health 53.22
Extent of reduction in medical expenses 51.33
Positive impact on animal health 25.92
Extent of reduction in veterinary expenses 37.18
Higher production of organic milk 6.71
Increase in on-farm weeds 33.94
Adverse impact on quality of water from natural resources 59.98
Positive impact on aquatic life 33.24
Decline in harmful insects and pests 79.67
Increase in friendly insects and pests 91.00
Increase in variety of insects and pests 91.70
Increase in water retention capacity of soils 55.80
Positive impact on crop productivity as a result of higher
water retention capacity
5.53

Conclusions
The benefits of organic farming have linkages with the human and animal health sectors and
enhanced agro-biodiversity which leads to higher crop productivity, better human health and
animal husbandry sectors. This linkage with human health directly benefits the farming
community by reduced medical expenses and lower absences rates from farm. In the long run,
this may mean the reduced budgetary allocations for health sector and the savings can be
utilized for other development purposes. Other benefit may appear to be not so important at
this early stage of organic movement; the burgeoning effects are becoming increasingly
visible pointing towards efficacy of organic farming in future. The farm labour requirements
for ploughing and weed etc will be tremendously lower under well developed organic
agriculture as this is done by the earth worms and by plant diversity management. There can
be no scenario better than reduced labour and capital requirements for farms especially for
countries like India where about 80 percent of the farming community are small and marginal
farmers. These farmers are in perpetual shortage of requisite capital to smoothly run the farm
operations. The organic farming has a potential to be an ideal farming alternative for such
large community of farmers.

References
Bhattacharya, P, Kumar, D. (2005): National policy on promoting organic farming,
Proceeding of national seminar, National centre for organic farming, Ghaziabad
(India).
Partap T. (2006): India organic pathway: Making Way for Itself, Occasional Paper 1, International
Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture, Bangalore (India).
Partap T., et al (2007): India organic Business Today: Global and Local, Proceedings of the
Seminar Series of India organic 2006, International Competence Centre for Organic
Agriculture, Bangalore (India).
Partap T., Vaidya C.S. (2009): Organic farmers Speak on Economics and Beyond, Westville
Publishing House, New Delhi (India).
331
Development of Korean Organic Agriculture and NGOS Role

Won-ho, Gang
Deputy Chairman, Korea Organic Farming Association
kofa@chol.com, Tel. : +82-31-756-4462

1. Economic Growth and Uncontrolled Discharge of Environmental Hormone
When a military coup occurred in May 16
th
Environmental hormone was discharged so much that it created side effects, worsening
water/air/soil pollution and driving natural ecosystem into destruction by killing butterflies,
grasshoppers, and swallows. Every day 1.4 species go to extinction every day, making 500 species
perish annually. It seems that environmental hormone kill sperms of all male animals.
, 1961, per capita income in Korea was about $85 and
quite many Koreans were under the poverty line and died of hunger. However, after the 5.16-coup,
Korea has achieved rapid growth driven by the development of heavy and chemical industry. In the
process, various types of waste water, exhausted gas, and heavy metals were discharged into
streams, soil or air. The usage of agricultural chemicals having been used since 1961 recorded high
in 1990, ranking first in the world with the use of 420kg/ha-chemical fertilizers and 13.6kg/ha-
agricultural insecticide.
Environmental hormone is accumulated in human bodies, making atopyic patients reach 16.3% in
1993 and infertile couples increase to 250,000, which shows environmental disease are going up
rapidly.

2. Inception and Development of Organic Agriculture
In 1971, 4 farmers started to practice organic agriculture after learning it from Japanese individually
and encouraged other farmers and their relatives to convert organic farming. It was the starting
point of organic agriculture in Korea. However, at that time, knowledge on systematic organic
farming was in short, focusing on individual sense of duty to do organic farming by not using
chemical fertilizers and agricultural insecticides. In 1973, trainees were officially dispatched to
Japan to learn how to practice organic agriculture. After they completed experience course on
organic agriculture, one of the trainees, called Jin-yoeng, Jung, started to provide organic training
courses every week in March 1975, Trainees learned organic theories at night and practice organic
farming in daytime. Trainees paid all cost required for organic education, and they learned on i)
fermented soil, ii) fermented compost, iii) how to spray effective microorganism onto leaves, iv)
soil drench, v) fermented sawdust feeds, vi) aerobic fermentation technology by using aerobic
microbes like fungus-cultured feeds, and vii) method to apply such technology to each crop and
cattle.
Since then, more and more started to have interested in organic agriculture, and convert to organic
method, even though it was not formally recognized by the government.
Until 1978, about 1,000 people finished organic training, and finally established Jeong-Nong-
Hoe(meaning the right farming society) (which had been largely led by Christians, and its current
members are about 1,000) in 1976, which was the birth of organic farming movement in Korea. In
1978 Korea Organic Farming Association (which has 33,200 members) was built, starting to
facilitate organic agricultural training and practices in a full swing.
However, back then, the government encouraged farmers to use more chemical fertilizers and
agricultural chemicals (including sterilizers, insecticides, herbicides, growth agents, antibiotics, and
others) under the purpose of food self-sufficiency. Teaching farmers organic agriculture, some
leaders were caught by police and even tortured on the charge of violating the governmental
policies for increasing yield of food. After 5/16-military coup in 1961, Korean could achieve rapid
growth based on heavy and chemical industries, which created serious pollution. 25 years later, the
year 1986 saw environmental pollution get more acute, but the government still controlled the
environment-related controversies. For example, in 1987, a famous professor who had studied in the
US released a research paper on environmental pollution, being deprived of his profession position.
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However, 1988, Korea hosted Seoul Olympic Games, triggering a lot of foreign media to warn air
or water pollution in Korea, forcing the government to come up with the country-wide
countermeasures on pollution.,

3. Environment-friendly Agriculture fostered by the Government
In July, 1991, Organic Farming Development Planning Team was established under the ministry
of agriculture, marine, and food, i) starting the researches on technologies and agricultural
materials/equipment required for the development of organic agriculture and on types and scopes of
government-supported projects, ii) building 147-joint composting places (the government supported
80% of total KRW 250 million) across the country, and iii) establishing 153 production complex for
small-holder farmers (the government granted 80~60% of total KRW 250 million).
As shown by these facts, the number of NGOs teaching organic farming has been increasing,
vitalizing the organic training since the governmental control came to an end. KOFA (Korea
Organic Farming Association) has performed 2-night/3-day organic agricultural trainings more
than 35 times per year, enabling 53,100 trainees to complete the courses through 552 times of
training. The tuition is about 120,000 won (USD 10.67)/trainee including the charge of board and
lodging, text materials, and lecturers. Initially it was paid by trainees on principle, but now the
government supports 80% of total tuition by using a voucher system.
In 1997 Environment-friendly Agriculture Promotion Act was enacted, allowing the government
to start to make a full support to farmers practicing environment-friendly agriculture: it gave direct-
grants to farmers getting the certificates of environmentally-friendly agriculture (USD 465.98/ha in
case of Low-input of agricultural chemicals, USD 599.38/ha in case of No-input of agricultural
chemicals, and USD 706.09/ha in case of certified organic farmers). Along with this, it makes some
financial supports to enable farmers to purchase organic fertilizers (USD 1.51 per 1 bag of 20kg +
additional support made by local governments). Local governments also support natural/organic
materials like insecticides and sterilizers at their own discretion.
On the Farmers Day (November 11
th
Since 2004, the ministry of agriculture, marine, and food and the ministry of environment have
worked together to conduct Environment-friendly Agricultural Award.
) 1998, a country-wide ceremony to declare the First Year of
Environment-friendly Agriculture was held, and environment-friendly production complex are
being expanded (more than 1000ha, and USD 8.9 million).

4. NGOs Campaign on School Meals using Environment-friendly Agricultural
Products
By suggesting that food stuffs for school meals should be replaced by environmentally-friendly
organic products to prevent health problems of students, some producer/consumer organizations
cooperated to wage Environment-friendly School Meal Campaign beginning from 2002, to
persuade majors, governors, and members of city/provincial councils. As a result, in 2004, Jeju
special provincial government, and Naju city government revised their ordinances on school meals,
allocated additional budgets, and started to provide environment-friendly food stuff for school
meals in 2005. Since then, this campaign has spread across the country, and a lot of ordinances have
been revised.
Until the end of 2010, 9 provincial governments and 236 city/county governments (accounting for
90% of total local governments) revised their school meal ordinances to use environment-friendly
products partially or entirely. Environment-friendly school meals can slow down the outbreak of
environmental disease like atopyic dermatitis, but unfortunately they cant treat such disease
fundamentally.

5. NGOs Activities to Raise the Awareness of Environment-friendly Agricultural
Products
1) Environment-friendly Organic Agriculture Trade Exhibition
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a) In April and October, 2005, Environment-friendly Organic Agriculture Exhibition were held,
and since then it has been hosted to raise the consumers awareness.
b) In 2010, by taking the opportunity the 9
th
About 30,000 consumers largely living in Seoul visited the exhibition and invited 27 foreign buyers
to conclude the contracts with $13 million. Its expected to increase international exchanges in the
future.
anniversary, it changed to Environment-friendly
Organic Agriculture Trade Exhibition with the international scope.
2) Life, Peace, & Environment Agricultural Festival
Hosted by KFSA, this event has been hosted annually since 2004. 32 affiliates of KFSA hold
various events including direct sale markets for environmentally-friendly products, programs to
experience of traditional farming, traditional games, and organic food sampling parties. By doing so,
they try to increase the awareness of consumers.
3) Return Farm Expo
This event is held annually to provide urban retirees with the tips on how to successfully return to
the farm or how to successfully take a root in a rural community.
4) Urban Agriculture & Biotechnology Exhibition
This annually-held event aims to give urban consumers the technology related to organic vegetables
including veranda gardens or roof gardens. It also tries to provide opportunities for urban
consumers to live on the environmentally-friendly way by introducing LED-based BIO technology
and materials.

6. NGOs Strategies to Develop Organic Agriculture.
1) To Improve the Criteria required by Organic Certification
As of the end of 2009, farmers obtaining the certificate of environment-friendly agriculture stood at
16.6% (whose production quantity accounted for 12.2% of total production). By 2015, the
government will abolish the certificate of low-input of agricultural chemicals and make sure that
only certified farmers with no-input of agricultural chemicals /organic agriculture can account for
10% of total production. However, we need to ask the government to abolish the certificate of no-
input of agricultural chemicals as early as possible and encourage GAP certification to stipulate the
banning of herbicide.
2) To Strengthen the Campaign for Organic Food School Meals
Environment-friendly product-based school meals could hardly achieve the direct effectiveness to
treat environmental disease, but organic food-based school meals could achieve epoch-making
effectiveness to treat environmental disease.
52% of atopyic students of Gayang Elementary School-where organic food-based school meals
were provided from March 3
rd
to September 30
th
Therefore, NGOs will encourage elementary/middle/high schools to compulsorily produce organic
school meals.
(7 months) 2008- could be almost perfectly
recovered. For the same period, 63% of atopyic children of Guro-gu Kindergarten could be
recovered, and 78% of light patients could be fully recovered.
3) To Improve the Campaign to Produce Functional Organic Products
Organic products contain rich basic nutrients and various functional ingredients, so they have huge
efficacy on the treatment of environmental disease. A lot of medical researches show atopyic
patients can be recovered if they intake organic food for three months, and infertile couples or
ADHD patients can be fully recovered after taking in organic food for 6 months.
Therefore, to treat atopyic dermatitis, cancer, infertility, or other environmental disease in Korea
and the world, NOGs will encourage functional organic food to be more widely produced.
Many advanced countries spur up the development of new medicine by using natural flora resources,
but Id like to suggest the mutual cooperation should be made internationally.
4) To Facilitate the Establishment of the Organic Garden of Eden
At the globe, organic agriculture is being developed through 4 stages.
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a) Basic State: stage to teach organic agricultural technology to farmers, to raise the awareness of
consumers on organic food, and to activate the production and consumption of organic food.
b) Development Stage: stage to encourage organic food to be used as school meals of
kindergarten/K-12 education, and to expand them to other congregate meals including universities,
military bases, and governmental agencies.
c) Take-off Stage: stage that clinic centers which treat various environmental disease by using
functional ingredients of organic food start to enhance their activities fully.
d) Completion Stage: stage to build the organic garden of Eden where all people living in a
community can enjoy income increase and happy wellbeing by producing and consuming organic
food and by living in environmentally-friendly method.
(Top-8 Organic Paradise: US has 4 paradises, and Japan, Australia, UK, and Germany has one
paradise respectively)
NOGs will plan to provide information to governmental agencies, producers, and consumers to
complete these 4 stages as soon as possible.

7. Conclusion
1) A famous book, Our Stolen Future warns that we will lose our ability to reproduce our
descendents before 2017.
2) The way to secure the bright future of 6.8 billion populations in the word is that organic school
meals shall be 100% given to teenagers.
3) To vitalize production and consumption of organic products essential to public health and to
achieve organic school meals, organic farmers shall establish close cooperation with each
governments and also consolidate the cooperation with IFOAM.
4) We need to maintain our earth clean to produce organic food on living soil as organic food is
critical to keeping our health. To this end, organic farming leaders of each country should cooperate
with each other to raise the awareness and promote R&D efforts on organic agriculture.

335
Development Process and Challenges of the Paldang Organic Agriculture
Movement

Yoo, J. K.
Director of local foundation, doctor of economics

Introduction

1. Progress of the Paldang Organic Agriculture Movement
The Paldang organic agriculture movement started at the Dumulmeori Farm in 1976.
Families of Dumulmeori Farm, with Sangmook Jeong (The former director general of the
Organic Agriculture Movements) as the central figure, joined forces with the Honest
Agriculture Association (Jeongjonghwoi in Korean) to give rise to an organic agricultural
movement by engaging in this form of agriculture. They got down to the business of organic
agriculture in 1978 and laid foundations for the spread of said agriculture to Joan-myeon of
Namyang City, near the farm.

Meanwhile, as the civilian government was installed and the breeze of democratization was
felt in the early 1990s, residents living near the Paldang river basin, who had constrained
themselves due to diverse restrictive regulations, started to complain explicitly. They at last
established The Joint Struggle Committee of Residents in the Paldang River Basin and
systematically protested against the revised Water Supply and Waterworks Installation Act
which was instituted as of April 1994. However, a problem arose in that members of the joint
struggle committee had different opinions among themselves. One party argued that the
environment had to be preserved while another argued that an intake of the river basin had to
be moved to the upper region and for regulations to be reduced - as a result, the joint struggle
committee itself fell apart. During this process, some people pondered on the subject of How
to protect the environment and water quality, and livelihoods of residents simultaneously,
and they suggested organic agriculture as an alternative. As those who concurred with this
established ties with the Dumulmeori Farm engaging in organic agriculture in due course the
Paldang organic agricultural movement started.

In 1995, the National Agriculture Cooperative Federation and Seoul Metropolitan
Government launched a project for the nurturing of environmentally friendly agriculture in
the Paldang river basin to transform the production methods of surrounding farming
households into environmentally friendly forms, this ultimately to preserve water quality of
the Paldang region. This project focused on reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides in surrounding areas in order that citizens of Seoul could be supplied with clean
water and also agricultural products free of harmful materials. At the same time, participating
farming households could be subsidized with funds for environmentally friendly agriculture
and the market to sell their natural products could be opened up through this project. The
NACF was supposed to lend a total of 100 million won so that a maximum of 40 million won
could be lent to 2,500 farming households. Each of these are in 6 districts/cities in the I zone
of Special areas for protecting water quality of the Paldang region and the Water source
protection area of the Paldang region. The loan would be at an annual rate of 12.5% with the
proviso that repayment was made in three years with a two year grace period. Seoul
Metropolitan Government was also meant to provide an annual interest subsidy of 7.5% (5%
covered by farming households) and set up places in each district to facilitate the sale of local
environmentally friendly products. However, this project was allowed to falter as no progress
336
was made in expected fundraising and the establishment of locations to trade due to the
concurrence of diverse issues such as a lack of willingness from host organizations, low
public awareness, loose linkage among businesses, and issues regarding cooperation with
administrative organizations. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that this particular project
played a pivotal role in organizing the organic agricultural movement in this region. Through
this project, the number of farming households engaging in environmentally friendly
agriculture rapidly increased and those farming households in Namyangju (Joan), Gwangju
(Chowal), and Yangpeong (Yeagnseo, Seojong, etc.) came together to establish The
Association for Organic Agricultural Movement in Paldang River basin.

Meanwhile, Saenong, a retailer of organic products in Paldang, was established by the
association and the Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice in 1996. Also, in 1997,
Dumulmeori Food (run by Dumulmeori Farm) was moved into a facility of the association to
manufacture products so that it could become a new location where production, retail, and
manufacturing businesses facets were closely interlinked. The total number of members
increased to 115, comprising 60 full members and 55 associate members, in 1998, and the
association hosted several local festivals such as organic agricultural product shows,
processed goods competitions, food tastings, and markets for direct sale transactions in 1999,
and it organized the Consumers Cooperatives of Paldang River Basin. In February of 2002,
the Solidarity for Reviving Livelihoods in Paldang was created through the integration of the
Association for Organic Agricultural Movement in Paldang and The Consumers
Cooperatives of Paldang River Basin. Utilizing this opportunity, the secretariat (which had
been run voluntarily by producers) was reshuffled to have those who changed their jobs to
farmers and experts in agriculture as the main staff and the Solidarity for Reviving
Livelihoods in Paldang was once again established as an entity pursuing public interest
oriented business in June of 2003.

However, in April of 2004, the solidarity group was then reorganized to become three
independent bodies: the farmers association (organization of producers), consumers
cooperative federation (organization of consumers), and a corporation to specialize in each
sector and enhance business expertise. Consequently, the Association for Organic Agriculture
in Paldang River Basin (launched in December, 1995) was reinvigorated as the coalition by
joining hands with the Solidarity for Reviving Livelihoods in Paldang to preserve valuable
livelihoods in the region.

2. Principles and activities of Paldang Organic Agriculture Movement
2.1. Basic principles of Paldang organic agriculture movement
The ideology of the Paldang organic agriculture movement can be summarized in three
points; 1) engaging in and encouraging honest agriculture by virtue of and adapting to Mother
nature; 2) relevant contributions to environmental protection movements such as the
movement for preserving the water quality of Lake Paldang, and, finally, 3) active
participation in the restoration of communities. To achieve these ultimate goals, participants
selected three major activities as in the following; 1) research, development, education with
regards to the technology of organic agriculture and opening markets to sell organic
agricultural goods produced by member farmers 2) development of processed goods, and
launch of retail business to support the activities, and finally 3) investment in a program
(3:3:3:1) reinvesting a proportion of profits from economic activities to local communities for
their ongoing development. These goals and objectives established at the time of launch were
influenced by the spirit of the Honest Agriculture Association, which is so 'natural' in the
337
sense that a leader of Dumulmeori Farm (which was the foundation of organic agriculture in
Paldang) was the member (vice-president) of the association.

3. Major activities of the Paldang organic agriculture movement
3.1. Engagement and spread of honest agriculture
The Coalition for Reviving Livelihoods in Paldang made the utmost efforts to engage in
honest agriculture and spread its belief in encouraging a healthy natural outlook and to
protect human beings lives with the understanding that polluting land and water, in addition
to selling agricultural products sprayed by pesticides to consumers who are families and
neighbors, amounts to passive killing. The results of those efforts are as follows:

Above all, it shared necessary information concerning agriculture amongst members,
made efforts to use self-made fertilizers for circulation in local areas, and encouraged crop
rotation for land restoration. Also, it strategically introduced an approach in terms of small
quantity batch production considering the situation of local areas, implemented the
method of low energy input agriculture (method using water curtain) depending on the
characteristics of local areas to minimize required energy consumption, formed and ran
small groups to grow each crop to reduce cost and enhance competitiveness through mutual
cooperation among producers, proactively ran training programs for producers and
consumers to create a culture where not only producers but also consumers could be involved
in agriculture itself, and at the same time, induced farmers to get actual authorization of
organic products. Furthermore, it also introduced and participated in the project to
establish environmentally friendly agricultural complexities led by the government,
established its own distribution channels (Saenong, direct sale transaction with consumers
organizations, and building shops directly managed by them, etc.) to secure stable markets for
products. As a result, the number of members increased from 12 to 81 (producers) within
just 10 years, and the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers of member farming
households was dramatically reduced.

3.2. Contribution to the local environmental protection movement
The coalition had so much interest in environmental protection movement issues from its
origin as it had inherited the sprit and ideology of the Association for Organic Agriculture
Movement in Paldang, whose motto and purpose related to the preservation of water sources
and engagement in organic agriculture. In that sense, it is indispensable in reality for the
coalition to put organic agriculture into practice as they wanted to preserve the local
environment and enjoy their lives, symbiotically, at the same time.

Therefore, the coalition actively implemented governmental policies to preserve water
quality of river basins, conducted other activities such as periodic analysis of the quality of
land and water, etc. and at the same time it focused on engaging in organic agriculture
from the viewpoint that engagement in environmentally friendly agriculture meant
environmental protection per se. Also, it provided environmentally friendly materials
produced by its members to ordinary farming households (Namyangju City) even though they
were not members as part of alternative groups to disperse and promote environmentally
friendly agriculture, and strived to minimize environmental impact load by enabling a change
of by-products of farming households into beneficial compost and feed. Moreover, it has
consistently engaged in activities for protecting the eco system such as separate collection
338
of agricultural material wastage and cleaning surrounding areas of river or farmland areas,
and established consumers cooperative federations to enjoy environmentally friendly
lives (dietary life, cultural life and so on). Also, it has continuously run programs for
consumer visits to raise consumers awareness of environmental protection, and members
have regularly visited advanced areas in terms of environmental protection to improve their
awareness of the environment.

3.3. Development of agricultural community movement
The biggest problem that agricultural regions face these days is the loss of community spirit.
More and more agricultural goods have been produced by individual farmers due to
mechanization and requisites required for production becoming chemicals (chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, etc.). This in addition to competitiveness and selfishness rather than
mutual help, cooperation and the tradition of agricultural society in general, have been found
in rural areas. Therefore, the Coalition for Reviving Livelihoods in Paldang has strived to
restore the unique tradition of agricultural society and build local communities based on
cooperation and solidarity among residents.

Most of all, it has tried to transform itself in becoming an organization open to local
residents for their own mutual participation, worked hard for every member to think that
they live together in harmony, treated members with a warm heart, started a campaign
for sharing labor among members, held an event in organizing a day for plowing fields
together with members, and gathered diverse opinions of members through various
activities of branches, groups, small communities, and committees. In addition, it has been
working on building a larger community taking into account the residential area of members,
has been concerned about the school meal service in the region, has pushed ahead with
after-school curriculums (for a sustainable local society), supported scholarships and
carried out projects for ploughing profits back into areas, held events for visitors to
experience local culture (for example, teaching ecological carpentry), and expanded
exchanges within the region through cultural activities.

3.4. Challenges of Paldang Organic Agriculture Movement
The Paldang region has laid foundations for Korean organic agriculture since the mid-1970s
to take the lead in systemizing environmentally friendly agriculture and has promoted
revitalization of local communities through organic agriculture even under strict regulations
on protected river basins and unfavorable conditions. Furthermore, diverse organizations
focusing on organic agriculture such as the Coalition for Reviving Lives in Paldang, Korean
Organic Agriculture Organization, Hanssarang, and Honest Agriculture Association have
consistently maintained ties with urban consumers, based on a bond of solidarity and
cooperation. As the largest complex of organic agriculture, the Paldang region provided
organic products to 350,000 member households of consumers cooperative federations.
These include the Dure Consumers Cooperatives, Korean Womenlink, and Jeongnong
Consumers Cooperatives in the metropolitan areas, NACF marts, and also schools. Based on
these activities, Paldang has the honour of hosting the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) conference, where 750 organizations from 110 countries
will participate this year.

339
Nevertheless, the organic agriculture of the Paldang region has many issues to be resolved.
They are issues related to greenhouses, unsatisfactory crop rotation (chronic single
crop), avoidance of production of non-popular crops, insufficient activities to develop
new products, thought processes such as its not only me who is doing it (expedient/not
needed), not all areas where organic agriculture is applied, lack of capability regarding
self-sufficiency (rice, minor grains, etc.) lack of cooperative farms, cooperative sample
fields, and cooperative composting facilities (grasslands, forests, rice paddy) loose
structure of local production and local consumption, insufficient concerns of producing
organic compost, and unsatisfactory production of high quality goods.

However, a more serious challenge is that the existence of the area itself is threatened by the
Four River Restoration Project conducted by the government with the aim of flood
prevention, water quality protection, and revitalization of local economy. If the project is
conducted as planned, 50ha of 56 ha agricultural area in Joan-myeon of Namyangju City will
be included in the target area and 65 farming households (among a total of 71 households)
will be affected. All in all, more than 80% of the organic agricultural area in the Paldang
region will be affected with the result that the organic agricultural industry that has been
preserved for 30-40 years in this region will eventually be crushed. Along with this, farming
households engaging in organic agriculture in the region will lose their economic viability
and the link between rural areas and the metropolitan areas (having 350,000 consumers) will
also be severed.

The fall of the organic agricultural industry in the Paldang region is not a just simple regional
problem. It threatens the entire organic agricultural industry of Korea. Therefore, all relevant
parties should make all-out efforts to support the Paldang organic agriculture movement.
Solidarity with and among consumers in terms of awareness, producers, and experts is more
of a priority than anything else. In this sense, as is to be expected and hoped, the IFOAM will
be a significant opportunity for the growth of organic agriculture in Korea as well as in
Paldang.

340


Crop Production
341
Enhancing of Growth, Essential Oil Yield and Component of Yarrow Plants
(Achillea Millefolium) Grown under Safe Agriculture Conditions

Abdel Wahab M. Mahmoud
Plant Physiology Division, Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo
University, Giza, Egypt

Key Words: Zeolite, Organic fertilizer, Chemical fertilizers, Yarrow plant, Safe agriculture

Abstract
The unique cation exchange, adsorption, hydration-dehydration and catalytic properties of
natural zeolites , have promoted their use in clean agriculture as soil amendments and slow-release
fertilizers. This research was conducted in open field to investigate the effects of natural zeolite,
organic fertilizer (compost) and combination of them on herb growth, oil yield and components of
Yarrow plants (Achillea millefolium). The results indicated that zeolite mixed with organic fertilizer
led to significant increase in fresh weight, dry weight, number of flowers, total chlorophylls,
carbohydrates content, oil yield as well as major ingredients of essential oil, and mineral nutrients,
in comparison with the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers NPK (control) under the same
conditions. These results undoubtedly confirm that zeolite and compost mixture could replace the
application of chemical fertilizers and consequently improve the quality and quantity of Achillea
yield. This application may have direct impacts on safety and efficacy of herbal active constituents
which entail for medicinal and aromatic products, and also minimizing economic costs and
pollution of agricultural environment.

Introduction
Effective agriculture, sanitary, safety treatments and collection practices for medicinal and
aromatic plants is only the first step in quality assurance, on which the safety and efficacy of herbal
medicinal and aromatic products directly depend upon, and also play an important role in
sustainable and medical use (WHO guidelines). Lately, the safe agriculture is one of the main
attitudes in the world (El-Kouny, 2002). Also, there has been an increasing awareness of the
undesirable impact of mineral fertilizers on the environment, as well as the potentially dangerous
effects of chemical residues in plant tissues on the health of human and animal consumers.
Natural Zeolite (clinoptilolite) is an amazing crystalline mineral capable of adsorbing and
absorbing many different types of gases, moisture, petrochemicals, heavy metals, low-level
radioactive elements and a multitude of various solutions and high cation exchange capacities, also
produces long term soil improvements as well as slow release fertilizer of nitrogen. Zeolites can
also act as water moderators, in which they will adsorb up to 55% of their weight in water and
slowly release it under plant demand. (J ean and Dupont, 1983)
Achillea millefolium known as Yarrow, Thousand-leaf and Angel flower of Asteraceae
family comprises 115 species, Yarrow is a perennial herb that produces one to several stems (8 to
14 inches tall) from underground horizontal rootstock (rhizome) (Bartram, 1995) For medicinal
purposes it has been used as administered both internally and externally. It is valuable for treating
wounds, stopping the flow of blood, treating colds, fevers, kidney diseases, menstrual pain
(Duke,1985, Bown,1995, Chevallier,1996 and Moerman,1998) .The whole plant is used, both fresh
and dried (Foster,1990).
This research scrutinizes the effects of organic fertilizer and natural zeolite on Yarrow plants in
comparison with chemical fertilizers (N, P and K) as control.

342
Material and Methods
This research was carried out at the experimental farm of Wadi El-Notron, at private farm
(new reclaimed land) as open field, during two consecutive seasons (2006-2007 and 2007- 2008).
Mechanical and chemical analyses of the soil were performed according to (Richards, 1954 and
J ackson, 1973) as shown in (Table 1) also; chemical characteristics of compost (Table 2), which
obtained from Soil, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center
(A.R.C) were accomplished as described by Page et al., (1982) before planting.
Table 1. Some physical and chemical properties of experimental soil.
Physical properties Cations (m eq / l) Anion (m eq / l)
Sand (%) 90.5 Ca++ 4.16 CO
=
3
0
Silt (%) 6.50 Mg++ 1.52 HCO
-
3
0.54
Clay (%) 3.0 Na+ 3.24 Cl
-
3.31
Texture grade Sandy K+ 0.21 SO
=
4
2.13
pH (soil paste) 7.8 Total-N (%) 0.03
EC (dS/m at 25 C) 1.37 Organic-C (%) 0.38
Table 2. Chemical analysis of compost
0BProperty 1BValue
pH (1:5) 7.5
EC (1: 5 extract) ds/m 3.1
Organic-C % 33.11
Organic matter % 70
Total-N % 1.82
Total-K % 1.25
C/N ratio 14:1
Total-P % 1.29
Fe-ppm 1019
Mn-ppm 111
Cu-ppm 180
Zn-ppm 280
Total content of Bacteria 2.5 x 10
7
Weed seeds 0
Phosphate dissolving Bacteria 2.5 x 10
6
Humidity (%) 25
Natural zeolite as granules used in this research was obtained from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The
plantlets of about 13 cm with intact rhizomes were obtained from experimental farm of Faculty of
Pharmacy, Cairo University. Planted on the 10
th
of October (2006) in the experimental field, with a
distance of 60 cm between rows, and spacing 50 cm between plants. Compost at (5 ton/fed.) as well
as zeolite (210 k/fed) and combination of them (1:1) were added 20 days before planting. Chemical
fertilizers as recommended dose were added at the rate of 150 k/fed as ammonium nitrate (33%)
divided into two doses, the first was 3 weeks after planting and the second was six weeks later, both
calcium superphosphate (15.5%) at the rate of 200 k/fed and potassium sulphate (48%) at the rate of
50 k/fed were added before planting. Agricultural practices were followed as recommended
throughout the growing season.
At the first season on the 20
th
of February, and the 20
th
of March (2007) during flowering
stage, plants were cut 10 cm above the soil surface as the first and the second cut respectively.
Harvest repeated on the 20
th
of February, 20
th
March (2008) with the same way. The data of growth
343
characters, plant height, fresh and dry weight, number of flowers, fresh weight, and chemical
constituents represented in total chlorophylls, carbohydrates content, mineral nutrients (N, P, K),
and oil yield were recorded as the first and the second cut for both seasons. The data in both
seasons were statistically analyzed and the means were compared using LSD at 5% significance
level (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).
Total nitrogen was determined by Kjeldah method described by Bremner and Mulvaney
(1982). Total phosphorus was estimated colorimetrically as described by J ackson (1973). The
concentration of K was determined by the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (GBC, 932 AA).
Total chlorophylls content was determined using the method described by Nornai (1982), while the
content of carbohydrates in dried leaves samples were determined using the method described by
Dubois et al. (1956). Chemical analysis for essential oil was conducted using the Ati-Unicam gas
liquid chromatography (GLC), 610 series, to determine their main constituents as described by
Gunther and J oseph (1978).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
I. Growth characters
The obtained results of plant growth characters revealed that compost with zeolite mixture
treatment significantly increased all growth characters in both seasons of Achillea plants compared
to the control treatment (plants receiving the recommended NPK dose) as shown in (Table 3).
Supportive evidence for these results was reported by Pirela, et. al (1984), El-Gahdban et al. (2002)
and Aziz and Iman (2004).
Table 3. Growth characters of Achillea plants as affected by compost, zeolite and combination of
them during 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons.
Treatment Season
Plant
height
(cm)
Herb fresh
Weight
(g/plant)
Herb Dry
weight
(g/plant)
Number of
flower per
plant
Fresh
weight
(ton/fed)
N,P,K
(Control)
FS 77.3
d
3072.6
d
950.3
d
12.00
cd
35.4
d

SS 82.2
c
3156.7
c
972.2
c
14.00
bc
37.6
c

Compost FS 54.2
g
1393.4
h
517.3
h
6.00
e
18.1
g

SS 59.7
f
1506.0
g
546.6
g
10.00
d
20.5
f

Zeolite FS 72.4
e
2110.2
f
728.5
f
11.00
d
28.7
e

SS 78.6
d
2267.4
e
746.6
e
12.00
cd
29.6
e

Compost+
Zeolite
FS 93.5
b
3320.6
b
1039.7
b
15.00
b
40.5
b

SS 102.3
a
3454.8
a
1087.8
a
22.00
a
45.3
a

Means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different at LSD 5%
F.S: first season S.S: second season
II. Chemical analysis
As mentioned of growth characters data, the results of chemical analysis (Table 4) have the
same conclusion where, all parameters significantly increased as a result of compost with zeolite
mixture treatment application compared to control plants. These results are convenience with those
reported by Kallo (1986), El-Gahdban et al. (2002) and Aziz and Iman (2004).
Table 4. Comparative effects of compost, zeolite and combination of them on nutrient content (N,
P, and K), oil yield, total chlorophyll (mg/g fresh weight) and total carbohydrates (% of dry
matter weight) of Achillea plants during 2006-2007and 2007-2008 seasons.
Treatment
Seaso
n
Total
chlorophylls
Carbohydrat
e content
N % P % K %
Oil yield
(ml/plant
)
N,P,K
(Control)
FS 2.60
d
21.33
c
1.25
c
0.28
de
1.58
d
0.22
c

SS 2.74
c
24.34
b
1.30
b
0.37
b
1.68
c
0.28
b

Compost FS 2.11
h
16.42
f
1.08
d
0.18
g
1.21
f
0.13
e

344
SS 2.25
g
18.39
e
1.12
d
0.22
f
1.37
e
0.18
d

Zeolite FS 2.30
f
19.51
e
1.21
c
0.26
e
1.66
c
0.18
d

SS 2.46
e
20.08
d
1.31
b
0.31
cd
1.69
c
0.20
cd

Compost+
Zeolite
FS 3.04
b
23.67
b
1.31
b
0.32
c
1.76
b
0.27
b

SS 3.24
a
26.19
a
1.45
a
0.41
a
1.84
a
0.36
a

Means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different at LSD 5%
F.S: first season S.S: second season
III. Essential oil composition
The results in Table 5 showed that, the essential oil of Achillea plants is characterized by
high amount of chamazulene (16.79 - 26.6 %) from sesquiterpenes as the principal components of
the oil. The highest amount of chamazulene was increased (26.6 %) in compost +zeolite treatment
as compared with the control treatment (NPK). Also monoterpene hydrocarbons are an important
group of terpenes, and the major components were -Pinene (5.67 18.47%) which clearly
increased in compost +zeolite treatment in comparison with (NPK) treatment, and Sabinene (5.88 -
11.59 %), that give the same trend. Oxygen containing terpenes 1,8-Cineol (2.09 - 4.17 %) was
gave a relative increment with compost +zeolite treatment compared with (NPK) control. These
results are in agreement with those obtained by several authors, Hofmann and Fritz (1993), Grth
and Czygan (1999) as well as Aziz and Eman (2004).
Table 5. Effect of compost, zeolite and combination of them on the essential oil components of
Achillea plants during 2007- 2008.
Treatment
Component
NPK Compost Zeolite
Compost +
Zeolite
-Pinene 6.37 2.48 4.71 9.46
Chamazulene 21.38 16.79 20.11 26.61
Camphor 0.24 0.11 0.18 0.81
-Pinene 5.67 15.60 11.64 18.47
Limonene 0.61 0.48 0.25 0.95
P-cymene 0.83 0.59 0.18 2.14
1,8-Cineol 2.23 3.47 2.09 4.17
-Caryophllene 9.86 13.07 11.88 15.08
Bornyl acetate 0.40 0.64 0.28 0.78
Cadinene 1.87 0.51 0.99 0.75
-humulene 1.98 2.66 2.08 3.44
-terpinene 3.26 0.79 1.55 1.47
-Farnesene 2.21 1.86 2.46 1.74
Sabinene 10.51 8.42 5.88 11.59
Total 67.42 67.47 64.28 97.46

Conclusion
The obtained results in this study are strongly proved that the mixture of compost and
zeolite was enhanced the growth characters, oil yield and chemical composition of Achillea plants.
Therefore it could be concluded that, the chemical fertilizers of NPK could be replaced by the
compost with zeolite mixture for improving the quality of the produced herb, oil yield and
components under safe agriculture conditions, in addition to decreasing the production costs and
environmental pollution.


345
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Aziz and Iman,E (2004): Comparative study on the Effect of Ammonium
Nitrate and Ammonium Sulphate Through the Application of Poultry Manure on the
Productivity of Achillea Millefolium L. plants .Arab Univ. J .Agric. Sci., Ain Shams
Univ.,Cairo,12(1),371-389,2004
Bartram, T. (1995): Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, 1
st
edn.,Grace Publishers,
Bournemouth
Bown. D. (1995): Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley,
London. ISBN 0-7513-020-31
Bremner, J .M. and C.S. Mulvaney (1982): Method of Soil Analysis. Part2. 2
nd
Ed.
595-624 Agron. Monogr. 9 ASA and SSSA Madison, W.L
Chevallier. A. (1996): The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley.
London ISBN 9-780751-303148
Dubois,M.,F. Smith,K. A.Gilles, J . K. Hamilton and P. A. Rebers (1956):
Colorimetric Method for Determination of Sugars and Related
Substances. Anal. Chem., 28 (3): 350-356.
Duke. J . A. and Ayensu. E. S.( 1985): Medicinal Plants of China Reference
Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-917256-20-4.
El-Gahdban, E.A.E.; A.M.Ghallab and A.F.Abdel-Wahab (2002): Effect of Organic
Fertilizer (Biogreen) and Biofertilization on Growth, Yield and Chemical
Composition of Marjoram Plants Growth under Newly Reclaimed Soil
Conditions. 2nd Congress of Recent Technologies in Agriculture, Giza, 28-
30 Oct.2002, Vol.(II):pp334-361.
El-Kouny H. M. (2002): Effect of Organic Fertilizer in Different Aplication Rates Under Salinity
Stress Goudvion on Soil and Plant. International Symposium and Optimum Resources
Utilization in Salt-Affected Ecosystems in Arid and Semi-arid Regions, 8-11 April 2002,
Cairo , Egypt, Le Meridian, Heliopolis Hotel, Abst. Book, pp.33.
Foster. S. & Duke. J . A. (1990): A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and
Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN 0395467225
Gomez K. A. and A. A. Gomez (1984): Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research 2
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International Rice Res. Ins. J . Wiley and Sons New York, USA pp. 377-434.
Grth, M. and F. Czygan (1999): Variation in Essential Oil Composition and
Chiral Monoterpenes of Achillea Millefolium . J Essent. Oil Res. 11:
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Gunther, Z. and J oseph, S. (1978): Handbook Series in Chromatography. CRC press, Inc., New
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Hofmann L. and D. Fritz (1993): Genetical and Environmental Caused Variability
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J ackson M. L. (1973): Soil Chemical Analysis Prentice-Hall of India private. New
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346
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347
Assessment and Documentation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) on
Control of Banana Bacterial WILT (BBW) in Chegere Sub-County, Maruzi
County Apac District

Abila, P.
Uganda Martyrs University c\o Lango organic farming promotion Lira, Uganda

Key words: Banana Bacterial wilt (Xanthomonas campentist), Indigenous Knowledge, Disease
and control
Abstract
This research was base on farmers growing banana, farmer forum, and public servant, 3 parishes
were selected ie Atigolwok, Barodilo and Chegere and interview and observation was used to
identify the methods and types of indigenous knowledge used in the area on banana bacterial wilt
control
Farmers recommended the use of ash mixed with ordinary salt
Farmers also realised that more research should be conducted on BBW control
The study also revealed that farmers has knowledge which need to be explore for the control of
BBW
Also the research revealed that farmers has a lot of information which need to be clearly identified
and documented
Please write the abstract in italics.
The abstract should not have more than 1200 characters (blank spaces excluded).

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Specific objectives are: -
To identify the different kinds of indigenous technical knowledge used by farmers in control of
banana bacterial wilt.
To assess how the farmers are using the indigenous technical knowledge in the control of
banana bacterial wilt.
To establish the most effective (ITK) used by farmers in the control of banana bacterial wilt.
Materials and methods
The study involved farmers growing banana, members of farmer forum and public agricultural
extension workers; the farmers and members of farmer forum formed focus group discussions,
while the public agricultural extension workers formed key informants.
The sample composed of 40 farmers involved in banana production, 07 members of sub-county
farmer forum and 03 public agricultural extension workers. This sample made the researcher get
different views to form the best inferences about the study.
The population was selected using stratified sampling for the categories of the respondents. The
technique was selected because it enhances the representatives of the different strata in the sample,
there was reduced sample errors associated with the sample and yet it did not require a lot of time.
Structured interview schedules had been developed (as seen in annex) by the researcher, based on;
study objectives, the information from related literatures.
The researcher based on primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data was collected from
farmers growing bananas, farmer forum excutive members in Atigolwok, Barodilo and Chegere
parishes in Chegere Sub County using questionnaires and interviews as instruments and secondary
348
data was collected by means of abstraction from selected from workshop presentations, publications,
campaign posters and brochures and internet data base.
Data collection procedures
Data collected were mainly quantitative data; processed. These methods were used for the
attainment of the study objectives; statistical methods were used as this was quantitative.
Results
Demographic characteristics
The demographic profile of the respondents is as shown in the table 1 below
Table 1: Demographic characteristics of respondents interviewed in Chegere sub-county
Sex Age Educational level
Male Female Below
20 yrs
21-35
yrs
Above
35 yrs
P.7 O-Level A-level
& above
Frequency 33 17 0 18 32 15 27 8
Percentage 66 34 0 36 64 30 54 16



Demographic characteristics of the respondents show that 66% where male, 64% are above 35 years
old and that 100% attended formal education.
Varieties/ types of bananas grown
The study revealed that a number of varieties of bananas are grown by farmers in Chegere sub-
county and these included:
Matoke cooking type(abolo kwon) in luo
Sweet bananas
Brewing type
The study further revealed that bananas are grown on subsistence and are for both cash and home
consumption and the majority of the respondents 92% said it is not their major staple food. The
major staple food in this area is millet, cassava and maize.
Awareness of Banana Bacterial Wilt (BBW)
Banana Bacterial Wilt was reported as highly devastating and the most prevailing disease affecting
all types of banana in the area. By the study time 86% of the respondents were aware of the disease
and they identified the type of bananas susceptible to the disease which is the brewing types; they
also said that all other types of bananas namely; cooking, brewing and sweet bananas were
susceptible to the disease. However, the majority 96% of the respondents were not able to tell when
the disease first seen in the area.
Banana Bacterial Wilt control measures
The study revealed that the respondents know some control measures used in controlling Banana
Bacterial Wilt; the BBW known and applied by farmers were, cutting of the diseased plants,
uprooting the diseased materials, use of clean tools, debudding male buds, restrict movements of
banana planting materials, removal of residues from the garden and general crop sanitation.
However, the study also revealed the most known and applied BBW control measures are cutting
the diseased plants, uprooting of diseased materials and debudding. The study further revealed that
not all the respondents who were aware of different BBW control measures actually applied the
control measures on their farms.
The respondents were also able to identified the control measures which are traditional/ cultural
methods and these included, cutting of the diseased plants, uprooting diseased materials, debudding/
removing the male bud and removal of plant residues from the ground
Conclusion
The study has revealed that farmers in chegere sub county are using traditional/cultural
practices/methods in the control of Banana Bacterial wilt (BBW) disease.
349
The study further revealed that farmers do not have well-defined time and dosage of application of
these traditional methods of control of BBW.
The study revealed that cutting down the affected plant and dusting at the cut base with a mixture of
ash n ordinary table salt is effective in control of banana bacterial wilt.
The study also established that the knowledge and use of these traditional/cultural practices are
being lost due to generation gaps in the community and also prefered use of chemicals.
Recommendations
Based on research findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are brought forward:-
There is need for more research/ studies on the use of ITK so as to explore them and thus
documentation of the identified practices
More in-depth studies need to be carried out on specific method i.e. cutting the diseased
plants and dusting the cut base of the banana stem with mixture of ash and ordinary table
salt , so as to determine its effectiveness in the control of BBW;
Farmers should be trained and sensitized on the use of traditional technical knowledge in the
control of BBW and other crop diseases;
More demonstration sites on the use of ITK be open to farmers for them to adopt best
practices on the use of ITK; and
Documentation of best practices and lessons learnt.
Acknowledgments
I acknowledge Associate professors Ssekyewa Charles my supervisor and dean of faculty of
Agriculture Uganda Martyrs University Dr Charles Kudamba, Guido Okwir Coordinator Lango
Organic Farming Promotion,, Jane Nalunga of National Organic agricultural movement of Uganda
(NOGAMU,
References books Agricultural movement
The technical hand book series no 18 of the regional land management unit by (RELMA),
Farmers perceptions of banana pest constraints in Uganda (Gold; C.S, Ogenga, Latigo, M.W,
Tushemereirwe W., Kashaija and Nankinga C .1993),
Numerical taxonomic studies of the East African highland bananas ( Karamura D.A 1999) ,A report
of rapid appraisal on banana production Research bulletin no.2 by (Makerere University
Uganda Rubaihayo, P.R 1991),
Baseline survey of banana production in Kisekka sub-county, Masaka District (Ssenyonga, J.and
Bagana, F. 1999),
Baseline survey of Bamunanika benchmark site Luwero district 9 Ssennyonga, J. and Bagana,F.
2000),
An out break of banana wilt on banana in Uganda (Tushemereirwe, W.K, Kangire, Smith ,Z,
Ssekiwoko, F, Nakyaanzi M, Kataama, Musiitwa, C and Kanyebara, R.2003) and Community
approaches used in managing bacterial wilt in Uganda by (C. Nankinga and O.Okasaai.
350
The Role of Local Wisdom in Using Botanical Pesticide for Pest Management on
Organic Farming in Indonesia

Agus Kardinan
Indonesian Agency for Agriculture Research and Development
Summary
Indonesia is geographically situated by the equator line, thus it is structured under the
tropical climate. With the tropical climate, Indonesia faces some disadvantages in the agricultural
sector, one of which is pests problem which has become a major issue lately in our agricultural
practices. The use of synthetic pesticides on controlling the pests has been very intense. In fact it
can be said as excessive. Pesticides are being measured as one of the tools to guarantee successful
on farming, with less considerations that high residues are harmful to consumers and ecology. With
the acceleration of knowledge and consumers awareness on the impact of pesticides, consumers in
Indonesia have began to look for alternative healthy produces through organic farming. Again, the
most serious problem encountered is pests, while the use of synthetic pesticides are prohibited. An
alternative control technique to overcome pests problem is by using botanical pesticides. The use of
botanical pesticides in Indonesia is not new, in fact it has been practiced for a long time by farmers
known as local wisdom. Botanical pesticides are eco-friendly pesticide. Indonesia has abundant of
plants possessing pesticide properties. Botanical pesticides have been used by the farmers in some
regions in Indonesia, especially on horticultural crops as farmers can make the botanical pesticides
themselves with simple technique or by industry in the laboratory. The farmers can be pesticides
self sufficiency since they can prepare themselves by using local material available in their
surrounding areas. However, there are constraints in developing the use of botanical pesticide in
Indonesia, i.e. (a) rigid regulation leading to difficulties in developing the botanical pesticides; (b)
abundant synthetic pesticides formulation at competitive prices, providing farmers with choices of
pesticides easy to obtain and instant to use; (c) the effect of botanical pesticides is slow in action,
require longer time as compared to synthetic pesticides on eliminating pests. Based on this, farmers
prefer to use synthetic pesticides. Through demonstrations, educate farmers in collaboration with
extension workers and related institutes on developing botanical pesticides, and also by making
sufficient quantity of botanical pesticides in the laboratory, it is hoped that botanical pesticides can
be used extensively for pest management on organic farming in Indonesia.

Green Revolution and Its Impacts in Indonesia
In the 1980, green revolution was introduced in the agriculture activities in Indonesia to
obtain Food Self Sufficiency. The government recommended that farmers to use agrochemicals
especially pesticides to eliminate the risk from yield loss causing by pest attack. Extension worker
convinced farmers that by using pesticides their farming will be successful, as there will be no risk
of yield losses caused by pest attack. Pesticides were distributed to all areas and government
subsidized approximately 80% for agrochemical products, especially pesticide to ensure cheap price
of pesticides, to enable farmers to afford the purchase. This lead to FAO in 1985 stated that
Indonesia was able to be Food Self Sufficiency. In early 1990, scientists found there have been
impacts on environmental caused by pesticides, e.g. pollution, resistancy and resurgency of insects,
poisoned farmers, high residue of pesticide on agricultural products, which all of these caused
harms to consumers health and environment.
Current status of pesticide in Indonesia
Intensive and excessive use of pesticides by the farmers are still ongoing. In the field, various
products such as tomato with residues of pesticides is easily seen (Picture 1) as well as in the
markets (Picture 2). The farmers usually mix pesticides (insecticide, fungicide, bactericide) leading
to high dose (Picture 3).
351
The distribution of pesticides in Indonesia is increasing; from 1996 (520 pesticide
formulations) to 2006 (1.300 pesticide formulations) the increase was about 250% and in 2010 it is
predicted to 2.500 pesticide formulations. This condition led the farmers to opt preference to use
synthetic chemical pesticides since they are easy to obtain and to use as compared to botanical
pesticides.


1. Residue in the farm 2. Residue in the market 3. Mixing pesticide

Local Wisdom of botanical pesticides
Both consumers and producers believe that agrochemicals are dangerous on agriculture
products, especially pesticides. Their awareness of dangers to health is high. Hence the first step to
be addressed is to reduce usage of synthetic pesticides and to introduce an alternative way, i.e. by
using botanical pesticides. Some botanical pesticides have been used in the farm, such as : neem
(Azadirachta indica) containing azadirachtin as insecticide, lemon grass (Cymbopogon nardus)
containing citronella as fungicide, clove (Syzygium aromaticum) containing eugenol as fungicide
and bactericide, Ocimum spp and Melaleuca bractetata containing methyl eugenol as fruit flies
attractant, and others.

Conclusion
Botanical pesticides will improve the ecology (environmental pollution can be minimize
caused by pesticide residues), economy (by usage of synthetic pesticides can be decreased, thus
farmers can cut their budget for purchasing synthetic chemical pesticides) and social (behavior of
the farmers can be directed towards being self sufficiency through making botanical pesticides by
themselves).







352
Understanding and Utilizing Effective Micro-organisms for Agriculture

Ahn, S. W.
Department of Horticulture,
Industrial Science College of Kongju National University, Korea

Introduction
Utilizing EM (Effective Micro-organism) for agriculture:
- Use organic matter (particularly carbon source) and invigorate micro-organisms to improve soil.
- Use EM when crops do not have enough power.
How to make fish amino acid liquid fertilizer fermented by EM:
- Prepare 200l container, i.e. 10 mal (Korean unit of measure, 1 mal equals 18l) full of fish or fish
intestine, and put the mixture of 18l (1 mal) sea water, 36l (2 mals) of syrup, and 4l of EM in the
container. Ferment the manure for 4 months if it is fish intestine and 1 year if it is whole fish.

Methods and materials
How to make EM medication active liquid:
- 1
st
fermentation.
- Container fermentation (1 ton): Mix 900 l water, 10 l syrup, and 50 l
EM medicine. Ferment additional 10l of syrup 5 days after fermentation.
- Liquid fermentation (1 ton): Mix 950l water, 20l syrup, and 20l EM medicine.
- 2
nd
fermentation (farm):
- Make 1 ton of EM active liquid by mixing 990l water, 20l syrup, and 40l EM active liquid.
- Ferment additional 10l of syrup 5 days after fermentation.

Basic organic farming management by leveraging EM
Basal manure and soil management: Underdraining and irrigation facility are necessary:
- As a way of soil management, in autumn, spray 5 to 10 tons of manure particularly rich in carbon
source with C/N ratio higher than 30 (e.g. straw and woodchip) per 300 pyeong land (pyeong is
Korean unit of measure, 1 pyeong equals 3.3 m
2
) and 1.5 ton of EM active liquid, and then rotary
plow approximately 5cm.
- 1 month before field planting in spring, spray 1.5 ton of EM active liquid, 50-60l of fish amino
acid liquid fermented by EM per 300 pyeong, and then rotary plow approximately 5cm. Plant in the
field 2 weeks after conducting soil management.

Nutrient management with additional manure
- In accordance with growth and development state of crop, spray and perfuse EM active liquid
(1/20 to 1/1,000 dilution) and amino acid liquid manure (1/500 to 1/2,000 dilution) to foliages to
nourish the crop.

353
Conclusions
EM-fermented fish amino acid nutrient is EM medicine. Generally speaking, when organic amino
acid is used as source of nitrogen for crop cultivation, it leads to better crop growth and
development than when chemical fertilizers are used as nitrogen source. In an environment with
low-temperature and inappropriate photosynthesis, crops cant generate enough photosynthesis
product (i.e. carbohydrate), and as a result, growth may be impaired. If amino acid is absorbed into
roots and leaves, it is immediately used for nitrogen metabolism through transamination response,
and improves crop growth.
354
Myoko a Large Fruit Cultivar of Tomato Bred in Nature Farming Systems

Akinobu. Harada
*
, Kaoru. Ishiwata and Toshio. Nakagawara
International Nature Farming Research Center, Japan
aharada@infrc.or.jp
http://www.infrc.or.jp

Key words: Breeding, fruit quality, organic (nature) farming, tomato, variety or cultivar.

Introduction
In recent years, interests in organic agriculture are steadily increasing worldwide. However, crop
varieties for organic production are in shortage and the knowledge of cultivation techniques for
utilizing the organic varieties is also lack for understanding the practices. Therefore, at International
Nature Farming Research Center, nature farming breeding programs are in practices with aims at
developing cultivars suitable for nature farming or organic crop productions. In particular, tomatoes
are among the vegetables produced in scales of small-and medium-sized shipments and
home-garden. Summer and autumn croppings of tomato in open field are the type most in demand
for organic cultivation. Cultivars with strong disease resistance and avoidance of fruit cracking,
harvested in hot seasons, are in particular demand. Therefore, the objectives of our breeding
program were to develop tomato cultivars with high fruit quality, resistant to multiple diseases and
fruit cracking.

Methods and materials
Plant management. In the breeding plots, fertilizers, composts and organic materials from outside
are prohibited with only winter Gramineae and summer legumes intercropped. Moreover, perennial
grasses were stripe planted between the crop rows and mowed frequently with cut grasses mulched
onto the soil surface around near the crop plants. The good genotype lines with optimum plant
growth, good fruit quality and delicious taste were selected. The male parent used was the one-side
parent of another organic cultivar Menina and female parent used was a genotype selected from the
cross of the male parent of Misora with Mairoku. This genotype with resistance to multiple
diseases as female parent crossed with the male parent of Menina was released and names as
Myoko in 2007.
Characters of the cultivars. The leaves were in medium to large size with slightly short internodes.
With a strong vigor, plants grew obediently after the fruit set. The fruit setting was stable with 1-4
fruit per truss. The fruit were in dark pink with a size of 210 g. The taste showed a good balance
between sourness and sweetness with rich taste in the fruit portion inside the thick skin. The fruit are
hard with few cracking ones and a good long shelf life. Since harvest was early in sheltered
greenhouses, the cultivar was suitable for both cultivations outdoors and in rainout shelters. The
cultivar showed high resistance to leaf blights, Fusarium wilting of Races 1 and 2, southern
root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita), and tomato mosaic virus (Tm2a / +).
Variety trials. In order to confirm the variety characters of Myoko, field trials were conducted in
comparison with the conventional cultivars in 2006. The experimental site was at International
Nature Farming Research Center, located in Matsumoto Highland with an altitude of 695 m. The
soil belonged to Andosol rich in humus in the surface layers. The tomato seedlings were planted
with space 150 cm between rows and 45 cm between plants. The plants were pruned with two main
branches remaining. The plant density was 7400 ha
-1
. The conventional cultivars Momotaro 8
355
(Takii Seeds Co. Ltd.) and Leika (Sakata-no-Tane Co., Ltd.) were used as controls. Cow-dung
compost was applied 2 kg M
-2
in the band of tomato. Seeds were sown on March 29 in seedling
package, moved to small pots on April 28 and transplanted to field on May 15. Hand weeds control
was done on May 8 and 25. Grass mowing was done May 29, June 12 and 29, July 12 and August
19 between the tomato rows and cut grass was mulched between tomato plants. Water was supplied
on June 4 and August. On June 7, the green manure crop was cut and mulched together with
cow-dung compost between tomato plants. Pruning and plant arrangement were done on June 14,
July 10, 13, 19 and 23 and August 14. A little of organic fertilizer with rice bran as material was
dressed. Fruit were harvested from July 27 to September 30. Fruit yield (including marketable and
cracking fruit) was recorded and fruit sugars concentration was measured.

Figures and tables
Table 1. Fruit yield and sugars content in cultivars of Myoko, Leika and Momotaro 8
Cultivar ----------------Fruit yield---------------- -----Fruit number------
Marketable Fruit size Sugars
Total Market Mal-fruit Marketable Mal-fruit rate size contgent
(g m
-2
) ---------(g/plant)--------- --------(fruit/plant)------ (%) (g)
(Brix.)
Momotaro 1014a 1368a 1592ab 8.7 11.7AB 41.3A 164
6.1B
Leika 1477ab 1993ab 1233a 11.3 7.5A 60.1B 177 5.7A
Myoko 1794b 2422b 1420ab 14.3 9.2AB 59.4B 166 6.0AB
The Greece letter, small letter and capital show the differences at P 0.10, P0.05, and P0.01,
respectively.


Photo 1. Fruit of Myoko
Results and conclusion
The total fruit yield and the marketable fruit yield in Myoko were higher than in the conventional
cultivar Momotaro 8 with a similar fruit size to each other. The high fruit yield in Myoko was
attributed to more fruit per plant. Myoko was similar to another conventional cultivar Leika with
no significant differences in marketable fruit yield between each other. The sugars content in
Myoko was higher than in Leika and similar to that in Momotaro 8. Myoko produced fewer
cracked fruit than other conventional cultivars. Leika is also known as a good cultivar
characterized by few fruit cracking and fruit skin hard and good for ripen harvest. Momotaro 8 is
known as a good cultivar with good taste and atable sugars content. Myoko has good hard fruit
skin similar to Leika and is suitable for ripe harvest with a longer shelf life.

356
Rhizosphere Engineering for Improving
Productivity and Quality Constituents in
Asparagus Racemosus
Anilkumar,A.S
1
& Sherief,A.K.
2
Key words: Asparagus, agro techniques, productivity,
biochemical constituents, herbal medicines

Abstract
The medicinal crop, Asparagus racemosus is valued for its
tuberous roots that are used in medicinal and tonic preparations.
Root is diuretic and galactogouge. Its demand is ever incresing
as it is indispensable for ayurvedic medicine manufacturing
units for the formulation of umpteen drugs and neutaceuticals.
An experiment was conducted to standardize the eco-
physiological requirements for sustainable utilization of natural
resources and cultural inputs to achieve higher productivity
without affecting the quality of officinal parts. The experiment
was conducted in Factorial RBD with two replication. The
technical programme consisted of combinations of six
containers, viz, Polythene bags bags partially buried in soil,
empty cattle feed bags partially buried in soil, micro site
enrichment with lining, micro site enrichment without lining,
pit followed by mound and control, two rooting medium, viz,
special rooting medium for root induction and root
development and control; and two soil moisture levels, viz, rain
fed condition and irrigated condition. The experiment was
continued for eighteen months and vine length, number of
branches, yield and yield attributes, viz, number, length and
girth of tubers were recorded and biochemical constituents
estimated. Economic analysis of the system was carried out.
Cultivation of Asparagus under irrigated condition in empty
cattle feed bags filled with enriched rooting medium and
357
partially buried in soil recorded the highest tuber yield and
enhanced gross income, profit and benefit cost ratio besides
improving quality attributes like osmotic potential and
oleoresin.
Introduction
Herbal medicines are being used by about 80 % of the world
population primarily in the developing countries for primary
health care. They have stood the test of time for their safety,
efficacy, cultural acceptability and lesser side effects. The
chemical constituents present in them are a part of the
physiological function of living flora and hence they are
believed to have better compatibility with the human body.
Ancient literature also mentions herbal medicines for age
related diseases, namely, memory loss, osteoporosis, diabetic
wounds, immune and liver disorders, etc., for which no modern
medicine or only palliative therapy is available. India is sitting
on a gold mine of well recorded and well practiced knowledge
of traditional herbal medicine. But we have not been able to
capitalize on this herbal wealth by promoting its use.
Insufficient availability of raw material is one of the major
constraints. Excessive unregulated exploitation of medicinal
plants and increasing globalization of phytomedicine markets
jeopardize future availability and survival of many species. The
progressive degradation and loss of forests and other natural
ecosystems exacerbates this problem (Kumar and Patra, 2000).
Development of appropriate techniques and empowerment of
different stakeholders, especially, women and tribal
communities, in sustainable harvests, value addition and
product diversification lead to generation of income and
employment besides ensuring environmental health. Asparagus
is valued for its tuberous roots that are edible. It is used in
medicinal and tonic preparations. Root is diuretic and
galactogouge. With this background, the present experiment
358
was conducted to provide appropriate eco-physiological
requirements for sustainable utilization of natural resources in
relation to achieve higher productivity in Asparagus racemosus
without affecting the quality of officinal parts.
Materials and methods
The experiment was conducted in Factorial RBD with two
replication. The treatment details are furnished below.
Factor A. Containers (6)
C1 - Polythene bags / plastic bags partially buried in soil
C2 - Empty cattle feed bags partially buried in soil
C3 - Micro site enrichment with lining
C4 - Micro site enrichment without lining
C5 - Pit followed by mound
C6 - Control
Factor B. Rooting medium (2)
R1 - Special rooting medium for root induction and root
development
R2 - Control
Factor C. Moisture (2)
M1 - Rain fed condition
M2 - Irrigated condition

The crop was planted at aspacing of 75 cm x 75 cm on
03.08.2006 and harvested after 18 months. Biometric
characters like vine length and number of branches, yield and
yield attributes, viz, number, length and girth of tubers were
recorded and biochemical constituents estimated. Economic
analysis of the system was carried out.
Results

359
Vine length

Type of containers significantly influenced vine length and
micro site enrichment with lining registered maximum length.
The effect of rooting medium and soil moisture condition were
insignificant in influencing vine length. However, longer vines
were associated with special rooting medium under rain fed
conditions. The interaction effects indicated the significant
superior performance of the treatment combination, pit
followed by mound system integrated with special rooting
medium and cultivation under irrigated condition.

Branching

Branching was not at all significantly influenced by treatment
effects. However, micro site enrichment without lining, potting
mixture and rain fed condition registered higher values.
Though, none of the treatment combinations could exert any
significant influence on branching, very wide variations in
branch number, i.e., from 3.00 to 6.25 were observed and
maximum number of branches were seen when the crop was
raised under rain fed condition in polythene bags filled with
potting mixture and partially buried in soil.

Yield and yield attributes

Tuber production was significantly influenced by treatment
effects and cultivation in empty cattle feed bags partially
buried in soil registered maximum yield of 16.16 t ha
-1
. The
effect of rooting medium was remarkable on tuber production
and application of special rooting medium registered maximum
yield of 16.7 t ha
-1
. Though, no significance could be observed
with respect to soil moisture situations, cultivation under
irrigated condition gave the maximum tuber yield of 13.84 t ha
-
360
1
. Interaction effects were also significant and cultivation under
irrigated condition in empty cattle feed bags filled with special
rooting medium and partially buried in soil recorded the
highest tuber yield of 22.27 t ha
-1
.

Number, length and girth of tubers were significantly
influenced by treatment effects and in all the cases, cultivation
in empty cattle feed bags partially buried in soil registered
higher values. Incorporation of special rooting medium was
also beneficial in registering higher number, length and girth of
tubers compared to control. Though, the effect of irrigation was
insignificant, higher number and length of tubers were seen
under irrigated condition compared to rain fed situation.
Interaction effects were remarkable and cultivation under
irrigated situation in empty cattle feed bags filled with special
rooting medium and partially buried in soil recorded maximum
number, girth and length of tubers.

Economic analysis and quality attributes

Type of containers significantly influenced the economic
returns. Cultivation in empty cattle feed bags partially buried in
soil significantly increased gross income, profit and BCR. This
treatment also produced the best quality tuber with respect to
oleoresin content. The effect of rooting medium was also
remarkable in improving economic returns. Special rooting
medium provided for root induction and root development
significantly increased gross income, profit and BCR. The
trend was similar with respect to the production of best quality
tuber containing maximum oleoresin. Soil moisture levels did
not significantly influence monitory returns. However,
cultivation under irrigated condition registered better economic
returns compared to rain fed situation in addition to quality
constituents. Interaction effects significantly influenced the
361
economic returns. Cultivation in empty cattle feed bags filled
with special rooting medium and partially buried in soil under
irrigated condition enhanced gross income, profit, BCR and
quality attributes.
Discussion
The growth of a plant is influenced by the metabolic activities
which require adequate amounts of nutrients and water.
Application of special rooting medium and regular irrigation is
beneficial for maintaining optimum moisture-nutrient-oxygen
regime in soils. Cultivation in empty bags filled with special
rooting medium prevents leaching losses of nutrients and water.
Special rooting medium, a proper blend of enriched coir pith
vermicompost, cow dung and soil in equal proportion
constitutes an excellent medium for efficient root growth. The
components of the rooting medium have unique characteristics
for promotion of root growth. It contains significant quantities
of available nutrients, beneficial microorganisms and
biologically active metabolites particularly gibberellins,
cytokines, auxins and group B vitamins (KAU, 2001). Coir pith
has high surface area, low bulk density, low thermal
conductivity and high porosity. There are several reports about
its suitability for water and nutrient conservation (Joseph,
1995; Gopinathan, 1996.; and Venkitaswamy & Khan, 2004).
Enriched rooting medium inside empty cattle feed bags is
beneficial for maintaining ideal conditions for root
development. The available organic and biological sources of
nutrients which are renewable in nature are utilized along with
mineral fertilizers in order to benefit from the positive
interactions resulting from such integrated use (Sieverding,
1991).
Conclusions
362
Cultivation of Asparagus under irrigated condition in empty
cattle feed bags filled with enriched rooting medium and
partially buried in soil recorded the highest tuber yield and
enhanced gross income, profit and BCR besides improving
quality attributes like osmotic potential and oleoresin.

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to Western
Ghat Cell, State Planning Board, Kerala for extending
necessary financial assistance to implement the project.
References
Gopinathan R. (1996) : solid waste management with special
emphasis on sustainable agriculture. Annual report.
Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi. 23 p.
Joseph.G (1995) : Coir pith as a money spinner. Indian Cocon.
J. 26 (7) : 2-3
KAU (2001) : Medicinal and Aromatic Plants research in
Kerala Agricultural University. Directorate of Research, Kerala
Agricultural University, Thrissur, 26 p.
Kumar,S. and Patra,D.D (2000) : Integration of mediculture
with agriculture for sustainable higher productivity, profits and
employment. J. Med. Arom. Pl. Sci. 22 : 753-756
Sieverding E. (1991) : Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae
management in tropical agro eco system. Hartmit Bremer
Verlag 3403, Fried Land, Germany, p.372
Venkitaswamy, R and Khan.H (2004) : Drought management
in coconut in Tamil Nadu. Indian Cocon. J. 34 (10) : 16-19


363
1
Professor & Head, Department of Agronomy, College of
Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University, Padannakkad,
Kerala-671328., E-Mail anilagronomy@gmail.com
2
Professor (Agricultural Extension), Training Service Scheme,
College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University,
Vellayani, Kerala-695522., E-Mail

364
Table 1 Performance of Asparagus as influenced by types of containers, rooting
media and moisture levels


Treatments
Biometric characters Root characters Yield (t
ha
-1
) Vine
length
(cm)
No. of
branches
No. of tubers Girth
(cm)
Length
(cm)
Container
C1 184.00 4.31 122.75 10.89 35.38 14.43
C2 207.63 4.75 123.88 11.26 41.13 16.16
C3 224.38 4.44 120.87 10.91 38.63 14.82
C4 179.56 5.81 119.75 11.13 32.88 11.73
C5 218.00 4.81 103.50 9.84 34.13 11.06
C6 154.88 4.31 94.50 11.20 35.00 12.49
SE 17.00 0.67 3.70 0.32 2.14 0.89
CD (0.05) 48.32 NS 10.52 0.89 6.09 2.53
Rooting media
R1 204.58 4.56 115.92 10.97 38.46 16.71
R2 184.90 4.92 112.50 10.70 33.92 10.19
SE 9.82 0.39 2.13 0.18 1.24 0.51
CD (0.05) NS NS NS NS 3.51 1.46
Moisture
M1 196.42 5.19 113.42 10.92 35.63 13.06
M2 193.06 4.29 115.00 10.75 36.75 13.84
SE 9.82 0.39 2.13 0.18 1.24 0.51
CD (0.05) NS NS NS NS NS NS
Interaction
C1R1M1 257.50 3.00 122.50 11.25 39.50 17.76
C1R1M2 157.25 3.25 123.00 10.75 36.00 16.96
C1R2M1 157.50 6.25 129.00 10.90 36.50 11.61
C1R2M2 163.75 4.75 116.50 10.65 29.50 11.39
C2R1M1 235.75 6.25 110.00 10.50 42.50 19.72
C2R1M2 202.55 3.50 140.50 11.50 50.00 22.27
C2R2M1 171.25 5.00 129.00 11.55 38.50 12.12
C2R2M2 224.00 4.25 116.00 10.70 33.50 10.54
C3R1M1 237.50 5.00 112.50 10.75 41.00 17.59
C3R1M2 210.00 4.50 131.00 10.00 43.60 19.04
C3R2M1 178.00 4.00 115.00 10.75 31.50 11.99
C3R2M2 272.00 4.25 125.0 10.15 38.50 10.67
C4R1M1 193.75 8.75 132.50 11.00 35.00 14.58
C4R1M2 223.75 4.25 122.50 11.75 37.50 14.81
C4R2M1 168.75 5.00 114.00 10.90 29.00 7.95
C4R2M2 132.00 5.25 110.00 10.85 30.00 9.51
C5R1M1 153.50 3.25 104.00 10.85 33.50 11.56
C5R1M2 300.00 5.25 95.00 9.85 37.00 13.51
C5R2M1 224.75 5.75 112.00 9.75 34.00 8.89
C5R2M2 193.75 5.00 103.00 8.90 32.00 10.29
C6R1M1 170.75 4.25 92.00 11.50 29.00 14.67
C6R1M2 112.75 3.50 105.50 9.95 37.00 18.02
365
C6R2M1 218.00 5.75 88.50 11.45 37.50 8.29
C6R2M2 128.00 3.75 92.00 11.90 36.50 9.01
SE 34.00 1.35 7.41 0.63 4.28 1.78
CD (0.05) NS NS NS 1.79 12.19 5.06

Table 2 Quality and BCR of Asparagus as influenced by types of containers,
rooting media and moisture levels


Treatments
Quality Economics
Osmotic
potential
Oleoresin K (%) Gross
income (Rs
in lakhs)
Profit
(Rs in
lakhs)
BCR
Container
C1 361 1.53 0.66 1.44 0.85 2.44
C2 461 1.57 0.67 1.62 1.02 2.74
C3 441 1.37 0.61 1.48 0.89 2.51
C4 433 1.43 0.66 1.17 0.58 1.98
C5 432 1.14 0.58 1.11 0.51 1.87
C6 368 1.16 0.59 1.25 0.69 2.27
SE # # # 0.13 0.08 0.15
CD(0.05) # # # 0.36 0.12 0.43
Rooting media
R1 430 1.49 0.65 1.67 1.08 2.86
R2 401 1.24 0.59 1.02 0.43 1.74
SE 0.05 0.05 0.08
CD(0.05) 0.14 0.07 0.25
Moisture
M1 389 1.26 0.59 1.31 0.72 2.23
M2 443 1.47 0.67 1.38 0.80 2.37
SE # # # 0.05 0.05 0.08
CD(0.05) # # # NS NS NS
Interaction
C1R1M1 320 1.65 0.61 1.77 1.18 3.00
C1R1M2 415 1.72 0.74 1.70 1.10 2.87
C1R2M1 210 1.43 0.62 1.16 0.57 1.97
C1R2M2 500 1.33 0.69 1.14 0.54 1.93
C2R1M1 490 1.21 0.52 1.99 1.39 3.37
C2R1M2 530 1.90 0.80 2.23 1.63 3.77
C2R2M1 450 1.52 0.67 1.20 0.60 2.03
C2R2M2 375 1.67 0.72 1.06 0.46 1.78
C3R1M1 425 1.59 0.65 1.76 1.16 2.98
C3R1M2 520 1.82 0.80 1.90 1.31 3.23
C3R2M1 430 0.98 0.52 1.19 0.60 2.03
C3R2M2 390 1.12 0.49 1.06 0.47 1.80
C4R1M1 420 1.30 0.67 1.46 0.86 2.47
C4R1M2 510 1.71 0.78 1.48 0.89 2.51
C4R2M1 390 1.31 0.61 0.79 0.20 1.34
C4R2M2 410 1.40 0.59 0.96 0.36 1.62
C5R1M1 330 1.02 0.58 1.16 0.56 1.96
366
C5R1M2 510 1.69 0.75 1.35 0.76 2.29
C5R2M1 470 0.94 0.53 0.89 0.29 1.50
C5R2M2 420 0.93 0.49 1.03 0.43 1.74
C6R1M1 310 1.14 0.58 1.47 0.91 2.66
C6R1M2 390 1.23 0.61 1.80 1.25 3.27
C6R2M1 420 1.08 0.56 0.83 0.27 1.51
C6R2M2 350 1.21 0.62 0.90 0.35 1.64
SE # # # 0.28 0.17 0.30
CD(0.05) # # # 0.71 0.25 0.86

# Single replication data. Statistical analysis not done

367


































Organic Tomato Variety Trials in Hungary


Anna, Divky-Ertsey Lszl, Radics - Barbara, Mirek Fruzsina, Gyngy
Fanni, Nmeth - Petra, Ferincz
Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
anna.ertsey@uni-corvinus.hu
http://anubis.kee.hu/

368
Key words: organic tomato, variety test

Introduction
Tomato is a traditional vegetable in Hungary. Tomato was harvested from a total of 2275 ha
with a yield of 90372,3 tons in 2008. It is the third most important vegetable after sweet corn
and watermelon. This vegetable plays an important role in organic farming too, not only in
greenhouses but in field growing, as well.
Conventional Hungarian tomato varieties are well known, proven and in the production tried
varieties. But the Hungarian organic seed database contains only seeds of new foreign tomato
varieties.
Correct choice of variety is a fundamental pre-requisite for the production of high quality
crops.
Trials were established for three varieties of tomato grown under organic conditions; yield,
quality, pest and disease resistance has been recorded for each variety. The varieties were
tested for inner content and shelf life also.

Methods and materials
The experiment was carried out in 2010. on the certified organic experimental field of the
Department of Ecological and Sustainable Farming Systems, CUB, located in Central
Hungary, in Soroksr, near Budapest.
The type of the soil is humic sandy. The climate is dry continental, but the study year 2010.
was extremely wet. The amount of precipitation was more than 150% of the average of 2007-
2009, during the vegetation period. The average temperature in the same period was 1C
lower, than the average of the previous years.
Three varieties (Principe Borghese, San Marzano and Rio Grande) were tested in four
repetitions. All the varieties are determinated and suitable for open field production.
Organic, non-treated seeds were sown in seed tray, under non-heated plastic tunnel on 9.
April, 2010. The young plants were planted in the field on 25. May. The process of the
production fulfilled all the criteria of organic farming. For protection against Phytophtora
infestans and Alternaria porri f. sp. solani, cupper was used twice during the vegetative
period.
The height of the plants, number of flowers, set fruits were recorded during the vegetative
period. The rate of healthy and infected tomatoes were measured during the harvest.
The varieties were tested also in laboratory, titratable acid level, sugar content by Schoorl
method, and dry soluble residue (Brix) with refractometer were tested.
A post harvesting test was also made. Tomatoes were kept in cool, dry chamber (between 17-
19 C) after harvesting and the ratio of the healthy pieces was counted day by day.

Results
The growing of the young plants were very slow right after planting due to the low
temperature and high precipitation. The number of set fruits were the highest in Principe
Borghese by variety. The special characteristic of the variety is to produce many little fruit
like cherry tomato.

369
0,00
10,00
20,00
30,00
40,00
50,00
60,00
Rio Grande San Marzano Principe Borghese
s
e
t

f
r
u
i
t
s
/
s
t
e
m
6. 25.
7. 12.

Figure 1. The number of set fruits by the different varieties

The amount of total yield was the highest by the varieties Rio Grande and San Marzano. The
ratio of healthy and wrong fruits was the best by the variety Principe Borghese.
Due to the very high amount of precipitation and low temperature between 10-15. September,
the infection of Phytophtora infestans was so heavy, that no leaves and fruits were left on the
plants. In an average year, the harvest of tomato lasts until October in Hungary

Table 1. Properties of the varieties
Earli-
ness
Prone to
cracking of
fruits
Brix Sugar/acid
ratio
Alternaria
porri f. Sp.
solani
Phytophtora
infestans
Rio Grande + +++ 5,5 21,2 +++ +++
San Marzano ++ ++ 7 17,3 + +
Principe
Borghese
+++ 0 5,4 11,1 ++ ++
+: light typical
++: typical
+++: high typical
0: not typical

The water soluble dry matter (Brix) was measured from harvested fruits.
The best value was measured by the variety San Marzano, and it also confirmed better shelf-
life .


370
0,00 1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00
Rio Grande
San Marzano
Principe
Borghese
yield (kg/m2)
28. J ul
24.aug
07. Sept

Figure 2. Total yield of the varieties

50 pieces of fruits of every variety were kept in cool (17-19 C), dry room after harvesting.
The storage test showed, that the varieties San Marzano and Principe Borghese could be kept
healthy for the longest time.
Storage test
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1.day 2.day 6.day 13.d 19.d 29.d 48.d
elapsed time
n
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

h
e
a
l
t
h
y

f
r
u
i
t
s

San Marzano
Rio Grande
Principe Borghese

Figure 3. The number of healthy fruits during the storage test.

The harvested tomato was sold directly to local consumers. The variety Principe Borghese
was bought only once by a Hungarian buyer. It was reported to have characterless taste. The
varieties Rio Grande and San Marzano are proper for processing. After the buyers feedback,
Rio Grande had good flavour, but the products made from it, e.g. ketchup, had not enough
red colour. The most wanted variety was San Marzano, however the long shape of the variety
made Hungarian consumers mistrustful, for they are accustomed to round shapes.

Due to the extreme weather, the yield of every variety was less than the average yield in
Hungary and less than the variety description said. The resistance against diseases was shown
371
better than it was expected by variety description. Rio Grande was the most sensitive for
Phytophtora infestans and Alternaria porri f. sp. solani. San Marzano had the most resistance,
it kept its foliage and fruits longer than the other two varieties.

Conclusions
For organic tomato production, Hungary has good conditions and a long tradition with proper
knowledge. The use of proper varieties is the basis of successful production. In conventional
tomato production in Hungary, there are a lot of tried and proven varieties.
According to the regulation of organic farming, farmers are to use organic seed. This
obligation should help the use of organic seed database. In 2010 the Hungarian organic seed
database did not contain organic tomato seeds of Hungarian variety.
The goal of the experiment was to try the available foreign field tomato varieties under
Hungarian circumstances.
The three tested varieties were Principe Borghese, Rio Grande and San Marzano.
In the extreme weather conditions in 2010. for the aspects of production, resistance, inner
content and processing, the variety San Marzano gave the best results. For fresh consumption
none of the varieties were suitable.
Because of the extreme conditions further tests are necessary to be made.

References
Helyes, L., Dimny, J., Pk, Z., Lugasi, A. (2006): Effect of maturity stage on content, color
and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) Karsten) fruit. International
Journal of Horticultural Science 2006, 12 (1): 41-44
Hodossi S., Kovcs A., Terbe I., (2004): Zldsgtermeszts szabadfldn. Mezgazda Kiad,
Budapest
Koller, M., Vieweger, A., Lichtenhahn, M. (2005): Sortenversuche im Biogemsebau 2004
Feld- und Lagerergebnisse. (Variety trials in organic vegetable production 2004.) FiBL-
Merkblatt.


372
Weed Control in Organic Soybean Field Using Cover Crop

B.M. Lee
1*
, H.J. Jee
1
, C.S. Kim
1
, S.B. Lee
1
, H.S. Nam
1
, C.K. Kang
1
, J.H. Lee
1
and M.K. Hong

1

Keywords: Cover Crop, Organic, Soybean, Weed Control

Abstracts
In organic farming agriculture, integration of cover crop into cropping system is recommended to
improve the soil quality, prevent soil erosion, and control weeds. The aim of this study was to
control weeds in soybean fields by integration of cover crops such as hairy vetch and rye. Due to
cover crop mulching, weeds occurrence and growth were radically decreased. One month later after
transplanting, weed growth inhibition rate of hairy vetch and rye treatment were 98% and 89%
respectively, while crimson clover treatment were 50%. These effects last long over two month.
The soybean yield of hairy vetch treatment was best. Therefore using hairy vetch as cover crop was
highly recommended in organic soybean field.

Introduction
In organic farming agriculture, integration of cover crop into cropping system is recommended to
improve the soil quality, prevent soil erosion, and control weeds. The aim of this study was to
control weeds in soybean fields by integration of cover crops such as hairy vetch and rye. Hairy
vetch is well known as green manure crop. Its high biomass and high nitrogen content is good for
green manure. Rye is well known as allelopathic effect inhibition of weed germination and growth.
In this study, we developed cover crop system for weed control in organic soybean field.

Materials and methods
Cover crops (hairy vetch, rye and crimson clover) were sown on October 2nd 2008. After
overwintering, cover crops were cut and mulched in whole fields on June 3rd 2009. Soybean was
transplanted on June 4th 2009. Weed population densities and composition were investigated in
May, July and August by counting the number of weeds in 3 quadrats(50cm x 50cm) that were
randomly placed within each plot at each sampling time.

Results and discussion
Due to cover crop mulching, weeds occurrence and growth were radically decreased. One month
later after transplanting, weed growth inhibition rate of hairy vetch and rye treatment were 98% and
89% respectively, while crimson clover treatment were 50%. These effects last long over two
month. The soybean yield of hairy vetch treatment was best. Therefore using hairy vetch as cover
crop was highly recommended in organic soybean field.
1
Organic Agriculture Div., National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA, Suwon City, 441-707, Republic
of Korea, E-mail : leebm@korea.kr
373

Fig. 1. Seasonal changes of weed occurrence and inhibition rate as influenced by cover crops in
organic soybean field.

Conclusion
Cover crop is effective way to control weeds in organic agriculture. But how to use cover crop
is still need to be studied in various crops. In soybean, hairy vetch mulching was optimal way to
control weeds. But killing hairy vetch before cropping is still troublesome matter.

References
Barnes, J. P. and A. R. Putnam. 1986. Evidence for allelopathy by residues and aqueous extracts of
rye (Secale cereale). Weed Sci. 34 : 384-390.
Creamer, N. G., M. A. Bennett, B. R. Stinner, J. Cardina and E. E. Regnier. 1996. Mechanisms of
weed suppression in cover crop-based production systems. Hortscience 31 : 410-413.
Shipley, P. R, J. J. Messinger and A. M. Decker. 1992. Conserving residual corn fertilizer nitrogen
with winter cover crops. Agron. J. 84 : 869-876.
Teasdale, J. R., C. E. Beste and W. E. Potts. 1991. Response of weeds to tillage and cover crop
residue. Weed Sci. 39 : 195-199.

0
20
40
60
80
100
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
May July Aug.
W
e
e
d

i
n
h
i
b
i
t
i
o
n

r
a
t
e
(
%
)

F
r
e
s
h

w
e
i
g
h
t
(
g
)

Hairy vetch Rye Crimson clover Contol
374
Herbicidal Effect of Vinegar as Organic Herbicide

B.M. Lee
1*
, H.J. Jee
1
, C.S. Kim
1
, S.B. Lee
1
, H.S. Nam
1
, C.K. Kang
1
, J.H. Lee
1
and M.K. Hong

1

Keywords : Herbicide, Organic, Vinegar, Weed control

Abstracts
Vinegar has been considered as a potential organic herbicide, but more knowledge is needed
about acetic acid concentration, application volume and use of adjutants on weed control. In this
study, we determined optimum acetic acid concentration and spraying time on several weed species.
Vinegar is more effective in broadleaf weeds than grasses. Vinegar is also effective in controlling
younger weeds such as 3
rd
to 4
th
weeks after emergency. For example, 3
rd
weeks after emergency
weeds were easily controlled at 2-3% of vinegar solution. But 4
th

weeks after emergency weeds
were controlled at 4-5% of vinegar. Therefore vinegar concentration was recommended about 5%,
and application time was when the weeds were young within 3 leaf stage.
Introduction
Vinegar is a solution containing acetic acid. It can be organically produced by natural
fermentation of plant. Vinegar has been considered as a potential organic herbicide, but more
knowledge is needed about acetic acid concentration, application volume and use of adjutants on
weed control. In this study, we determined optimum acetic acid concentration and spraying time on
several weed species.

Materials and methods
Vinegar concentration treatments were 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%. Each vinegar solution was
sprayed on test plants with rotary sprayer. Test plants are troublesome weeds such as Echinochloa
crus-galli, Digitaria ciliaris, Portulaca oleracea, Abutilon theophrasti, Chenopodium serotinum
and Amaranthus hybridus. In order to investigate damage response according to plant growth stage,
Growth stage of test plants was 1
st
weeks to 7
th

weeks after emergency. The damage symptoms of
test plants were recorded by visual scoring as 0(no effect) to 9(dead).
Results and discussion
Vinegar is more effective in broadleaf weeds than grasses. Vinegar is also effective in
controlling younger weeds such as 3
rd
to 4
th
weeks after emergency. For example, 3
rd
weeks after
emergency weeds were easily controlled at 2-3% of vinegar solution. But 4
th

weeks after emergency
weeds were controlled at 4-5% of vinegar. Therefore vinegar concentration was recommended
about 5%, and application time was when the weeds were young within 3 leaf stage.
Conclusion
Vinegar was shown as effective organic herbicide. When the weeds were young, within 3 leaf
stage, 5% of vinegar could control weed in organic farmland.

1
Organic Agriculture Div., National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA, Suwon City, 441-707, Republic
of Korea, E-mail : leebm@korea.kr
375
References
Moran P.J. and S.M. Greenberg. 2008. Winter cover crops and vinegar for early-season weed
control in sustainable cotton. J. Sustainable Agriculture. 32:483-506.
Johnson E., T. Wolf, B. Caldwell, R. Barbour, R. Holm, K.Sapsford. 2004. Efficacy of
vinegar(Acetic acid) as an organic herbicide. ADF project (#20020202) final report.

376
SOD-Culture Management for Apple Farming

Bae, C. W.
Intern
Geumbaksan Farm, Danggok-ri, Jinryang-eup, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea

Introduction
I have researched apple sod-culture management for apple farming as an intern in the second course
of the Korean organic apple cultivation class to learn apple farming skills after going through
research on peach cultivation, since I retired from Gyeongsangbuk-do Agricultural Research and
Extension Services. The following is the result of my research.
Materials and methods
If those who grow apples start sod-culture management for apple farming regardless of what others
think, they can save a significant amount in terms of pesticide costs, since the cultivation method
helps natural enemies of insects breed and provide them natural habitats.
1. Conventional concept of weeds
Weeds are unhelpful herbs and wild grass in terms of cultivation. They grow in the open area
outside of the roads, undermine cultivation of crops, and serve as a harbor for disease and insect
pests.
2. Functions of weeds at fruit-growing farms
As weeds prevent soil loss and provide the habitat for natural enemies of insects, they reduce the
cost otherwise spent on agricultural pesticides. They also cut the cost for fertilizers, since they help
organic nutrition circulate.
3. There are 51 families and 322 varieties of weeds growing at the fruit-cultivating farms across the
nation. Among them, the prevailing weeds at the apple, pear, and peach farms are ten, including
crabgrass, mugwort, and persicaria blumei.
4. Weeds help the natural enemies of insects breed and provide them natural habitats.
These weeds serve as plants that keep natural enemies. Also, sand files naturally go up to the trees
and prey upon insects.
5. It is beneficial to plant weeds adjacent to trees in terms of weed maintenance and management.
6. Pesticides are sprayed on fruits when insect pests occur at fruit-growing farms with no weeds.
That leads to an increase in pesticide spraying, since it kills the natural enemies of insects as
secondary targets at the same time.
7. If Insects occur at green manure crops, the cases are festuca myuros, a grass for the purpose of
restraining weed generation, and astragalus sinicus hairy vetch. In those cases, spaying insecticide is
the only solution to kill insects.
8. In the case of spaying pesticides, what happens to the natural enemies of insects?
Those that survive from insecticides will have a stronger resistance to pesticides. However, most of
the natural enemies of insects have no resistance to pesticides, so the majority of them are killed.
Therefore, it will take long time for them to be naturally restored to have them on the weeds.

377
Conclusion
Once weeds are vanished from fruit-growing farms, the food chain collapses, leading to an increase
in insect breeds. If we let natural enemies of insects live on the weeds in advance by planting and
maintaining a variety of bee plants such as barley, wheat, and maize, that will bring about a
decrease in production cost, subsequently securing a consistent income for farmers. All in all, since
insect-free and safe products are to be provided on the market, the health of people can be protected.

378
Case Presentation on Organic Farming: Grape Cultivation

Baek, Yi-nam
Cham Grape Farm, Ohchon-ri, Seowoon-myun, Anseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, Korea
Internet: www.chamgrape.co.kr

Key words: Organic farming, Cover crop, Green manure, Immune system

Introduction
Initially, I used chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, hormones and herbicides for grape
cultivation. But, growing demands for conversion into organic farming led me to broaden my
horizon to consider organic farming and take a wide range of relevant courses. I understood organic
agriculture as a farming method to ban the use of chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, so I
began cultivating Kyoho grape (giant mountain grape) using compost and microorganisms. For
creation of healthy soil, I put microorganisms into the soil and planted cover crops such as rye and
oats in my grape farm. However, I underwent constant failures associated with soil pollution,
compost polluted with GMO, ecological problems, and defects in the holistic management system. I
also had difficulty in preserving soil health and fertility amid the lack of biodiversity, and more
importantly some loopholes were found in the co-operative ties between resistant seedlings and the
natural ecosystem.

New start on new soil
Humans are born on soil which shapes our appearance and stature by nourishing us with all animal
and vegetable food sourced herefrom. We return to soil after experiencing the beginning and end of
life on soil. Likewise, soil provides a crucial and invaluable source of life for us. The death of soil
by environmental pollution implies the death of all mankind including myself, and the person
killing the soil becomes the main culprit in the death of all humans. Accordingly, I am determined
to apply unpolluted mountain soil to soil covering and plant beans on that soil.

Selection of resistant seedlings
I had enormous difficulty in choosing resistant varieties. As neither data nor pilot cultivation case
existed in Korea, I had to make a fresh start for my farming practice. Basically, plants have their
immune system which acts as a protective mechanism against blight and insect pests. Pathogens and
noxious insects do not carry out a random attack on all plants but a targeted attack against selective
plants in a vulnerable position. I planted over 100 grapevines for a better understanding of the
ambient environmental conditions and proper selection of resistant varieties. The surrounding
environment, botanical growth process, and infection route should be closely scrutinized for
specific selection of resistant varieties. Accordingly, I boldly weeded out some varieties susceptible
to damage by blight and harmful insects except for other ones widely recognized as resistant
varieties. After a series of failures, I was then highly motivated to opt for particular varieties with
strong resistance to various blight and disease. Consequently, my grape farm became a combination
type geared towards not only selection of strong resistant varieties but also preservation of
biodiversity. For over three decades my grape farm has endured despite severe scolding or criticism
from neighboring farmhouses. Its cultivation items now amount to over 30 varieties while over 70
varieties were naturally excluded based upon resistance against blight and disease and consumer
preference for taste and flavor.

Soil management
In the belief that healthy soil is the key to success of organic farming, I gave priority to the
preservation of soil health and fertility. My grape cultivation was centered on balanced nourishment
379
via soil improvement, preservation and enhancement of soil fertility, and sustainable biodiversity.
As there was no organic livestock manure, I composted natural substances to feed soil
microorganisms for the preservation of the ecosystem.
This approach marks a significant departure from conventional farming because it not only
promotes soil health but also lays the foundation for crops nutritional utilization through the supply
of organic compounds for soil microorganisms. The primary goal is to improve soil health in terms
of physical, chemical, and biological properties, thereby ensuring proper nutritional supply for the
soil.
In supply of organic compounds for soil microorganisms, the organic content of the soil is directly
influenced by the quantity and quality of organic compounds. Thus I followed periodic application
of organic compounds as part of the optimum fertilization methods for balanced botanical nutrition.
Because excessive application of organic compounds to the soil can lead plants to have weak roots
plus lush trunks and leaves and become vulnerable to disease and harmful insects, whereas
insufficient supply of organic compounds for the soil can facilitate the growth of roots. For better
soil quality, preservation and improvement of soil fertility, and higher diversity and number
(density) of soil microorganisms, I stimulated the biological activity of the soil through cultivation
of leguminous crop, cover crop, and green manure (crop), and I followed the crop rotation system
as a proactive measure against soil infection for the expansion of effective microorganisms and
higher soil fertility. Even today, I still adhere to this farming practice, thus all remnants of
grapevines are crushed for instant application to the soil regardless of whether they are composted
or not.
I produced multifunctional charcoal as resources for soil improvement. For 12 years, I annually put
1.5-2 ton of charcoal into the soil with the area of 6,061m, which enhanced the permeability,
drainage, ventilation, and humidity of soil and prevented potential fertilizer losses. Activation of
weak alkaline charcoal can adjust the pH level of the soil, and microelements inside the charcoal
can boost botanical growth. Charcoal also increases the number of microorganisms good for
botanical growth and budding.
Charcoal with porous properties promotes adhesion of gas fluids to soil and botanical growth, and
its combined activities enhance the health status of plants. Around 2,000 years ago, charcoal began
to be used as a preservative. Today, it creates the optimum soil condition for balanced botanical
growth via soil softening, thereby becoming a multifunctional substance for soil improvement and a
habitat for effective microorganisms.
Moreover, charcoal enhances the taste and yield of individual crops, shortens the spacing between
knots, and reinforces the lodging tolerance in rice. Higher soil temperature driven by charcoal
prevents potential damage from cold weather. Charcoal improves the growth and quality of crops,
preserves good storage and freshness of crops after harvesting, extends the storage period, and
raises water quality. As an essential prerequisite for organic farming, it reduces harmful fungi
whereas increasing useful fungi.
To supply water for soil, I used a mixed sequence-type water activator to tap into the sheer vitality
of natural water. Activated water played a key role in creating the optimum soil for balanced
botanical growth via soil softening, and consequently it strengthened crop resistance to damage by
blight and harmful insects, improved water quality, and increased agricultural output.

In the coldest months during wintertime, I undertook soil cleaning by sprinkling natural salt on soil.

Soil dressing
Each year I conducted soil dressing using 7 tons of yellow clay soils (phyllite) (1.5kg per pyeong)
with the aim of making up for energy deficiency in the soil. Also, I enhanced the CEC (cation
exchange capacity) content of the soil by total fertilization of B-7 (203) three times, soil
activation, and supply of various minerals (my own development).
380

Cultivation of green manure crops
I applied the crop rotation system for cultivation of green manure crops (leguminous plant: hairy
vetch, alfalfa, and crimson clover; flag leaf plant, rye, and oat roots; mustard for green manure).

Tab. 1: Crop Rotation Plan
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Hairy vetch Fescue
Mustard for
green manure
Rye
Crimson
clover
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Oats Rape Alfalfa Rye Mustard green

Control of insect pests
In summer, I totally prohibited the use of herbicides through special cooperation with other
farmhouses nearby to ensure the growth of numerous plants. But, I mowed grasses in case the field
was overgrown with weeds.

Overall control of insect pests was centered upon disease prevention rather than on disease
treatment. Every year I suffered from serious damage caused by insect pests such as hawk moth
larva, Xylotrechus chinensis larva, and leaf roller caterpillar larva. As a preventive measure, I
installed a fly net across the entire greenhouse, thus there occurred almost no damage from the
aforesaid insect pests.

I used Orious spp., a natural enemy of thrips, for extermination of thrips beyond the capacity of the
fly net. One imago of Orious spp. preys upon 2-6 thrips per day, and one female imago of Orious
spp. lays over 50 eggs during her lifetime (about 2 eggs per day). In this regard, my application of
Orious spp. was very helpful for the extermination of thrips. Some problems occurred due to
Tetranychus urticae and spider mite, but they were completely controlled by natural enemies of
Phytoseiulus persimilis.

Bugs and insects are closely linked to humans, and bugs take the center stage in the domain of
insects. Our body produces antibodies through the intake of plants and vegetables injured by bugs
and insects. If bugs and insects were to disappear, humans and animals will be wiped off the earth
within the next few years.

I succeeded in using lacquer resin for the control of bugs and insects. This experience has enabled
me to become convinced that we cannot apply simple and environmentally friendly methods to
control insect pests unless we keep our eyes and ears wide open.

Sales after harvesting
Since my opening of grape farm, I have sold grape output at the same price per kg set by the farm
without classification of three grades: low, middle, and high grades. My grape output is rich in
vitality and nutrients and highly effective for the activation of human cells.

At first, I planted a total of 716 trees, but now I cultivate 135 grape vines together with my son in
anticipation of the next 1,000 years while feeling enormous pleasure and gratitude during grape
cultivation. I do my best to sell the beautiful landscape of this grape farm expected to be abundant
with well-grown grape vines while proceeding with a plan for the construction of a Charm Grape
Town (for natural therapy).

Conclusion
381
Even though we have learned and implemented many farming techniques, we are still wondering
about the following: Is there a better option? Is this substance good or bad given our constant efforts,
numerous failures, and harmful potentials? Does it cause an imbalance in nature? During our
farming practice, we have long stuck to our own thoughts and intentions, but by now, we should
have a proper understanding about agriculture.

When we are full of vitality necessary for life, we can have a healthy body under the luminous
radiance of lush and green nature and exuberant life. We will find that something unrecognized
unfolds, and consequently the environment will return to its original status. Constant energy
emanates from our body abundant in vitality, thereby being transmitted to the soil. In this process,
trees become a source of energy for our exhausted self. There is no doubt that nature and humans
are one.

Compared with conventional agriculture, organic farming can considerably speed up the creation of
agricultural output as a by-product of concerted efforts between nature and humans. Nutrients
arising from photosynthesis are delivered to soil microorganisms in charge of dissolution of
nutrients, and then these decomposed substances resume their nutritional function. This process can
be possible only if people provide a little help. Life reveals one of Mother Natures marvelous
wonders. Both nature and mankind are sure to find true happiness from organic farming.

382
Weeds Your Way: Organic Farmer Practices and Promising Avenues for
Research

Baker, B.
1
Key words: Weeds, Farmer First, Cultivation, Rotation, Equipment


Abstract
Organic farmers consistently rate weeds as one of their top research priorities. Farmers were
interviewed to provide basic information, such as crops, common weeds, techniques, what
works, what doesnt or hasnt worked. Also included would be metadata for each farm, such
as acreage, number of employees, years farming, and crops cultivated. Farmer-identified
cultivation techniques and detailed information on the set-up, operation and maintenance of
various pieces of equipment are provided. Farmers interviewed also participated in a focus
group to identify what techniques work, which ones are less successful, and what are
promising subjects for future research.
Introduction
Weed management presents one of the greatest challenges faced in organic farming systems.
Over the years, organic farmers surveyed have consistently ranked weeds as one of their top
priorities for research (Baker and Smith, 1987; Walz 1999; Walz, 2004). Researchers have
focused their on herbicides, while innovations in mechanical, cultural and biological weed
management have been largely driven by farmers. Agronomic or field crops pose a particular
problem for weed management when compared to row crops or vegetables because there is
limited ability to cultivate after the emergence of the seedlings. The relatively low value
makes hand labor and additional operations impractical.
Methods
The approach taken was based on Farmer First method, where farmer-identified priorities
and farmer-led innovation is the main driver of technological change. Data was gathered by
two complimentary methods: a survey completed by interview and an interactive focus group
of farmers.
The survey established basic information about the farming operation, including the scale and
crops grown the survey. Organic farmers were asked to identify the strategies and techniques
that they use to manage weeds. These include rotations; spacings; cultivation; cover crops;
and variety selection. The survey instrument will be included at the poster session. Farmers
interviewed also participated in a focus group that identified common techniques and
strategies. Focus group participants were invited to discuss their cropping systems in great
detail and share their experiences with other farmers as well as with the researchers in order
to identify what practices work, what ones are being developed and refined, and what are
promising avenues for research by professionals.
Results
1
Alfred State College Sustainability Institute, 10 Upper Campus Dr., Alfred, NY 14802.
383
Results to be presented in the poster session will include:
Strategies most commonly used by farmers to control weeds;
Farmer-led innovations in equipment used to manage weeds;
Decision rules related to cultivation and other practices;
Obstacles to further improvements in organic weed management; and
Research priorities for organic weed management.
Discussion
Diversity among and with organic farming systems make it impractical to generalize about
specific weed management techniques. What works for one farmer on one farm may not
work for another. The need to develop new cultivation equipment, discover non-chemical
methods for reduced tillage and soil conservation systems all were repeated themes. Weed
ecology and the development of natural chemical methods do not appear to be a priority for
most of the organic farmers interviewed or in the focus group. However, there is interest in
the development of crop varieties that are more competitive with weeds, computer assisted
precision cultivation tools; and tools that require less labor and provide greater flexibility for
use in various cropping systems.
Conclusions
Farmer innovations have advanced the state of the art of organic weed management. However,
farmers interviewed acknowledge that more improvements are needed and that there is a role
for professional researchers. Researchers can learn from farmer innovation when conducting
research on non-chemical weed management.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Chuck Mohler of the Cornell University Agronomy Department, Abby Seaman of
the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Klaas Maartens of Lakeview Organic
Farms, and all the farmer participants surveyed and participating in the focus group
References
Baker, B.P. and Smith, D.A. (1987). Self identified research needs of organic farmers. Am. J.
Alt. Ag. 2: 107-113.
Chambers, R. Pacey, A. and Thrupp, L.A. (1989) Farmer First. Intermediate Technology,
London, 218 p.
Walz, E. 1999. Final Results of the 3rd National Organic Farmers Survey. Organic Farming
Research Foundation, Santa Cruz. http://ofrf.org/publications/pubs/3rdsurvey_results.pdf. Accessed 24
February 2011.
Walz, E. 2004. Final Results of the 4th National Organic Farmers Survey. Organic Farming
Research Foundation, Santa Cruz. http://ofrf.org/publications/pubs/4thsurvey_results.pdf .
Accessed 23 February 2011.
384
Organic Herbal Production and Its Relation with the Environment

Presenter Bikash Subedi (Mr.)
SAHAMATI, Nepal
Bikash064@yahoo.com
Website: www.sahamati.org

Keywords: environment, organic, herbal farming, lemongrass, holy-basil

Introduction

The Organic Herbal Production and its relation with the Environment project's activities have been
implemented in two rural communities of Nawalparasi. Nawalparasi district contains 73 Village
Development Committees (VDC) and 1 municipality with 688,483 habitants (Source: Intensive
Study & Research Centre, 2008). It covers some parts of hills and some plain areas named inner
terrain and terrain. Thus, it is known as a district with diverse characteristics. Among these, this
project is run in Town Bhagar of Ratanpur VDC and Thumsi of Gaindakot VDC. The distance from
district headquarter to Gaindakot VDC is 102 km. The total number of households is 146, covering
880 people. The traditional way of life (farming for self-sufficiency) reflects their livelihood. The
project has been started in October 2009 and completed on October 2010.

Methods and materials

The study project has mainly been done based on social aspects. As regards to the methodology, the
process of collecting information from the Town Bhagar and Thumsis community by using tools
such as focus group discussion (baseline survey), PRA/RRA tools, experiences/idea sharing, study
and discussion of previous study reports and ideas, informal interviews, home visits, transit walk
and observation are major activities.

Results and Conclusions

Organic herbal plants found in Nepal and their valuable importance

Herbal plants have always been part of human life on earth. Plants and human beings have a close
relationship and people depend on plants for their existence, so the relationship must be sustainable.
Nepal is a natural diversified country and herbs adapt to its environment: some plants prefer very
cool climate while others will only grow in warm places that enhances their germination,
maturation, flowering and fruiting. For example Yarsagumba (Cordiceps sinesis) needs caterpillar.
Besides, there are some practices to employ natural-based farming which means to grow herbal
plants organically in the own garden.

A good harvest depends on factors such as the type of soil, climate, availability of irrigation and
pest management.

Things to consider when growing own herbal plants

1. Choose suitable sources for the plants through herbal expertise
2. Have planned the nursery well
3. Avoid unnecessary stress for the plants
385
4. Prepare the planting field based on natural farming/organic farming
5. Look after newly planted plants until they are well established
6. Stay in touch with your herbal plants on regular basis

Herbals cannot only cure our ailments but can also be a potential economic source for the
community. Some of the herbs are already much sought after by pharmaceutical companies.

Environmental Sustainability, Ethical Values and Considerations

If carefully managed, organic herbal farming is a sustainable industry. The continued growth of
herb sales can also help to protect and increase the biodiversity of many ecosystems around the
world which are presently declining, due to problems such as over-farming and pollution. 75% of
our herbs are grown locally, in lush fertile organic and bio-dynamic soil. The other 25% mostly
comes from the rest of Europe and a small percentage from America (source: Herbs Hands Healing
2010). We are especially concerned about environmental consciousness, since our relationship to
Mother Nature is naturally a close one.

If the herbal plants are produced by community members avenues in cultivation, processing,
packaging, marketing and industrial application will be opened. Through this way, the rural people,
particularly unemployed woman and children, will benefit from this activity. The demand for herbal
plants is increasing as people are more and more fascinated by herbals. For a larger production and
authenticity we need to cultivate the wild herbs. This will help to conserve some of our medicinal
herbs that are pushed into the danger of extinction. It is ecological but also economically successful.


Organic Herbal products: Potential of plantation

Total income from Lemongrass (within one year)
From one Kattha (1 Kattha = 333m
2
) we can get minimum 250 kg dried lemongrass. Its market
price is at least Nepalese Rupees (NRs.) 25 per kg so the price of 250kg. is NRs.6,250. As
Lemongrass can be harvested four times a year; the one year total income is NRs.25,000/-

Now its net profit is = Total income - Total Cost of Production
= 25,000- 10,000
= NRs. 15,000

Total cost of production (within one year) = NRs. 5,890

Total income from traditional crops (within one year) = rice + maize + wheat
= 3,000+4,080+2,800 = NRs. 9,880

Now, its net profit = Income - Cost of Production
= 9,880- 5,890 = NRs. 3,990

Thus, thanks to the data, it is clearly show that herbal farming is more profitable than traditional
farming.


Herbal Tea Production

386
The 'Bhagar Herbal Tea', manufactured by the farmers of Town Bhagar, contains a mixture of
Lemongrass (60%), Mint (25%) and Holy Basil (15%) (Source: SAHAMATI, 2009). It is sold on the
market and within the local community. Local communities are already aware of the health benefits
from drinking tea. The locally produced tea is cheaper, more tasteful and healthier than other teas
available on the market. Since 2006, 2,885 packets for total NRs. 43,625 have been sold in the
local market. (Source: SAHAMATI, 2010) This has been contributing to increase farmers' income
level.


Future plan for organic herbal farming

Opinion Percentage
Depends on circumstances 13
Extension of other appropriate herbs as per climate and soil condition 17
Garden management 20
No plan 27
Lemongrass, Mint and Holy Basil extension 20
Other herbals extension 10
Lemongrass, Mint and Holy Basil plantation 34
Other herbals plantation 17
Table:1 (Future plan for organic herbal farming)

We may observe on this table that for example 20% of the farmers would do on their own the
garden management as they were trained to organize the herbal farm and are now self-reliable.


Conclusion

In Nepal, organic (herbal) farming is in an emerging trend. Thumsi and Town Bhagar illustrate it in
a very proper and clear way. A big contribution can be made for the sustainability of human life,
plants and soil. This is especially true in a country like Nepal where lots of wild herbs species, as
well as cultivated sorts, are available as organic products.

Organic farming can improve social, economic and environmental profitability for the whole
community. The poorest of the poor or the marginalized people are trying to adopt the way of
organic herbal farming even though they do not have a good education and do not get motivation
from the governmental level. Some NGOs and local governments work for the rural community
revival in general. Making herbal tea, essential oils and some other herbal products (finished or un-
finished) from very small lands are examples of the communities' appreciative initiation. Even if
they plant crops and vegetables to feed themselves in daily-life, they are also willing to do herbal
farming in addition. Gradually, they gain awareness of cultivating herbs which can make them
socially and economically sound. Through this way, they also protect the environment.


References
Amponsah, K., Crensil, OR., Odamtten, G.T., Ofusohene-Djan, W. (2002): Manual for the
Propagation and Cultivation of Medicinal Plants of Ghana, GHANA
Chandrapatya, Suraphol (2006): Senior Agricultural Extension and Development Specialist,
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA
387
Dubey RK and Tiwari S: College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University,
Arunachal Pradesh, INDIA
Flora and Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh (2009): State Forest Research Institute. INDIA
http://www.arunachalpradesh.nic.in/med-plant.htm Accessed May 10, 2010
Garmin Corporation: Teipei county, TAIWAN, geco 201 (elevation machine), Accessed on 21 June
2010 at Town Bhagar and Thumsi
Gupta, Satyanarayan (2006): Aushadi Avam Sugandhiya Vanaspati Ariyogana: Mahatma Phole
Krishi Vidhyapith, Maharastra, INDIA
Intensive Study & Research Centre (2008): Village Development Committee Profile of Nepal,
Putalisadak, Kathmandu, NEPAL
Oh, Ji Hyon (2009): an article on Medicinal plant cultivation, SAHAMATI, Gaindakot-5,
Nawalparasi, NEPAL
Pandey, Rabindra: Department of Ayurveda, Principle of Cultivation of Medicinal Plants in Higher
Altitude of Nepal, NEPAL, Accessed on 22 June, 2010
http://www.ayurnepal.com/en/articles/319-principle-of-cultivation-of-medicinal-plants-in-
higher-altitude-of-nepal.html
SAHAMATI (2009): Annual Report of MPP Program, Gaindakot-5, Nawalparasi, NEPAL
Schmittmann, Peter and Davies, Jill: Company Directors, Herbs Hands Healing Ltd, Norfolk, IP21
4XF, ENGLAND http://www.herbs-hands-healing.co.uk/articles/quality.html Accessed June
09, 2010
Stolze, Matthias, Piorr, Annette, Hring, Anna and Dabbert, Stephan (2000): The Environmental
Impacts of Organic Farming in Europe / Stuttgart-Hohenheim: (Organic Farming in Europe:
Economics and Policy; 6) ISBN 3-933403-05-7, GERMANY
Uttaranchal Decentralized Watershed Development Project (GRAMYA) (2007): Medicinal &
Aromatic plant cultivation: strategy, Uttaranchal, INDIA
388
Effect of Biofertilizer and Organic Mulching on Growth and Yield of Ginger
(Zingiber Officinale)

Borthakur, P.K.
1
Sarma,P.K.
2
& Sarma, D.
3
Key words: Biofertilizer, Azospirillum, PSB, Organic.

Abstract
The experiment was taken up at B.N.College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University,
Biswanath chariali, Assam, India during 2007 to 2009 to study the effect of biofertilizer treatment
viz., 4 kg Azospirillum and 4 kg. PSB along with various organic mulches Viz Paddy husk, dried
weed shavings, dried forest leaves, paddy straw and control (biofertilizer applied without mulch
treatment) on growth, development and yield of Ginger, Cv. Local. Biofertilizer and mulching
treatment had a significant effect on plant height. The highest plant height (77.50cm) was recorded
in the treatment consisting of bioferilizer and paddy straw after 180 days of planting and the lowest
(58.19 cm) was in the control. The highest number of tillers (13 nos.) was recorded in the treatment
consisting of biofertilizer applied along with paddy straw mulch and the lowest (8.5 nos) in the
control. The effect of treatments on the yield was significant on the second year. The highest yield
of 168.53 q/ha was recorded in the treatment with biofertilizer applied along with paddy straw
mulch and the lowest yield of 108.4q/ha was recorded in the control. The highest available nitrogen
(330 kg/ha), phosphorus (39.97Kg/ha) potash (310.5Kg/ha) and organic carbon (1.790 %) was
recorded in the biofertilizer treated paddy straw mulched plots while the lowest values of available
nitrogen (294.6 kg/ha), phosphorus (33.82 Kg/ha), potash (280.1 Kg. /ha) and organic carbon
(1.218%) was observed in the control plots.
Introduction
Maintenance of soil organic matter is important for the long term productivity of agro-eco systems
for maintaining soil organic matter, reclaiming degradable soil and supplying plant nutrients.
Organic mulching directly provides organic inputs to soil and has been used to effectively suppress
weeds and reduce soil erosion in organic farming system. The benefits of using Azospirillum, a
common PGPR used as a biofertilizer for cereals and vegetable crops have been well documented
(Okan and Kapulnik, 1986). Improvement in plant growth is attributed to Azospirllum through
subsequent increase of lateral root number and root hair formation (Tien et.al. 1979) water and
mineral uptake (Okan and Kapulnik, 1986) and nitrogen fixation (Basan and Holguin1996).
A study on the individual effect of mulching and biofertilizer has been well documented. However,
the information on the combined effect of biofertilizer and organic mulching on growth and
development of ginger is lacking. There is possibility that since the mulches creates a micro
climate suitable for growth and development of micro organisms by maintaining soil temperature
and moisture etc.; the micro organisms Viz., Azospirillum and the PSB under study, must have a
suitable environment for their growth and development under the organic mulches leading to a
positive response towards growth and yield of ginger crops.
Materials and methods
The experiment was taken up in the certified organic farm at B.N.College of Agriculture Biswanath
chariai, Assam, India. After preliminary land preparation, seeds of green manuring crop dhaincha
were sown and were incorporated into the soil at flowering stage. One month after green manuring,
well rotten FYM was added to the soil and land was harrowed. Plots of size 4m X 4m with a height
1
Professor, Department of Horticulture,Assam Agricultural University, J orhat Assam, India.E-mail: pritomborthakur@yahoo.co.in;Internet: www. aau.ac.in,
2
Associate professor,Department of Soil Science, B.N.College of Agriculture,B.Chariali,Assam 784176,India
3
Professor, Department of Agronomy, B.N.College of Agriculture,Biswanath chariali,Assam 784176,IndiaDanish Research
389
of 15 cm. were made. The seed rhizomes at the rate of 15q/ha were treated with 4kg of
Azospirillum and 4 kgs of PSB using slurry method in which mud slurry was prepared using water
and the Azospirillum and PSB was mixed to it. The rhizomes were then mixed with the slurry so
that the bacteria adhere to it. Furrows were prepared at a distance of 25 cm and in those furrows the
pieces of biofertilizer treated ginger rhizomes were placed horizontally at a distance of 15-20 cm.
The rhizomes were covered with soil. The plots were then covered with various mulching materials
viz. paddy husk (BM
1
), dried leaves (BM
2
), dried weed shavings (BM
3
) and paddy straw (BM
4
) to
a thickness of 5 cm which corresponds to 40t/ha,13t/ha 20t/ha and 15 t/ha of mulching material
respectively. In the control (BM
0
RESULTS
) biofertilizers were applied but no mulching was done. Soil
analysis was made in the beginning and at the end of the experiment.
Perusal of data in table-1 reveals that all the treatments showed higher values with respect to plant
height as compared to control. However, they failed to show any significant variation except on 180
days of planting. On 180th day of planting the highest plant height (77.50cm) was recorded in the
biofertilizer treated plots covered with paddy straw mulch. The lowest plant height (58.19 cm) was
in the control. After 240 days of planting the highest plant height (83.87cm) was in the biofertilizer
treated paddy straw mulch and the lowest (72.65 cm) in the control. All the treatments recorded
higher number of tillers as compared to the control; however, significant increase in the tiller
number was found on 150
th
On the first year, there was no significant difference in the rhizome yield as compared to control.
However, on the second year there was a significant increase in the yield. The highest yield (171.38
q/ha) was recorded in the biofertizer treated paddy straw mulched plots and the lowest (103.33 q/ha)
in the control. The two years pooled data reveals that the difference in yield due to biofertlizer
applied along with organic mulches varied significantly as compared to control. The highest yield
(168.53q/ha) was recorded in the biofertilizer treated paddy straw mulched plots and the lowest
(108.40q/ha) in the control.
day after planting. The highest number of tillers (13.0) was recorded in
the plots treated with biofertilizer and covered with paddy straw mulch. The lowest number (8.5)
recorded in the control. Though not significant, the highest number of tillers (16.7) was recorded in
the paddy straw treated plots after 240 days of planting.
The difference in soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and organic carbon content under
biofertilizer treated organic mulched plots was significant as compared to control (table 2). The
highest available nitrogen (330 kg/ha), phosphorus (39.97Kg/ha) potash (310.5Kg/ha) and organic
carbon (1.790 %) was recorded in the biofertilizer treated paddy straw mulched plots while the
lowest values of available nitrogen (294.6 kg/ha), phosphorus (33.82 Kg/ha), potash (280.1 Kg. /ha)
and organic carbon (1.218%) was observed in the control plots. The biofertilizer applied along with
organic mulch failed to show any significant effect on the pH of the soil.
Discussion
The biofertilizer applied along with mulching treatments showed a significant increase in available
potash. Generally the materials used for mulch such as mature dried grass, grain straw etc are high
in potassium. In fact, mulching soil with straw or sod grass always increases the amount of
potassium taken up by the crop. Since the grass and other mulching materials take up potassium
very strongly from the soil; grassing land down and using them as mulch raises the level of
potassium in the surface soil. This report of Tukey and schoff (1963) is in conformity with the
present finding in which the mulched plots were found to have higher potassium compared to
unmulched plots. The release of nutrients and other degradable products from the decomposing
mulches (such as humic acid) may have an appreciable effect on the soil and soil environment. The
influence however of incubating the soil without marked fluctuation in temperature and moisture
and with a minimum leaching erosion and disturbance of soil aggregates appear to be more general
effect. The effect of such incubation upon the physical condition of the soil as well as upon
availability of potassium and phosphorus are well documented (Mack & Berber 1960). It may be
390
assumed that condition beneath the mulch may be more favourable for making available the potash
and phosphorus already available in the soil. The difference in the organic matter content due to
biofertilizer and mulching treatment was found to be significant. The increase in soil organic matter
under organic mulches has been reported by Borthakur and Bhattacharyya (1987). Apart from the
activity of micro organism leading to increase in soil organic matter, fewer wetting and drying cycle,
reduction of soil temperature during summer might have created favourable effect on organic matter
maintenance
In the present experiment the Azospirillum applied along with other organic treatments, (Table-1
and table-2), had positive effect on the yield attributes under study. Micro organisms capable of
assimilating nitrogen are marked with nif genes. They synthesize nitrogenous enzymes
responsible for converting otherwise inert N
2
to plant usable NH
3
Tab1. Effect of biofertilizers and organic mulch treatments on growth and yield of ginger
. Hence, Azospirillum and such
other organisms are capable of solubilizing insoluble soil phosphorus (Sharma 2007).Under the
present experiment the nutrients viz. available nitrogen, Phosphorus, potash and organic
(DAP-Days after planting)
carbon were made available to the ginger plants by the Azospirillum and PSB leading to higher
growth and yield. The biofertilizers on application remain in the soil, multiply and keep benefiting
the growing crop. They do not get depleted as in case of fertilizers and an optimum soil condition
prevail, population of added micro organism build up (Sharma 2007). The present increase in the
growth and yield of ginger might be due to secretion of phytohormones, nitrogen fixation,
production of undefined signal molecules that can interfere with plant metabolism, nitrite
production, and the enhancement of mineral uptake by plants (Okon and Itzigsohn 1995).
Azospirillum fixes nitrogen, reduces nitrate, can form cyst-like structures in unfavourable conditions,
produces plant hormones, vitamins, and siderophores, and efficiently anchors itself to roots with the
help of fibrillar material. (Bashan and Holguin 1997). In the present study the positive effect of
biofertilizer application on ginger growth and yield may be due to increase in mineral uptake from
the soil as has been reported by Okon and Kapulnik (1986) who pinpointed the positive bacterial
effects on plants on morphological and physiological changes in the inoculated roots that would
lead to an enhancement of water and mineral uptake. On the first year (table-1) the effect of
treatments on the yield was not significant. It might be due to the fact that the nutrients viz.,
nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and organic carbon were not in available form. However, during the
second year the nutrients were in available form because of modification of the micro climate due to
applied treatments and more particularly because of decomposition of organic mulches leading to
an increase in yield. Moreover, mulching due to its moisture retaining (Pawar et.al.2004)
temperature regulating properties (Lalitha et.al. 2001) not only enhance plant growth and
development but also create a congenial environment for the growth and multiplication of the
Azospirillum and other micro organisms. In the present instance the interaction of mulch and
Azospirillum may have created a favourable soil ecosystem leading to improvement in growth and
Treatment
s
Plant height (cm) Mean Number of tillers Rhizome yield/ha)
90
DAP
120
DAP
150
DAP
180
DA
P
210
DAP
240
DA
P
90
DA
P
120
DA
P
150
DA
P
180
DA
P
210
DAP
240
DA
P
1st
year
2008
2nd
year
2009
poole
d
BM0 52.8
7
55.1
2
57.7
5
58.2 70.6
2
72.6 1.0 5.0 8.5 11.0 12.2
0
12.5 113.4
7
103.3
3
108.4
0
BM1 55.5
6
59.5
0
65.5
0
67.6 70.5
0
78.1 1.5 5.7 9.5 11.2 12.7 13.2 128.1
9
131.0
8
129.6
3
BM2 60.9
4
65.4
8
70.1
9
74.1 76.6
9
80.4 1.7 6.2 10.5 13.5 14.5 15.0 141.8
7
151.8
0
146.8
3
BM3 59.2
5
61.6
2
67.3
1
68.6 71.0
0
76.1 1.7 5.0 10.0 12.5 14.5 14.0 142.4
3
141.3
8
141.9
0
BM4 63.8
1
69.6
8
72.5
6
77.5 83.0
0
83.9 2.5 7.0 13.0 15.5 16.5 16.7 165.6
9
171.3
8
168.5
3
CD NS NS NS 3.1 NS NS NS NS 2.6 NS NS NS NS 29.89 21.16
391
yield of ginger.
Tab-2 Effect of biofertilizers along with organic mulch treatments on soil characters
Conclusions
Biofertilizers applied along with organic mulches have a significant effect on growth and yield of
ginger. It increased available nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potash and organic carbon of the soil. Bio
fertilizer applied in the form of Azospirillum and PSB along with various mulching materials like
paddy straw, dry weed shavings and dry forest leaves increased growth and yield of ginger.
However, 4 kgs of Azopirillum and 4 kgs of PSB applied to the ginger rhizomes(planting
material)by slurry method and planting them to the furrows in plots covered with paddy straw
mulch to a thickness of 5 cm had a significant effect on growth and yield of ginger.

References
Bashan Y, Holguin G. (1997): Azospirillum/plant relationships: environmental and physiological
advances (1990 -1996). Can J Microbiol 43:103-121
Borthakur P.K. &Bhattacharyya R.K. (1987): Effect of mulching in Guava. Sc. Thesis, Assam
Agricultural University, Jorhat Assam India
Lalitha B.S., Nagaraj K.H., & Anard T.N. (2001): Effect of sol solarizationon weed dynamics and
yield of groundnut Tomato sequence, Mysore J. Agric. Sci. 35(3):226-231
Mack A.R. & Barber S.A. (1960): Influence of temperature and moisture on soil phosphorus. Soil
Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc.24:381-385
Okon Y, Itzigsohn R. (1995): The development of Azospirillum as commercial inoculants for
improving crop yields. Biotechnol Adv. 13:365-374
Okan Y. & Kapulnik Y. (1986): Development and function of Azospirillum inoculated roots. Plant
and Soil 90:3-16
Pawar S.N.,Divekar S.P.,Ghule S.B.& Kadale A.S.(2004):Effect of mulching on moisture
conservation and yield of summer ground nut. J. Soil Crops 14(2):410-413
Trea
tme
nts
Av.
Nitrogen
Kg/ha
Available
P
2
O
5

Kg/ha
Available
K
2
O
Kg/ha
Organic
carbon %
Soil pH
Initi
al
Fin
al
Initi
al
Fin
al
Initi
al
Fin
al
Initi
al
Fin
al
Initi
al
Fin
al
BM
0
288
.0
294
.6
28.
85
33.
82
279
.2
280
.1
1.1
63
1.2
18
4.9
3
4.9
25
BM
1
301
.0
310
.0
33.
61
36.
18
282
.6
296
.7
1.2
45
1.4
53
5.0
5
4.8
75
BM
2
316
.0
324
.1
35.
30
37.
17
285
.7
298
.6
1.3
88
1.4
35
4.8
8
4.8
75
BM
3
311
.0
325
.5
34.
66
37.
54
290
.3
302
.0
1.3
63
1.4
28
5.0
0
5.0
00
BM
4
250
.0
330
.0
36.
69
39.
97
295
.5
310
.5
1.4
60
1.7
90
4.2
8
4.9
25
CD
at
5%
NS 12.
49
4.0
51
3.3
7
9.7
40
15.
32
0.0
91
0.1
14
1.2
0
0.2
31
392
Tien T., Gaskins H. & Hubell D. H. (1979): Plant growth substance produced by Azospirillum
brassilense and their effect on the growth of pearl millet. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology 37: 1016-1024
Sharma, P. (2007): Effect of biofertilizers on crops. Symposium on Use of biofertilzers in
Agriculture held at Gaziabad, India from 23rd June to 26th June 2007
Tukey R.B. & Schoff E.L. (1963): Influence of different mulching materials uponthe soil
environment.Proc.Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci.82:68-75
393
Development of Naturally Degradable Rice Polymer For Organic Weed
Management of Red Pepper and Rice
C.K. Kang
1*
, H.S. Nam
1
, Y.K. Lee
1
, S.B. Lee
1
, B.M. Lee
1
, Y.J. Oh
1
, H.J. Jee
1
M.K. Hong
,
1
, K.W. Jung
2
, Y.J. Lee
3
and Y.H. Choi
4

1
Science, RDA, 249, Seodundong, Suwon 441-707, Republic of Korea
Lab. of Weed Science, Div. of Organic Agriculture, National Academy of Agricultural
2
ILShin,
3
BASF Korea,
4

GnC Korea Ltd.
Key words: Rice Polymer, Organic Weed Management, Red Pepper, Rice
Abstract
Among the developed bio-degradable polymer films as compared with transparent film(White),
black polymer film was significantly more effective for controlling weeds in red pepper. Also, we
found that white and black polymer mulching had 81.8% and 97.9% of managing weed controlling
effects in rice, respectively. Compared to non-mulched rice paddy with water supply, the non-
mulched rice paddy without any water supply has stopped its growth at 41 days after transplanting,
while polymer-mulched rice paddy without water supply had about 60% of normally growing rice
plants. This shows the polymer treatment has a remarkable effect on water and power saving,
solution of herbicidal resistance, avoidance of herbicidal influence to eco-system etc. When the
naturally decomposing polymer was used, a temperature was elevated as high as 4.7C on
maximum and 2.6C on average. Also the naturally decomposing polymer accelerated rooting by 7
days and lowered a stress level from transplanting. The weed control effect mulched by polymer
was remarkable as 98.7%. The polymer now, after 294 days treated on the rice paddy, has been
completely decomposed.

Introduction
The polyethylene film have been covered for yield increase of upland crops in Korea from the
1980's. The problem come from non-degradable polyethylene film wastes. In an organic weed
management of paddy field, duck farming has several problems, such as the avian influenza,
decreasing of Echinochloa crus-galli weeding, and declining a biodiversity. Also, golden apple
snail farming as a designation of harmful pest, and paper mulching having a high price and a
rupture in a short period of time are concerned as problems. For these reasons, developing the
organic weed management techniques in the rice paddy is urgently needed. This research is about a
development of naturally decomposing polymer, examining its potential of controlling weeds and
its chance of industrialization.
394
Materials and methods
Crop(Variety) : Red pepper (Jungilpoom) and Rice(Ilpoombye)
Experimental period : 2006 to 2010 (5 years)
Experimental place : Osan, Suwon, Cherwon in Korea
Experimental plot : Randomized block design (3 Rep.)
Blowing of bio-degradable films : 3 to 5 films
Blowing method of bio-degradable films : Blowing film of extrusion.

Results
<Exp. I.> Weed control and physicochemical characteristics as influenced by mulching of newly
developed bio-degradable polymer film in red pepper.

Table 1. Comparison of tensile strength by several bio-degradable films after
UV radiation.
HAUVR Direction
z

201
(Conventional)
301 401 501
Just after
Hori 53.23
y
45.45 48.00 47.33
Vert 66.84
x
52.56 59.85 58.99
24
Hori 54.23
y
23.35 40.56 42.30
Vert 65.75
x
33.34 59.83 60.00
144
Hori 48.88
y
2.30 20.14 22.33
Vert 61.84
x
3.72 31.11 32.54
250
Hori 46.89
y
0 0 0.20
Vert 60.84
x
0.20 2.10 3.57
Z
Hours after UV radiation
y
Horizontal
x
Vertical
395

<color>

<Formulated Year>

<Weed>
Fig. 1. Weeding effect as influenced by polymer color, formulated year, and weed species

Fig. 2. Weeding effect as influenced by rice polymer mulching in herbicide resistant weeds


<Temp.>

396

<pH> <Organic mater>
Fig.3. Change of temp., pH and organic matter as influenced by time-dependent mulching rice
polymer

Conclusions
When the naturally decomposing polymer was used, a temperature was elevated as high as 4.7C on
maximum and 2.6C on average. Also the naturally decomposing polymer accelerated rooting by 7
days and lowered a stress level from transplanting. The weed control effect mulched by polymer
was remarkable as 98.7%. The polymer now, after 294 days treated on the rice paddy, has been
completely decomposed.

References
C.K. Kang etc.(2010).: Weeding effect of newly developed natural degrading rice polymer film in
paddy field. The Korean Society of Weed Science 30(2):88~89.
397
Biological Detoxification of Lacquer Tree (Rhus verniciflus Stokes) Stem
Bark by Mushroom Species
Choi, H. S.
1
*, Jeong, S. T.
1
, Yeo, S. H.
1
, Choi, J. H.
1
, Kim, T. Y.
1
& Lee, S. H.
Key words: Detoxification, Laccase, Lacquer tree, Mushroom, Urushiol
1

Abstract
The stem bark of Rhus verniciflua (RVSB) has been used in herbal medicine to treat diabetes
mellitus and stomach ailments for thousands of years in Korea, despite its content of the plant
allergen, urushiol. A new biological approach for the removal of urushiol from RVSB using
mushrooms is described. Mushrooms in this study were able to grow on RVSB, although the
growth rate (mm/day) was lower than the control (sawdust). The components of urushiol
were reduced remarkably from 154.15 to 10.73 mg/100g (approximately 93%) by Fomitella
fraxinea, whereas Trametes vercicolor showed only a 1.46% degradation capacity despite its
2 fold higher growth rate. Similarly, laccase activity was found to be high for F. fraxinea and
low for T. vercicolor. These findings suggest that mushrooms can be used in the
detoxification of RVSB.
Introduction
Rhus verniciflus Stokes (RVS) of the Anacardiaceae family is commonly known as the
lacquer tree. Its application as a food additive or source of pharmaceutical compounds has
been limited because urushiol congeners in the plant cause irritation inflammation, or
blistering in sensitive individuals, a reaction known as urushiol-induced contact dermatitis.
As a lipid-soluble compound, urushiol, derivatives of catechol with unsaturated C15 or C17
side chains at the C3 position, is a mixture of several compounds, and its allergenicity
involves both the catechol ring and the side chain. Therefore it is important to remove
urushiol from the substrate before using it as a food additive or source of pharmaceutical
compounds.
In order to confirm this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of various mushrooms on the
urushiol content of RVSB, and attempted to ascertain whether the mushrooms can be used as
a biological method of detoxification.
Materials and methods
Sap and sun dried RVSB were purchased from individual farms located in Wonju, Korea.
Eleven species of mushrooms (Trametes trogii, Phellinus linteus, Fomitella fraxinea,
Lyophyllum cinerascens, Ganoderma lucidum, Hericium erinaceus, Lentinus edodes,
Ganoderma applanatum, Trametes versicolor, Pleurotus eryngii, and Tyromyces palustris)
were supplied from a microorganisms laboratory, and were pre-activated on potato dextrose
agar (PDA, BD Difco TM, Sparks, MD, USA) at 25C for 6 days.

Results and discussion
1. Mycelial growth on the RVSB
Specific growth rate (mm/day) of each mushroom species on sawdust and RVSB was
calculated by a linear plot from height versus time during the exponential phase (between 4
1
Fermentation and Food Processing Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science, RDA, Suwon 441-853, Korea, E-Mail
coldstone@korea.kr
398
and 28 days) and results are summarized in Tab. 1. The values of two groups showed high
correlation coefficient (r>0.97, p<0.05) and found significant differences in specific growth
rate between same species except 3. This may be due to lack of nutrient (nitrogen - wood
usually contains less than 0.1% by weight) and presence of fungitoxic components such as
terpenes, stilbenes, flavonoids and tropolenes which are easily oxidized and attack the cell
membrane. However, one objective of this study was to investigate the urushiol degradable
mushroom. From this point of view, all mushroom species used in this study were growing
well on RVSB.

Tab. 1: Growth rate of various mushroom species on sawdust and RVSB
No Strains
Growth rate of mycelium (mm/day)
Sawdust RVSB
1 T. trogii 4.810.05 3.470.20
a1)

2 P. linteus 3.130.14 2.500.10
a

3 F. fraxinea 4.320.07 2.800.21
a

4 L. cinerascens 2.260.07 1.210.48
a

5 G. lucidum 5.370.06 5.120.28
6 H. erinaceus 4.630.13 3.170.22
a

7 L. edodes 4.650.08 3.610.33
a
8 G. applanatum 6.040.29 4.610.51
a

9 T. versicolor 5.290.10 5.630.30
10 P. eryngii 3.850.17 2.510.23
a

11 T. palustris 5.090.20 5.370.23
1)
Experimental results are expressed as the means SD.
a)
Means the values for the same strain on each substrate are significantly different (P<0.05).

2. Changes of urushiol contents of RVSB by mycelial growth
The concentration of urushiol congers in RVSB (non-cultured) and mushroom cultured RVSB
are summarized in Tab. 2. The approximate distribution of urushiol congeners in RVSB (non-
cultured) were 95.70 (C15:3): 9.09 (C15:2): 42.57 (C15:1): 6.79 (C15:0), whereas in sap
were 64.5 : 10.9 : 16.5 : 4.5, and in bark of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) were 59.9 :
31.3 : 8.1 : trace amount, respectively. The highest concentration (62.1% out of total urushiol)
of urushiol congers in RVSB was observed in C15:3. This value is very similar with the sap
of the same plant (Rhus verniciflua). Urushiol congeners were remarkably decreased by
mycelial growth, and decreasing urushiol refer to detoxification.

As shown in Tab. 2 more than 90% of the detoxification was accomplished by F. fra
xinea and H. erinaceus. Similarly more than 80% of urushiol was detoxified by L. edodes,
G. applanatum, T. trogii and P. linteus. Interestingly, F. fraxinea showed the highest
(93%) detoxification ratio.
Tab. 2: Content of urushiol analogues in mushrooms cultured on RVSB
Strains
Concentration of urushiol congers (mg/100g)
C15:3 C15:2 C15:1 C15:0 Total
Detoxification
ratio
1)
(%)
Non-cultured 95.70 9.09 42.57 6.79 154.15 -
399
T. trogii 9.50 0.54 6.88 1.30 18.22 88.2
P. linteus 16.71 0.79 11.01 2.29 30.80 80.0
F. fraxinea 5.10 0.53 4.35 0.75 10.73 93.0
L. cinerascens 46.65 4.10 26.75 4.58 82.08 46.8
G. lucidum 7.39 0.31 5.39 0.57 13.66 91.1
H. erinaceus 21.11 0.95 15.20 3.19 40.45 73.8
L. edodes 8.30 0.74 6.73 1.46 17.23 89.8
G. applanatum 10.49 0.56 5.89 0.88 17.82 88.4
T. versicolor 99.78 3.38 42.65 6.08 151.89 1.46
P. eryngii 19.57 0.85 11.61 2.58 34.61 77.6
T. palustris 81.42 6.18 39.95 7.56 135.11 12.4
1)
Detoxification ratio (%) was defined as a decreasing ratio of total urushiol concentration
(TUC) to non-cultured RVSB, and calculated by the equation: [(TUC of non-cultured RVSB-
TUC of cultured RVSB)/TUC of non-cultured RVSB] 100.

3. Laccase activity
As shown in Tab. 3, F. fraxinea and G. lucidum showed the highest laccase activity, whereas
low activity was detected for C. versicolor and T. palustris. It should be noted that T. trogii, P.
linteus, H. erinaceus, L. edodes and G. applanatum showed comparably high urushiol
degrading capacity (Tab. 2). In contrast, no laccase activity was detected for these species.
The reason for this could be that the degradation capacity of F. fraxinea and G. lucidum
mainly depend on laccase activity, but for other mushrooms it could be depending on other
oxidoreductase enzymes.

Tab. 3: Laccase activity of various mushrooms cultured on broth medium supplemented
with 2% (w/v) RVSB
Strains
Laccase activity (Unit/0.5 mL, day)
5 8 12
T. trogii 0.019 0.001 0.012
P. linteus 0.001 0.001 0.001
F. fraxinea 0.795 1.112 1.063
L. cinerascens 0.002 0.001 0.001
G. lucidum 0.408 0.593 0.865
H. erinaceus 0.055 0.065 0.081
L. edodes 0.366 0.176 0.068
G. applanatum 0.475 0.503 0.141
T. versicolor 0.001 0.002 0.001
P. eryngii 0.389 0.502 0.708
T. palustris 0.001 0.002 0.000

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from the BioGreen 21 Program (No. PJ007090).
References
Draper, W. M., Wijekoon, D., Makinney, M., Behniwal, P. P., Erera, S. K. & Flessel C.
P. (2002): Atmospheric pressure ionization LC-MS-MS determination of urushil
congeners. J. Agr. Food Chem. 50:1852-1858.
400
Thurston, C. F. (1994): The structure and function of fungal laccases. Microbiology.
140: 19-26.
401
Characteristics of a New Golden Oyster Mushroom Variety Sunjung

Choi, Jong-in

Mushroom Research Institute,

, Chi, Jeong- Hyun, Ha, Tai-Moon, Ju, Young-Cheul
Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Korea
E-mail: cji190@gg.go.kr
Internet: www.e-mush.co.kr

Key words: Pleurotus citrinopileatus, Sunjung, Variety,

Bottle culture, Bag culture
Introduction
Pleurotus citrinopileatus is an edible mushroom that belongs to the genus Pleurotus, the family
Pleurotaceae. P.citrinopileatus is known as Yuhuangmo in Chinese, Nireohma in Japanese and
golden oyster mushroom in America and Europe (Ohira, 1990). Some polysaccharide compounds
extracted from the fruit-body of P. citrinopileatus have antitumor, antihyperlipidemic, fatigue
resistance, immunity boosting, aging delay, and antioxidant activities (Wu et al, 2008). It is
characterized by a clear yellow, infundibuliform pileus, well-developed, often branched, central
stipe, and its preferable occurrence on Ulmus spp. The size of basidiospores from the cultivated
fruit-body is 6-92-3.5 . The spores are heart shaped and grey with purple color (Jang et al,
2005). Domestic varieties of the oyster mushroom reach 70 species. These varieties were breeding
only based on the yield, temperature adaptability excepting functional materials, colors and unique
flavor. In this study, we developed a new golden oyster mushroom variety Sunjung for bottle
and bag cultures and introduce the major characteristics of this variety.

Methods and materials
Sunjung is a new variety of golden oyster mushroom that was bred at the Mushroom Research
Institute, Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research & Extension Services in 2006.

Strains. KME20064 of P. citrinopileatus

used in this experiment were collected from Japan and
KME20066 was kindly provided from the Culture Collection of the DNA Bank of Mushrooms
(CCDBM) at Inchon Univ.
Cross. Monokaryons of each strain were isolated from a collection of monokaryons produced after
the germination of spores released by the dikaryon strain. This oyster mushroom was selected as
one which mates with monokaryons collected from KME20064 and KME20066.

Culture media. The substrate consisted of sawdust (50%), beet pulp (40%), rice bran (8%), and
cotton seed meal (2%). The mixture was adjusted at the moisture of 65% and then filled in bottles
and plastic bags.

Growth condition. After inoculation on the sterilzed sawdust-based substrate autoclaved at 121C
during 100 min, incubation was performed in the room at the temperature of 20C for 20-25 days,
without light. When the mycelia completely colonized the sawdust media from top to bottom, the
top surface of the media was scratched. After incubation was completed, the hybrid was transferred
to a growth room to induce the primordial formation and cultured at 18C under the illumination
(200 lux) with a relative humidity of 95%.
RAPD-PCR analysis. Two parental strains and monokakaryons, and hybrids were
characterized genetically by differentiation through the method RAPD consisting basically
of 3 stages: DNA extraction, PCR and PCR analysis of the products in electrophoresis gel.
Genomic DNA was amplified by the RAPD technique in which URP primers were used to
produce amplified fragments.
402

Single spore
mating
(2004)
KME20064 KME20064-2


1st selection
(2004)

2nd test of
Characteristics
(2004)

KME20066 KME20066-3





3rd test of
Characteristics
KME35238
(2005)

4th test of
Characteristics
(2005)

Tissue culture
& Performance test
(2006)

Demonstration field
trial
(2006)
Figure 1: The pedigree of Sunjung of Pleurotus citrinopileatus


Figure 2: Fruit-body and culture appearance of the Sunjung oyster mushroom.
A. Section, B. Individual, C. Bottle culture, D. Plastic bag culture

Tab. 1: Inherent characteristics of the Sunjung oyster mushroom.
Variety
Optimum Temp.
of Mycelial
growth (C)
Primordia & Growth
Temp. (C)
Shape of
Pileus
Growth
Type
Color of
Pileus
Sunjung
Chunchu 2
26-28
26-28
18-23
15-16
Funnel
Funnel
Bunch
Bunch
Yellow
Light-gray

Tab. 2: Culture period of the Sunjung oyster mushroom according to cultivation stage.
Cultivation
Methods
Variety
Incubation Period
(days)
Primordia
Formation Period
(days)
Fruit-body Growth
Period (days)
Bottle
(850cc)
Sunjung
Chunchu 2
21
25
3
3
2
3
Plastic bag
(1kg)
Sunjung
Chunchu 2
22
25
6
4
3
3
Incubati on temperature: 20-21C, Growth temperature: 18-20C

Tab. 3: Morphological characteristics of the fruit-body of the Sunjung oyster mushroom
Cultivation
Methods
Variety
Size of
Pileus
()
Color of
Pileus
Length of
Stipe
()
Thickness
of Stipe
()
Color of
Stipe
Available
Stipes No.
Yield
(g)
403
Bottle
(850cc)
Sunjung
Chunchu
2
30.7
31.6
Yellow
Light-
gray
73.7
78.3
4.7
8.8
White
White-
gray
54
44
112.915
148.511
Plastic bag
(1kg)
Sunjung
Chunchu
2
32.5
33.0
Yellow
Light-
gray
85.4
82.3
6.1
9.5
White
White-
gray
101.
60
137.712
170.016

Figure 3: Random amplified polymorphic DNA patterns by primer URP1, URP4, URP11.

URP1 URP4 URP11
M: Marker 1: KME20064 2: KME20064-2 (single-spore) 3: Sunjung
4: KME20066-3 (single-spore) 5: KME20066

Results and Conclusions
Sunjung, a new cultivar of Pleurotus citrinopileatus, was bred through the mating between
monokaryotic strains isolated from KME20064 and KME20066. The main characteristics of
Sunjung are as follows.

Inherent characteristics. The optimum temperature for the mycelial growth of Sunjung was 26 to
28C on PDA (potato dextrose agar) medium. The optimum temperature for the primordia
formation and fruit-body development was 18 to 23C. Growth of mycelium is faster than the
control (Chunchu 2) and the color of the pileus is yellow (Tab. 1).

Growth characteristics. Compared to the control which took 25 days of incubation period,
Sunjung required 21-22 days at 20 to 22C. The period of primordia formation was around 3 days
in bottle and 6 days in plastic bag. The total number of days taken from inoculation to
harvest was 26 in bottle and 31 in plastic bag (Tab. 2).

Sunjung was easy to grow and found to be a high-yielding variety. This strain

was evaluated in field
trials for color, length, thickness, and yield of fruit-body. It grew primordia after developing a
lump of mycelium. After the formation of the primordia, it needed optimum ventilation to get
many stipes and good production. In the characteristics of fruit-body, the pileus was
infundibuliform of yellow-color and the stipe was slender/long shape of white color. The fruit-
body grew vital and uniform. The number of available stipes was 55/850cc bottle and 101/1kg P.P
bag. The yield was shown by 112.9g/850cc bottle and 137.7g/1kg P.P bag (Tab. 3).
RAPD analysis.
The number of amplification products for each primer varied from 3 to 6. The band
pattern of Sunjung was similar to those of KME20066 in primer URP1, URP11 and KME20066
and KME20064 in URP4. Through the analysis of RAPD, Sunjung appeared as the hybrid
between KME20064 and KME20066 (Fig. 3).

References
Ohira, O. (1990): A revision of the taxonomic status of Pleurotus citrinopileatus. Rept.
Tottori Mycol. Inst. 28:143-150.
Jang, I. J., K. C. Chung, & H. Y. Chang. (2005): Excellent strain selection and optimal
404
mycelial growth condition of Pleurotus cornucopiae. Kor. J. Mushroom Sci. l3(1):40-44.
Wu, C. Y., Z. C. Liang, & S. H. Wu. (2008): Effect of carbon and nitrogen sources on
the production and carbohydrate composition of exopolysaccharide by submerged culture of
Pleurotus citrinopileatus. J. Food and Drug analysis. 16(2):61-67.

405
Characteristics of a New Oyster Mushroom Variety Gongi-2ho for Bag
Cultivation

Choi, Jong-in

Mushroom Research Institute, Gyeonggi-do Agricultural

, Ha, Tai-Moon, Jeon, Dae-Hoon, Ju, Young-Cheul
Research and Extension Services, Korea
E-mail: cji190@gg.go.kr
Internet: www.e-mush.co.kr

Key words: Pleurotus ostreatus, Gongi-2ho, Variety,

Bag culture.
Introduction
Oyster mushroom is an edible white-rot fungus classified into Pleurotus species. It is mainly found
in northern temperate zones and grows in clusters on wood in the conditions of warm and wet
weather. Production of the mushroom in Korea increased from 55.2 thousand MT in 1990 to 158
thousand MT in 2008, a 2.8 fold increase since the introduction of the bottle culture in 1980s.
Oyster mushroom is one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms in Korea, and its annual
commercial production was about 40,071MT in 2008. Vinyl bag culture is increasing, which makes
it possible to produce the mushroom all year round. Furthermore, lots of labor and money could be
saved through this method. It was reported a suitable sterilization condition, additive materials and
their mixing ratio, efficient bag diameter, and substrate weight for the bag cultivation (Lee et al.,
2002). A great deal of effort has been made for developing an efficient culture method. Lacking,
however, is new cultivars having better commercial quality. For the vinyl bag cultivation, only 2-3
varieties including Suhan-1ho are available, but these cultivars have not consistently produced
mushrooms because of diseases and inappropriate culture conditions. A new variety, Gongi-2ho,
was bred for vinyl bag cultivation. Its major characteristics are introduced

in this paper
Methods and materials
Gongi-2, a new variety of oyster mushroom was bred in Mushroom Research Institute, Gyeonggi-
do Agricultural Research & Extension Services in 2009.

Strains
GMPO35338 of pleurotus ostreatus used in this experiment was a hybrid gotten from the cross of
monokaryons. Jangpug of pleurotus ostreatus was kindly provided from a mushroom farm in
Pochen.

Crossing
Monokaryons of each strain were isolated from a collection of monokaryons produced after
germination of spores released by the dikaryon strain. This oyster mushroom was selected for
mating with monokaryons collected from Jangpug and GMPO35338.

Culture media
The substrate consisted of sawdust (50%), beet pulp (30%) and cotton seed meal (20%). The
mixture was adjusted at the moisture of 65% and then filled in the plastic bag.

406
Growth condition
After inoculation on the sterilzed sawdust-based substrate autoclaved at 121 during 100min,
incubation was performed in the room at the temperature of 20 for 20-25days, without light.
When the mycelia completely colonized the sawdust media from top to bottom, the top surface of
the media was scratched. After incubation was completed, the hybrid transferred to growth room to
induce the primordial formation and cultured at 18 under illumination (200lux) with relatve
humidity of 95%.

RAPD-PCR analysis
Two parental strains and monokakaryons and hybrid were characterized genetically by
differentiation through the method RAPD consisting basically of 3 stages: DNA extraction,
PCR and PCR analysis of the products in electrophoresis gel. Genomic DNA was amplified
by the RAPD technique in which URP primers were used to produce amplified fragments.



Figure 1: The pedigree of Gongi-2ho mushroom bred by single spore mating


Figure 2: Fruit-body and culture appearance of Gongi-2ho oyster mushroom
A. Section, B. Individual, C. Plastic bag culture

Tab. 1: Inherent characteristics of Gongi-2ho oyster mushroom
Variety
Optimum Temp. of
mycelial growth
()
Primordia & Growth
Temp. ()
Shape of
pileus
Growth type
Color of
pileus
Sunjung
Suhan-1ho2
26-29
26-29
14-18
14-18
Funnel
Funnel
Bunch
Bunch
Dark-grey
Dark-grey

Tab. 2: Culture period of Gongi-2ho oyster mushroom according to cultivation stage
Cultivation
methods
Variety
Incubation period
(days)
Primordia
formation period
(days)
Fruit-body growth
period (days)
Plastic bag
(1kg)
Gongi-2ho
Suhan-1ho
20
18
5
5
4
5
Incubation temperature: 20-21, growth temperature: 15-18
A B C
407

Tab. 3: Morphological characteristics and yields of fruit-body of Gonji-2ho oyster mushroom
in the bag culture.
Variety
Size of
pileus
()
Color of
Pileus
(L)
Length of
stipe
()
Thickness
of stipe
()
Available
stipes No.
Yield
(g)
Gongi-2ho
Suhan-1ho
38.3
37.6
Dark-grey (44.1)
Dark-gray (51.3)
105.4
99
15.4
16.7
34.5
27.0
301.020
258.014
Bag size: 1kg

Tab. 4: Occurrence rate of brown blotch disease during bag culture (Unit: %)
Variety Farm 1 Farm 2 Farm 3
Gongi-2ho
Suhan-1ho
0
10
0
10
0
5
Occurrence rate of brown blotch disease (%) = The number of bags infected/ The number of
total bags tested (100ea)100


Figure 4: Random amplified polymorphic DNA patterns by primer UFPF2, UFPF5, UFPF7
M: Marker, 1: Chunchu-2ho, 2: Suhan-1ho, 3: GMPO35338, 4: GMPO35338-4 (single-spore),
5: Gongi-2ho, 6: Jangpug-57 (single-spore), 7: Jangpug

Results and conclusions

Gongi-2ho, a new variety of oyster mushroom, suitable for bag culture, was bred by mating
between monokaryons isolated from GMPO35338 and Jangpug. This variety has high yielding
capacity, cultivation stability and resistance to bacterial brown blotch disease. Main characteristics
of Gongi-2ho are as follows.
Inherent characteristics. The optimum temperature for the mycelial growth was around 26-29
on PDA (potato dextrose agar) medium and that for the pinheading and growth of fruitbody was
around 14-18. Growth type is bunch and color of pileus is dark-grey (Tab. 1).
Growth characteristics. Compared to the control which had 18 days of incubation period, Gongi-
2ho required 20 days at 20-22. The period of primordia formation was around 5 days at 18.
Total number of days taken from inoculation to harvest was 29 days in the bag culture (Tab. 2).
Gongi-2ho was easy to grow and resistant to the bacterial brown blotch disease. This strain was
evaluated in field trials for color, length, thickness, yield of fruitbody. In the characteristics of fruit
body, color of pilei was more dark-grey than control (Suhan-1ho) and stipe was thick/long shape
of white color. The number of available stipes was 34.5/1kg P.P bag. The yield was 301.0g/1kg
P.P bag (Tab. 3).

408
Disease resistance. Pseudomonas tolaasii, the causal agent of brown blotch disease on cultivated
mushrooms, is responsible for significant crop losses in mushroom growing houses. In the
performance test and demonstration field trial, occurrence rate of brown blotch disease was 0% in
Gongi-2ho, 5-10% in Suhan-1ho (control). Gonji-2ho showed resistance to brown blotch disease
(Tab. 4).

RAPD analysis. The number of amplification products for each primer varied from 3 to 10. The
band patterns of Gonji-2ho were mixed with each other to those of GMPO35338 and Jangpug in
primer UFPF2, UFPF5 and UFPF7. Gongi-2ho showed the hybrid between GMPO35338 and
Jangpug in the analysis of RAPD (Fig. 4)

References

Lee, Y. H., Y. J. Cho, J. H. Chi. (2002): Effect on mycelial growth and fruit body
development according to additives and mixing ratio in pot cultivation of pleurotus ostreatus.
Kor. J. Mycol. 30(2): 104-108.
Lee, Y. H. , Y. J. Cho, H. D. Kim. (2002): Comparison in cultural characteristics
according to pot diameter and substrate weight in pot cultivation of pleurotus ostreatus. Kor. J.
Mycol. 30(1): 18-22.
Hong, J. S. (1978): Studies on the physio-chemical properties and the cultivation
of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Kor. J. Agri. Chem. Soc. 21:150-184.
409
Oxygen Enrichment for Organic Greenhouse Crops

Dorais, M.
1
, Jean-Paul C.
2
, Gravel V.
2
, Rochette P.
3
, Antoun, H.
2
& Mnard C.

1

Key words: beneficial microorganisms, biological activity, soil fertility, Pythium
Abstract
Soil type and structure have a major impact on soil air-filled porosity and gas diffusivity, and
thus on the O
2
concentration at the root level. Under high soil temperature, increased soil
activity may influence the O
2
concentration in the root zone via the biological demand for O
2

through increased rates of root and micro-organism respiration. Soil O
2
deficiency reduces
respiration, mineral uptake and water movement in roots, and may thus have a negative
impact on plant growth and productivity. On the other hand, antogonistic microorganisms
may control the activity of root pathogens and have a stimulating effect on plant growth. The
objective of this study was to investigate the effect of O
2
enrichment combined with
beneficial microorganisms on soil activity, plant growth, yield, fruit quality and root disease
tolerance. An experiment was conducted with tomato which were enriched with O
2
(25 ppm).
Plants were then inoculated with 1- Cocktail of growth promoters; 2- Trichoderma
harzianum; 3- Ascophyllum nodosum; 4- Pseudomonas putida and Trichoderma atroviride; 5-
control. After 6 months of growth, plant tolerance to Pythium ultimum was tested. Results
showed that O
2
enrichment increased tomato yield of first class fruits and reduced fruits with
blossom-end rot. T. harzianum with O
2
showed a higher leaf surface area and resulted in the
best final fruit yield. O
2
Introduction
enrichment, however, had little effect of P. ultimum root infection.
In organic horticulture, none optimal soil structure and low mineralization rates may
represent a major hurdle to the optimization of yields and fruit quality (Dorais 2007; Ehret et
al. 2010). Salinity in clay soil is often associated with sodicity, which reduces porosity in the
soil, and the supply of soil oxygen to the roots (Bhattarai et al. 2006). For soil-grown tomato
in heavy clay, it has been reported that the aeration of irrigation water (12% air in water)
stimulated plant growth, increased fruit yield (by 21%) and improved plant water use
efficiency (Bhattarai et al. 2006). Such treatment also improved fruit size and dry weight as
well as photosynthesis and soil respiration. In fact, soil type and structure have a major
impact on soil air-filled porosity and gas diffusivity, and thus on the O
2
concentration at the
root level. Under high soil temperature, increased soil activity may influence the O
2

concentration in the root zone via the biological demand for O
2
through increased rates of
root and micro-organism respiration. Soil O
2
deficiency (hypoxia) reduces respiration,
mineral uptake and water movement in roots, and may thus have a negative impact on plant
growth, productivity and fruit quality (Ehret et al. 2010). In poorly drained soils, greenhouse
tomato crops are also susceptible to the development of root diseases, such as root rot caused
1
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Horticultural Research Centre, Laval University, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada, E-Mail
Martine.Dorais@agr.gc.ca, Internet www.agr.gc.ca/science/stjean/
2
Horticultural Research Centre, Laval University, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada
3
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre, Ste-Foy, QC, G1V 2J 3, Canada


410
by Pythium ultimum. O
2
enrichment of the irrigation solution, however, significantly reduced
the development of Pythium F707 (Chrif et al. 1997). In addition, the use of antogonistic
microorganisms allows, not only to control the activity of root pathogens, but can also have a
stimulating effect on plant growth (Avis et al. 2008; Gravel et al. 2009). We hypothesized
that O
2
concentration in the rhizosphere might become a limiting factor for organically-grown
tomato crops, and consequently, may impact on growth, productivity, fruit quality and
biological soil activity. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of O
2

enrichment combined with beneficial microorganisms on soil activity, plant growth, yield,
fruit quality and root disease tolerance.
Materials and methods
The experiment was conducted in a 150 m
2
greenhouse located at Laval University, Quebec,
Canada (Lat. 46.7 N, Long. 71.4 W) using Lycopersison esculentum "Trust" F1 variety
cultivated in a sandy loam and amended with organic marine compost and Canadian
certificated organic fertilizers, according to a split plot experimental design with 3 replicates.
Main plots were O
2
enrichment (25 ppm) versus non-oxygenated treatments. Sub-plots were
1- mixture of beneficial microorganisms (Bactiva NP, 3 g/L), 2- Trichoderma harzianum
(RootShield, 0.9 g/L), 3- a mixture of Pseudomonas putida and Trichoderma atroviride (9 x
10
5
per mL), 4- seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum, 1 mg/L), and 5- uninoculated
controls with or 6- without plants. Each plant was innculated with 250 mL at the beginning of
the experiment and then 2 months later with half of the initial concentration. Control plants
were inoculated with distilled water. Gas samplers, tensiometers and lysimeters were placed
in each experimental unit. Plant growth, fruit yield and quality were recorded weekly. Gaz
efflux were sampled every two weeks. After 6 months of growth, to test plant tolerance to
Pythium spp, half of the plants have been inoculated twice with P. ultimum (1 x 10
6

propagules/mL, 250 mL/plant) and root infection was evaluated as described by Jean-Paul
(2009). Proc Mix was performed with SAS v. 9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) at (P<0.05).
When significant differences were observed, a Tukey-Kramer range test was performed
(P<0.05).
Results and Discussion
Soil efflux- Soil CO
2
efflux varied in an increasing pattern over time, while N
2
O generally
decreased during the same time period (Figure 1). However, no significant difference was
observed (P<0.05) between O
2
enrichment treatments due to large variability between
samples. Previous studies also observed large variability between organic soil CO
2
efflux
even though their soil O
2
enrichment had a beneficial effect on the soil biological activity
expressed by the respiration rate and nutrient availability (Dorais et al. 2011).
Plant growth and Pythium tolerance - We observed little effect of O
2
enrichment on plant
growth except for plant leaf area and shoot lenght where a significant interaction between O
2

and growth promoter treatments was observed as shown in Figure 2. O
2
enrichment combined
with soil innoculation with a cocktail of beneficial agents or with T. harzianum significantly
increased plant leaf area and shoot lenght. In contrast to our previous study where the
coinoculation with both P. putida and T. atroviride resulted in the weakest colonization of
roots by Pythium (Gravel et al. 2009), tomato root evaluation for the infection by P. ultimum
showed no significant difference between treatments (data not shown).
411

Figure 1: Soil CO
2
and N
2
O efflux (mg/m
2
/h) for O
2
-enrichment and none O
2
-
enrichment treatments.

Figure 2: A) Leaf surface area (cm) per plant and B) shoot length as a fonction of O
2

and beneficial microoganisms 1- mixture of beneficial microorganisms; 2- T.
harzianum; 3- A. nodosum; 4- P. putida + T. atroviride; 5- planted control.

Figure 3: Weight of #1 fruits as a fonction of O
2
enrichment and treatment with
beneficial microoganisms 1- mixture of beneficial microorganisms; 2- T. harzianum; 3-
A. nodosum; 4- P. putida + T. atroviride; 5- planted control.
Yield and fruit quality - O
2
enrichment combined with soil innoculation with a cocktail of
beneficial agents or with T. harzianum significantly increased yield of #1 (Figure 3). T.
harzianum with O
2
enrichment resulted in the best final fruit yield. O
2
enrichment decreased
by 3.7 times (P=0,19) the number of fruit with blossom-end rot (BER), while all beneficial
agent decreased (P=0,003) the incidence of BER by 7.7 times. No interaction was observed
A
B
June - 27 July - 10 July - 24 Aug - 07 Aug - 21 Sep - 04
June - 27 July - 10 July - 24 Aug - 07 Aug - 21 Sep - 04
A
B
June - 27 July - 10 July - 24 Aug - 07 Aug - 21 Sep - 04
June - 27 July - 10 July - 24 Aug - 07 Aug - 21 Sep - 04
A
B
June - 27 July - 10 July - 24 Aug - 07 Aug - 21 Sep - 04
June - 27 July - 10 July - 24 Aug - 07 Aug - 21 Sep - 04
A
B
A
B
412
between O
2
enrichment and beneficial agents. On the other hand, under O
2
enricment, fruits
of plants inoculated with T. harzianum had 2.2 times less russeting than control fruits (data
not shown).
Conclusions
It is well established that tomato plants are sensitive to poor soil oxygen content. Our results
showed that O
2
enrichment may be an alternative to bypass non-optimal growing conditions
such soil compaction and poor structure. O
2
References
enrichment may also promote beneficial
microorganisms such as T. harzianum and had a positive effect on plant growth, yield and
fruit quality. However, as organic soils generally have a high population of native
microorganisms, positive effect of soil innoculation with exogenous beneficial agents may be
less obvious under better soil conditions and active soil.
Avis T. J., Gravel V., Antoun H., Tweddell R. J. (2008): Multifaceted beneficial effects of
rhizosphere microorganisms on plant health and productivity. Soil Biol. Biochem.
40:17331740.
Bhattarai S. P., Pendergast L., Midmore, D. J. (2006): Root aeration improves yield and water
use efficiency of tomato in heavy clay and saline soils. Sci. Hortic. 108:278-288.
Chrif M., Tirilly Y., Blanger R. R. (1997): Effect of oxygen concentration on plant growth,
lipidperoxydation, and receptivity of tomato roots to Pythium F under hydroponic
conditions. European journal of plant pathology 103: 255-264.
Dorais M. (2007): Organic production of vegetables: state of the art and challenges. Can. J.
Plant Sc. 87:1055-1066.
Ehret D. L., Edwards D., Helmer T., Lin W., Jones G., Dorais M., Papadopoulos A.P. (2010):
Effects of oxygen-enriched irrigation solution on greenhouse cucumber and pepper
production. Sci. Hortic. 125:602-607.
Gravel V., Mnard C., Dorais M. (2009): Pythium Root Rot and Growth Responses of
Organically Grown Geranium Plants to Beneficial Micro-organisms. HortScience 44:1-6.
413
The Facts and Myths in Organic Agriculture: Farmers Farming Practices in
Southern Luzon Philippines

Gina, Villegas-Pangga
Farming Systems and Soil Resources Institute, Agricultural Systems Cluster, College of Agriculture,
University of the Philippines Los Banos, Los Banos, Laguna 4031 Philippines
gpangga@yahoo.com
www.uplb.edu.ph

Key words: organic farming, indigenous practices, soil health, plant health

Introduction
Agriculture, a major sector in a developing country like the Philippines, is critical when it comes to
economic development. It holds the key in maintaining the countrys food security, alleviation of
poverty, and survival of the existing and future population. In previous decades, the growing
population of the Philippines has pushed the agriculture sector to focus upon increasing productivity,
forfeiting sustainability and wellness. Over the years, people become more aware on their well-
being and the weakening balance within agro-ecosystem due to high inputs and chemically-
intensive agriculture. The birth of a new trend towards sustainable agriculture gave rise to organic
agriculture.

Organic agriculture in the Philippines is at its infancy stage and currently the focus of the
government. Executive Order 481 Promotion and Development of Organic Agriculture in the
Philippines, was an Executive Order signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that seeks to
establish the Philippines as an organic capital of Asia (Pangga, 2008). This initiative was followed
in July 2010 by the signing of Republic Act 10068 (commonly known as Organic Agriculture Act
of 2010) An Act Providing for the Development and Promotion of Organic Agriculture in the
Philippines and for Other Purposes. Establishing Philippines as an organic capital of Asia requires
great alteration on the chemical-dependent agriculture. The concept of organic agriculture is very
ideal but there is a question to be answered, Is organic agriculture really the answer towards
sustainability? To ensure that organic agriculture is the answer to the sustainability problem, it has
to be adapted to the local farming, social, geographical and climatic factors (Kristiansen et. al,
2006). Thus, the need to explore the different farming practices employed by local farmers may
provide deeper understanding and great impacts on the organic sector.

Indigenous practices refer to the unique practices belonging to a specific community or local group
and that the people in a given community have developed over time, and still continue to develop.
These practices are based on the experience, often tested over years of use, adapted to local culture
and environment and as their basis for natural resource management. Indigenous practices may be
related to existing practices seen in communities or the focus might be on the long history of the
practice, in which case it is often called traditional farming practices. It is also depicted as a non-
conventional body of knowledge dealing with theory, beliefs, practices and technologies developed
without direct inputs from the modern, formal, scientific establishment, and towards the
management of farms (Chambers et al, 1989, Gilbert et al, 1980). Indigenous knowledge is also
defined as an actual knowledge of a given population that reflects the experiences based on
traditions and includes more recent experiences with modern technologies (Haverkort and de Zeeuw
(1992).

Organic farming in the Philippines, in relation to the increasing awareness of the agricultural sector
on health and wellness, are now at the dawn of transforming agricultural production from quantity-
driven to quality-driven. This project was conducted to document the existing farmers farming
414
practices and technologies that are environment-friendly, economically viable, bring forth food
safety, and promotes sustainable agriculture.

Methods and materials
Resource assessment and site characterization on the physical, biological, and socio-economic
aspects of the different farming systems in selected provinces of Southern Luzon Philippines was
conducted. Site description and evaluation of the area, general farm characteristics,
fertilizer/nutrient management practices, crop cultural practices, previous and present yields were
undertaken. Farmers and key informants interviews on the components and technologies of organic
farming i.e. integrated nutrient management systems, crop-animal waste management systems and
existing management options for continuous cropping were carried out.

Farm management skills on traditional and indigenous practices of farmers were documented
mostly in rice and vegetable areas. Focus group discussions in selected communities were
facilitated to gather actual farmers farming experiences. A formal interview of key farmer leaders
in identified provinces using survey forms were also carried out.

The questionnaire was administered to each of the municipalities under studied, and information
obtained from the surveys was complemented by interviews with local officials in the relevant
departments. Determining the present status of soil nutrient level in respective rice and farms and
recommending appropriate systems to improve soil quality required laboratory and data analysis.

Two important weather parameters, rainfall and temperature, were gathered from Philippine
Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) stations within
each provinces of Laguna, Quezon, Cavite, Rizal, and Batangas. Soil properties (physical and
chemical), availability of farm inputs and labor, access to crop production information, latest
technological advancement, and local markets were also taken into account. The systems of land
ownership or land tenure, which the farming practices are environmentally related, were also given
emphasis.

Results and Conclusions
Research findings showed that there are indigenous and organic-based farming practices that still
exist in different farming systems. The collated data were analyzed and categorized as farming
practices (1) using man-made materials and natural resources (i.e use of plastic trimmings, elastic
films, chicken feathers and coconut fronds to control pest in rice areas; use of shrimps and cigarette
filters as attractants; (2) based on myths (i.e the use Kolowratia elegans to scare birds and prevent
rodents getting into the paddies; Easter Sunday flowers and palm leaves to give better grain yield)
and biodynamic farming principles (lunar-based planting of banana, rootcrops and vegetables, and
(3) based on the use of plant extracts (i.e. use of Gliricidia sepium, Ipomoea aquatica,
Andrographis paniculata and Tinospora rumphii extracts/concoction as fertilizer and botanical
pesticide for rice and vegetables) and nature farming (i.e. indigenous microorganisms, fermented
plant/fruit juices, fish amino acids). Results such as these showed the ingenuity of the farmers in
improving traditional practices into modern technologies considering its effect on soil, plant, human
and ecosystem health.

The aspect of environmental degradation was taken into account when these farming practices were
evaluated. Results of surveys and key informant interviews revealed that there were still big number
of farmers employing crop production practices which appeared to be highly profitable in the short
run but likely to lead soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion, and waterways and groundwater pollution.
Conventional farming has to do with these scenarios. Such consequences would outweigh the short-
term profitability and cause their farm unproductive in the coming years.
415

Different indigenous and organic farming practices vary in their degree of adaptability in different
environmental conditions beyond other areas. In order to assess and analyze the potentials and
suitability of documented organic-based farming practices or technologies to area of similar agro-
environment, agroclimatic data from existing agromet stations within each provinces of Southern
Luzon were collected and analyzed

Many concerns have been expressed about the sustainability of rice and vegetables production
systems. The intensification of production must not be undertaken through ecologically destructive
approaches, in which the traditional/indigenous farming principles may apply. The appropriateness
and adoption of these indigenous practices and soil management systems will depend largely on
their profitability and other advantages in the eyes of the farmers. The future of the small-holder
rice farmer will be determined by the ability of the farmer to maintain an economic operation while
simultaneously sustaining the farms production potential.

References
Chambers, R., A. Pacey and L.A. Thrupp (eds.). 1989. Farmers First: Farmer Innovation and
Agricultural Research. Intermediate Technology Publications, London, pp. 218.
Gilbert, E.H., D.W. Norman and F.E. Winch. 1980. Farming Systems Research: A Critical
Appraisal. MSU Rural Development Paper No. 6; Department of Agricultural Economics,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Haverkort, B. and H De Zeeuw (1992). Development of Technologies towards Sustainable
Agriculture: Institutional Implications. 231-242, In W.M. Rivera and D.J. Gustafson (eds.),
Agricultural Extension: Worldwide Institutional Evolution and Forces of Change. New
York: Elsevier Science Publishing Company. Kegan Paul International, New York, USA.
Kristiansen, P., A. Taji and J. Reganold. 2006. Organic Agriculture: A Global Perspective. Csiro
Publishing, Australia. 484pp.
Pangga, G.V. 2008. The Status of Philippines Organic Agriculture in The Organic Standard. Issue
#82, February 2008.pp3-6. U.K: Grolink AB.
416
Survey on the Distribution and Vegetation Environment of Pine Mushroom
(Tricholoma Matsu take) in Gyeonggo-Do, Korea

Ha, T. M.
1
, Ju, Y. C.
1
, Kim, H. D.
2
& Kim, Y. H.
2
1
Internet:
Mushroom Research Institute, Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Korea
http://www.e-mush.co.kr
2
E-mail
Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Hwaseong 445-972, Korea
hd5609@gg.go.kr

Key words: Pine mushroom, Vegetation environment, Gyeonggi-do

Introduction
Pine mushroom is a parasitic fungus living symbiotically at the thin root of red pine trees,
making ectomycorhiza. The scientific name of pine mushroom is Tricholoma matsutake,
and its habitat is Korea, Japan, China & Taiwan (Lee 1993).
In Korea, the study on pine mushroom started around 1967 when the export of red pine
mushroom began in earnest. In 1975, the environment and distribution of pine mushrooms
of Korea was investigated (Kim et al. 1975). The studies on the environmental management
of forests where pine mushrooms are produced (Kim et al. 1998), and the principles of
mycelium growth of pine mushrooms (Ga et al. 1998) were actively carried out by the
Korea Forest Research Institute. Most of the pine mushrooms produced in Korea are
exported, but according to the growing demand of pine mushrooms, the imported amount
from China and North Korea are increasing. Production of pine mushroom was 945 ton in
1990, 645 ton in 1995 and 278 ton in 1998 (Lee. 1983). The numbers are declining year by
year because the vegetation environment of forests where pine mushrooms are produced is
deteriorating and the red pine tree community has declined due to insect attacks.
The major production regions of pine mushrooms are Uljin, Yeongdeok, Bonghwa,
Cheongdo in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Yangyang, Samcheok, Gangneung, and Goseong in
Gangwon-do. In these regions, the production of pine mushroom is 65% among the total
production (Lee et al. 1983). Minor production regions are Boeun in Chungcheongbuk-do,
Namwon in Jeollabuk-do, and Hamyang in Gyeongsangnam-do.
According to ancient documents, Yangpyeong, Yangju, Pocheon, Gapyeong, and Jangdan
in Gyeonggi-do were also pine mushroom production areas in the past (Lee et al. 1983) but
in recent years, there was no documentation of pine mushroom production in these regions.
However, we found that pine mushroom is produced by the natives in these regions. We
carried out a survey on the distribution and vegetation environment of forests where pine
mushrooms were produced in the past in Gyeonggi-do.

Methods and materials
The surveyed period is from 1999 through 2000. The number of surveyed zones is five
(Yeoju, Yangpyeong, Pocheon, Gapyeong, Gwangju in Gyeonggi-do and Bonghwa, in
Gyeongsangbuk-do). The number of surveyed spots was 27.
The surveyed items are the production amount and the distribution and vegetation environment
including the density, age and distribution of red pine trees, as well as herbage and species of
other mushrooms around red pine trees in these regions. The density, age and distribution of
red pine trees, as well as the herbage and species of other mushrooms in 100 square meter
areas around red pine trees producing pine mushroom are measured by total inspection.
The altitude and bearing of spots for picking pine mushrooms are measured with a compass
and altimeter. The temperature and humidity are measured by automatic measuring apparatus
417
(HOBO). The characteristics of the soil, including pH, organic matters, microelements and
exchangeable cat ions are measured using a pH meter (Orion 920A), and Inductively Coupled
Plasma (ICP-integra XL, JBC) respectively.

Results and conclusions
We have known that pine mushrooms were not produced in regions such as Yeoju,
Yangpyeong, Pocheon, Gapyeong, and Gwangju in Gyeonggi-do. However, through this
study carried out over 2 years, we ascertained that pine mushroom production is about 470-
600kg per year in Gyeonggi-do. The number of areas that can produce pine mushrooms
until now is 16 among the 27 areas. Yeoju is the best area, having good conditions for pine
mushroom forest vegetation in Gyeonggi-do. The produced amount of pine mushroom in
Yeoju is about 300-400kg per year, which is more than any other area (Fig. 1).


Figure 1: Distribution map and production location of pine mushroom
(Tricholoma matsutake) in Gyeonggi-do

The density, age and height of red pine trees in the forests where pine mushrooms are
produced is 5.1-27.1 trees per 100 square meter, 15-50 years old, and 4-11 meter,
respectively (Tab. 1). The density of broadleaf trees and shrubs per 100 square meter around
each red pine tree is high, ranging from 43-80%. Therefore, thinning of broadleaf trees and
caring of red pine trees is necessary.

Tab. 1: Growing density of red pine trees and forest type
Location
Growth State of Red
Pine Trees
Upper
Region
Trees
Lower
region trees
Forest
Type
Tree
covered
rate
(%)
Yield of
fruit-
body
(kg/
year)
Density
(No./100
m
2
)
Years

Height
(m)
Yeoju 20.4 25-50
7.8-
9.0
Red
pine
Oak
Azalea,
Lespedeza
, Juniper
Latifoliate
Tree
Inroad
Type
50-75 300-400
Pocheon
Gapyeon

Yangpyeon

Gwanju
Yeoju
Large amount
No production
Small amount
418
Yangpyeon
g
5.1 20-33
9.0-
11.0
Red
pine
Oak
Lespedeza
, Lacquer
50-75 62-67
Gapyeong 10.4 14-33
7.0-
10.0
Red
pine
Oak
Azalea,
Lespedeza
50-75 10
Gwangju 27.1 15-35 4-6
Red
pine
Oak
Azalea,
Juniper
75 Below 1
Pochen 7.1 16-29
6.5-
7.3
Red
pine
Oak
Azalea,
Lespedeza
, Juniper
50-75 120-130
Bonghwa 14.0 15-35
15.0-
15.5
Red
pine
Azalea,
Lacquer
Red pine
Tree
Codominant
75 -

At the surveyed area in Gyeonggi-do, pine mushroom production was kicked off around
September 12-15. The golden age was by the end of September, and the last harvest was
finished around October 7-9. To make the primordium of pine mushrooms, the temperature
of the soil must be lower than 19C (Boin 1975). Around September 5-7, soil temperature
become lower than 19C and the fruit-body of the pine mushroom is produced. During the
producing period of pine mushrooms, the atmosphere temperature should be in the 12-18C
range, and the soil temperature around 14-18C (Fig. 2).

Figure 2: Soil temperature variation at pine mushroom (Tricholoma matsutake)
producing spots
We have surveyed the soil chemical characteristics of pine mushroom production spots. The
depth of the organic layer in Yeoju, Pocheon was 3.5-4.5cm, while in Yangpyeong,
Gapyeong Gwangju it was 7.2-7.7cm. The average tree covering rate was from 50% to 75%
(Tab. 2).

Tab. 2: The characteristics of the vegetation environment at pine mushroom producing
spots
Location
Thickness
of Organic
Layer (cm)
Above
The
See Level
(m)
Slope
()
Average of
tree
covering
rate (%)
Direction
Yeoju 4.5 246 5-60 50-75 S, SE, SW, NE
Yangpyeong 7.4 350 5-10 50-75 SW, SE
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
(

)


419
Gapyeong 7.7 286 30-45 50-75 W, SW
Gwangju 7.2 272 5-10 75 SW
Pochen 3.5 328 10-45 50-75 SW, NE
Bonghwa 4.3 322 5-30 75 W, NW

The soil texture was all sandy. The range of the soil pH was from 4.3 to 5.1 and the range of
organic matter content was from 3.91 to 8.28 (Table 3). In Yeoju in Gyeonggi-do and
Bonghwa in Gyeongsangbuk-do, having a good vegetation environment around the pine
mushroom producing areas, the organic matter content was low but in the other areas it was
high.
Tab. 3: The chemical characteristics of soil of pine mushroom producing spots
Location
Soil
Texture
Soil
pH
(1:5)
T-C
(%)
Organic
matter
(%)
Exchangeable
Positiveion
(cmol+/kg)
Microelement (ppm)
K
+
Ca
2+
Mg
2+
Na
+
Cu
2+
Fe
2+
Mn
2+
Zn
2+

Yeoju Sandy 4.7 2.27 3.91 0.57 2.44 1.38 0.26 0.67 349.9 34.35 2.96
Yangpyeong Sandy 4.8 5.19 8.95 0.84 6.48 0.63 0.24 0.9 92.5 197.9 6.48
Gapyeong Sandy 4.3 4.76 8.21 0.72 5.00 1.10 0.22 0.56 172.5 76.3 5.08
Gwangju Sandy 4.5 4.80 8.28 0.85 2.31 0.58 0.22 3.19 180.5 197.85 6.83
Pochen Sandy 5.1 4.41 7.60 1.45 6.83 1.30 0.54 3.90
284.2
9
176.16 8.85
Bonghwa Sandy 4.6 1.65 2.84 1.01 5.18 1.63 0.25 0.25 156.15 46.45 3.22

References
Ga, G. H., H. Park, T. C. Heo, H. S. Kim, K. S. Kim, H. J. Kim, W. G. Lee, J. W.
Kim & M. W. Lee. (1998): Study on principle of fruit body growth of Tricholoma
matsutake. Journal of Forest Science 58:35-39.
Kim, H. J., J. H. Jeong, W. G. Lee, G. S. Kom, G. H. Ga, H. Park, S. W. Bae, C. I.
Ryu, T. C. Heo, H. S. Kim & C. Song. (1998): The development of environment
administration technique by preconsideration of Tricholoma matsutake production.
Korea Forest Research Institute.
Kim, Y. B., D. S. Kim, Y. H. Park, & G. C. Shin. (1975): Survey on environment
distribution of Tricholoma matsutake production forest in Korea. RDA Journal of
Industrial Crop. Science. 17:109-114.
Lee, J. Y. (1993): Coloured Korean Mushroom. 88p.
Lee, T. S. (1983): Survey on the environmental conditions at the habitat of Tricholoma
matsutake in S. Korea. Korea Society of Wood Science & Technology. 11(6):37-44.
Tominaga, T. (1975): Study on tunnel type cultivation of Tricholoma matsutake. Research
Report of Hiroshima Agricultural College. 5(2):165-185.
420
Oyster Mushroom Bed Culture with Anti-Fungal Micro Organism Inhibiting
Green Mold (Trichoderma SP.)
Ha, T. M.
1
, Ju, Y. C.
1
& Sung, J. M.

2

Key words: Oyster mushroom, Anti-fungal microorganism, Green mold, Oil cost reduction

Introduction
Oyster mushroom is a major mushroom in Korea. We produce as much as 39,160 ton per
year and the production amount of oyster mushrooms capture 25.4% of the total product
amount (Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries 2009). In recent years,
automatic large scale mushroom farms are increasing, while small scale bed culture farms are
decreasing. Yet, the number of small scale bed culture oyster mushroom farms using cotton
waste is about 1,000. The oyster mushroom bed culture type lacks automatic processing, so it
is much more labor intensive than other culture types such as bottle culture or bag culture. To
enhance the productivity of oyster mushroom bed culture farms, various processes such as the
expansion of permanent growing houses, improvement of decrepit facilities and stable
mycelium incubation all have to be improved. When we grow oyster mushrooms with bed
culture type, if the medium is fermented on anaerobic conditions, it is easily contaminated by
green mold during the mycelium incubation. Once the spawn and medium are contaminated,
green mold disease is very difficult to control. To reduce contamination by green mold
disease, healthy medium preparation by aerobic fermentation and proliferation of anti-green
mold microorganisms in the medium is very important (Shin, 2001).
In general, cotton waste is used as a medium for the culture of oyster mushrooms. While it is
aerobically fermented outdoors for seven or ten days, the amount of anti-green mold
microorganisms is increased. Medium pasteurization is carried out for twelve hours at 65-
68C and post-fermentation is carried out for three days at 55-60C. During the medium
pasteurization, oil consumption is about 350 liter per 100 square meter and the oil cost about
1,260,000 KRW per year (Rural Development Administration, 2008).
We have separated anti-green mold microorganisms in the fermented medium and made large
proliferation solutions for anti-green mold microorganisms. We have inoculated the solution
at the cotton waste medium and then aerobically fermented the cotton waste medium for eight
days. We skip the medium pasteurization and undertake post-fermentation for one day at 55-
60C. Compared to the general method, we have surveyed the conditions of mycelium
incubation and the effect of oil cost reduction.

Methods and materials
Anti-green mold microorganisms were proliferated in nutrient broth (Bacto Co., Ltd.) and we
inoculated 200 liter of the microorganism solution at 2,000kg of cotton waste
medium. During the fermentation period, the temperature variation in the cotton waste
medium was measured by automatic data-log thermometer. Oyster mushroom spawn were
inoculated by 2kg per square meter. Mycelium incubation period was expressed from spawn
inoculation to incubation finishing. Pin-heading induction period was expressed from spawn
inoculation to premodium making point. Incubating finishing rate was expressed by
percentage to incubated area among the total area. To survey the characteristic of fruit body,
421
we measured cap diameter, stem thickness, stem length and the fruit body numbers. Yield
was measured by weight of fresh fruit body per square meter.

Results and Conclusions
We have checked the inhibition degree of anti-green mold microorganisms which were
separated from fermented cotton waste (Fig. 1). It inhibited mycelium growth of Trichoderma
virens which contaminate oyster mushroom mycelium as representative green mold, but it did
not have any effect on oyster mushroom mycelium growth.

.
A: Trichoderma. virens C: Pleurotus ostreatus (Chunchu 2)
B: Anti-green mold microorganism B: Anti-green mold microorganism

Figure 1: Anti-green mold microorganism separated at fermented cotton waste medium

After the anti-green mold microorganism was inoculated at the cotton waste medium, we
have checked the medium temperature variation compared with the general culture type
(control).
The medium temperature rose earlier after the treatment of anti-green mold microorganism
addition compared to the control, but from the middle of the fermentation, there was no
difference of medium temperature between two treatments (Fig. 2).



Figure 2: Medium temperature variation during fermented period

We surveyed the period reduction effect by using the anti-green mold microorganism as the
oyster mushroom bed culture (Tab. 1). In the control, it took 33 days to make premodium from
medium pasteurization, while in the anti-green mold microorganism addition, it took 30 days.

Tab. 1: Reduction effect of culture period by anti-green mold microorganisms
A B
C B
422
Culture
type
Pasteurization
time
(days)
Post
Fermentation
time
(days)
Incubation
period
(days)
Incubation
Finishing
rate
(%)
Pin-heading
induction
period
(days)
General
Culture
type
(control)
1 3 20 100 29
Anti-green
mold
microorganism
addition
0 1 20 100 29

The yield of the general culture type (control) was 12.8kg while the yield of anti-green
mold microorganism addition was 13.1kg per square meter. Between two treatments, yield
difference was slight (Tab. 2, Fig. 3).

Tab. 2: Yield comparison for the addition of anti-green mold microorganism at cotton
waste medium
Culture
Type
Characteristics of fruit body
Yield

(kg/m
2
)
. Available
Fruit
Bodies
(No.)
Diameter of
Pileus
(mm)
Diameter of
Stipe
(mm)
Length
of Stipe
(mm)
Weight of
Fruit Body
(g)
General
Culture
Type
(control)
12.3 35.4 15.8 55.6 125.7 12.8
Anti-green
Mold
Microorganism
addition
12.1 39.7 15.4 58.4 128.5 13.1


General culture type (control) Anti-green mold microorganism addition
Figure 3: Fruit body growth comparison addition of anti-green mold microorganism at
cotton waste medium

We have checked the oil amount consumed for medium pasteurization and post-fermentation
(Tab. 3). In the general culture type, the volume of consumed oil per one time culture was
423
320 liter per 100 square meters, but in the green mold microorganism addition, it was 130
liter. Thus, the oil consumption reduction rate was about sixty percent.
Tab. 3: Effect of oil cost saving by anti-green mold microorganism
Culture Type
Volume of
Consumed oil
(/100m
2
)
Oil Price
(1,000 KRW/100m
2

/ 2.4times/year)
Saved Oil
Cost
(1,000 KRW)
General culture type
(control)
320 998
592
Anti-green mold
microorganism addition
130 406
Oil price (Kerosene): 1,300 KRW/

References
Administration of Food, Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries. 2009. Statistics of cash
crops products.
Rural Development Administration. 2008. Standard income of agricultural products.
Shin, M. S. 2001. Ferment physiology of substrate and substrate preparation for
mushroom culture. Mushroom 5(2):53-77.
424
Journey for Organic Grape of Life

Han, N. Y.
Vice Chairman
Korea Organic Farming Association
E-mail: kofa@chol.com

1. How I first came into contact with grapes
There is a verse in Bible that says the length of our days is seventy years or eighty if you have the
strength.

What you encounter in your life determines the purpose and approach of your life. It also makes
difference in the quality and fulfillment of life.

I was a leader in organic farming and the protestant church. I spent most of the time starting and
establishing a church in rural community and agricultural development. Overworking deteriorated
my health and critically damaged most of my organs including stomach, intestine, kidney, liver, and
heart. My American missionary doctor diagnosed that I had less than 1 week to live, and told me to
write a will within 3 days and get my affairs in order to prepare to die. However, as a desperate last
resort, he advised me to try a grape dietary treatment since no modern medicine could cure my
condition. I purchased grapes from the market and ate them, but after three days, my whole body
became red and swollen, and the lips and the throat got cracked so much I couldnt even drink water.
When I visited the hospital again, the missionary doctor was angry at me and criticized me for
attempting to kill myself by taking pesticide when I had only a few more days to put up with until
natural death. I was poisoned with pesticide according to the medical examination. Because
organomercury pesticides and arsenicals were used even during the harvesting season, the grapes
contained those harmful materials. I managed to get grapes on which pesticide was sprayed only
during the early stage of cultivation, and after 80 days, I recovered to normal condition.

This experience taught me first-handedly how devastating the impact of pesticide use could be.
From then on, I started researching and aggregating information on how to do farming without
making use of pesticide. At that time, organic farming wasnt known to the Korean agricultural
community yet.

2. Taking the first step in organic farming by growing fruit trees
After the grape dietary treatment suggested by the American missionary doctor saved my life, I
started to take actions to share the joyful experience with many people.

I decided to organically and safely grow grapes and use the grapes to disseminate the blessing of
new life to critically-ill patients sentenced to death. From 1971, I started cultivating grapes without
using pesticides in any circumstances, which was an enormously challenging task. While searching
for the right method, I had the opportunity to meet Jin Yeong Jeong, currently the head of Korean
Organic Farming Association, and learned about organic farming terminology and techniques. I also
got to know Tae Woo Song who taught me how to use microbes and enzymes. In order to learn and
research how to organically grow fruit trees including grapevines, I have spent almost 40 years of
my life on grapes. Although I had more failures than successes in my engagement in fruit farming, I
have come a too long way to reverse the goal of my life. I had no choice but to try again and again
until I reached the goal. Eventually, I achieved a great result and now many fruit farming
households in Korea are practicing organic cultivation.

3. Key to organic cultivation of fruit tree is soil management
425
I found that the most critical factors to growing healthy fruit trees bearing good fruits are providing
fertile soil, invigorating and proliferating soil microbes, and creating a heaven in earth for micro
creatures including earthworm.

If you want to produce the best quality fruits, you need to ensure that the roots of the tree extend
deep into the soil and the tree spreads out many roots widely. Also, one of the conditions for a tree
to fully realize its potential is that oxygen should be supplied deep into the soil. Root extends deeply
only when the organic material content in the soil reaches at least 3-5%, and in such soil, oxygen
can penetrate deep into the earth. Roots deep in earth absorb needed energy, and suffer least damage
from draught, frost, cold weather, and moisture. Such soil environment not only enables physical,
chemical, and microbe improvement, but also makes trees very strong against abnormal weather
condition. If you want to purify and enrich soil, use more than 10 to 20 tons of matured compost per
hectare and more than 2 tons of elvan as a source of mineral, and more than 1 ton of charcoal
powder as a base fertilizer each year. If the organic matter content of soil exceeds 3%, reduce the
matured compost input down to 5 to 10 ton and practice sod culture as a principle.

4. Disease and insect damage control
I think that the biggest challenge of organic cultivation of fruit trees is to fight against disease and
insect damage. I recommend using lime sulfur or sap of lacquer trees every spring.

Plant about 15 kinds of herbs around grapevine stock to keep vermin away, and install vermin
catching nets or catch vermin directly.

You will also want to leverage natural enemies such as Pheromones. I also strongly advise to spray
white wash on the sub-main branch of fruit trees in fall or early spring, which is particularly
effective in killing insects and germs. Prepare 10 liters of water, 5 kg of crude lime sulfur (at least
25 percent content), 5 kg of quick lime, 500g of salt, 500cc of cooking oil, 5 to 10kg of loess (not
contaminated). Mix quick lime with water, wait until it cools down, add the above ingredients, and
stir it for more than 30 minutes.

Use a painting brush to coat the tree trunk thoroughly with the above substance, and you will see a
great effect of insect killing and sterilization. This method is particularly effective in containing
winter-hardy disease germs, spores, and caterpillar or egg of vermin as well as curing canker of
apple and gummosis of peach and preventing frost damage. You may add or reduce the amount of
water or loess depending on the situation.

5. Producing functioning grape which can save life
The dietary treatment with organically grown grapes for the last 40 years has enabled thousands of
patients to recover from incurable diseases. After recovery, many of them joined in organic grape
cultivation to save others from diseases. The number of people taking part in this effort is
continuously on the rise.
For about 9 years from 2000, I was involved in research and education as well as agricultural
business in China. My oldest son who was managing the orchard in Korea came to see me in China
7 years ago. He told me, Dad, something must be wrong. When you were in Korea, the grape
dietary treatment worked greatly for patients. It is not the case anymore. I dont know why. I was
shocked. As it turned out, my son cultivated winter potatoes in the vineyard while I was away.
Since potatoes require heavy fertilizing, using a large amount of livestock manure worked well for
potatoes, but caused problems to grapes through excessive nitrogen. I have investigated extensively
and came to know about ginseng versus wild ginseng; the more artificial input is used, the less
ability to produce material to preserve human life and regenerate damaged cells, although a greater
amount of ginseng may be harvested. From then on, our orchard has never applied any fertilizer to
give extra nutrients except for elvan added to supplement mineral, and we cultivated corns for 2
426
years and grass for 5 years to breakdown and discharge excessive nutrients in soil including
nitrogen. As a result, the soil composition was restored to the original state.

Roots track down water, air, and nutrients. However, if you artificially nourish the surface soil,
roots will not bother to extend themselves deeply. They will simply depend on artificial nutrients
for growth and production. But if you dont artificially nourish and let the tree live on natural
nutrients, the roots will travel deep down in soil to absorb the energy of soil. Leaves will also
become healthy and absorb the energy of the sun as much as possible, and as a result, all the energy
will be accumulated in the food for us.

Grapes reviving human life is an agricultural produce which accumulates the energy of the sun and
soil to the maximum. In other words, it contains a great deal of natural functioning material.

I didnt add any artificial substance, not to mention organic fertilizer, for 7 years, and it allowed the
grapes to restore the functioning material content. My goal of life and companionship with grapes is
to cultivate grapes of life, grapes which are like ginseng and natural wild grapes found only deep in
forest so that the grapes can restore the dying to life and more people can share the joy of new life
and hope continuously.

It is not easy to live for the glory of Lord,
You have to give up the desire for wealth and fame.

But dont worry. The moment you give up yourself for Him,
The Father will hold you firmly with His big hand.
Many of the faithful who preceded you lived their lives for Lord.
If I perish, I perish. I see the joyful tear of the Father.
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith for Him.
Now my Father will give me the crown He had for me.
The crown is not just for me, but all those who long for Lord.

A joyful tear is coming down on my face as I sit in front of His throne.
The Lord is wiping my tear.
427
Investigation on Disease Injury Status of Horticultural Crops in Nanyang-Ju
City and Measures to Prevent and Control Diseases though Soil Sterilization
Using Wheat Bran

In, T. J., Lee, Y. B. & Yoon, G. H.
234-46 Saneung-ro Jingeon-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
E-mail: apotbelly@korea.kr
Internet: www.nais.or.kr

Key words: Facility cultivation, Disease injury, Wheat bran

Introduction
In the early 1980s, facility cultivation of horticultural crops was mainly carried out in Jang-ahn
dong and Sang-gye dong area in Seoul. Consequently, the center moved to northern Gyeonggi
Province, especially to Namyangju City and Yangju-gun from the mid 1980s. In Namyangju City,
single tunnel-type vinyl houses started to be built in 1985, and once the cultivation area expanded to
as large as 1,000ha. Now the size has decreased to around 800ha due to rapid urban development
and the construction of governmental home houses called Bogeumjari.
Meanwhile, as facility cultivation continues for a long time, the nature of the soil has changed a lot.
Also, repetitive cultivation of the same crop has weakened the resistance of soil to crop diseases,
and salt concentration has hindered healthy growth of the crops in the area. Therefore, in order to
promote environmentally friendly organic farming in Namyangju City, prevailing diseases and their
symptoms should be thoroughly investigated first, and then the possibility of change in their trend
needs to be predicted to prevent future outbreaks of such diseases. Also, the establishment of an
effective counter plan for disease detection and prevention is essential for successful
environmentally friendly organic farming.
Objects and methods of investigation
Seven major leafy vegetables (lettuce, pimpinella brachycarpa, winter chinese cabbage, spinach,
spring onion, crown daisy and mallow) and one fruiting vegetable (cucumber) in three different
areas (Joan-myeon, Jingeon-eup and Jingeop-eup) in Namyangju City were selected as the objects
of the investigation. For each investigation area, two to three green house packing facilities were
selected, but if there was no disease outbreak in those facilities, nearby facilities were investigated
instead. The investigation was conducted based on the known symptoms, referring to full-coloured
illustration books and standard farming textbooks on vegetable diseases and some other books on
diagnosis and prevention of diseases and insects. When it was difficult to clearly identify a certain
disease, the sample was sent to Horticulture Research Center and National Institute of Agricultural
Science and Technology for further analysis through isolation and identification of the pathogenic
bacteria.
Characteristics of facility cultivation and conditions for disease outbreak
Facility cultivation has some unique characteristics. That is, green houses are blocked from external
air through films or glasses (and two to three fold of them in winter), and the inside temperature is
higher than outside. The temperature gap can become much larger especially during the day time,
and heat injury can occur on the crops. On the other hand, if greenhouses are not equipped with a
heating system, the inside temperature can go down to as low as the external temperature especially
at night, which can cause chilling injury. Also, the humidity level inside the facility reaches almost
100% (relative humidity) as the temperature goes down with sunset, and even in the day time, the
inside air is constantly humid because of the lack of air circulation. Usually, most of the diseases
occur at around 20C except for some heat-related diseases such as TSWV (Tomato spotted wilt
virus). Thus, the damage is greater with the diseases caused by those bacteria activated in the low
428
temperature. For example, Sclerotinia rot is a polyxenic disease caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.
It often occurs on some leafy vegetables cultivated inside a facility (that is, low-temperature, high-
humidity environment) such as lettuce, pimpinella brachycarpa, crown daisy, cabbage and salary.
Gray mold is caused by Botrytis cinerea, one of the imperfect fungi, and it is one of the major
diseases that break out on the aerial part of the crops, which often becomes a problem with facility
cultivation in Korea. It usually occurs inside the green house because the bacteria are activated (and
then go through spore formation, sprouting and host invasion process) in the low temperature and
saturated humidity condition, which is similar to the house cultivation environment especially
during the low temperature period. Low temperature period refers to the forcing and semi-forcing
cultivation periods in winter and spring. For example, Downy mildew is propagated through
morning dew formed on the green house walls. When the dewdrops fall on the ground, they bound
with soil particles and spread the disease. The development speed and severity of the disease are
determined by the existence of water films on the plant body and also the relative humidity level in
the low temperature condition. Fusarium spp. occurs regardless of the season, because now repeated
crop cultivation is possible throughout the year inside the green house. Also, as the bacterial density
increases and soil quality gets worse, it has a greater impact on the development of the disease.

Type of disease injuries by crop and their characteristics
The size of lettuce cultivation area in Namyangju City is about 350ha, and the crop is cultivated
four to five times a year. The major diseases that occur on the lettuce include Sclerotinia rot, Gray
mod blight and Downy mildew in winter and Fusarium wilt in summer. Pimpinella brachycarpa is
one of the umbeliiferae vegetables and grows mostly in the forest of Northeast Asian countries. It
started to be cultivated in Namyangju City from 1993, and the size of current cultivation area is
about 300ha. The most common disease that occurs on the crop is Sclerotinia rot and it appears a lot
especially between late winter and early spring. In the case of winter chinese cabbage that can be
cultivated in the facility all around the year, Sclerotinia rot and Downy mildew seem to break out
most frequently in winter, while Clubroot is more common in summer. Usually, those cabbages that
are cultivated inside the green house with no heating system are protected by water films, dual
tunnel structure or heat insulation covers. Spinach is a catch crop that is harvested multiple times a
year. In Namyangju City, most of the spinach is cultivated in the facilities which are not protected
by water films. Generally, spinach grows well in the cool temperature and it is difficult to cultivate
them during the high-temperature period. The diseases that commonly occur on spinach are Downy
mildew in winter and Anthracnose in summer. The optimal temperature for the growth and
development of spring onions is 15-20C, which is a rather cool temperature. The most frequently
occurring diseases on spring onions include Black rot, Dieback, Green onion rust and Sclerotium
cepivorum, and usually they break out between spring and autumn. Crown daisies have strong
adaptability to the soil, but they grow better and their production period can be extended on the
fertile land. On crown daisies, Sclerotinia rot may occur in winter and Downy mildew in summer.
Mallows are harvested twice a year and are vulnerable to Sclerotinia rot in winter and Anthracnose
in summer. Cucumbers grow in the mid-range temperature, and, in Namyanju City, they are usually
cultivated only in summer because high heating costs can reduce farm income in winter. On
cucumbers, Cucumber fusarium wilt, Downy mildew, Powdery mildew and Cucumber scap may
break out.
Cause of disease outbreak and soil sterilization using wheat bran
Most of the diseases that have broken out so far were soil-borne diseases, and they occurred more
often where repeated cultivation was carried out and in the green house environment with no
heating system, especially during winter time when the temperature is low and humidity is high.
Because the same crops are planted at the same time of each year, the density of pathogenic bacteria
on the soil increases. Also, because of the continuous planting right after the harvest, the salt
concentration on the soil goes up, and as a result, various diseases are breaking out and the crop
429
quality and productivity are declining. In particular, as the temperature goes down in winter, the
relative humidity inside the green house increases, which makes it easier for pathogenic bacteria to
invade into the plants and cause more diseases. Therefore, in order to prevent crop diseases in an
environmentally friendly way, the following proper actions should be taken. First, it is important to
well manage the green house environment and keep the optimal condition for crop cultivation
through packing, facility, temperature, and humidity management. Second, the selected crop seeds
should be strong enough to endure the diseases. Third, the density of the pathogenic bacteria that
cause various diseases should be lowered. One way to reduce the bacteria density, the soil
sterilization using wheat bran, has been suggested as follows.
If wheat bran is evenly put on the cultivation area (about 2000kg on the area of 10ha), well mixed
with the soil, watered sufficiently, and then sealed up with vinyl, it will generate carbonic acid gas
and weak acid that can kill some disease-causing bacteria living inside the soil. Those substances
are especially effective for preventing such diseases as Fusarium spp and Root-knot nematodes. The
result also shows that after the soil sterilization, the growth of lettuce has been improved a lot. For
example, the live weight of the lettuce leaf rose 63% from 27.3g to 16.7g, and the length and weight
of the roots also increased after the sterilization. However, when the sealing job with vinyl was not
performed perfectly, the sterilization effect was almost invisible. Also, some damage occurred when
crops were planted right after the soil sterilization. Therefore, it is important to pay careful attention
before, during, and after the soil sterilization process.

Conclusion
The facility cultivation in Namyangju City located in north Gyeonggi Province is carried out in the
area of about 800ha. Major crops cultivated in the facility throughout the year are leafy vegetables
including lettuce, spinach, crown daisy, winter chinese cabbage, pimpinella brachycarpa and
mallow, and some fruiting vegetables including cucumber and squash. Some of the other leafy
vegetables such as kale, romane lettuce, treviso and endive are also raised in the area. Because of
the expenses and labor-intensive characteristics of facility cultivation, damages caused by crop
diseases can result in a great burden on farmers. In particular, since many of the farmers who grow
vegetables in the facility do not have capacity to accurately diagnose diseases, they depend mainly
on their own experience or diagnosis of neighbourhood farmers and pesticide sellers for disease
prevention. As a result, it is common that diseases are not controlled at the early stage of the
occurrence and the damage tends to grow bigger. Therefore, investigation on the disease outbreak
status in Namyangju City and distribution of the relevant information to farmers will provide an
opportunity to establish effective measures to diagnose and prevent diseases by each crop. In
addition, under the current circumstances where green cultivation practice increases but few
environmentally friendly pesticides are available, soil sterilization using wheat bran is likely to be a
good alternative since it has disease prevention and control effect that is necessary for organic
farming.

430
Foliar Application of Humic Acid and Seaweed Extract Improved
Fruit Yield and Quality of Organic Greenhouse Cherry Tomato

Jamal Javanmardi and Hossein Azadi
1
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
jmljvn@yahoo.com

Key words: Lycopersicon esculentum, Ecklonia maxima, foliar nutrition

Abstract
Effects of humic acid and seaweed extracts as foliar application on plant growth, yield
and quality of cherry tomato, in organic greenhouse condition were studied. Plants were
sprayed with humic acid (0, 1, 1.5 and 2 ml/L) and seaweed extract Algaren (0, 0.2,
0.6 and 1 ml/L), four weeks after transplantation and repeated six times afterward at 14
day intervals. Humic acid and seaweed extract increased vegetative plant growth, truss
numbers, fruit set percent, fruit firmness, vitamin C, total soluble solids and fruit weight,
significantly. The best economic results in terms of yield and fruit quality were obtained
from the combination of 1 ml/L of humic acid and 0.6 ml/L of seaweed extract.
431
Organic Tomato Cultivation

Jung Ran, Lee
Korea National Open University, Republic of Korea
6114457@hanmail.net

After making organic composts which were fermented for 6 months in Asan citys composting
place for growing tomatoes, and making high quality-fermented granule composts (made up of
green sesame cakes, rice bran, organic fowl dropping, molasses, and enzyme), we stirred them once
a week (we repeated such mingling more than 7 times). By doing so, we fermented the composts for
6 months, and used them (in the building A) as basal fertilizers (20 ton per 10a) on January 15
th

, and
cultivated the land by using a tractor. On the next day, we made furrows, piped perforated hoses,
and put the mulching. After that, we planted 3800 tomato seedlings (Doterang and Hyoung) in a
500-pyeong (about 1652 m) house before a flower cluster of tomato blossomed in a seedling place,
and watered tomatoes by using hoses.
On January 19
th
, we released a box of bees to make tomatoes pollinated. We started to prepare ropes
to attract hermit crabs and released the crabs. 7 days later, we i) irrigated 5-ton water through the
perforated hoses (building B), ii) input composts made in the composting place, high quality
granule (individually fermented) composts, and 20*20 kg-bag of Geumsugangsan Gold
(fertilizers), iii) tilled the soil by using a tractor, and iv) made furrows and mulching. We released
two boxes of natural enemies to kill greenhouse whiteflies on the tomato field (the tomatoes were
planted on 15
th
in the building A). 15 days after tomatoes were planted on February 1
st
, we started
to utilize hermit crabs, and remove lateral branches after tomatoes took roots in the soil. We planted
3800 tomatoes (Mascara) in the house (building B) on February 10
th

. We released three boxes of
natural enemies (Encarsia formosato) to kill greenhouse whiteflies.
From February 22
nd

, we started to make thinning and a flower cluster. When the third flower cluster
begins, we dug the flank of furrows and gave high-quality granule composts as additional manure.
When tomatoes show minor element deficiency and nitrogen shortage, we made green manure and
sprayed the fertilizer onto leaves. We made green manure or liquid fertilizer and then sprayed it
onto the leaves or injected it. The way to make green manure is as follows; putting 100 kg suckers
of tomato, 10kg black sugar, and 2kg Basiliscus (fermented yeast) into 400L water. We can also
make liquid fertilizer as follows; i) melting 3kg-black sugar into 10L water, ii) putting the bag of
seedcake of sesame into a bag or a stocking, iii) adding the above solution to the bag or stocking,
iv) keeping it in a remote area and stirring it every other day, and v) waiting for 4 ~6 weeks until it
is fermented.
We sprayed the solution of 300cc natural vertical and 300L water onto the leaves of tomato.
Tomatoes try to avoid humidity, so we removed lugs (below leaves) to prevent humidity. 100 days
after planting tomatoes, we could see tomatoes ripe to red. We put priority on keeping tomatoes
healthy in terms of controlling disease and pests. There are some recommends to prevent pests.
- You need to put 20-40cc vinegar into 1L water and melt 5g soap as an adhesive agent into the
solution to make it diluted.
- You need to spray 500 times-diluted solution of pyroligneous liquor (20L water + 40cc original
solution) onto the leaves of tomato.
Managed by Asan City, the tomatoes grown in this way were delivered to Nong-hyup Hanaro Martk,
Organic Product Association, Olga, Good Farmers, Green Village, E-Mart, and department stores.
On June 30
th
, we completed to grow the tomatoes, stopped the cultivation, and prepared for
agriculture in fall. By managing soils, we sowed Doterang Gold into the seedlings on July 2
nd
, and
planted them on August 15
th
officially. We cant do mulching in summer because of geothermal
energy, so we have to control weeds manually, requiring a lot of human resources and efforts.
432

Soil Management
1. Basically, our goal is to restore soils through management.
We need to input composts which are fully matured for more than 6 months into the soils (30 ton
per 10a) once a year.
Its more efficient that we input matured composts into soils twice a year (every Spring and Fall).
To reduce the damage of continuous cropping, we can rotate plants with high fibers like soybeans
or corns because its more efficient.
2. Soil Sanitation
Solar Heat Sanitation
In summer when atmosphere temperature is high, the solar heat sanitation is more effective (June
~ August). After mixing grease with 45% moisture + 500 kg rice bran per 160 pyeong (about 528
m)+ a ferment agent (3.7kg per 300 pyeong: about 991m), we have to mix it with soil evenly and
keep it for more than 15 days (you need to maintain the 60 temperature) after plastic film
mulching.
Fresh Water Sanitation

Fertilization and Management Plan
We shall use completely fermented composts (mature for more than 6 months) and phosphoric
acid granule fertilizer as basal dressing. We can use high quality granule fertilizer (0.3ton per 10a)
as additional manure.
When tomatoes show minor element deficiency or nitrogen shortage, we need to make green
manure and liquid manure and spray them onto leaves or inject them.
The way to make liquid manure (solution of fermented oil cake): 1. You shall melt 3kg black
sugar into 10L water and then put oil cakes into a stocking or a bag, and add the above solution. 2.
You need to keep it in a remote area and stir it every other day, and 4 weeks to 6 weeks later,
fermentation will be almost completed. You can inject the fertilizer by using the solution (which
is made up of 20L water + 200cc fermented oil cake + 80 cc brown rice vinegar) or spray the
solution (which consists of 20L water + 100cc fermented oil cake + 50cc brown rice vinegar) into
the leaves.
High quality granule fertilizer (organically fermented fertilizer) phosphoric acid granule
fertilizer (fermented phosphoric acid fertilizer)
After pouring fountain water by 10~15cm and mix rice bran and fungus, we need to pour the
fountain water by 10~15cm again and input rice bran and fungus. By repeating this work, we have
to fill up to 70% of 200L container. After that, we need to fill the container with pure water by 90%.
From the day when making this solution, we need to stir it twice a day to provide oxygen for
better fermentation. 3~4 days later when fermentation comes to an end, we can use all amount of
this solution.
3~4 days later, its highly efficient to stimulate roots and enhance activation of plants. In this
case, we have to use total amount of this solution (40~50L original solution can be injected per 300
pyeong (about 991m, in this case water quantity can de decided by the size of cultivated land).

Disease & Pest Control and Weed Control
1. Disease Control
We must put priority on disease prevention over treatment.
In principle, we shall make plants sound and healthy, and grow leaves thick.
To make plants receive sunshine sufficiently, we dont make air-tightness, and implement our
duty to replace mulching plastic film.
We need to make ventilation frequently so that the greenhouse is not excessively humid.
If we can see some symptoms of disease, we have to remove the plants by burning them or
burying them.
433
To prevent disease, we need to spray vinegar solution and pyroligneous liquor.
We dilute the 1L water with 20~40cc vinegar by using 5g soap as an adhesive agent.
We spray 500 times diluted pyroligneous liquor (20L water + 400cc original solution) on the
leaves.

2. Pest Control
When we see pests, we can remove them manually.
We can also use nicotine solution.
We immerse powder of 10 cigarette buts (in this case, paper and filters are removed) into 1 L
water for more than 3 hours, and then pass it through a sieve for use.
We need to spray it 2~3 times to the swarm of aphids, the Larvae of Pieris repae, and other
insects.
We can also use the machine oil made from garlic.
We can mix 80g pounded garlic, two spoonful of machine oil, 10g soap, and 1L water to make
the machine oil made from garlic.
We need to dilute the 200cc machine oil of garlic with 20L water, and spray it every four or five
days. You need to spray it three times in total.
We can also prevent disease by installing a fly net and a light trap to prevent pests.
We can also control pests by using natural enemies l
like Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Liriomyza trifolii.

3. Weed Control
Basically, we need to remove weeds manually.
20 days after planting, we need to start weeding and do it frequently. After harvest, you need to
start rotary tillage.
We can control weeds by using mulching plastic film.
We can remove weeds on the entrance road to house and neighboring streets by using mowers.

434
Stabile Yield and Insect Pest Suppression Are Induced by a Double-
Cropping System of Cabbage after Rye Crop

Kaoru Ishiwata, Ikuko Furihata and Hideaki Chishima
International Nature Farming Research Center(INFRC), Japan
ishiwata@infrc.or.jp
http://www.infrc.or.jp/english/index.html

Key words: Insect injury, Double-cropping, Crop residuals, Cabbage, Rye.

Introduction
The suppression of insect pests, sufficient head weight and its uniformity are the most
important technical problems in organic cultivation of cabbage. The insect pest incidences
also occur when the three causes (insect pests, constitution of crops and environments) come
in succession as the plant disease. The environmental cause includes all environmental
elements and however occupied widely by the cultivation system. An organic farming system
has few methods for direct suppression on insect pests, but draws out a robust and an enough
growth of crop, and constructs the balance between living things of which the harmful insects
do not increase explosively at the same time. The harmful insects change the relationship
with other living things under the combined cultivation system (Francis, 1989
We attempted the construction of a stable cropping system of cabbage by double-cropping
with Gramineous crops as a secondary crop from 2007. Gramineous crop can leave a lot of
straw that becomes the bait of edaphone and is decomposed slowly. We selected the autumn
crop of cabbage and the wintering crop of rye. This report introduces the transition of yield of
cabbage and of insect damage for 4 years.
). In the fields
converted from conventional to organic farming we often observe the phenomenon of
decreasing insect injury and rising productivity in several years from beginning. We consider
that the continuance of the organic cultivation that influence of both crop nutrition and the
balance of living things in the field is a key. The crop residuals and its decomposed
intermediates will be accumulated and become a source of plant nutrition and refuge and
activity site of soil fauna. The rise of the use activity of crop residuals by soil fauna will bring
the rise of the nutrition supply and the balance of the living things including insect pests, and
then insect damage will not occur. No misfortunes come singly!

Methods and materials
435
Experimental site: The experiment was conducted on the farm of Agricultural Experiment
Station of International Nature Farming Research Center, Matsumoto City, Nagano
prefecture, Japan (N11 E137 , 695 m above the sea), from 2007 to 2010. The plot area was
168 m
2
, and the cabbage plant density was 4.17 plants par m
2
Measurements: Biomass of above ground part, the whole head and marketable head was
recoded and the ratio of marketable cabbage (prepared weight is above 700 g without disease
symptoms). Biomass of grain and straw of rye was recorded. The coming flying of small
white, eggs and caterpillars of insect pests (2010, Small white, Asiatic common looper and
Cabbage armyworm) was observed in the field, Nitrogen of soil was measued in the 2009
experiment.
(60 cm x 40 cm). The varieties
of cabbage was Shosyu (2008~2010, Takii seed) and YRwakamono (2007, Mikadokyowa
seed). The cultivation methods are summarized and presented in Table 1 and Fig. 1.

Figures and tables
Table 1. The cultivation methods
Farming practice 2007 2008 2009 2010
Sowing date of rye Mar.27 Nov.7 Nov.6 Dec.3
Sowing date of cabbage Jul.2 Jun.23 Jun.29 Jun.29
Harvesting date of rye Jul.6 Jun.27 Jul.13 Jul.9
Plowing stumps of rye with Bokashi
Jul.7


Jun.30 Jul.14 Jul.17
Amount of initial Bokashi (g/m
2
200 )
250 100 180
Transplanting the cabbage
Jul.26 Jul.25 Jul.24 Jul.23
Weeding and additional Bokashi
Aug.2 Aug.8 Aug.11 Aug.4
Amount of additional Bokashi

150 100 80 80
Mulching with rye straw
No mulch Aug.8 Aug.12 Aug.4
Harvesting cabbage
Oct.1 Sep.17 Sep.23 Sep.29

Table 2. The measurements related to yield of cabbage
Years Weight (kg) of
above ground
part
Head
weight (kg)
Prepared head
weight (kg)
Ratio of
salable
cabbage
Calculated
yield (tons /
ha)
2007 1.54 0.89 0.79 65% 28.1
2008 1.84 1.21 1.12 92% 44.3
2009 1.76 1.14 0.96 78% 31.2
2010 1.73 1.16 1.01 81% 34.4


436

























Results and Conclusions
The overview of cabbage growth, pest incidence and over-canopy flying of small white:
In the beginning year 2007 a lot of small white came flying and the serious insect damage
occurred. The growth of cabbage was slow and not good. In 2008 and 2009 the coming flying
of small white and the insect damage was few. The cabbage grew well. In the three years
from 2007 to 2009 few other kinds of insect pests were observed. In 2010 a lot of small white
came flying and caterpillars of small white, asiatic common looper and cabbage armyworm
were observed. However serious damage did not occur and a good harvest was obtained.
Sampling depth
Inorganic nitrogen
(mgN /100g dry soil)
Available nitrogen
(mgN /100g dry soil)
0-5cm layer from the surface 5.61 15.2
5-10cm layer from the surface 4.77 13.14
Table 3 Inorganic and available nitrogen at the transplanting day in 2009
Figure 4
Natural enemy
observed in
heading stage
Figure 1 Method of transplanting the
cabbage and returning straw of rye
(1) Planting crops with interrow 60cm
(2) Plowing stumps to the surface 5cm
(3) Transplanting with the 5cm ditch
(4) Mulching with cut straw of rye
Figure 2 The rise and fall of eggs of
insect pests (n=192)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Jul.23 Aug.12 Sep.1 Sep.21
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

e
g
g
s

p
e
r

a

p
l
a
n
t
Small white
Asiatic common looper
Cabbage armyworm (egg botches)
Figure 3 The rise and fall of caterpillars
of insect pests (n=192)
0
2
4
6
8
Jul.23 Aug.12 Sep.1 Sep.21
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

c
a
t
e
r
p
i
l
l
a
r
s

p
e
r

a

p
l
a
n
t
Small white
Asiatic common looper
Cabbage armyworm
437
The harvest of rye grain and the amount of straw returned to the field: The harvest of
grain was 3.4 tons in 2009 and 2.4 tons in 2010 per hectare. The amount of straw returned to
the field by the method as in Fig.1 was 7.8 tons in 2009 and 5.4 tons in 2010 per hectare. It
was estimated that the returned straw contained nitrogen of 50 kg and 35 kgm, respectively,
in 2009 and in 2010.
The observation of the rise and fall of insect pests: Fig.2 and Fig.3 show the rise and down
of number of eggs and caterpillars of insect pests in 2010. A lot of caterpillars were observed
from transplanting to early heading stage (0-40 days after transplanting). At harvest (60 days
or more after transplanting) there were few caterpillars and the natural enemies were
observed preying on insect pests everywhere or under the cabbage (Fig.4).
The yield of cabbage: Table 2 shows the yield of cabbage. In the beginning year 2007 the
yield was low because of small head reduced by the insect damage. The yield in 2008 was
very high because of high ratio of marketable heads. From the beginning in 2008 the
generations of the insect pests were few. The yield over 30 tons per hectare were achieved in
2008 to 2010. Especially in 2010 the serious insect damage occurred on outer leaves.
However, we observed less influence on head weight and high the ratio of marketable heads.
Available nitrogen in soil at transplanting: Table 3 shows inorganic and available nitrogen
in soil at the transplanting stage in 2009. It was confirmed that the soil contains enough
amount of available nitrogen for cabbage to grow. The nitrogen amount exceeded the amount
of the fertilizer (Bakashi) content. It suggested that the abundant amount of available nitrogen
was supplied from the crop residuals and its decomposed intermediates which returned last or
more before years.
In conclusion, it is possible to construct a stabile cropping system of cabbage by double-
cropping with rye. It seemed that the yield and the insect pest control could become stabile
year by year. The stability would have been brought by living structure formation in soil from
the cultivation its own.

References
Francis C. A. (1989): Biological efficiencies in multiple-cropping systems. In: American
Society of Agronomy: Advances in Agronomy, Vol. 42, 21-24p.
438
Slide 2
The term bio-pesticide is used for microbial biological pest control agents that are applied in a
similar manner to chemical pesticides


Slide 3

Bio-pesticides are usually inherently less toxic than conventional pesticides. They generally
affect only the target pest and closely related organisms and Bio-pesticides often are effective in
very small quantities.
Often decompose quickly, thereby resulting in lower exposures and largely avoiding the
pollution problems caused by conventional pesticides
When, used as a component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, bio-pesticides can
greatly decrease the use of conventional pesticides, while crop yields remain high.


Slide 4

Plant parasitic nematode (PPN) a small microscopic roundworm - is one of
the major stresses affecting crop production. Crop problems induced by
these nematodes generally occur as a result of root dysfunction, low rooting
volume leading to reduced water and nutrient uptake resulting in poor
utilization efficiency.

Many PPN are also reported to predispose plants to diseases caused by
fungal, bacterial, virus pathogens which contribute to additional yield losses.

Though chemical control appears to give better control of nematodes, the
development of resistance in most of the nematode species towards the
chemical nematicides is evident. Synthetic nematicides, when used
indiscriminately, also destroy beneficial soil fauna including
entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN). Hence, a safe means for nematode
control is sought after in alternatively managed farm systems.


Slide 5

Photo


Slide 6

Photo


Slide 7

Photo

439


Slide 8

Photo



Slide 9

Photo



Slide 10

Photo


Slide 11

What is the solution?


Slide 12

Chemical Solutions

Methyl Bromide is a recognized ozone-depleting chemical. It was used extensively as a pesticide
until being phased out by most countries.
In 1999, an estimated 71,500 tonnes of synthetic methyl bromide were used annually worldwide.
Until its production and use were curtailed by the Montreal Protocol, methyl bromide was widely
applied.

Carbofuran:

Carbofura is neurotoxic and therefore kills non-target organisms as well.
Carbofuran is banned in Canada and the European Union.
In May 2009 EPA cancelled all food tolerances, an action which amounts to a de facto ban on its
use on all crops grown for human consumption.


Slide 13

Chemical Solutions


Slide 14
440

The real solution


Slide 15

Paecilomyces is a.



Slide 16

Paecilomyces lilacinus is a species which is a bio-control fungus which protects the root system
against diseases caused by plant parasitic nematodes.



Slide 17

Photo


Slide 18

Photo


Slide 19

Taxonomic Classification


Slide 20

Mode of Action
This bio-agent colonizes the root surface and is an antagonistic fungus, strongly paracitic to eggs
and egg-masses and various females of plant paracitic nematodes. Fungal paratization can
destroy up to 90% of eggs and 75%-80% of egg-masses or cysts.


Slide 21

Colonized Nematode Egg






Slide 22
441

Composition of a nematode eggshell
When eggs of root-knot nematode M. hapla are infected with P.lilacinus, the egg-shell is
partially dissolved, suggesting the existence of lytic enzymes.


Slide 23

Effective against


Slide 24

Our observations


Slide 25

Our observations

Fungal hyphae were never detected within roots and it can be concluded that P.lilacinus
is not a plant pathogen and does not infect healthy living roots of the dicotyledonous and
monocotyledonous plants studied.



Slide 26

Benefits


Slide 27

Benefits
Property to dissolve excessive soil salt by decreasing soil pH thereby playing a important
role in amendment of the soil.



Slide 28

Precautions


Slide 29

Crops


Slide 30
442
Current Status on a Farmer Cultivating Organic Vegetables

Ki-hyeong, Choi
409-5 Shinchon-dong, Heungduk-gu, Chungju-city, North Chungcheong Province

The Cultivator Information
The cultivator (who was studied) has performed environment-friendly agriculture for the last 14
years, and got organic certificates 3 years, 8 years, and 13 years after he started to practice organic
agriculture by each lot of land. He never practices conventional farming.
Most fields are adjacent to neighboring organic fields, but some are close to conventional fields.
However, neighboring conventional farmers promised to inform him of spraying agricultural
chemicals in advance. He also thoroughly controls the shutter of facilities to block agricultural
chemicals from going into the organic fields.
The organic fields consist of 4,669m-tomatoes, 2,622m-cucumbers, 1,775m-watermelons,
1,000m-carrots, 450 m-spinaches, 1,775m-green onions, 2,110m-cabbages, 2,644 m-papricas,
and 991m-peppers. He uses plastic greenhouses (=vinyl houses) and underground water as
irrigation.
The table 1 shows the result of soil analysis. As shown by this, pH, organic matters, available
phosphoric acid, and exchangeable cation are less than proper value, and Mg is higher than proper
value.

Tab. 1: Result of Soil Analysis
Division
pH
(1:5)
Organic
Matters
(g/kg)
Available
Phosphoric
acid
(mg/kg)
Exchangeable Cation (cmol+/kg)
EC
(dS/m)
K Ca Mg
Proper
Range
6.0~6.5 25~35 350-450 0.7~0.8 5.0~6.0 1.5~2.0 0.0~2.0
Analysis
Result
5.6 21 343 0.25 5.3 2.9 1.5

Growth Method
1) Seed Management
The cultivator buys seeds at a shop, and uses bed soils exclusive to organic farming to raise
seedlings. He also drenches fish-based liquid manure onto the seedlings as additional fertilizers.
2) Crop Rotation
He grows forage crops (eg. Purpleflower Crotalaria) every two years.
3) Weeding
Polyethylene mulching is used to control weeds on ridge where crops are planted, and reapers are
used to remove weeds on the field boundary.
4) Pest Control
Hwal-hwa-san (which is an organic product made of sulfur suspension concentrate) is used to
prevent powdery mildew of paprika. Jin-sam-ie (which is extracted from pants) and smoke of
cigarette, and Aphidius colemani (which is a natural enemy of plant aphids) are used to control
swarms of aphids. Worldstareco (which is extracted from microbes) is used to control viruses. To
control blue beetles (which is a larva of common cabbage butterfly pieris rapae), Ip-sal-rim II
(which is a BT fungus-based product) is used. Eung-sam-ie (a product name) is used to control
mites.
5) Soil and Nutrients Management
Every February, sawdust-based mushroom media (3m) and Zeolite (300~450kg) are put into 150
pyeong-field (459.898 m). 300kg-fungus cultured fluid and 100kg-expeller cakes are provided to
443
150 peyong-filed as basal dressing. Active phosphoric acid and Guano-based liquid manure are used
as additional fertilizers. To increase pH and Ca of soil, 400kg-fossil meal /200 pyeong (661.157 m)
are used.
6) Harvest and Delivery
The cultivator directly deliver the harvested crops to Han-sal-rim (consumer cooperative) and
Heuk-sal-rim (which deals with organic products) every day. He produces 11 ton-watermelons, 25
ton-tomatoes, 6ton-cucumbers, 8ton-carrots, 2ton-spinaches, 5ton-green onions, 8ton-cabbages,
4ton-paprikas, and 2ton-peppers.
An organic certificate is put on the package when products are delivered to market.
444
Antioxidant and Antihypertensive Activities of Several Organic Mushrooms

Kim, J. H., Choi, J. I., & Ju, Y. C.
Mushroom Research Institute,
Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Korea
E-mail: kjh75@gg.go.kr
Internet: www.e-mush.co.kr

Key words: Antioxidant, Total phenol, ACE, Edible mushrooms

Introduction
Mushrooms have been consumed by many cultures for centuries, not only for nutritive value but
also for medicinal or functional purposes as well. As early as 100 AD, documentation of mushroom
use to maintain health was recorded in China. Of the more than 10,000 known species of
mushrooms, approximately 700 are edible and more than 200 species are thought to have medicinal
values (Chang, 1996). Some edible mushrooms with medicinal or functional values include
enokitake, maitake, shitake, oyster, murrill, and winter mushrooms (Pinheiro et al, 2003).
Nutritionally, mushrooms provide key nutrients and bioactive components such as high quality
protein, some vitamins including riboflavin, niacin, and folates, minerals (potassium, phosphorus,
magnesium, zinc, copper, and selenium), unsaturated fatty acids, and fiber (Chang, 2003; Matila et
al, 2001). The primary bioactive components in mushrooms are polysaccharides and glycoproteins.
Mushroom polysaccharides vary in chemical composition and physical properties. Additionally,
mushrooms contain another important polysaccharide, chitin. A derivative of chitin, chitosan,
obtained by deacetylation of chitin, is used as a dietary supplement claimed to lower cholesterol and
promote weight loss, although data are contradictory (Ylitalo et al, 2002; Pittler et al, 1999).
Studies have demonstrated that the consumption of mushrooms or consumption of isolated
bioactive constituents contained in mushrooms may promote health by improving immunity,
lowering blood cholesterol and lipids, reducing blood pressure, attenuating blood glucose, acting as
a chemoprotectant, and having antibiotic activity (Sia et al, 1999; Inoue et al, 2002). It is important
to note that many of these effects are dependent on the isolation of bioactive compounds, processing,
and fruit maturity at time of harvest. The objective of this study was to determine six mushroom
species, commonly cultivated in the South Korea, regarding their antioxidant and antihypertentive
effects.

Methods and materials
Mushrooms
Six kinds of organic mushrooms (Po; Pleurotus ostreatus, Pc; Pleurotus cornucopiae, Ps; Pleurotus
salmoneostramineus, Pf; Pleurotus ferulae, Gf; Grifola frondosa) were harvested from the
Mushroom Research Institute of Gyeonggido Agricultural Research Extension Services, South
Korea. The fruit bodies were cleaned to remove any residual and then freeze-dried. The freeze-dried
mushrooms were ground using a mill passed through a 0.5mm sieve and then extracted by 1000mL
of water at 20C for 2 h and filtered using Whatman No.2 filter paper. Each mushroom extract was
used to determine for further analyses.

1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) radical scavenging activity
The scavenging activity was determined by the DPPH method (Blois, 1958), A 1-mL of water
extract was mixed with 1mL of ethanol solution containing DPH radicals (Sigma Chemical Co., St.
Louis, MI, USA, resulting in 0.041 mM of the final concentration of DPPH. The mixture was
shaken vigorously and left to stand for 10 minutes. The absorbance was measured at 517 nm using a
spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV-2550, Tokyo, Japan).

Total phenolic contents
445
Total phenol contents in the water extracts of mushrooms were measured according to the method
of Gutfinger (1981). Each extract (1.0mL) was mixed with 1.0mL of 2% Na2CO3 and 0.2mL of
50% Folin-Ciocalteau reagent added into the mixture. After incubation for 30 minutes at room
temperature, the mixture was centrifuged at 13,400*g for 5 min. The absorbance was measured at a
750nm. TPC were expressed as gallic acid equivalents.

Assay of the inhibitory activity on ACE
The activity of ACE inhibition was assayed by a modification of the method of Cushman and
Cheung (1971). A mixture (300uL) containing a 100mM sodium borate buffer (pH 8.3), 300mM
NaCl, 8mU ACE from rabbit lung, and an appropriate amount of the inhibitor solution was
preincubated for 10 min at 37C. The reaction was initiated by adding 0.15mL of Hip-His-Leu at a
final concentration of 5mM, and terminated after 30 min of incubation by adding 0.5mL of 1M HCl.
The hippuric acid liberated was extracted with 1.5mL of ethyl acetate, and 1.0mL of the extract was
evaporated to dryness by a Speed vac concentrator. The residue was then dissolved in 1.0mL of
deionized water. The absorbance at 228nm was measured to estimate the ACE inhibition activity.


Figure 1: Radical scavenging ability of commercial edible mushrooms

Figure 2: Total phenolic contents of commercial edible mushrooms

Figure 3: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition of edible mushroom

Results and conclusions

The DPPH radical scavenging activity of the water extracts of six edible mushrooms was presented
in Fig. 1. Excellent scavenging effects (6%-71%) were observed with water extracts from Gf
446
(Grifola frondosa) and Pc (Pleurotus cornucopiae). However, the other mushrooms (Po; Pleurotus
ostreatus, Ps; Pleurotus salmoneostramineus, Pf; Pleurotus ferulae and Pe; Pleurotus eryngii) had
relatively lower radical scavenging ability, ranging from 14% to 23%.
Total phenols were the major naturally occurring antioxidant components found in the water
extracts from six edible mushrooms, and their contents were in order of
Gf(1.74mM)>Pc(1.67)>Po(1.10)>Pf(1.04)>Ps(1.01)>Pe (0.76) (Fig. 2). As a result, radical
scavenging abilities of mushrooms were intimately linked with phenolic compound contents.
Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (dipeptidyl carboxy peptidase I, kinase II, E.C 3.4.15.1, ACE) is
the key enzyme in the rennin-angiotensin system, which catalyzes production of the active
hypertensive hormone angiotensin II (Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe) from the inactive
prohormone angiotensin I (Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe-His-Leu). Water extracts from six
edible mushrooms were prepared to examine the inhibitory activity on ACE (Angiotensin
converting enzyme). As shown in Fig. 3, Pc had the highest inhibitory activity at 85% compared to
60-63% from other mushrooms.

References

Blois, M. S. (1958): Antioxidant determination by use of a stable free radical. Nature.
181: 883-894.
Chang, R. (1996):Functional properties of edible mushrooms. Nutr. Rev. 54:S91S93.
Pinheiro, F.; Faria, R. R.; de Camargo, J. L. V.; Spinardi-Barbisan, A. L. T.; da Eira, A.
F.; Barbisan, L. F. (2003): Chemoprevention of preneoplastic liver foci development
Chang, S. T. (2003): Buswell, J. A. Medicinal mushrooms - A prominent source of
by dietary mushroom Agaricus blazei Murrill in the rat. Food Chem. Toxicol.41: 15431550.
nutraceuticals for the 21st century. Curr. Top. Nutraceutical Res. 1: 257280.
Mattila, P.; Knk, K.; Eurola, M.; Pihlava, J.-M.; Astola, J.; Vahteristo, L.; Hietaniemi,
V.; Kumpulainen, J.; Valtonen, M.; Piironen, V. (2001): Contents of vitamins, mineral
Cushman, D. W.; Cheung, H. S. (1971): Concentrations of angiotensin-converting
elements, and some phenolic compounds in cultivated mushrooms. J. Agric. Food Chem. 49:
23432348.
enzyme in tissues of the rat. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 250: 261-265.
Gutfinger, T.(1981): Polyphenols in olive oils. J. Am. Oil chem. Soc. 58: 966-968.
Sia, G. M.; Candish, J. K. (1999): Effects of shiitake (Lentinus edodes) extract on
human neutrophils and the U937 monocytic cell line. Phytother. Res. 13:133137.
Inoue, A.; Kodama, N.; Nanba, H. (2002): Effect of maitake (Grifola frondosa) D-
Ylitalo, R.; Lehtinen, S.; Wuolijoki, E.; Ylitalo, P.; Lehtimaki, T. (2002): Cholesterol-
fraction on the control of the T lymph node Th-1/Th-2 proportion. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 25:
536540.
lowering properties and safety of chitosan. Arzneimittelforschung. 52:17.
Pittler, M. H.; Abbot, N. C.; Harkness, E. F.; Ernst, E.(1999): Randomized, double-
blind trial of chitosan for body weight reduction. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 53:379381.
447
Antioxidant and Antihypertensive Activities of Several Organic Mushrooms

Kim, J. H., Choi, J. I., & Ju, Y. C.
Mushroom Research Institute,
Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Korea
E-mail: kjh75@gg.go.kr
Internet: www.e-mush.co.kr

Key words: Antioxidant, Total phenol, ACE, Edible mushrooms

Introduction
Mushrooms have been consumed by many cultures for centuries, not only for nutritive value but
also for medicinal or functional purposes as well. As early as 100 AD, documentation of mushroom
use to maintain health was recorded in China. Of the more than 10,000 known species of
mushrooms, approximately 700 are edible and more than 200 species are thought to have medicinal
values (Chang, 1996). Some edible mushrooms with medicinal or functional values include
enokitake, maitake, shitake, oyster, murrill, and winter mushrooms (Pinheiro et al, 2003).
Nutritionally, mushrooms provide key nutrients and bioactive components such as high quality
protein, some vitamins including riboflavin, niacin, and folates, minerals (potassium, phosphorus,
magnesium, zinc, copper, and selenium), unsaturated fatty acids, and fiber (Chang, 2003; Matila et
al, 2001). The primary bioactive components in mushrooms are polysaccharides and glycoproteins.
Mushroom polysaccharides vary in chemical composition and physical properties. Additionally,
mushrooms contain another important polysaccharide, chitin. A derivative of chitin, chitosan,
obtained by deacetylation of chitin, is used as a dietary supplement claimed to lower cholesterol and
promote weight loss, although data are contradictory (Ylitalo et al, 2002; Pittler et al, 1999).
Studies have demonstrated that the consumption of mushrooms or consumption of isolated
bioactive constituents contained in mushrooms may promote health by improving immunity,
lowering blood cholesterol and lipids, reducing blood pressure, attenuating blood glucose, acting as
a chemoprotectant, and having antibiotic activity (Sia et al, 1999; Inoue et al, 2002). It is important
to note that many of these effects are dependent on the isolation of bioactive compounds, processing,
and fruit maturity at time of harvest. The objective of this study was to determine six mushroom
species, commonly cultivated in the South Korea, regarding their antioxidant and antihypertentive
effects.

Methods and materials
Mushrooms
Six kinds of organic mushrooms (Po; Pleurotus ostreatus, Pc; Pleurotus cornucopiae, Ps; Pleurotus
salmoneostramineus, Pf; Pleurotus ferulae, Gf; Grifola frondosa) were harvested from the
Mushroom Research Institute of Gyeonggido Agricultural Research Extension Services, South
Korea. The fruit bodies were cleaned to remove any residual and then freeze-dried. The freeze-dried
mushrooms were ground using a mill passed through a 0.5mm sieve and then extracted by 1000mL
of water at 20C for 2 h and filtered using Whatman No.2 filter paper. Each mushroom extract was
used to determine for further analyses.

1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) radical scavenging activity
The scavenging activity was determined by the DPPH method (Blois, 1958), A 1-mL of water
extract was mixed with 1mL of ethanol solution containing DPH radicals (Sigma Chemical Co., St.
Louis, MI, USA, resulting in 0.041 mM of the final concentration of DPPH. The mixture was
shaken vigorously and left to stand for 10 minutes. The absorbance was measured at 517 nm using a
spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV-2550, Tokyo, Japan).

Total phenolic contents
448
Total phenol contents in the water extracts of mushrooms were measured according to the method
of Gutfinger (1981). Each extract (1.0mL) was mixed with 1.0mL of 2% Na2CO3 and 0.2mL of
50% Folin-Ciocalteau reagent added into the mixture. After incubation for 30 minutes at room
temperature, the mixture was centrifuged at 13,400*g for 5 min. The absorbance was measured at a
750nm. TPC were expressed as gallic acid equivalents.

Assay of the inhibitory activity on ACE
The activity of ACE inhibition was assayed by a modification of the method of Cushman and
Cheung (1971). A mixture (300uL) containing a 100mM sodium borate buffer (pH 8.3), 300mM
NaCl, 8mU ACE from rabbit lung, and an appropriate amount of the inhibitor solution was
preincubated for 10 min at 37C. The reaction was initiated by adding 0.15mL of Hip-His-Leu at a
final concentration of 5mM, and terminated after 30 min of incubation by adding 0.5mL of 1M HCl.
The hippuric acid liberated was extracted with 1.5mL of ethyl acetate, and 1.0mL of the extract was
evaporated to dryness by a Speed vac concentrator. The residue was then dissolved in 1.0mL of
deionized water. The absorbance at 228nm was measured to estimate the ACE inhibition activity.


Figure 1: Radical scavenging ability of commercial edible mushrooms

Figure 2: Total phenolic contents of commercial edible mushrooms

Figure 3: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition of edible mushroom

Results and conclusions

The DPPH radical scavenging activity of the water extracts of six edible mushrooms was presented
in Fig. 1. Excellent scavenging effects (6%-71%) were observed with water extracts from Gf
449
(Grifola frondosa) and Pc (Pleurotus cornucopiae). However, the other mushrooms (Po; Pleurotus
ostreatus, Ps; Pleurotus salmoneostramineus, Pf; Pleurotus ferulae and Pe; Pleurotus eryngii) had
relatively lower radical scavenging ability, ranging from 14% to 23%.
Total phenols were the major naturally occurring antioxidant components found in the water
extracts from six edible mushrooms, and their contents were in order of
Gf(1.74mM)>Pc(1.67)>Po(1.10)>Pf(1.04)>Ps(1.01)>Pe (0.76) (Fig. 2). As a result, radical
scavenging abilities of mushrooms were intimately linked with phenolic compound contents.
Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (dipeptidyl carboxy peptidase I, kinase II, E.C 3.4.15.1, ACE) is
the key enzyme in the rennin-angiotensin system, which catalyzes production of the active
hypertensive hormone angiotensin II (Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe) from the inactive
prohormone angiotensin I (Asp-Arg-Val-Tyr-Ile-His-Pro-Phe-His-Leu). Water extracts from six
edible mushrooms were prepared to examine the inhibitory activity on ACE (Angiotensin
converting enzyme). As shown in Fig. 3, Pc had the highest inhibitory activity at 85% compared to
60-63% from other mushrooms.

References

Blois, M. S. (1958): Antioxidant determination by use of a stable free radical. Nature.
181: 883-894.
Chang, R. (1996):Functional properties of edible mushrooms. Nutr. Rev. 54:S91S93.
Pinheiro, F.; Faria, R. R.; de Camargo, J. L. V.; Spinardi-Barbisan, A. L. T.; da Eira, A.
F.; Barbisan, L. F. (2003): Chemoprevention of preneoplastic liver foci development
by dietary mushroom Agaricus blazei Murrill in the rat. Food Chem. Toxicol.41: 15431550.
Chang, S. T.(2003): Buswell, J. A. Medicinal mushrooms - A prominent source of
nutraceuticals for the 21st century. Curr. Top. Nutraceutical Res. 1: 257280.
Mattila, P.; Knk, K.; Eurola, M.; Pihlava, J.-M.; Astola, J.; Vahteristo, L.; Hietaniemi,
V.; Kumpulainen, J.; Valtonen, M.; Piironen, V. (2001): Contents of vitamins, mineral
elements, and some phenolic compounds in cultivated mushrooms. J. Agric. Food Chem. 49:
23432348.
Cushman, D. W.; Cheung, H. S. (1971): Concentrations of angiotensin-converting
enzyme in tissues of the rat. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 250: 261-265.
Gutfinger, T.(1981): Polyphenols in olive oils. J. Am. Oil chem. Soc. 58: 966-968.
Sia, G. M.; Candish, J. K. (1999): Effects of shiitake (Lentinus edodes) extract on
human neutrophils and the U937 monocytic cell line. Phytother. Res. 13:133137.
Inoue, A.; Kodama, N.; Nanba, H. (2002): Effect of maitake (Grifola frondosa) D-
fraction on the control of the T lymph node Th-1/Th-2 proportion. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 25: 536540.
Ylitalo, R.; Lehtinen, S.; Wuolijoki, E.; Ylitalo, P.; Lehtimaki, T. (2002): Cholesterol-
lowering properties and safety of chitosan. Arzneimittelforschung. 52:17.
Pittler, M. H.; Abbot, N. C.; Harkness, E. F.; Ernst, E.(1999): Randomized, double-
blind trial of chitosan for body weight reduction. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 53:379381.
450
Current Status of an Organic Bean, Millet and Kiwi Farmer

Kim, S. W.
817-2, Yongjeon-ri, Masan-myun, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea

Current status report by the farmer

Introduction

My agricultural beginnings go back to six years ago when I embarked on environmentally friendly
farming. In that period I have endeavored to lead an environmentally friendly life, including
pesticide-free cultivation for two years, agricultural conversion for two years and organic farming
for two years.
The total area allocated for the cultivation area was: field bean (soybean) (19,750m), field foxtail
millet (2,473m) and kiwi fruit (greenhouse) (6,784m).
The cultivation area of the field bean and foxtail millet crops adjoined forest land, thereby
necessitating the implementation of a dividing buffer zone. The kiwi fruit farm was operated as part
of separate greenhouse cultivation, and I planted durra, a cereal grain/millet, to a width of 4m along
the boundary, adjacent to a conventional farmhouse, to act as the required buffer zone. Durra output
was used for our own personal consumption.

Cultivation methods

1) Seed management
Bean seed was supplied by the township office but, notwithstanding my original application for
non-disinfected seeds, they provided me with disinfected seeds as well as non-disinfected. Thus, I
put the disinfected seeds in clean water three or four times to soak the disinfectant out of them as
much as possible.
It was difficult to obtain organic foxtail millet seed. Therefore, I utilized the seeds of a native kind,
widely cultivated at a nearby farmhouse.

2) Crop rotation
I had previously cultivated sweet potato for two consecutive years but this had resulted in poor
storage capacity and easy decay, with the occurrence of spots on the surface of bulbs. As a result, I
now rotate sweet potato, bean or sweet potato and foxtail millet in one-year cycles.

3) Weed control and prevention
Before sowing the bean and foxtail millet seed I cover the soil with vinyl sheeting to prevent the
proliferation of weeds. In late June, I eradicate any weeds that may be protruding through the vinyl
451
using a weeder with a blade manufactured by myself. In the kiwi fruit farm area, I conduct sod
culture of rye and hairy vetch while I weed them out in mid-July.

4) Prevention of blight and insect pests
No anti-pest agent is used here due to there being very little occurrence of blight and inspect pest.
Rope fences have been installed alongside some bean fields to prevent the potential intrusion of roe
deer.

5) Management of soil and nourishment
In the bean and foxtail millet fields I use antibiotic-free livestock manure as the base, together with
fermented compost consisting of sesame seedcake, rice bran, theriac, chitonic acid, and chaff for
higher soil fertility. For the kiwi fruit, I blend compost with crushed branches trimmed and pruned
from kiwi fruit trees.
In the bean field, I spray a combination of soybean paste, chitonic acid, and brown rice vinegar over
charcoal and fungal culture fluid (sesame seedcake compost) in early July. To prevent the intrusion
of roe deer, I apply soybean paste together with compost in late July.
In the kiwi fruit area, I apply 3,000 liters of a mix, diluted with water, of brown rice vinegar, theriac,
mountain herb enzyme, soybean paste, and chitonic acid. This is done in early May and early
August respectively, after the input of the aforesaid compost. In late August, I apply soybean paste,
liquid fertilizer made from fish residues, enzyme, and vinegar. This composite is also diluted with
water.

6) Harvest and shipment
After harvesting, the bean crop remains inside the greenhouse to be hulled with a car wheel and
screened with an electric fan. Beans are processed into fermented soybeans and soybean paste, and
thereafter sold directly to members. The total bean yield amounts to about 3,000kg.
The yield of foxtail millet is around 400kg, and it also comes under the umbrella of direct member
transaction sales.
The kiwi fruit yield is nearly 10,000kg, and after being harvested mid-November is kept in a storage
house. It is usually shipped out on the basis of direct transaction orders.
Each item is labeled with the certification mark. This is despite the fact that direction transaction
members continue to purchase our products again and again, regardless of this certification mark.
452
The Cause of Outbreak of Rice Plant Hoppers in China, Thailand and in Viet-
nam, and the Possible Solution by Organic Farming with the Use of Local Varie-
ties

Koa Tasaka
(tasaka@krb.biglobe.ne.jp)
Japan Organic Agriculture Association, Japan

Key Words; Rice Varieties, Plant hopper, Pesticides, Organic Farming

Introduction
After the introduction of High-Yielding Varieties(HYV) of rice developed by IRRI, Asian rice-
producing countries increased the total yield of rice. However, starting from the Philippines,
Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and many Asian countries have to face the problem of rice
plant hoppers.

Outbreak of Brown Plant hoppers in Indonesia, and IMP by FAO
In Indonesia, brown plant hoppers(BPH) destroyed the rice plants in large area in 1970s and in
1980s when the rice production has grown to the point of self sufficiency of rice in the nation. It
was not possible to overcome the problem by the intensified use of pesticides, so, finally,
President Suharto asked FAO to send expert on controlling the BPH. In 1986, Dr. Peter Kenmore
was sent to Indonesia, and he advised Mr. Suharto to stop using 57 pesticides out of 63 which were
used in rice paddies. While stopping the use of pesticides which kill the predators of BPH, Dr.
Kenmore started so called IPM(Integrated Pest Management) in which he trained a large number of
farmers to manage their own paddy fields by integrated methods of coping with the BPH outbreak.
This method was successful, and it is reported in Japan Times in 1992 that the outbreak of BPH was
suppressed without much use of pesticides, and rice yield was increased under the healthy eco-
system in the paddy fields.

Recent Outbreak of Plant hoppers in Thailand, China and in Vietnam, and the Search for the Cause.
Similar outbreak of BPH happened in Thailand in 1990 and again in 2009 after the introduction
of HYV and heavy use of pesticides. In China, white-backed plant hoppers(WBPH) outbreak
destroyed a large area of paddy fields all over China where Hybrid variety of rice was introduced.
In 2009, the WBPH outbreak was seen in Yunnan District for the first time, PEAC, a Chinese
NGO in Yunnan which has been promoting ecological farming without use of pesticides, called for
a workshop in November, 2009, inviting government officials, NGOs and farmers not only in China
but also from Vietnam and from Myanmar. They invited Dr. Peter Ooi, an FAO expert on the issue
of rice planthopper and international NGO like PAN. I was also invited as a chemist specialized on
the issue of pesticides. In this workshop, Vietnamese people reported that they are facing the same
problem of rice planthoppers as the percentage of hybrid rice variety in the paddy fields increased.
Farmers from Vietnam told us that Vietnamese government is providing pesticides to overcome the
problem. In Suphan Buri, middle area of Thailand, I found 1 little bottles of pesticides such as
Imidacloprid( Neo-nicotinoid) and Buprofezin sold in the shop. However, according to the experts
on rice planthopper such as Dr. Peter Ooi or Dr. Sogawa, the use of pesticides will worsen the
situation by killing the remaining predators while pest has already resistant power to the pesticides.

Why there is no Outbreak of Planthoppers in Lao PDR?
It is worth comparing these situations with that of Lao PDR where rice planthoppers do exist,
but there is no outbreak of the pest. According to the Japanese researchers of JICA working in
RISEP in Laos, the rice planthoppers caught in Laos has resistant power to the pesticides which are
not used in Laos.(Ref.3) Also, they say that over 95% of the farmers in Laos are planting
traditional local varieties of sticky rice. Introduction of HYV or hybrid rice varieties replacing
453
traditional local varieties and the heavy use of pesticides are causing the outbreak of rice
planthoppers which threatens the food security and food safety in many Asian countries. In my
presentation, the real cause ofrice planthopper outbreak will be analysed, and the possible solution
by organic farming without use of pesticides and keeping traditional local varieties will be proposed.

References;
Japan Times, May 12, 1992.
Sogawa Kazushige, Whitebacked planthopper in Chinese japonica rice, JIRCAS, 2007.
( in Japanese).
Masayuki Komine, Tamotsu Seiji and Phouvong Souvanhnavongsa., Occurrence and insecticide
susceptibility of rice planthoppers in Northern Laos, Kyushu Pl. Prot. Res., 54:51-55, 2008.
(in Japanese with short English abstract)
454
Using Trichoderma Asperellum towards Limitation of Diseases in Winter
Oilseed Rape

Kowalska J.
Key words: organic crop protection, diseases of rape, Trichoderma asperellum
Abstract
In paper the hypothesis was tested, whether Trichoderma asperellum can be used as competitive
microorganism to Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria spp. and Phoma spp. The potential of this biological
agent to limitation of diseases symptoms and losses in the yields was assessed. In a two-year
experiment, the effects of two foliar treatments of T. asperellum were tested in a split-plot-design
with four replicates at the experimental organic farm. The results indicate that the efficiency of
tested commercial product (Trifender WP

Introduction
) is different depending on the fungal pathogens and
doses of product. T. asperellum is a biocontrol agent which can effective limit the symptoms of
diseases and increase the mean number of pods, the mass of yield and the mass of grains. Generally,
dose 100 g/ha of Trifender WP was too low for effective protection of plants. So, dose 200g/ha was
effective and could suggest that more frequently treatments during vegetation would be successful
management.
Winter rape is considered as interesting crop in organic agriculture because the rape seeds
yield, both oil and fodder cakes. The oil is excellent for food, the fodder cakes are energetic food
for animal. Many organic farmers considered rape as a difficult crop with highly uncertain yield and
problems with pests and diseases. In organic production the risk of cultivation due to the high
demand of N-supply, preceding crop, weed management and plant protection is very high and
different to doing. Serious problems in organic farms are weeds which are competition to main crop,
but a well established winter rape is not very sensitive to weeds. However, they should be
controlled to obtain an optimum utilisation of the nutrients. The best solution is rape sown as a row
crop, the weeds are controlled.
Insect pests cause important yield losses in organic crops. A good and early establishment of
the winter rape is a factor which increases the resistance to pests (Bugge, 2000). The yield and the
quality are reduced by disease. So, a crop rotation with at least 4 years between cultivation o rape
and other cruciferous crops and peas should be considered. Pollen beetles and brassica pod midges
may give severe yield losses in spring rape, especially close to winter rape fields. Winter oilseed
rape is considerably less vulnerable to two mentioned insect species, partly owing to earlier
blossom, to a longer growth season. Problems with these insect pests can be minimised by
increasing the field size and the distance to other rape fields. In some paper can find the results on
Meligethes aeneus obtained after application of sun flower oil. Treatment with oil reduced the
number of pollen beetle in the buds only shortly. It has to be applied several times. The short term
effect of sun flower oil can not achieve a sufficient regulation effect in summer oilseed rape. For
winter oilseed rape plant oils could be effective (Weiher et al., 2007). Against the oilseeds rape
pests, botanical repellents have increasing interest also (Isman 2006). Some papers are presented the
research programme with the use of attractant and repellent compounds in push-pull crop protection
strategies. These ideas have been followed up with field testing, which showed encouraging results
(Mauchlin et al., 2008). Efficacy of lavender as a repellent was assessed also. In future research
could be to maximize this effect by creating the optimal blend of the active compounds.
Field with WOSR bounded by trees, hedges and bushes were less attacked by insect pests.
This influence of various crop management factors and of the surrounding field environment on a
large range of insects (root maggot (Delia radicum L.), cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes
455
chrysocephala L.), rape stem weevil (Ceuthorhynchus napi Gyl) and pollen beetle (M. aeneus F.))
is knew. The results confirmed that the effect of sowing date, plant density and soil tillage regime
on root maggot attacks and cabbage stem flea beetle larva infestation. Early sowing tended to
increase root maggot damage whereas it was associated with a lower level of attack of cabbage stem
flea beetle. High plant density tended to decrease the damage or the attack of all insects.
Nitrogen availability in the soil can affect cabbage stem flea beetle, stem weevil levels and
pollen beetle damage. So, the negative effect of soil nitrogen content on pollen beetle damage may
be related to the significant effect of nitrogen on plant vigour and, therefore, to the compensation of
pollen beetle damage on new racemes. From a practical point of view, citied above study of
Valantin-Morison & Meynard (2008) demonstrated that it should be possible to reduce weed
competition by ensuring the amount of nitrogen in soil before sowing around 100 kg/ha. Then,
many papers present the results on strategy of pests control and the methods of fertilization. So, the
aim of presented work was estimation of possibility of antagonistic microorganism in protection of
WOSR against Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria spp. and Phoma spp. During research was evaluated the
potential of biological agent to limitation of losses yields.
Material and methods
In a two-year experiment, the effects of two foliar treatments of T. asperellum were tested in
a split-plot-design with four replicates at the experimental organic farm of the Institute of Plant
Protection NRI in Winna Gora near Poznan. The field was under certification from 5 years. The
foliar sprays were made at the beginning vegetation (early spring) and in the stage BBCH 61 and
BBCH 67 of growing plants. The plant growth promoter named Trifender WP was used. One gram
of the product contents 5x10
8
Results
of conidium, isolate T1 (NCAIM 68/2006). The symptoms of diseases
(as a percentage area of plant damaged by pathogens) and the yield were subjective calculated.
Table 1. Influence of different doses T. asperellum on the plant and the yield
Combination Mean number of
branches/plant
Mean number of
pods/plant
Mean total
yield/plot [kg]
Mean mass of
thousand
grains/ plot
[g]
Trifender WP
(100g/ha)

8,1

17,62

3,20

5,78
Trifender WP
(200g/ha)
9,47 31,12 4,22 6,46
Untreated 7,52 28,47 3,21 5,45
Four replicates per each combination (1 plot = 16,5m
2
Table 2. Influence of treatments on symptoms of Phoma sp.
), assessment was made on 10 plants selected
from every plot.

Combination
Average area of bottleneck of
stem with symptom [%]
Average area of stem with
symptom
[%]
Trifender WP (100g/ha)
14,25

1,02
Trifender WP (200g/ha) 9,3 0,37
Untreated 10,0 1,05
Table 3. Influence of treatments on presence of symptoms of Alternaria spp. and B. cinerea.
456


Alternaria spp. Average area of
leaf infected by
Botrytis cinerea
[%]
Combination Average area of
leaf with symptoms
[%]
Average area of pods with
symptoms
[%]
Trifender WP (100g/ha)
7,0

2,5

1,67
Trifender WP (200g/ha) 7,4 1,75 1,37
Untreated 6,85 3,4 2,0

The results indicated that the efficiency of microorganism is different depending on the
fungal pathogens and doses. It is obvious, that in the field conditions unstable effects could be
much more intensive. Integration management with tested biological product may be suitable for
use in ecological or integrated management programs for WOSR.
Discussion
The way of diseases limitation is mainly based on crop rotation and part time in cropping.
Among antagonistic microorganisms the most common are the fungi from Trichoderma genera
(Hermosa et al. 2000). Different strains of Trichoderma control every pathogenic fungus for which
control has been sought. Most Trichoderma strains are more efficient for control of some pathogens
and also may be largely ineffective against some others fungi. By using of this biological agent, the
microorganism competes with plant pathogens. It is a nature-friendly, ecological approach to
overcome the problems caused by standard chemical methods of plant protection and can be
introduced in organic system of food production (Harman et al. 2004). In own investigation the
hypothesis was tested, whether Trichoderma asperellum could be used in the field. Strain [T1] T.
asperellum it is biocontrol agent which could effective to limit the symptoms of diseases of oilseed
rape and can influence on increasing number of pods, mass of yield and mass of thousand grains.
Concluding, dose 100 g/ha of Trifender WP was too low for effective protection of plants.
So, dose two times higher (200g/ha) was effective and it could suggest that more frequently
treatments would be very successful management.

Conclusions
Three foliar sprays effected: 1) after treatments with higher dose (200g/ha) of Trifender WP
number branches of plants, number of pods, mass thousand grains and total yield comparing to
untreated plants and to dose 100g/ha were increased, 2) the smallest area with symptoms of Phoma
spp. was observed on stem and on the bottleneck of stem after treatments with 200 g/ha of product,
3) symptoms of Alternaria spp. on leaves were similar for both doses. This same effect was noted
for B. cinerea on leaves. 4) average area of pods with symptoms of Alternaria after spraying with
higher dose of product was the smallest comparing to other combinations.
So, an integration management for oil seed rape with the crop rotation and using of
biological plant growth seems to be possible. T. asperellum could be successful used in the
production of quality oil seed rape.
References
Bugge J. 2000. Note: Rape seed oil for transport 3: Organic rape cultivation is reality. Folkecenter
for Renewable Energy, 9/11
457
Mauchline A.L., Birkett M.A., Woodcock C.M., Pickett J.A., Osborne J.L., Powell W. 2008.
Electrophysiological and behavioural responses of the pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus, to
volatiles from a non-host plant, lavender, Lavandula angustifolia (Lamiaceae). Arthropod-Plant
Interactions 2:109115
Harman G.E., Howell C.R., Viterbo A., Chet I., Lorito M., 2004 Trichoderma species
opportunistic, avirulent plant symbionts. Nature reviews Microbiology 2:43-56
Hermosa M.R., Grondona I., Iturriaga A.E., Diaz-Minguez J.M., Castro C., Monte E., Garcia-Acha
I. 2000. Molecular characterization and identification of biocontrol isolates of Trichoderma spp.
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 1890-1898.
Isman MB.2006. Botanical insecticides, deterrents, and repellents in modern agriculture and an
increasingly regulated world. Annu Rev Entomol 51:4566
Valantin-Morison M., Meynard J.M. 2008. Diagnosis of limiting factors of organic oilseed rape
yield. A survey of farmers' fields. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 28: 527-539
Weiher N., Stefan Khne, Herwart Bhm, Udo Heimbach, Heide Hoffmann und Eckard Moll. 2007.
Regulierung von Rapsschdlingen im kologischen Landbau mit neem- und pyrethrumhaltigen
Pflanzenschutzmitteln sowie Sonnenblumenl Regulation of pest insects in organic oilseed rape
by neem.
458
Oilbase Formulation of Biocontrol Agents, Biopesticides and Biofertilizers

Dr. KRISHAN CHANDRA
Government of India,MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE,
DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE AND CO-OPERATION,REGIONAL CENTRE OF ORGANIC
FARMING ,#34, 5
th
Email-krishan.rcof@gmail.com
main road ,Hebbal, Bangalore
Tel. Fax(080)23330616(o), 23337826

One key obstacle in the development of soil/aerial inoculants is the extremely heterogeneous
nature of soil and its often unpredictably harsh environment for introduced organisms. There are
few unoccupied niches in the soil for the introduced species. A keen competitive war may
immediately develop among the introduced and indigenous species for their ecological space.These
organisms however, are highly stressed, alien to the natural soil environment, and often
physiologically not ready to compete in soil with the indigenous species that have had time, often
generations, to adapt to the specific ecological niche. Many formulations specifically address these
issues by including a massive amount of carriers, selective food sources, suppressants for
indigenous species, buffers and other ingredients which can transiently alter the microphysical
environment of the soil to provide a temporary safe haven for the introduced species. These adjust
physiologically to the new environment, and propagate. A successful formulation allows the
introduced species to establish itself on or inside host roots or, at least temporarily to shift biota
dynamics in the soil to favour host development in a timely manner.
To achieve a desirably long shelf life and the required ease of transport and storage, most
organisms in commercial products for soil application are propagated in a rich medium, and later
packaged as concentrates with the organisms driven to a dormant or a semi-dormant physiological
state. These products are able to survive 6 months to 2 years depend upon formulation. The author
had developed oil base formulation reveals that all the biofertilizers like Azotobacter, Azospirillum,
Rhizobium, Phosphate Solubilizer, Potash Mobilizer, Zinc Solubilizers; biocontrol fungus like
Trichoderma, Beauveria, Metarhizium, verticillium etc and bacteria like fluorescecence, bacillus
subtilis, bacillus thuringiensis etc. have minimum 4 years shelf life, highest cells /spores count
minimum 10
10
cells /ml and better results on all types of crops.
1.0 Types of Inoculums
There are a wide variety of formulation types, both liquid and solid. The main types
currently used for organisms have been classified into dry products (dusts, granules and
briquettes) and suspensions (oil or water-based and emulsions). Wider ranges of formulation
types, together with additive types, are available in market.
1.10 Product Containing Fungi:
There are nearly 40 products on sale world-wide for biocontrol of plant pathogens. In
addition, there are several products, such as Promote, sold for growth promotion rather than for
biocontrol. Although not labeled for biocontrol, these products probably provide some disease
control. The fungus trichoderma is most frequently used for control of plant pathogens. At least 12
products contain trichoderma sp. to control variety of pathogens, including Botrytis, Fusarium,
gaeumannomyces, and Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Sclerotinia, Sclerotium, Verticillium and wood-rot
459
fungi. Formulation of Trichoderma varies considerably depending on the intended use. For
example, a combination of T. viride and T. harzianum is formulated as liquid for soil incorporation
as dowels for insertion into wood, as a wettable powder in a syringe for injection into grape vines
and as a wettable powder which is resuspended and applied with a paintbrush to wounds (Tricho
seal). Bio-Fungus is available as a granule, as a wettable powder, impregnated in sticks, and as
crumbles for mixing into soil. Most recent trend is liquid formulation; perhaps its easy use and
longer shelf life more effective than carrier opened the new market.
1.20 Wettable powders inoculums and their limitations
These predominated among all commercial products and comprise technical powders
blended with additives to make them stable during storage on the shelf and readily miscible with
water, to which the powder is added shortly before spraying. As with other formulations using
water as carrier, chlorinated water must be avoided (or the water allowed to stand to evaporate the
chlorine) for fear of damaging the organisms.
Most wettable powders contain 50-80% technical powder, 15-45% filler, 1-10% dispersant
and 3-5% surfactant by weight. The filler should be insert and hydrophilic to mix well with water.
Normally a mineral such as silica is added to prevent clumping and fusing during grinding (grinding
may not be possible with some organisms) and aids flow ability by minimizing caking during
storage, all these are the good quality of products but in India very rare companies are using
it(Chandra and Greep 2005).
Usually, wettable powders tend to mix slowly into water and separate mixers may be needed
before filling spray tanks, since tank agitators are often not forceful enough. Powders form
unwetted balls, a few of which may persist even after protracted mixing. A filter, preferably of
nylon mesh, is essential in the spray line to prevent nozzle blocking. Dry blending a powder with a
binder and forming the mix into water-dispersible granules can largely solve mixing problems.
These break surface tension more easily than powders. They allow high concentrations of
organisms, flowing freely with little dust and can be accurately measured by volume like a liquid.
However, production costs are high, more agitation is needed for dispersion in cold water in the
spray tank, and small particle sizes may be difficult to achieve.
1.21 Problems of use of Wettable powders application to water
Initially a product must readily penetrate through the water surface. This has tended to lead
to the use of larger droplet sizes with the sprays. Further requirements depend on the type of water
body and the habits of the target within. For example, target larvae of mosquitoes and simuliid
black flies feed by filtering particulate food from the water. Black fly larvae attach themselves by
silken threads to a substrate in rapidly flowing water and trap particles moving past. In contrast,
mosquito larvae are mobile, living mainly in static or slow flowing waters. These range from large
rivers to small streams and from swamps to small bodies like water butts, car tyres and leaf axils.
Logistics range from application across large areas without dense population of organism in carrier
is very difficult to achieve the target. The response is almost nil in water bodies. To achieve the
proper response a large quantity of carrier base inoculums is required.
2.0 LIQUID FORMULATIONS
460
Many researchers have still doubts about the liquid formulations. Although, in
commercial all the fungus and bacteria being well adopted by the users. The survival of fungus in
liquid form still questioned by number of field workers but it was noted by the authors, all the
fungus like Beauveria , Verticillium, Trichoderma spp. etc. Survives in liquid formulation more
than two year without losing their efficiency. The bacteria like Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas
fluorescens, Bacillus thuringiensis, etc. have more than 2 years shelf life. The main features of the
liquid formulation are avoid contaminations(Chandra and Greep 2005).
This range of formulations uses a liquid as carrier, usually water or oil, but solvents are also
possible. The commonest are suspension concentrates and emulsions.
The liquid suspension prepared by the authors contains particular organisms about 10-40% ,
suspender ingredient 1-3%, dispersant 1-5%, surfactant 3-8% and carrier liquid (oil or water) 35-65%
by weight. Viscosity should roughly equal the setting rate of the particles. This is achieved by the
use of colloidal clays, polysaccharide gums, starch, cellulose or synthetic polymers.Nowadays it is
most popular choice of users and manufacterers.The recent thread faced by this liquid formulation
is number of companies are selling the broth as cheap as the cost of liquid formulation the mininium
cost of good formultion falls in the rage of Rs.150-200 per liter. This trend is spoiling the market as
well liquid formulation also losing its market.
3.0 BASIC CONCEPT OF OIL FORMULATIONS
There are four basic functions of formulation of oilbase as these also follow in liquid (Chandra and
Greep 2006). They are:
to stabilize the organism during production, distribution and storage
to aid handling and application of the product so that it is easily delivered to the target in the
most appropriate manner and form
to protect the agent from harmful environmental factors at the target site, thereby increasing
persistence
to enhance activity of the organism at the target site by increasing its activity, reproduction,
contact and interaction with the target pest or disease organism
A wide variety of approaches are available to the formulator to achieve these basic functions,
ranging of type of liquid suspensions for production , and even incorporation of the agent in a living
organism after or before production .
4.0 SOME PRODUCTS APPLICATION REVIEW:
All formulated products in this section, result in a suspension of the living organisms for
application to soil either by in-furrow or overhead spray and drip applications.
4.1 Frozen or refrigerated culture concentrates. To avoid harvesting agar cultures in the
field and to provide the organisms in a more uniform growth phase, frozen concentrates of bacterial
cultures are sometimes used. This formulation also eliminates the need to transport and store agar,
which may dry and shorten the shelf life of the inoculants. Packaging is simpler. A heat sealable
plastic bag or capped bottle sterilized (or not) by steam, ethylene bromide or gamma irradiation, is
satisfactory as the high water content of the formulation can sustain much moisture loss without
compromising the vitality of the organisms. Storage and transport temperatures are either below or
just above freezing to lower metabolism of the organisms, achieving a physiologically uniform
461
population with extended shelf life. The low temperatures also discourage contaminant growth.
These culture concentrates are diluted with water in the field to spray into soil. The need for low
storage and transport temperature is costly and incompatible with most agricultural field practices.
The formulations is now rarely used for soil inoculants, but formulated the fungus by suspending
ascopores in a solution of methyl cellulose to a concentration of 10
7
-10
8
spores/ml. This was
applied to crucifer seeds at the rate of 1ml suspension to 220 seeds. Gordon-Lenox et al (1987)
inoculated sugar beet seeds by coating them in methylcellulose and dusting with ascospores.
Applied in this way, the fungus remained viable for more than 2 years.
4.2 Gliocladium viresns. This is used in a soil applied granular formulation for control of
damping off and root rot pathogens, including Pythium and Rhizoctonia formulated the fungus in
both bran prills and a vermiculite bran formulation. Its use as a seed treatment has also been
investigated. Coated seeds of chickpea, soybean and lentil in conidial suspensions of the fungus
using various stickers; methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, polysulf,
laponite, polytran and pelgel. Stickers were found to be beneficial only for smooth coated
seeds.Treated sunflower seeds with an isolate of G. virens by soaking them in a conidial suspension
of the fungus for at least 2 h. The crude seed treatment was effective in controlling
Sclerotiniaminor in both glasshouse and field experiments.

4.3 Pythium oligandrum. This occurs in soil and gives promising biological control for a
range of damping off plant pathogens. The mycoparasite produces thick-walled spores which can
be readily bulk-produced for application to seeds. The inherent stability of the spores is an
exceptionally valuable commercial attribute.
4.4 Penicillium oxalicum. Kaiser and Hannan (1984) reported that a seed treatment of
chickpea with P. oxalicum consistently enhanced emergence and increased yields under field and
glasshouse conditions. Seeds were dusted with dry conidiospores or coated with a suspension in 1.6%
methyl cellulose.
4.5 Talaromyces flavus. This is a potential biological control agent of a range of plant
pathogens including R. solani, Sclerotinia, sclerotiorum and verticillium dahliae. Approaches to
formulation include application as a dust to potato seed pieces and encapsulation in alginate with a
bran nutrient base. Ground soil-oatmeal preparations of T. flavus have also been incorporated into
seed pellets of Chinese aster and tomato for control of damping off pathogens, using a commercial
split-pill process. The biological control agent survived 17 years storage at room temperature in the
pelleting material which contained quartz flour and a polymer binder.
4.6 Trichoderma spp. These have received significant attention for many years as
biological control agents with potential to control a range of plant pathogens. A number of
formulation approaches have been investigated. Beagle Risaino and Papavizas (1985) applied the
fungus to potato seed pieces either as dry chlamydospores or as fermented biomass mixed with
Pyrax ABB. Suspensions of spores, produced on agar, were diluted in distilled water and added to
Pyrax ABB (pulverized pyrophyllite).
5.0 LIMITS OF IMPROVEMENT BY FORMULATION
462
Formulation has its limits. These may be real, when no more progress can be made, or
effective, when the little improvement left to be made is not worth the cost of development and
materials. However, targets for improvement are often ill-defined so that formulators are uncertain
when practical requirements have been achieved. A more systematic approach is required, where
organism more of action and target behavior are understood, while acceptable windows for effective
use are well established. Sudden progress in one direction can change the goal in another at any
stage, from organism production, through storage, to care of the organisms after application. A new
trend is modification of yield-optimized production to improve harvest and formulation by media
modification to make a more friable product at harvest, and by use of nutrients with wetting
properties. This pays when the benefit outweighs both extra costs and any loss of yield. Shelf life
may be influenced by production factors. For instance, decreasing water potential in the culture
medium results in conidia of Trichoderma with increased desiccation tolerance (Whipps and
McQuilken, 1993). Culturing M. favoviride at 30
0
C rather than 26
0
c results in improved high
temperature storage. The addition of humectants during fermentation may influence conidial
survival. A large enough effect on shelf life may have a profound influence on the economy of a
product. Less than 6 months shelf life requires direct order service, 0.5-2 years is good enough for
conventional off shelf sales, longer is helpful but the further development work required to achieve
over 4 years is not worthwhile.
6.0 COMMERCIAL BIOCONTROL PRODUCTS:
Some of the decisions that determine whether a biocontrol product is commercialized are
business decisions not based on science. Before scaling up for commercial production, a company
must assess many factors including demand for the product, potential market size, and existing
competing products. Another factor in question is the amount and type of data that may be required
for registration and sales permits. Regulations differ from country to country and sometimes
between states in a country.

6.1 Longer shelflife
What are the limits of shelf life? With the help of dormancy, some insect eggs and bacterial
spores survive over 10 years in an inert condition, often at periodically high temperatures. Once a
constitutive dormancy is broken, the prerequisite for staying dormant is that they remain dry enough.
However, water is necessary for life and some organisms die if they become too dry. Water
shortage need not limit shelf life, because the moisture content of all materials fluctuates to some
extent by equilibrating with ambient relative humidity; some organisms, eg. Fungal conidia, can
supplement their water reserves by absorption from moist air. Moisture is also partially replenished
by water produced during respiration, albeit only slightly. In contrast, by absorbing moisture from
humid air, an organism can exceed the low moisture content needed to prolong shelflife, even to a
level high enough for physiological spoilage or damage due to growth of fungi. Present
experiments shows that the prolong shelf life of certain organisms can be achieved by keeping them
very dry. More knowledge might show that, drying could have a safe low limit, and there may be
optimum low moisture content. In the economy of life, energy is limited by finite food reserves. If
the physiology of an organism is known well enough, this energy limit might be calculated from
cumulative respiration. Auto-intoxication may be limiting, depending on how well the organism
463
can excrete wastes or store them harmlessly. Fundamental studies on the mechanisms of
inactivation, mentioned above, might lead to novel areas of formulation research to combat these
mechanisms. An example from early formulation research is the use of oxygen sinks to mop up
free radicals that may be formed by exposure to ultra violet light. Would these sinks generally
improve storage characteristics? Information from the food industry on storage and stability of
some foods (e.g. vegetable oils), as well as on the anit-oxidants used, proved useful here.
Each species/strain as we know it today presumably has shelf-life limits controlled by its
genetic make-up. These limits might be improved as more strains are studied. Speculating, could
each species be converted to a super survivor by transferring genes by genetic engineering? Would
this order of research investment by worthwhile? How would super survivors respond to
formulation? Would the development of a super survivor be ecologically desirable?Practical factors,
such as new plant growth, the time taken to complete a pest generation, and the degree of
asynchrony of generations, exert fresh limits. Thus if important new growth must be treated every
week, extension of deposit life by formulation beyond a week is usually of limited use, because the
organisms have to be renewed each week any way.
In addition to the practical limit of cost, each type of additive has its own unique limits.
Wetters not only make a water spray stay on leaves but, like oil carriers, they also enable
organisms to reach otherwise inaccessible places between leaf hairs, into depressions, even into
stomata and between intersegment membranes on the insect body. This improves the chances of
establishment of organisms for weed, plant-disease and insect control. In this respect, there is no
upper limit to desired efficiency, provided activity is not extended to non target biota. The new
super wetters (organosilicones) may be followed with advantage by even better ones. However,
wetters also reduce spray retention if the volume applied results in run off, acting as detergents
during rainfall and increasing wash-off of organisms, so amounts used should be limited to those
needed to give efficient wetting and organism dispersal. Stickers need to be as rain fast as possible
without impairing the activity of organisms. The longest shelf life was recorded with the oil base
product whether it is in Biofertilizer or Biocontrol.
6.2 Best Storage with Oil base:
Recent key work with M. flavoviride shows that the future for long shelf life lies particularly
with formulation to keep spores ultra dry. Before this was realized, work was done with conidia of
various moisture contents and dubious quality, stored moist. This research needs repeating under
well defined conditions, using synchronized batches of well defined, high quality conidia of various
species to decide the best moisture content (s), best oils, value of the absence of O
2
, best desiccants
and the effect of absorbent clays, predried or not. The process of maturation in storage over a long
period should be traced by regular measurements of moisture content, spore size, respiration,
chemical composition, germination (including speed of germination) and potency in insects. A
quality control should be developed form the easiest of these methods, e.g. microscopic
measurement of spore size, or mean spore weight, if size can be correlated with quality. The
predictive value of accelerated tests, i.e. at high temperature, needs examination. Whether silica gel
acts as an absorbent of metabolic wastes, as well as a desiccant, needs study.
7.0 PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF SPORES:
464
It is unclear whether oil base or liquid production systems will predominate in future. Key
advantages are the 3-year shelf life of conidia realizable with oil base systems against the easy
technical operation and scale-up of some strains in liquid systems having 2-year shelf life. The
effect of moisture content on storage stability, some organisms may also have certain moisture
needs for activity, which is fulfilled by liquid inoculums but in case of carrier base inoculums
bacteria get stressed, when carrier become dry during transport and storage. Antagonistic bacteria
used against plant pathogens need the plant surface to be wet in order to establish them. Fungal
spores normally need high humidity to germinate. These needs be overcome by only Oil
formulation as product contains humectants. In general, there is little direct effect of relative
humidity on the activity of viruses and spore forming bacteria in Oil form (Bateman , 1997).
Where no factor dominates, the choice may be a question of cost. More examples of cost
analysis would be valuable assets to the public domain, especially to illustrate the cost of striving
for spore quality and optimal, possibly sophisticated formulation. The consequences of
compromise, particularly with formulation, to lower the cost must be studied in terms of
performance. In case of oil base the cost is really high. However the area cover more than liquid or
solid base formulations. The oil base needs 20ml, liquid 200ml but solid 2 kg to cover 1 acre of land.
Thus it is cost effective and economical.
Following way can produce the oil base formulation
7.1 Fermentation method
Under this process (defined elsewhere Chandra, 1994,1995,2009; Chandra, K at.al.2001).)
for all types of Fungus jaggry, Glucose, yeast is used to multiply the fungus like Beauveria,
Verticillium, Trichoderma spp. Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum etc,
First. After multiplication the broth has been transferred to the mixing tank where 40-70%
oil (soyabean, Groundnut, light oil, vegetable oil) is mixed with emulsifier, cell protactant
and packed in bottle. This provides 3-4 years shelflife.
Second. The other process the broth is mixed with water and then passed through filter to
harvest spores and mycelium and then mixed with 60-80% oil (soyabean, Groundnut, light
oil, vegetable oil) is mixed with emulsifier, cell protactant and packed in bottle. This
provides more than 5 years shelflife.
Third. After multiplication, the broth has been transferred to on centrifuge. The volume is
reduced as per the choice of formulator up to 60-70 % and then 40-70% oil (soybean,
Groundnut, light oil, vegetable oil) is mixed with emulsifier, cell protactant and packed in
bottle. This provides 3-4 years shelflife. The process is applicable for all type of bacteria
like-Bacillus subtilies,Psedomomous, Bacillius thuringiensis ,Phosphate Solubilizing
bacteria ,Potash mobilizer bacteria, Azospirillium, Azotobacter, Rhizibium and even in all
types of fungus.
7.2 Spores harvesting
Under this process the fungus is multiplied in half cooked rice, wheat, barns etc. after the full
growth the material is dried and cell is harvested mechanically or manually and then mixed in 70-80%
oil (soyabean, Groundnut, light oil, vegetable oil) followed by emulsifier, cell protactant and packed
in bottle. This provides more than 5 years shelflife. It is important to grow vigorous spores. Poor
production condition may not reduce germination percentage after brief storage, but may stress
spores enough to formulation. Media ingredients, light temperature and humidity during growth,
465
duration of culture, minimizing agitation during the sporulation period on solid substrates, and
conditions during drying and harvest , all repay attention.
8.0 ADVANTAGE OF OIL BASE FORMULATION:
Pest control has been enhanced by formulation spores with nutrients so that, the
grows and sporulates on the plants. But improvements are needed. Agent-specific
nutrients might avoid possible side effects of supporting plant disease or disfiguring
organisms, or of causing extensive unnatural fungal growth on insect cuticle while
repressing penetration and chymoelastase synthesis . Unlike the other fungi, V.
lecanii mycelium normally grows over the insect cuticle during the infection process
but action is fast when used with oil.
Fungicides used to control plant disease threaten fungal agents, though some of the
most specific can be formulated in the same tank mix. Laboratory tests with insects
on leaves have been misleading and in vitro tests of the fungus on treated agar even
more so. The only reliable information comes from spray trials on infested plants in
the field, which can be recorded in case of oil.
Insects may cure Beauveria infection by raising their preferred peak body
temperatures after moving into high temperature zones in vegetation. Grasshoppers
infected with M. flavoviride in a natural infestation in Senegal raised their preferred
peak body temperature by ca 4
0
C during sunny periods, but this had little therapeutic
advantage as shown in population counts in the particular weather conditions
prevailing over 7 days. The oil base Beauveria formulation of strains with different
temperature10
0
C 45
0
C ranges together as well as a search for virulent strains
with higher temperature ranges, solve this disconcerting problem.
The favourable nature of the soil environment for fungal survival suggests that use of
fungal survival suggests that use of fungal control of soil pests should increase.
Although long term control can be expected, continued research is best directed at
giving the fungi, the best start. For most pest situations, bait, dust, granule and
drench formulations need comparison. Research subjects include baiting materials,
nutrients and protestants in granules to combat fungistaisis; the improvement of the
oil base spores suspension drenches to penetrate into soil with surfactants; buffers
and materials to control the electrical charge on spores; and combination with free-
flow additives to prevent spores clumping, minimize particle size and reduce
absorption to soil.
Formulations of bacteria as aqueous suspensions avoid the cost of drying and are
easier to apply, but have the continuous problem of preservation in the presence of
water. The general problems faced by producer are bulging of bottle due to wrong
formulation or contamination problem. These problems not happened in oil.
In these, the organism is carried in a liquid, normally oil or water in our country no
one have oil base formulation. It has been noted addition of surfactant or oil and
emulsifier to water, or use of pure oil, forms drops of more even size than those of
water alone, with consequently better-controlled spray. Oil is very useful for ultra
low-volume (ULV) sprays; water is normally used as the diluents at higher volumes.
Low volumes are preferred in areas where water is scarce, because they reduce the
volume and weight to be transported and the time needed for application. Higher
volumes are aimed at providing complete wetting of a target surface, although this
also causes high run off of spray from the target. It was also noted that oil base
formulation even can mix with chemicals during spray, control has been best with
low volumes.
466
Particular sprayer types may need spray liquid with physical properties confined
within certain limits. For example, a ULV sprayer requires a solution/suspension
within a predefined viscosity rage. This is achieved by formulation in an appropriate
carrier such as oil base.
The production of optimum sized droplets from a sprayer is greatly influenced by
formulation. Droplet formation and size are influenced by viscosity, volatility and to
a lesser extent surface tension of a liquid suspension. The influence of organisms on
viscosity depends on their concentration. Normal concentrations of metarhizium
flavoviride conidia had negligible effect, but high concentration (50g spores/l)
increased viscosity of a ULV spray in oil from 5-8 centipoises (c.p.) .
A droplet impacting on a surface can be retained, or lost through bouncing or
reflection. Retention is greatly influenced by the ability of the droplet to wet the
surface, largely determined by formulation. For example, the spread of a droplet on a
leaf is increased 8-16 times and bounce off the leaf on impaction is prevented or
reduced with formulation in oil or as an oil emulsion.
It is critical to ensure that the correct amount of active ingredient reaches the target;
the number of drops available for impaction mainly influences this. Low volumes
require the generation of smaller droplets, limited by the increasing importance of
effects such as evaporation of droplets and reduced collection efficiency is always
high in carrier base but in the case of liquid formulation is less to carrier but if
binders are used than reduced further, in the case of oil it reduce the evaporation due
to its film making prosperities over the droplets so that an optimum is reached.

9.0 HANDLING AND APPLICATION OF OIL PRODUCTS:
Oil ensures that the product is easy to handle and apply (Bateman et al . 1999). For example,
in suspensions thickeners or suspenders added by the authors which help in maintaining even
distribution of the organism. The liquid prevents clumping of the organism and ensures its ready
resuspension after prolonged storage. Dusts and wettable powders not able to maintain uniformity.
Effective and economic use of a product requires the active ingredient to reach the target; no
matter how good the product, if it does not reach the target it will not perform the required function.
With liquid insecticides this problem was partly solved through the development of active
ingredients or formulations able to move within the plant-translaminar or systemic action. Whereas
in dust powder it restrict entry. It was also reported in the case of solid base carrier that a
Biopesticide is broadcasted in the region where the target is located; some will impart on or near the
target; much will miss completely.
10.0 EFFECT OF STORAGE ON SPEED OF GERMINATION
Prologed storage sometimes slows subsequent spore germination. In germination tests on
agar early in storage, germination of Metarhizium spp.and Beauveria spp. Was complete in 24h, but
after longer storage it extended over 60 months. Germination was slowed after storage of conidia in
powder from, or in water. In powder or water, long survival of Metarhizium conidia depends on
thorough drying, which minimizes metabolism; the delay in germination may be due to the extra
time taken for recovery from physiological dehebilitation in storage. In oil , conidia are not
dehydrated and operative factors are probably recovery from faster dehabilitation due to grater
metabolism in oil , and from possible leaching of nutrients from spore into oil.
467
The germination also depends upon nutrient ratio used and pH, as well as Tween80 and polymers,
stabilizers etc. concentration

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black scurf of potato. Phytophathol. 75, 560-4.
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and disease management Eds. G.A.C. Beattie & D.M Watson, University of W. Sydney,
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Chandra. K. and Greep. S (2006). Liquid biofertilizers ,Regional Center Of Organic Farming
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Chandra. K (1994) Simple, Effective, Economic and quick increase inoculant production technique.
Farmer and Parliament, Page 6, ISSN 0014-8369.
Sahoo. S.H. (2002) Potassium solubilizing bacteria and its prospects in different soil : A review in
National seminar on Biotechnology : Microbes to Man. School of Life Science, Utkal
University, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa pp 93, 95.]\
Chandra. K and Singh. T (1999) Past and present scenario of R.B.D.C. A review in Biofertilizer
situation in Orissa eds Chandra. K, Rath. S and Singh. T pp 1-7.
Chandra, K, Mukherjee, P.K and Karmakar J.B. 1995 Lime Pelleting-an useful approach for
effective Rhizobium inoculation programme in acid soil of Manipur Journal of the North
Eastern Counicl Pp 13-15. Vol.15 No.1, ISSN 0970-793X.
Chandra. K, Mukherjee P.K., Karmakar. J.B. and Singh. J. (1995) Survivability and Preservation
of Rhizobium and Azotobacter strains in porcelain bead at climatic conditions of Manipur.
Environment & Ecology 13 (3) 601-603.
Chandra. K and Karmakar. J.B. (1996) Tolerance of Fungicides on the locally isolated Rhizobium
strains of soyabean and pea and comparative study in their modulation. Environment &
Ecology :14(1), 35-38.
Chandra. K (1995) Polythene Air filters for Fermentation. Biofertilizer Newsletter. :3. 9-10.
National Biofertilizer Dev Centre, Ghaziabad.
Chandra, K., Mukherjee, P.K., and Karmakar, J.B.(1995) Effect of single strain versus multistrain
inoculation soybean (Glycine max) and pea (Pisum Sativum) crops in acidic soils, In Journal
of Hill Research, Sikkim Science Society 8(2): 242-246.
Chandra, K, Karmakar J.B., and Singh Jugeshwar KH. .(1995) Efffect of Combined Use of
Inorganic Nitrogen and Azotobacter Culture in Rice at the Agro-climatic Conditions of
Manipur . Environment & Ecology 13(3): 595-597, 1995 ISSN 0970-0420.
468
Chandra, K and Jugeshwar Singh KH (1996) Effect of Azotobacter and Phosphate Solubilizing
Microroganism on Yield of Rice Crop Environment & Ecology 14(1): 39-41, 1996,
ISSN 0970-0420.
Chandra. K, Mukherjee P.K. and Karmakar J.B. (1995) Lime pellating of inoculated seed and
their influence of the survival of Rhizobium in acidic soil of N.E.H. region. Journal of Hill
Research 2 (2). 199-202.
Chandra,K and Greep ,S (2010) Liquid based bio-fertilizers.Journal of Eco-Friendly
Agriculture 5(1):1-7:2010
Chandra,K and Greep ,S (2009) Biological Approaches to Control Soil Borne Diseases in Organic
Farming , in Role of Biocontrol Agents for Disease,Management in Sustainable
Agriculture,2009 EDITION,Editors,Dr. P. Ponmurugan, Ph.D.,Professor and Head,
Department of BiotechnologyK.S.R. College of Technology,Tiruchengode 637 215,
Tamil Nadu.,Dr. M. A. Deepa, Ph.D.,Lecturer, Department of Biosciences ,Kristu Jayanthi
College,Bangalore 560 077, Karnataka.,RIP RESEARCH INDIA PUBLICATIONS ,B-
2/84, Ground Floor, Rohini Sector-16, Delhi-110085, INDIA ,Published by,Research India
Publications ,Head Office: B-2/84, Ground Floor,Rohini Sector-16,Delhi-110085,
INDIA,Fax No.: +91-11-27297815Email: ripublication@vsnl.netWebsite:
www.ripublication.com
Chandra 2009. NPK-Liquid Biofertilizers Formulation, Regional Center Of Organic Farming
Bangalore (RCOF), Bangalore.

Chandra,K and Greep ,S 2007. Status of Organic Farming in India. ( in Tamil) In: Souvenior
Agriculture-in future . Eds: G. Nammalvar In: Sem. On Orgnaic Agriculture 07. pp 10-18
(In Tamil).
Chandra,K and Greep ,S 2007. Pest Control through Botanicals. In: Biocontrol agents in pest and
disease management in sustainable agriculture. Eds. P. Ponmurugan .
Chandra,K and Greep ,S 2007. Biological approaches to control Soil Borne Diseases in Organic
Farming. In: Biocontrol agents in pest and disease management in Sustainable Agriculture.
Eds. P. Ponmurugan .
Chandra,K and Ramarethinam, S. 2006. Studies on the effect of Potash Solubilizing/Mobilizing
Bacteria Frateuria aurantia (Symbion-K Liquid Formulation) on brinjal (Solanum
melangena) growth and yield. Pestology 30: (11) pp 35-39.
Chandra,K and Greep ,S (2008) Liquid Based Biofertilizers. National Conference on Eco-friendly
Approaches in Sustainable Agriculture and Horticulture Production. November 28-30, 2008,
Doctors Krishi Evam Bagwani Vikas Sanstha, Lucknow, UP
Chandra,K and Greep ,S (2008) Effect of Liquid Azospirillum and Phosphate Solubilizing
Microorganisms on Yield of Paddy. J. Ecobiol. 23(2) 173-177 (2008).
Chandra,K and Greep ,S 2006. Liquid Biofertilizers and Biocontrol Agents- A new solutions: In:
Souvenier, Natl. Sem. On Biofertilizers and Potential and Prspective (Research,
Production, Marketing and Policy issues, New Delhi) pp 23-24.
Chandra,K,Greep ,S and Ramarathinam,S 2006. Bio efficacy of Liquid Formulation of Beauveria
bassiana on Tea shoot hole borer Euwallacea fornicutus. In: Natl. Sem. On Convergence of
Technologies for Organic Horticulture Eds. D. Veeraragavatham and G. Balakrishna
Murthy. Pp 58-61.
Gordon-Lennox, G., Walther, D and Gindrat, D. (1987) Utilization dantagonistes pour lenrobage
des semences: efficacite et mode daction contreles agents de la fonte des semins. EPPO
Bull. 17, 631-7.
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off of chickpea with Penicillium oxalicum. Plant Disease 68, 806-11.
Ramarethinam S. and Chandra. K. (2006) studies on the effect of Potash solubilizing / mobilizing
bacteria Frateuria aurantia (Symbion K Liquid formulation) on brinjal (Solanum
melongena L.) growth and yield. Pestology : 30 (11) 35-39.
469
Ramarethinam, S. and Chandra, K 2007. Effect of Liquid and Carrier Based Biofertilizer
application on the quality of mulberry leaves (morus alba L.) with special reference to its
nutritive value to silkworm (Bombyx mori L). Pestology 31: (1) 13-20.
Whipps, J.M. McQuilken, M.P. and Budge, S.P. (1993) - Use of fungal antagonists for biocontrol of
damping-off and sclerotinia diseases. Pestic. Sci. 37, 309-13.


470
The Best Practices: Pergolas Married with Oak Trees in Skrapari District of
Albania
-The Case of Prishta Village-

LAVDOSH FERRUNI
lavdoshferruni@gmail.com
www.organic.org.al

Introduction
Skrapar district is situated in central part of southern Albania. The hilly and mountainous character
makes the climate of Skrapar very diverse with rich climax for fruit trees and particularly for vines.
In general the natural extension in situ of vines Vitis Vinefera Silvestris and that cultivated ones
Vitis Vinifera Sativa is observed in the south-east and south west expositions of Osum valley. The
district has 70.000 hectare of agricultural land, out of which 30,000 hectare are considered with
high viti-vinicol vocation. In 1974 the district of Skrapari has had 342,000 pergolas associated
(married) with oak trees, which have been significantly decreased after 90s when an acceleration of
rural depopulation was happening.

Vines in Skrapari is lost on the depth of centuries. This is proved by the presence of wildered vines
Vitis Vinifera and their similarities with the domestic wild vines- Vitis Silvestris. The germoplasm of
vines in Skrapari fortunately protected up to today is represented by landraces that merit care not
only in economic but scientific aspect, too.

The village of Prishta is quite typical in the zone. Its castle shows for the civilization of VI V BC.
The mountainous terraces, the walls and hedges of terraces, the presence of pergolas associated with
oaks, the relatively great number of different forms of vines inherited up to today are simply a
testimony of ancient civilization and a sustainable economic performance thanks to high value of
the ecosystem dominated by pergolas.

The village of Prishta represents an agro-ecosystem which might be typical for the mountain vines.
It can have interest not only nationally but much wider. Prishta village has around 700 hectares, out
of which 500 hectares are forest and pastures. Nowadays Prishta has 8000 pergolas. In 1991 in
Prishta were living 530 inhabitants in 102 households and now less than half of population lives
there. It is observed that the people that have moved in cities are coming back at village at spring
and at the harvesting time of grape mainly to produce typical traditional drink raki or wine.
Livestock based on some 600 sheep and goats, 70 cows and 60 horses and mules is the second
important economic activity, which fits very well in the ecosystem by using the pastures for grazing
and providing manure for pergolas. The agricultural production on the ecosystem of Prishta is
almost fully natural and organic by default.

Investing in further expanding the model of Prishta and introducing the new technologies in
maintaining the ecosystem combining with a promotion for high value products coming from such
ecosystem leads to high economic efficiency and sustainability.

Methods and materials
The main method used in this study of Prishta ecosystem is in depth interview of local practitioners.
The frequent visits in the field associated by professors and experts of vines and other agricultural
sectors are done. Gathering historical information from the literature and the written history of the
village has been integral part of the method. The agronomic literature for the region is selected and
compared with real situation. An album of pictures is created and booklet is written and published
for the Prishta as an ecosystem model of mountainous agriculture (where the author of the paper is
471
one of 3 writers).

Figures and Tables
Views (Picture 1, 2, 3, 4) from Ecosystem of Prishta, Pergolas married with oak trees.
Fig 1.

Fig 2.



472
Fig 3.

Fig 4.


Results and conclusions
1. The increase of pergolas and in the economy of Prishta is the main real source of
revitalization and sustainability of the livelihood in the community.
2. Potentially, with small investments the number of pergolas could increase from 8000
thousand to 60000 providing as supporters 200 oaks per hectare in 150 hectares, the most
relevant ones, and through some technological improvement could be taken 3000 tons of
473
grape, instead of about 200 tons that is harvested nowadays.
3. Calculating the gross income, based on the expanded and improved the ecosystem of
pergolas, it results a figure of 13000 euro per capita per year, which is similar to the
average income of a farmer in rich countries.
4. The environment is highly protected due to presence of high trees very well fitted in the
ecosystem and organic way of managing it.

References:
Sotiri P,; 1958; Mbi biologjine e disa varieteteve te rrushit te vendit tone dhe te huaj;
Studimi Ampelografik i tyre
Sotiri P,; 1992 Vreshtaria Tekst mesimor, botim SH.B.L.SH, Tirane , liber faqe 260
Ferruni. L, Sotiri P., Bekteshi T., 2001; Prishta nje ekosistem model i Bujqesise, broshure 36 faqe.
Gjermani T., 2003,; Ampelografi dhe njohuri praktike mbi kultivaret kryesore te rrushit, liber 311
faqe.


474
Pest Management for Organic Apple Orchards
Professor Lee S. W.
Apple Experiment Station,
Wiseong 1 ri, Sobo-myeon, Gunwi-gun, North Gyeongsang-do, Korea

Introduction
This paper is a summary of the writers lesson for experiment-based organic
cultivation on Pest Management for Apple Orchards, as part of the two-year internship
program at the International Organic Agriculture Research Institute. The writer runs an
experimental laboratory in Sobo, after retiring from the National Apple Experiment
Station as the head of the station.
1. The goals of organic cultivation
o To produce high quality products with no residue of harmful organo-synthetic
pesticides
o To maintain soil fertility, and the healthy growth of plants
o To preserve the natural cycle of matters and biodiversity
o To raise livestock based on special moral principles when using livestock manure
fertilizer
o To prohibit the use of synthetic materials or genetically modified organisms (GMO)
o To build an agricultural ecosystem that is clean and harmonious with the surrounding
environment
2. The characteristics of the organic cultivation of fruit trees
o Requires much effort in cultivation and in management
o Fruit trees undergo serious pest damages as the trees are exposed to pests and diseases
over a long growth period
o Consumers demand high quality produce; the fruits sweet taste and good shape
o Demand is higher for fresh fruits than for processed ones
3. The agricultural machinery effective to prevent pests upon organic cultivation
o Disease control Spray lime sulfur mixture a maximum of three times; three to five
application of lime Bordeaux mixture (There is a need to reduce the frequency of its
application, and to develop an alternative substance); silver ion water
o Pest control One or two sprayings of machine oil emulsion and pheromone mating
disrupter; egg yolk oil or canola oil with emulsifier and nine to thirteen applications;
oriental medicine substances
o Diseases and pests control Decomposed chitin microorganisms, and paper bags
4. Indirect ways to prevent diseases and pests
475
o To choose a suitable plot of land (considering weather conditions and the surrounding
environment)
o To choose suitable trees and crops
o To provide and manage the habitat of natural enemies (weeds along fences)
o To improve and maintain soil fertility
o To manage controlled, but balanced nutrients
o To plant trees considering the tree-form and shape to allow plenty of natural lights and
easy ventilation
Conclusion
o There is a need to develop apple varieties and rootstock that are suitable for organic
cultivation
- Select crops suitable for organic cultivation that are resistant to diseases, pests, and
physiological disorders
o To establish a tree shape and soil management system for organic apples cultivation
- Establish a fertilization system that can replace chemical fertilizers, yet still maintain
soil fertility; improve the physical properties of soil and develop ways to manage topsoil
suitable for organic cultivation; develop lighting conditions in canopy
o To establish a management system to control diseases and pests of organically grown
apples
- Develop a management system to reduce the occurrence of diseases and pests on apple
orchards; commercialize environmentally friendly agricultural machinery designed to
prevent diseases and insects (To reduce the use of lime Bordeaux mixture, and to
develop alternative measures)
* Write manuals for managing organic cultivation of apples; establish association for
relevant organic organizations; actively study the cases of advanced countries; and
conduct on-site verification tests.

476
Organic Cultivation of Herbs and Edible Wild Grass

Lee, E. Y.

Key words; Herbs, Edible wild grass, Antioxidant, Immune system control, Defense
mechanism, Biorhythm

Abstract
Using herbs and edible wild grass produced organically as food has many benefits. Since herbs
survive in fierce competition, there is almost no need of artificial intervention such as chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Cultivating herbs is possible with minimum intervention if it is
planted in an environment similar to the natural one. Among 4,594 botanic resource species in
Korea, our ancestors classified 640 species as medicinal plants, and 478 species as herbs and edible
wild grass used in salad, soup, or as tea. Currently, the total known edible plants are 836 species.
Among them, 350 species of herbs may be organically produced to be used for food or tea. Organic
cultivation of herbs can be a viable alternative to overcome the limitation of conventional
vegetables. As people have become more interested in health and well-being, organically cultivated
herbs can be developed as an important food business. In addition, if such plants are developed for
food using Korean traditional cooking style, it can contribute to the globalization of Korean food.
The purpose of this study is to identify the easiness of organic cultivation of herbal food and their
useful functions and potentials.

Social background
People want to live a healthy and long life. To live a healthy life, knowing their health condition
and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are important factors. Thanks to the great advances of modern
medical science, the human life span has been greatly extended.

However, death rates from a number of diseases have not dropped. Death rates due to heart disease
in advanced countries are even higher than in economically underdeveloped countries. At the same
time, the incidence of modern chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, gastro enteric
disease, allergic disease, obesity, and cancer have greatly increased. It is certain that these diseases
can be avoided by improving our eating habits and life style. That is the important motive of
research on the function of food.

The western style of diet is a prime suspect in causing these diseases. Therefore, comparison
research studies have been conducted on eating habits in western countries and economically
underdeveloped countries. The rate for cancer and heart disease is lower in less economically
developed countries. People in such countries eat more vegetables, fruits, grains, and fish rather
than meat. Lately, scientific studies have found that some ingredients in vegetables and fruit have
disease prevention effects.

In terms of foods functions, there has been a focus on the primary and secondary function. The
primary function of food is to provide nutrition and the second function is to satisfy peoples senses,
such as taste and flavor. As research on foods physiological active functions has been conducted,
people have shown more interest in functional food, the third function of food.
With the aging population a growing demographic trend, people are more concerned about well-
being. Recently, people have noted foods function such as anti-cancer, decreasing blood pressure,
preventing blood clot, increasing biophylaxis to fight against cancer, virus infection, and
hypersensitive immune disease and increasing homeostasis. Under such circumstances, developing
a new concept for food in terms of preventing or healing diseases and a new way of objectively
estimating foods is a promising field in the so-called healing era where food can serve for healing.

477
As social interest in healthy lifestyles is heightened, people are getting more interested in food
safety and environmental conservation to produce safe food. Consequently, as people are getting
more interested in safe food, environmentally friendly agriculture also attracts the attention of
consumers. Therefore, the central and local governments have introduced long-term policies which
can promote environmentally friendly farming.

Biodiversity
Traditionally, herbs and various edible wild grass have been used as food in Korea. Many kinds of
wild grass such as kudzu root, shepherds purse, mugwort, dandelion, Korean lettuce, aster leaves,
shoots of a fatsia, and leaves of bower Actinidia have been used to prepare meals in various ways.

Among 4,594 botanic resource species in Korea, our ancestors classified 640 species as medicinal
plants, and 478 species as herbs and wild grass used in salad, soup, or as tea. Currently, the total
number of edible plants is 836 species. Among them, 350 species of herbs may be organically
produced to be used for food or tea. The organic herbs have a unique taste, aroma and medicinal
effects. The demand for organic herbs has increased as people have more concern about health and
the quality of life.

Easiness of organic cultivation
Organic cultivation of herbs and wild grass can be a viable alternative to overcome the limitation of
conventional vegetables. Conventional farming produces well-known limited types of vegetables
using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. As people increasingly acknowledge the harmful effects of
pesticides, people come to desire organic food. Under such circumstances, organic herbs can
provide new alternatives and novel food choices. It is believed that organic cultivation of herbal
food is easy since it requires minimum intervention while providing conditions similar to the natural
environment.

Function of herbs and wild grass
Herbs and wild grass have the following functions as well-being or healing food:
(1) Biorhythm control
Herbal food can help prevent or improve autonomic imbalance as well as correct malfunctioning of
the sympathomimetic and parasympathetic nervous system caused by stress. It also helps control of
sugar intake and nutritional absorption. In this category, nerve system control food, intake control
food and absorption control food are included.
(2) Defense mechanism and prevention of disease
Herbal food is effective in dealing with disease-related lifestyles. In this category, herbs and wild
grass food effective to fight against diabetes, high blood pressure, and immune system related
disease are included. In particular, there are research outcomes indicating that the antioxidant and
immune system controlling function in herbs and wild grass are effective in the prevention of
general diseases and lifestyle diseases. It includes food effective in preventing high blood pressure,
strengthening immune system, reducing allergic reaction, and anti-tumor.
(3) Supplement of disease recovery
Herbal food can improve blood circulation so that it helps prevent arterosclerosis and improve
sanguification (formation of blood). It includes food related to lowering cholesterol and increasing
hematopoiesis.
(4) Anti-aging effect
Lipid peroxide is pointed out as a reason of aging. Vitamin E is known to prevent lipid peroxide. In
this category, food that prevents lipid peroxide is included.

Proposed utilization of herbs and wild grass
There are various ways to eat herbal food produced organically. The best way of eating herbs and
wild grass is to eat without cooking, just like salad is commonly ingested. Herbs, which have great
478
aroma such as dandelion and eucommia ulmodies oliver, can be used as tea. In addition, wild grass
and herbs can be used in extraction tea, fermented tea, preserved food, Kimchi, vegetable porridge,
and fried food.

Tab. 1: Utilization of herbs and wild grass
Use Characteristics
Without cooking Consume all natural good elements as they are.
Seasoned vegetables Add great flavors with various medical seasonings
Boiling tea Used as a good drink
Roasted tea Traditional roasting methods add great flavors
Vegetables preserved in
soy sauce
Preserve in soy sauce as a good way to keep food longer while adding
great flavors
Extraction tea Ingest all good ingredients in herbs and wild grass
Fermented tea
Well fermented tea is good way to ingest herbs and wild grass in terms
of taste, flavor, and effectiveness

References
Choi Jia & Lee Jongmi (2010): Perception and attitude on Hansik (Korean food) amon
food experts in New York in-depth interview with foodies. Korean Journal of Food Culture.
25(2) 126-133.
Lee Jinyoung, Kim Kyungj a, Park Younghee & Kim Haengran (2010): Forei gn
consumers preference and perception with sensuous characteristics on wild grass food
comparison by nationals. Korean Journal of Food Culture. 25(1); 9-46.
Oh Layoung & Han Myungju (2009): Perception on Korean traditional food among
middle school student in Seoul. Korean Journal of Food Culture. 24(4) 359-365.
Lee Yeonsook & Park Mija (2008): Research on parents perception and satisfaction
about environmentally friendly agriculture provided in school meal- centered by elementary
school in Daejeon. Korean Journal of Food Culture. 23(6); 737-747.
479
Evaluation of Wheat Residuals Effects on Yield Components and Soil Seed Bank
of Amaranthus Retroflexus

M. Yarnia
1*
, E. Farajzadeh Memari
2
, M.B.Khorshidi Benam
3
, V. Ahmadzadeh
4
and N. Nobari
1- Associate prof. Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University,
Tabriz Branch. Iran. * Corresponding Author : Email: yarnia@iaut.ac.ir and m.yarnia@yahoo.com
2- Staff member. Islamic Azad University, Malekan Branch. Iran
3- Assistant Prof. Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch. Iran.
4- Msc of Agronomy, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Iran

Key words: Allelopathy, residuals, wheat, pigweed, seed bank.

Abstract

One of organic agriculture management components is using crops allelopathic potential in weed
and soil seed bank control. Because of weed extension and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus
retroflexus) importance in fields, an experiment was conducted for evaluation of wheat plants
different parts in different level residual on redroot pigweed in 2008-2009. Factors were wheat
different parts residual as leaf, stem, root, whole plant and control in different concentration as 0, 50,
100, 150, and 200 g. per m
2
in four growth stages as vegetative, inflorescence, seed bulking and
control. Results showed that wheat different parts residual effects decreased significantly plant
height, leaf area, leaf number, root length, root and shoot dry weight, 1000kw, and seed production
of redroot pigweed. Increasing wheat residuals in soil decreased redroot pigweed all characters.
Decreasing leaf area, leaf, stem and shoot dry weight, 1000 kernel weight, and seed production of
redroot pigweed by adding 50 g. per m
2
decreased as 16.87, 7.46, 15.71, 12.28, 22.82 and 7.12%,
respectively, in compare with control. Increasing wheat residuals to 200 g. per m
2
increased these
reductions to 32.53, 17.61, 49.3, 41.95, 26.56 and 33.8 %, respectively. So, dry matter accumulation
of redroot pigweed was the most susceptible attributes of pigweed. Decrease in pigweed leaf area
by adding vegetative, inflorescence, seed bulking stage residuals were 19.4, 24.1, and 19.6%,
respectively, in compare with control. Redroot pigweed seed yield was 0.56 g/plant in control
which decreased by adding leaf, stem, root and whole wheat residuals as 200 g/m
2
to 64.46, 44.64,
8.9, and 54.64%, respectively. Seed bank of redroot pigweed decreased from 7 to 34%. Wheat leaf
residuals in seed bulking stage had highest reduced effect on most attributes and especially on soil
seed bank. Therefore using wheat allelopatic potential can reduced redroot pigweed population in
fields and weedicides over application and environment pollution.
480
A Study on Knowledge and Adoption level of aerobic rice growers toward
organic farming in Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka State of India

Mahatab Ali K.M
1
, Jagadeeshwara K.
2


ABSTRACT
The study was conducted in four taluks spread over in Kolar, Ramanagara and
Chikkaballapura districts which are coming under Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka State of
India during 2009-2010. A total of 90 aerobic rice farmers were interviewed to know the
knowledge and adoption level of the of aerobic rice growers. The results showed Majority
(53.33%) of the farmers were under medium level of overall knowledge category whereas,
14.44 and 32.22 per cent of them belonged to low and high level of overall knowledge
category respectively. 56.67 % of the respondents belonged to medium adoption category.
Whereas, 22.22 and 21.11 per cent of the respondents belonged to low and high adoption
categories, respectively. more than 90.00 per cent of the aerobic rice growers had correct
knowledge about the method of sowing and the appropriate time of application of FYM,
Further 81.11 to 88.89 per cent of the aerobic rice growers had correct knowledge about the
method of weed control, time of sowing, soil suitable for aerobic rice and use of application
of FYM.
Introduction
Rice occupies an enviable prime place among the food crops and is cultivated around
the world. It is grown in an area of 156 million hectares with a production of 651 million
tonnes during 2007-08. India has the largest area among the rice growing countries and ranks
second in production. In Karnataka it is grown in an area of 1.42 million hectares with an
annual production of 3.6 million tonnes and with a productivity of 2.47 tonnes per hectare
during 2007-08(Anon., 2008). Rice consumes heavy quantum of irrigation water and thus
requires around 5000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of rice under submerged
condition. The water crisis faced today is greatest threat to rice cultivation and hence human
civilization. Inadequate rainfall, lack of water harvesting measures and misuse of water for
agriculture have brought down the per capita availability of water which from 1353m
3
during
1981 to 910 m
3
during 2001 in India. In Karnataka also the per capita availability of water
has decreased from 1009m
3
during
1
Ph.D Scholar, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, India
2
Professor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India
1981 to 743m
3
during 2001 ( Subbion et al., 2003), Therefore, researchers have developed the
water saving technology that is, aerobic rice and the field extension personal of Karnataka
481
State Department of Agriculture have taken up its massive promotion by organizing large
scale demonstrations to achieve the wide spread diffusion of aerobic rice production
technology among the farmers.Hence, owing to the increased importance of diffusion of this
technology in rural areas, the present study was under taken in Eastern Dry Zone of
Karnataka State to study the knowledge and adoption level of aerobic rice growers.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted in the selected Taluks of Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka, where
aerobic rice cultivation is gaining popularity. Four taluks spread over in three districts (Kolar,
Chikkaballapura, Ramanagara) were selected for the study based on the data obtained from
Marker Assisted Selection Laboratory (MASLAB), Department of Genetics and Plant
Breeding and Community Based Tank Management Project and Consultancy Services
(CBTMPCS), University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. From these four taluks, 10
villages were identified and respondents were selected from these villages based on purposive
sampling. Altogether 90 respondents were selected from these 10 villages for the study. Thus,
the data were collected from the 90 respondents with the help of pre-tested schedule. The data
were scored, tabulated and analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Knowledge level of respondents with respect to recommended aerobic rice cultivation
practices.
The result presented in Table 1 revealed that majority of farmers (53.33%) were under
medium overall knowledge category whereas, 14.44 and 32.22 per cent of them belonged to
low and high overall knowledge category, respectively. Knowledge level of aerobic rice
growers about the recommended practices of aerobic rice cultivation as seen from Table 1
indicates that majority of the aerobic rice growers had medium level of knowledge, followed
by low and high levels. The probable reason may be that, the aerobic rice cultivation is new
concept and complex in nature. Aerobic rice growers might not have been fully exposed to all
the improved cultivation practices. Hence majority of them had medium knowledge.
It could be visualized from the Table-2. that, more than 90.00 per cent of the aerobic rice
growers had correct knowledge about the method of sowing and the appropriate time of
application of FYM, Further 81.11 to 88.89 per cent of the aerobic rice growers had correct
482
knowledge about the method of weed control, time of sowing, soil suitable for aerobic rice and
use of application of FYM.
More than 70.00 percent of the respondents had correct knowledge about practices like
quantity of chemical fertilizers per acre, total number of weeding and depth of sowing the seed.
About 67.78 per cent of the aerobic rice growers had correct knowledge about recommended
varieties. The possible reason for possessing correct knowledge about these practices by aerobic
farmers might be due to fact that, the farmers of the study area were involved in scientific
cultivating the crop since few years and their past experience in cultivating the crop must have
also added to their present levels of knowledge about recommended aerobic rice cultivation.
Around 50.00 per cent of the farmers did not have proper knowledge on seed treatment
chemicals, recommended plant population pest and diseases affecting to the crop. This might be
due to the fact that these concepts are complex in nature and are comparatively difficult to
understand. Further, the extension participation, mass media participation and extension contact
of these farmers are in the medium level, which might have resulted in only 50 per cent of
farmers possessing complete knowledge about these practices. Cent per cent of the farmers did
not have knowledge about bio-control agents used for controlling pests and diseases. This is due
to lack of awareness, extension contact, extension participation and mass media participation in
educating the farmers about importance of bio-control agents in controlling pest and diseases.
These findings are in conformity with the findings of the past studies of Venkatesh Gandhi et al.
(2008), and Sathasivam al el. (2009).

Adoption level of respondents with respect to recommended aerobic rice cultivation practices
Adoption of improved aerobic rice production practices by aerobic rice growers are
presented in the Tables 1 and Table 2. About 56.67 per cent of the aerobic rice growers had
medium level of overall adoption, followed by low (22.22%) and high (21.11%) level of overall
adoption. The improved practices of aerobic rice such as use of improved seeds, application of
organic manures, spacing between plant to plant and row to row and recommended seed rate per
acre were adopted by more than 75 per cent of farmers and majority of the aerobic rice growers
have adopted, plant protection against diseases by 46.67 per cent and plant protection against
pest by 42.22,where as majority of aerobic rice growers partially adopted the practices viz.,
483
application of chemical fertilizers, plant protection against pests and plant protection against
diseases and None of them have adopted the bio-pesticides or bio-extracts.
It is quite evident from the present findings that the simple technologies are relatively
adapted to a greater extent as compared to complex technologies. Lack of knowledge about
complexity of innovations such as recommended quantity of chemicals for control of pests and
diseases, use of recommended dose of chemical fertilizers. Besides, Bio-control agents were not
at all used by any of the respondents encountered. Probable reasons for low adoption of these
practices might be due to low extension contact and extension participation. Further the the
findings may also be attributed to the high cost of input. These findings are in conformity with
the findings of Pottappa (2008), Vishvanath Hiremath et al. (2009) and Varadaraju et al.
(2009).
Conclusions
Many of the farmers were not adopting the practices like application of bio-pesticides,
seed treatment chemicals and bio-fertilizers. Hence, there is a need for the extension works to
focus on these aspects to improve the adoption level. The findings calls for organizing intensive
educational activities such as training, demonstrations, exhibitions, field days etc by the
Scientists and extension workers for disseminating the improved technologies on aerobic
cultivation to increase the knowledge and adoption levels of the farmers regarding the improved
technologies
484
References
ANONYMOUS, 2008, Survey of Indian Agriculture, THE HINDU, p-1-4
BOUMAN, B.A.M, PENG, S., CASTANEDA, A.R. and VISPERAS, R.M., 2005, Yield and water use
of tropical aerobic rice system, Agric, water manage, 74(2):87-348.
BOUMAN, B.A.M. AND TWONG, T.P., 2001, Field Water Management to Save Water and Increase
Productivity in Irrigated Rice. Agric. Water Manage. 49(1):11-30.
POTTAPPA, K., 2008, Knowledge and adoption of potato growers in Chikkaballapur district A study,
M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpub.), University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
SATHASIVAM, S. THYAGARAJAN AND PARTHASARATHI, S., 2009, Knowledge level of paddy
growers about IPM Biofertilizers practices, Journal of Extension Education 21(1): 4194-4196.
SUBBION, P., ANNADURI, K. AND SALINIOPPAN, S.P., 2003, Agriculture facts and figures (I
edition) Kalyani Publication, Ludhiana Pp:20-25.

VARADARAJU, G.M., RANGANATH MANGALVEDKAR AND CHANDRE GOWDA, K.N., 2009,
Adoption of production technologies by tomato growers: An Analysis, Journal of Extension
Education 21(3): 4256-4260.
VENKATESH GANDHI, R., HANCHINAL, S.N., KRISHNA, T.V., SHIVAMURTHY, M. AND
SHAILAJA HITTALMANI, 2008, Knowledge level of vegetable growers with respect to IPM
practices of tomato crop in Kolar district, Mysore J.Agric. Sci., 43(3): 718-721.
VISHVANATH HIREMATH, SHIVAMURTHY, M., LAKSHMAN REDDY, B.S., KATTEPA, Y.
2009, Adoption behaviour of vegetable growers regarding Eco-friendly technologies in Kolar
district of Karnataka, Mysore J.Agric. Sci., 43(2): 352-356.





485
Table 1.Overall Knowledge level of the farmers with respect to recommended Aerobic rice
cultivation practices
















Sl.No Category Number Per cent
1 Low (<65.71) 13 14.44

2 Medium (65.71-75.07) 48 53.33
3 High (> 75.07) 29 32.23
Total 90 100
(n=90)
486
Table 2: Knowledge of the aerobic rice Growers with respect to
individual recommended cultivation practices


Sl.No. Recommended
cultivation practices
Correct
knowledge
Per cent Incorrect
knowledge
Per cent
1 Soil suitable for Aerobic
rice
78 86.67 12 13.33
2 Use of Application of
FYM
80 88.89 10 11.11
3 The appropriate time of
application of FYM
82 91.11 8 8.89
4 Recommended varieties 61 67.78 29 32.22
5 Recommended seed rate
per acre
59 65.56 31 34.44
6 Month of sowing 75 83.33 15 16.67
7 Method of sowing 82 91.11 8 8.89
8 Spacing given between
rows and within the row
56 62.22 34 37.78
9 Recommended number of
seeds per hill
51 56.67 39 43.33
10 Recommended plant
population per square
meter
45 50.00 45 50.00
11 Seed treatment
chemicals/Bio-fertilizer
40 44.44 50 55.56
12 Quantity of chemical
fertilizers per acre
70 77.78 20 22.22
13 Depth of sowing the seeds 63

70.00 27

30.00
14 Frequency of irrigation. 48 53.33 42 46.67
15 Method of weed control 73 81.11 17 18.89
16 Total number of weeding 68 75.56 22 24.44

17
Name of the Pest or
Disease attacked
39 43.33 51 56.67
18 Bio-control agents used
for controlling pest and
disease
00 0.00 90 100.00
19 Yield 52 57.78 38 42.22
(n=90)
487

Table 1: Overall Adoption level of farmers with respect to recommended
Aerobic rice cultivation practices











Table 2: Adoption of individual recommended cultivation practices
by the aerobic rice growers



Sl.No Category Number Per cent
1 Low (<47.91) 20 22.22
2 Medium (47.91-73.24) 51 56.67
3 High (>73.24) 19 21.11
Total 90 100
Sl.
No.
Recommended
cultivation practices
Full Adoption Partial
Adoption
Non-Adoption
No. % No. % No. %
1 Improved seed 70 77.78 20 22.22 0 0.00
2 Seed rate 63 70.00 27 30.00 0 0.00
3 Seed treatment 35 38.89 20 22.22 35 38.89
4 Spacing 72 80.00 10 11.11 8 8.89
5 Organic manures 68 75.56 20 22.22 2 2.22
6 Bio-pesticides / Bio-
Extracts
0 0.00 0 0.00 90 100.00
7 Plant protection against
pests
38 42.22 32 35.56 20 22.22
8 Plant protection against
diseases
42 46.67 27 30.00 21 23.33
(n=90)
(n=90)
488
Estimation Model the Compensation Optimum Price of Organic Wheat in
Transition Period (Case Study of Khorasan Razavi Province)

Mohammad Ghorbani & Hoda Zare Mirakabad

Keywords: Revenue, yield, price, organic products, cost.

Abstract
This paper estimated the virtual compensation optimum price of organic wheat in transition period
using a cross sectional data of 453 wheat producers of Khorasan Razavi province in 2007. A model
designed to this objective so that it has ability of estimation the virtual yield, revenues, costs and
price of organic wheat based on traditional wheat data. Results showed that yield loss of organic
wheat compensate in extremely 6 year. It can consider transition period from 1 to 6 year based on
price of organic wheat but compensation of reducing farmer's revenue is easier and price pressure
on consumer level is lower in 6 years transition period. Compensation optimum price estimated at
least 12.5% more than of traditional wheat. Regard to results of study, using of designed model
structure to estimating the virtual profit of agricultural organic products.

489
Comparative Effect of Different Combinations of Organic Manures and
Biofertilizers on Productivity, Grain Quality and Soil Properties in Organic
Farming of Rice - Based Cropping Systems

Mohammadreza Davari
1
, S.N. Sharma
2
& Ali. Monsefi
3
1
Assistant Professor of Agroecology, PNU Arak Branch, Iran

2
Principal Scientist of IARI New Delhi, India
3
Ph.D. Student of Agronomy, IARI, New Delhi, India
Email: mrdavari@gmail.com
Website: www.markazipnu.ac.ir

Key words: Organic farming, Rice-based cropping systems, wheat, grain quality, soil

Introduction
The rice (Oryza sativa) wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system (RWCS) occupy about 28.8
million hectares (m ha) in five Asian countries, namely, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and
China (Prasad, 2005). Sharma and Prasad (1999 and 2000) recommended that growing a short
duration mungbean after wheat and incorporating of its residue in succeeding rice made rice-wheat
cropping system more productive, remunerative and soil recuperative than traditional rice-wheat
cropping system. Organic farming of Basmati rice-based cropping system is another alternative
system for sustainability of crop production and natural resources. Moreover, there is a great
demand of organically grown food in European and Middle East countries and offer two to two and
half times higher prices for organic produce. Thus research on organic farming will open new vistas
in Indian Agriculture. Sharma et al. (1995) and Sharma and Prasad (1999) reported that
incorporation of mungbean residue was found to be at par with Sesbania green manure in rice-
wheat system. Keeping all these points in view the present study are conducted proposed to
compare rice-wheat and rice-wheat-mungbean cropping systems under organic farming to
determine the optimum combination of organic manures, crop residues and biofertilizers for
meeting nutritional requirement of rice-wheat and rice-wheat- mungbean cropping systems and
study impact of organic farming practices on soil health and quality of organically grown produce.

Material and methods

The field experiments were carried out on a sandy clay loam soil of the Main Block 14 C of the
research farm of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during crop cycles of 2006-2007
and 2007-2008 to study the effects of different combinations of organic materials and biofertilizers
on growth, yield, nutrient uptake, grain quality and gross and net income of rice, wheat and
mungbean and soil health under organic farming of rice based cropping systems. The experiment
was laid out in a strip plot design with three replications. Treatments consisted of two cropping
systems [Rice-wheat (RW) and rice-wheat-mungbean (RWM)] in columns, seven combinations of
different organic materials and biofertilizers [control, farmyard equivalent to 60 kg N ha
-1
(FYM),
vermicompost equivalent to 60 kg N ha
-1
(VC), FYM +crop residue of preceding crop @ 6 t ha
-1

for rice and wheat and 3 t ha
-1
for mungbean (CR), vermicompost +CR, FYM +CR +biofertilizers
and vermicompost +CR +biofertilizers] in rows. For biofertilizers, blue green algae (BGA) and
PSB used in rice, Azotobacter and PSB in wheat and Rhizobium +PSB in mungbean.
490

Fig. 1. Organisation and structure of experiments

Results
Results indicated that there was no significant difference between two cropping systems in respect
of growth and yield attributing characters, grain and straw yield, nutrient concentration and nutrient
uptake and grain quality of rice and wheat. However, rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system gave
significantly higher total productivity, nutrients (NPK) removal, protein yield and gross and net
income than rice-wheat cropping system in both the years of study. The rice-wheat-mungbean
cropping system also resulted in an improvement in some of physical, chemical and biological
properties of soil as compared with rice-wheat cropping system. Application of FYM or VC to rice
and wheat resulted in an increase in growth and yield attributes characters, grain and straw yield,
nutrient concentration, nutrient uptake and grain quality of rice as well as wheat. Combinations of
FYM +CR resulted in higher increase in growth and yield attributing characters of rice and wheat
than FYM alone which led to 28-38% increase in grain yield and 27-33% increase in straw yield of
rice and led to 13-15% increase in grain yield and 11-14% increase in straw yield of wheat .
Similarly, the combination of VC +CR was significantly better than VC alone for improvement in
growth and yield attributes of rice and wheat which resulted in 12% increase in grain yield and 5-
10% increase in straw yield of rice and 12-18% increase in grain yield and 10-18% increase in
straw yield of wheat over VC alone. Inoculation of Azotobacter + PSB with FYM + CR
significantly increased number of grains spike
-1
and test weight over FYM +CR which resulted in
10-13% higher increase in grain yield and 8-10% higher increase in straw yield over FYM +CR,
which in turn resulted in 15-17% higher increase in N uptake, 16-19% higher increase in P uptake,
11-15% higher increase in K uptake, 14-20% increase in net income with FYM +CR +B over
FYM +CR. Residual effect of different combinations of organic materials and biofertilizers applied
to rice and wheat also significantly increased growth and yield attribute characters, seed and stover
yield, nutrient uptake and grain quality of succeeding mungbean. Different combinations of organic
materials and biofertilizers also significantly improved physical, chemical and biological properties
of soil.
491










Fig. 2. Effect of cropping systems, organic materials and biofertilizers on productivity of rice-
based cropping systems










Fig. 3. Effect of cropping systems, organic materials and biofertilizers on nitrogen uptake of
rice-based cropping systems












Fig. 4. Effect of cropping systems, organic materials and biofertilizers on protein yield of
rice-based cropping systems



492














Fig. 5. Effect of organic materials and biofertilizers on organic carbon of soil

Conclusion
On the basis two years investigation, it may concluded that rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system
(RWM) was more sustainable economically and on the basis of soil fertility to the traditional rice-
wheat cropping system and application of vermicompost +crop residue +biofertilizers (BGA +
cellulolytic culture +PSB in rice, Azotobactor +cellulolytic culture +PSB in wheat, Rhizobium +
PSB in mungbean) was most productive and FYM +crop residue +biofertilizers was economical
for nutrient need of rice-based cropping systems. Both these combinations resulted in higher
improvement in grain quality and physical, chemical and biological properties of soil.

Refrences
Prasad, R. 2005. Organic farming vis--vis modern agriculture. Current Science 89: 252-254.
Sharma, S.N. and Prasad, R. 1999. Effect of Sesbania green-manuring and mungbean residue
incorporatio on productivity and nitrogen uptake of a rice wheat cropping system.
Bioresource Technology 87 :171-175.
Sharma, S.N. and Prasad, R. 2000. Influence of summer legumes in rice (Oryza sativa)-wheat
(Triticum aestivum) cropping system on soil fertility. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 70(6) : 357-359.
Sharma, S.N., Prasad, R. and Singh, S. 1995. The role of mungbean residues and Sesbania aculeate
green manure in nitrogen economy of rice-wheat cropping system. Plant and Soil 172: 123-
129.

493
Grain Amaranth : Sustainable Adaptation for Food/Nutrition and Livelihoods
Security

Ndonga LK
Strategic Poverty Alleviation Systems (SPAS), P. O. BOX 79322-00200,Nairobi, Kenya
Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:spastrategysystem@yahoo.com"
spastrategysystem@yahoo.com

Key Words : Grain Amaranth, Grass Cereals, Poverty, Food/Nutrition Security, Changing
Climate

Abstract
Climate change and poverty (particularly food poverty) are the two defining challenges of this century
and must be tackled together. Droughts and floods due to climate change trigger profound reductions in
agricultural yields, leading to famines, malnutrition and starvation. Climate change impacts on health
and has wider implications for economic growth, water and food security and for peoples survival
especially for poorest communities in Developing countries. Majority small scale farmers in Africa
depend on rain fed agriculture and pastrolism for their livelihoods making them directly vulnerable to
climate change. As evidence of increasing hunger, malnutrition and starvation due to climate change
become more apparent, methods and strategies that produce more from the available land and water
resources and making livestock the basis for renewable energy cannot be overemphasized. Furthermore,
the adaptive capacity and resilience of hundreds of millions of people in Africa could simply be
overwhelmed by events. And simply making crops more drought tolerant or flood resistant is just not
enough. Besides, current sources of food and feed may not evolve adaptations to climate change which
may change faster necessitating a complete reassessment of the nature and viability of these crops and
farming systems.
Diversification of production and consumption habits to include a broader range of plant species and in
particular those currently identified as 'underutilized' like grain amaranth (a non grass cereal or
pseudo-cereal) can contribute significantly to improved health and nutrition, livelihoods, household
food security and ecological sustainability.

Indeed, the strategic intention of Strategic Poverty Alleviation Systems SPAS in using Grain amaranth
which has a short gestation period of between 45-75 days in Kenya and is drought, diseases and pests
resistant, and a nutritional powerhouse to demonstrate to small scale agricultural practitioners and the
government that organic agriculture is viable and to assist communities in their long fight to adapt and
mitigate climate change.

Besides, previous approaches to food/nutrition security have not succeeded because they lacked to
address the economic and ecological effects of climate change and to link environmental concerns with
poverty. Small scale Farmers grow grain amaranth for food and income, its by-products fed to livestock
whose dung produces biogas (methane)- a green house gas- used to produce electricity for community
needs and surplus sold.

While the challenges of achieving a new era of safe food/nutrition security with strong potential to
reduce green-house gas emissions, oil imports, cut pollution and poverty sustainably in a changing
climate are both large and urgent, grain amaranth holds out hope. However, while organic grain
amaranth optimizes the interaction of crops production and livestock production and the environment
and contributes to sustainable conversion to organic agriculture for food/nutrition and feeds security, in
494
changing climate, top priority must be given to finding the best way to bringing these benefits to those
o be most affected by climate change

Indeed, to the extent that grain amaranth is technically and culturally acceptable by most communities
and households there is need to accelerate its production due to its perceived sustainable interventions
in safe food/nutrition security and to compliment nutrients deficient grass cereals based diets in a
changing climate. More immediately, an alarm should be sounded about the implications of doing
nothing. However, successful development and deployment of organic grain amaranth will require
collaboration among researchers, extensionists, advocates for the poor, regional and international
cooperation.

495
Effect of Cowpea Residue Incorporation and Nitrogen Application Rates on the
Productivity of Upland Rice.

Okonji, C. J *., Okeleye, K. A, Aderibigbe, S.G., Oyekami, A. A.

Dept of Plant Physiology and Crop Production Univ. of Agriculture Abeokuta.

*Corresponding author (xokonji@gmail.com)
Key notes: Cowpea residue, nitrogen rates, yield components and yield of rice.
A trial was conducted in 2009 and 2010 at the upland rice field of the Teaching and Research Farms
of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Latitude 7
0
2 N and 21
0
E). The trial was to investigate
the effect of cowpea residue incorporation and nitrogen application rates on the productivity of
upland rice. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block design in split split plot
arrangement and replicated three times. The main plot constituted the cowpea residue incorporation
(Cowpea incorporation and without cowpea residue incorporation), sub plot was the nitrogen rates
( 0, 20, 40 and 60 Kg N ha
-1
) while the sub sub plot, constituting of rice varieties (NERICA 2, ITA
150 (Standard check) and Ofada (local check). Results obtained were subjected to analysis of
variance (ANOVA) and significant treatments means were separated using Least Significant
difference (LSD). The yield and yield component of rice measured were significantly (P < 0.01)
influenced by cowpea incorporation except panicle weight, as nitrogen rates had significant (P <
0.01) influence on number of grains/panicle and yield of rice in 2009 . While in the year 2010,
cowpea residue incorporated significantly (P < 0.01) influenced yield and yield components except
grains per panicle as nitrogen application rates significantly (P < 0.01) influenced the yield and
yield components of rice measured except 1000 grain weight as rice varieties showed significant (P
< 0.01) difference on all traits measured except number of grains per panicle. In both years of trial it
was observed that NERICA 2 significantly (P < 0.01) obtained higher grain yield than ITA 150.
The two years of trail has shown that the combination of all the treatments used had significant (P <
0.01) influence on all the parameter measured on yield components. It is concluded that the
incorporation of grain cowpea with nitrogen fertilizer significantly (P <0.01) enhanced the
performance of upland NERICA rice.
496
Sweet Cherry (Prunus Avium L.) Land Varieties in Ecological Agriculture

Ostrovsk, R.
1
, Brindza, J.
2
, Tth, D.
3
, Stehlkov, B.
4
& Tirpkov, A.

4
Key words: Prunus avium L., sweet cherry, economical value, fruit, wood

Abstract
This work aimed at the economic value determination of the land- and old-varieties of sweet cherry
(Prunus avium L.) intended for utilization in ecological agriculture. The survey, inventory and
evaluation of these plants occurring in Brdarka village of Gemer region (Slovak Republic) started
thereafter. Totally 2283 sweet cherry genotypes were localized by the GPS system and for further
evaluation study 497 genotypes were selected. In this collection were determined several basic traits
the mean fruit height in ranges from 9.21 to 25.73 mm, fruit width 9.52 27.47 mm, fruit
thickness 8.84 25.55 mm, fruit stem length 25.05 51.31 mm, weight of fruits 3.46 39.95 g and
the mean stone weight 0.68 5.76 g. The medium weight of flesh from the total fruit weight ranged
from 80.3 to 85.58 %. Total height of some trees achieved up to do 30 m having the tree trunk
height around 10 m. The most genotypes exerted excellent health condition. Many land- and old-
varieties showed perfect adaptation on local conditions and therefore this region could be counted
among those suitable for ecological agriculture. Use of the studied genotypes in practice is
manifested as a good contribution to the improvement of the rural socio-economic development.
Introduction
The sweet cherry fruits are counted among very important species having high nutritional and
phytotherapeutic value (Blando et al. 2004). It contains 10 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of fruit flesh
(Lyle 2006), 12.0 12.4 % reducing sugars (Bernalte et al. 1999), 126.71 132.50 g of total
saccharides per l of fruit flesh (Vursavu et al. 2006). Bernalte et al. (1999) reported 117 134 mg
of polyphenols per100 g of fruit

1
Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, Slovak University of Agriculture,
Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia, E-Mail
biomass, although Usenik et al. (2008) found only 44.3 87.9 mg.
Anthocyanins content in 100 g of sweet cherry fruit flesh were determined by Bernalte et al. 1999
in range 49.2 102.3 mg but Vursavu et al. 2006 reported 46.57 432.00 mg. Usenik et al. 2008
studied the antioxidant activity and observed the range of 8.0 17.2 mg of C vitamin in100 g of
cherry flesh. Positive effect of antioxidants occurring in the fruit flesh on human metabolism and
health described many papers (e.g. Moore 2007, Richardson 2009). Gonzlez-Gmez et al. (2009)
confirmed the beneficial influence of cherry fruits consumption on joints pain mitigation as well as
on gout and cancer prevention. Farrohi and Mehran 1975 detected the ranges of lipids content in
flesh (0.18 0.59 %), stones (3.4 7.7 %) and seeds (20.5 37.9 %). The oil gained from cherry
seeds is often used in food industry (Lyle 2006), pharmaceutics and cosmetics (Hamedi et al. 2004).
The sweet cherry has its importance even in the forestry. In comparison with other wood plants
cherry tree is quite resistant against air pollution, being able to grow up fast and produce the
wooden mater of high quality. Cherry wood is attractive, hard and utilizable for production of
furniture and ornamental accessories (Lyle 2006). In the European countries it is used for
agricultural soil forestation and country revitalization. From cherry leaves and fruits could be
gained the green dye suitable for different purposes as reported by Lyle 2006. Russell 2003 has
classified the sweet cherry as an endangered species on pan-European level. Therefore she proposed
Radovan.Ostrovsky@uniag.sk
2
As above, E-Mail J an.Brindza@uniag.sk
3
As above, E-Mail Dezider.Toth@uniag.sk
4
Faculty of Economy and Business, Pan European University, Tomikova 20, 821 02 Bratislava, Slovakia, E-Mail Stehlikovab@gmail.com,
atirpakova@gmail.com
497
to preserve this species, gene-pool, especially the local and land varieties owing to their high
potential to be adapted on different agro-ecological conditions. The submitted work started, as the
above mentioned facts were taken into account in combination with the availability of locality rich
of sweet cherry trees.
Materials and methods
This study was oriented on the economic value determination of the land- and old-varieties of sweet
cherry (Prunus avium L.) to be used in ecological agriculture. It started by survey and inventory and
continued by evaluation of these plants occurring in Brdarka village of Gemer region (Slovak
Republic). Genotypes were localized using the GPS system. The work was oriented on
determination of quantitative and qualitative traits of selected genotypes concerning the whole trees,
buds, leaves, flowers, fruits and stones.
Results
In years 2005 2010 in the Brdarka village cadastre were located and registered 2283 genotypes of
sweet cherry. The results gained by the GPS system were processed and used for elaboration of
a digital chart as a part of a complex database (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Location of fruit tree species in the part of Brdarka cadastre.
Several individual trees achieved the height up to 30 m and their trunks height was up to 10 m
(Table 1). The prevailing amount of genotypes exerted an excellent health condition, although there
were never applied any agro-pesticides against pests. Prevailing number of the cherry genotypes
found in the village belonged to land- and old-varieties. From this set were selected 505 genotypes
to evaluate the economic values. In experimental studies of fruits were determined the mean height
in range 9.21 25.73 mm, width 9.52 27.47 mm and weight 3.46 39.95 g. Medium stone weight
was found from 0.68g to 5.76 g and a medium weight of flesh counted from the total fruit weight
ranged from 80.3 % to 85.58 % (Table 2). In fruit flesh has been detected on average 0.52 % lipids,
in stones 3.79 % and in seeds 14.91 %. Significant differences among genotypes were established in
the shape and size of leaves, buds, shape and size of flowers, sticks, stigma and several other
characteristics. Differences are often occurring not only among basic traits like the size, shape and
colour of fruits and/or their flesh, but even in the time of flowering and mature peaks.
Tab. 1: Basic statistical indicators of selected traits variability concerning the trees included
into tested group of cherry genotypes (Prunus aviumL.)
Evaluated traits n min max mean v %
Tree trunk height (m) 2283 0.10 10.00 1.87 47.39
Tree trunk circumference (m) 2283 0.02 5.08 0.85 63.84
Tree height (m) 2283 1.00 30.00 9.59 50.91
Tree health condition 2283 1 7 5 37.75
Tree age 2283 2 90 36 48.35
Tab. 2: Variability of selected traits of fruits and stones in the evaluated set of sweet cherry
genotypes (Prunus aviumL.)
498
Evaluated traits n min max mean v %
Fruit height (mm) 497 9,21 25,73 17.51 20.93
Fruit width (mm) 497 9.52 27.47 18.50 20.50
Fruit thickness (mm) 497 8.84 25.55 16.33 19.53
Fruit stem length (mm) 497 25.05 51.31 38.07 11.29
Stone height (mm) 504 6.51 11.72 9.61 12.58
Stone width (mm) 505 3.80 8.02 6.54 10.60
Stone thickness (mm) 505 4.23 9.50 7.88 10.30
Weight of 25 fruits (g) 496 17.34 199.76 102.65 44.76
Weight of 25 stones (g) 491 3.44 28.80 11.94 34.54
Discussion
In the Slovak Republic the total area of cherry production is 298.2 ha yielding around 1800 t with
the mean production of 2.11 t of fruit per ha. In 2008 the recorded total fruit consumption per
citizen was 65 kg, while in 2004 this value achieved only 49.7 kg. From these data the cherries
consumption represented just 0.3 kg per person and year (Merav 2010). It is clear from the above
mentioned numbers that in Slovakia the cherry fruit consumption is low, although we have quite
suitable climatic conditions all over the territory. It is documented clearly by the survey in this
paper based on results and knowledge gained in the frame of experimental studies of cherry
genotypes distribution in the Gemer region. In one village were found 2283 individual trees of
sweet cherry, and it is supposed to be in all collection around 500 economically valuable land- and
old-varieties as well as natural seedlings. Their economic value is very high. It is proved by the
comparison of our results with literature resources. Yarilgac et al. 2005 found with 30 cherry
genotypes a mean fruit weight in range 2.01 5.19 g, seed weight 0.22 0.49 g, fruit width 16.3
21.3 mm and fruit length 13.9 20.1 mm. When we compare our and literature data, it is to
conclude in the collection of tested cherry genotypes found in Gemer village are all traits showing
higher variability. Many land- and old-varieties are economically very valuable. They are well
adapted to growing conditions with high tolerance to biotic and abiotic factors and bring good
quality fruits without application of agro-pesticides. Their use in practice for the system of
ecological agriculture will secure in the same time conservation by on farm system. As confirmed
by several experts, e.g. by Russell 2003, this system has high priority worldwide.
Conclusions
By the executed survey and registry of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) in Brdarka village were
located 2283 genotypes. Among them were selected 505 genotypes which were tested for important
traits of trees, buds, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Taking into account the good health state of
this population it is prepared a proposal to conserve this gene-pool and so preserve the land- and
old-varieties for further utilization in practice using the on farm system in the frame of ecological
agriculture.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by the Excellence Center for Agrobiodiversity Conservation and
Benefit project ECOVA plus, ITMS 26220120032 implemented under the Operational Programme
Research and Development financed by European Fund for Regional Development.
References
Bernalte, M.J. et al. (1999): Physical, chemical, flavor and sensory characteristics of two sweet
cherry varieties grown in 'Valle Del Jerte' (Spain). Journal of Food Quality 22:403-416.
499
Blando, F., Gerardi, C., Nicoletti, I. (2004): Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L) Anthocyanins as
Ingredients for Functional Foods. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. 5:253258.
Farrohi F., Mehran M. (1975): Oil characteristics of sweet and sour cherry kernels. Journal of the
American Oil Chemists' Society. 12:520-521.
Gonzlez-Gmez, D., et al. (2009): Detection and quantification of melatonin and serotonin in eight
Sweet Cherry cultivars (Prunus avium L.). European Food Resources Technology, 229:223229.
Hamedi J, Malekzadeh F, Saghafi-nia A. (2004): Enhancing of erythromycin production by
Saccharopolyspora erythraea with common and uncommon oils. Journal Of Industrial
Microbiology & Biotechnology 31(10):447-456.
Lyle, S. (2006): Fruit & Nuts. Timber Press Inc., Portland, p. 340-343.
Merava E. (2010): Fruit. Report of VUEPP. Bratislava, ISBN 978-80-8058-543-3.
Moore, A. (2007): Health Benefits of Cherries, Red Cherry Contains Rich Source of Anthocyanin
Antioxidants. http://autoimmunedisease.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_benefits_of_cherries,
(accessed 2010-01-15).
Richardson, A. (2009): Sour Cherry Anthocyanins, Reduce Oxidative Stress in Older Adults.
http://seniors-health-medicare.suite101.com/article.cfm/sour_cherry_anthocyanins, (accessed
2010-01-15).
Russell, K. (2003): EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conservation and use for Wild
cherry (Prunus avium). International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, 6 p.
Usenik, V., Fabi, J., tampar, F. (2008): Sugars, organic acids, phenolic composition and
antioxidant activity of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.). Food Chemistry 107:185192.
Vursavu, K., Kelebek, H., Selli, S. (2006): A study on some chemical and physico-mechanic
properties of three sweet cherry varieties (Prunus avium L.) in Turkey. Journal of Food
Engineering 74:568575.
Yarilgac T., Balta M. F., Ozrenk K. & Muradoglu F. (2005): Indigenous sour cherry (Prunus
cerasus L.) germplasm of lake van basin. Asian J. Plant Sci., 4: 558-561.
500
Growth and Yield Response of Soybean (Glycine max L.) to Wood Vinegar and
Fermented Liquid Bio-Fertilizer in Thailand

Pangnakorn, U.
1
, Watanasorn, S.
1
, & Chuenchooklin, S.

2
Key words: wood vinegar, fermented liquid bio-fertilizer, soybean (Glycine max L.)
Abstract
The effect of wood vinegar added to fermented liquid bio-fertilizer on growth and yield response of
soybean (variety Srisamrong1) was evaluated during the drought season. The experimentation plots
were located at the Research and Development Agricultural Center, Sukhothai, Thailand
experiment station. The experiment followed a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with
six treatments and three replications. The fermented liquid bio- fertilizer from herbs and wood
vinegar was evaluated with 6 treatments: 1) water as control; 2) wood vinegar; 3) derris +neem
seed+turmeric+molasses; 4) derris +tobacco +turmeric +molasses; 5) citronella grass +neem
seed +turmeric +molasses; 6) citronella grass +tobacco +turmeric +molasses. A ratio of 5:3:1:5
(kg: kg: kg: ml) was applied on the 3
rd
to 6
th

treatments and were fermented in wood vinegar at 50
cc/25 liters of water included with 12 g of microbial activator (LDD7). All of the treatments were
diluted with water in ratio 1:200 before spraying. Beginning at 15 days after planting, the 6
treatments were applied as foliage application at 7 days intervals a total of 8 times. The results
showed that yield and weight /100 seeds had a significantly different response to the application of
wood vinegar added to fermented liquid organic fertilizer. Particularly, the fifth treatment (rate of
citronella grass +neem seed +turmeric +molasses = 5:3:1:5) showed highest efficiency on average
yields and on 100 seed weight (g) with 979.19 kg/ha and 12.53 g respectively. The second treatment
(wood vinegar) showed the lowest efficiency on yields with only 812.5 kg/ha. However the number
of pod/plant in this treatment showed the highest significant efficacy to increase soil organic matter
compared to the other treatments.
Introduction
Soybean Glycine max (L.) merrill is one of the most important economic plants in Thailand. The
important problem of soybean cultivation in Thailand is low productivity per rai. One major cause
of low productivity is the outbreak of insect pests which leads to more application of chemical
pesticides. This creates a serious problem of chemical residue in the environment.Using fermented
liquid organic fertilizer from herbs such as derris, neem, turmeric, citronella grass, tobacco and
wood vinegar may offer a suitable substitute for chemical insecticides. This represents an
environmentally friendly method for soybean cultivation. Liquid organic fertilizer is a product from
bio-fermentation of vegetables, fruits, and animal wastes fermented with sugar and useful microbes.
These microbes help to break down nutrients which are valuable to plants. When the process is sub
crumbled by bacteria or microorganisms, the substances are liberated. The substances include
proteins, amino acids, organic acids, accelerating growth hormones, vitamins, and enzymes which
are useful for efficient growth in plants (Apai & Thongdeethae, 2001). Wood vinegar is an organic
compound which is suitable for organic farming.
1
Department of Agricultural Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, 65000, Thailand /
Postharvest Technology Innovation Center, Thailand E-mail udompornp@nu.ac.th
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok,
65000, Thailand.
Wood vinegar is a byproduct from charcoal production. It is a liquid generated from the gas
and combustion of fresh wood burning in an airless condition (Iwate kiln). When the gas from the
501
combustion is cooled, it condenses into liquid. Raw wood vinegar contains more than 200
chemicals, such as acetic acid, formaldehyde, ethyl-valerate, methanol, and tar. Wood vinegar has
been used in a variety of industrial, livestock, household and agricultural products. Wood vinegar
improves soil quality, eliminates pests, accelerates plant growth, and inhibits plant growth (Apai &
Thongdeethae, 2001). Therefore, the application of wood vinegar to fermented bio-fertilizer from
herbs for soybean growing is one organic agriculture method for reducing chemical use of both
pesticides and fertilizers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the liquid
fermented bio-fertilizer of many formulas from herbs and wood vinegar on a new variety of
soybean (Srisamrong1).
Materials and methods
The experiments were conducted during the drought season between December 2008 to March
2009 at the Research and Development Agricultural Center, Sukhothai province, Thailand
experiment station. The experimental plots were 2x5 meters and the data were collected in a
harvested area of 1 x 4 meters from a total of 36 plots. Soybeans (Srisamrong1) were planted by
sprinkling in rows for 50cm distance. Beginning at 15 days after planting, the 6 treatments of
fermented liquid organic fertilizer including water control were applied as foliage application at 7
day intervals a total of 8 times . All of the treatments were diluted with water in the ratio of 1:200
before spraying. The experiment was a RCBD (randomized complete block design) with 3
replications and 6 treatments as follows: The ratio of 5:3:1:5 (kg:kg:kg:ml) was applied on the
above 3
rd
to 6
th
Data Recording Soil nutrient content values were analyzed prior to planting and after
harvest. The yield components of soybean in terms of height (cm), limb, node length, seed number,
pod number, 100-seed weight (g) and yield (kg/ha) were recorded. The data were measured from a
1x4 m area of the plot and 13% of moisture randomly from 10 of soybeans.
treatments and were fermented in wood vinegar 50 cc/25 liters of water included
with 12 g of microbial activator (LDD7) (Annonymus, 2008).
Data Analysis The data were analyzed with ANOVA in Randomized Complete Block
Design (RCBD). Significance was determined using the Duncan new multiple ranges test (DMRT)
with Sirichais statistics program.
Tab. 1: Yield (kg/ha) of soybean (Srisamrong1) with different formulas of wood vinegar and
fermented liquid bio-fertilizer during the drought season in Sukhothai, Thailand
Treatments Yield(kg/ha)
1. control (water) 875.00
ab

2. wood vinegar 812.50
b

3. FLB formula1 (derris + neem seed + turmeric +molasses= 5:3:1:5) 875.00
ab

4. FLB formula2 (derris + tobacco + turmeric + molasses = 5:3:1:5) 833.31
ab

5. FLB formula3 (citronella grass + neem seed + turmeric + molasses= 5:3:1:5) 979.19
a

6. FLB formula4 (citronella grass + tobacco + turmeric + molasses = 5:3:1:5) 833.31
ab

F-test *
CV (%) 8.24
* = significant difference at level of confidence 95 % by DMRT method
Mean in a column by the same letter are not significantly different at the level by DMRT,
** FLB = Fermented Liquid Bio - Fertilizer
Tab. 2: Yield components of soybean (Srisamrong1) with different formulas of wood vinegar
and fermented liquid bio-fertilizer during the drought season in Sukhothai
Treatments
height(cm) node/plant pod/plant no. of
seed/plant
100seed
weight(g)
1.control (water) 29.13 7.4
14.60 25.43 12.13
ab

502
2. wood vinegar 30.20 7.7
16.17 25.87 11.76
ab

3. FLB formula1 30.31 7.4
14.60 24.87 11.65
ab

4. FLB formula2 30.10 7.7
16.03 28.93 11.35
b

5. FLB formula3 31.80 7.8
15.00 25.47 12.53
a

6. FLB formula4 29.73 7.8
15.17 26.17 11.19
b

F-test
ns ns ns ns *
CV (%)
7.48 10.60 22.16 27.83 9.80
* = significant difference at level of confidence 95 % by DMRT method
Mean in a column by the same letter are not significantly different at the level by DMRT.
Results
Table 1 showed yields of soybean (Srisamrong1) in response to the application of wood vinegar and
fermented liquid bio-fertilizer were significantly different. The highest yield of soybean
(Srisamrong1) in response to the application of wood vinegar and fermented liquid bio-fertilizer
occurred on the 5
th
treatment compared to the other treatments with 979.19 kg/hectare. Although
there was no significant effect of treatments on the yield components ofheight, node/plant,
pod/plant and number of seeds/plant. A significant difference was observed on weight of 100 seeds.
The fifth treatment (formula 4 : citronella grass + tobacco + turmeric + molasses) yielded the
highest 100-seed weight at 12.53 g (Table 2).
Discussion
Growth and yield response of soybean to the different formulations of wood vinegar added to
fermented liquid organic fertilizers were studied during the drought season at Sukhothai Province,
Thailand. During the experiment there was no rainfall, low %RH, and the highest temperature was
35-40 C. The fifth treatment showed the highest efficiency on the yields and yield components
such as height (cm), node/plant and weight of 100 seeds (gm) of soybean. The results indicate that
the fifth treatment (citronella grass + neem seed + turmeric + molasses = 5:3:1:5) had a significant
effect on yield and 100 seeds weight when compared with the other treatments. This treatment also
showed the highest organic matter (%OM) according to soil nutrient analysis. . This formulation
seems to be appropriate to increase soil fertility. Similarly, the result of a rainy season experiment at
Phitsanulok indicated that the highest % OM occurred on soils which received the same formulation
(Pangnakorn et al., 2009). The second treatment (wood vinegar) tended to yield the highest
efficiency as an insect repellent when compared with the other treatments which were fermented
from various kinds of herbs. Although in 2004, Chotitayangkul et al. reported that the application of
wood vinegar on soybean (KKU 5E) did not increase significantly the height, dry weight and yield
components. But they did find high efficiency on thegermination of soybean seed treated with wood
vinegar in ratio of 1:300. Similarly, in 2007, Chotitayangkul et al. (2007) indicated that the
application of wood vinegar at a ratio of 1:300 did not significantly increased yield and the yield
components of peanut but gave the highest pod/plant and yield and shelling percentage. An
additional application of only extracted substances had a lower effect on yield components than
mixing with bio-fertilizer and yeast (Mekki and Ahmed, 2005). Therefore, wood vinegar has the
potential to be used as a biopesticide for repelling the soybean insect pests. Application of wood
vinegar to fermented liquid bio-fertilizer from herbs for soybean cultivation is one organic
agriculture method reduce the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
Conclusions
503
Generally it can be concluded that applying fermented liquid bio-fertilizer to crop plants is an
effective method for increasing growth and yields of soybean. In addition, the wood vinegar showed
a trend towards high efficiency as an insect repellent.
Acknowledgments
The authors thankfully acknowledges the funding of Higher Education Commission and also wishes
to thank the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative, Thailand for
providing the soybean seeds used (variety Srisamrong1) in this study.
References
Annonymus (2008): Microbial activator LDD7. Soil Biotechnology for Increasing crop production
in Thailand. Office of soil biotechnology, Land development Department, Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand. pp 20-21.
Apai W., Thongdeethae S. (2001): Wood vinegar: new organic for Thai Agriculture. The 4
th

Toxicity Division Conference, Department of Agriculture pp. 166-169.
Chotitayangkul D., Romyen N., Mungprom P. (2004): Effect of wood vinegar on growth, yields and
seed quality of promising KKU 5E line soybean. Annual Agricultural Seminar for Year 2004,
pp. 257-265, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University.
Chotitayangkul D., Jokloy S., Wongkreaw S. (2007): Effect of wood vinegar on growth and yields
of peanut. Khon Kaen Agriculture Journal, 35 (1), 17-31.
Mekki B.B., Ahmed Amal G. (2005): Growth Yield and Seed Quality of Soybean (Glycine max L.).
As Affected by Organic Biofertilizer and Yeast Application Journal of Agriculture and
Biological Sciences 1(4)320-324.
Pangnakorn U., Watanasorn S., Kuntha C., Chuenchooklin S. (2009): Application of wood vinegar
to fermented liquid bio-fertilizer for organic agriculture on soybean. The International
Symposium on Go Organic 2009, The Approach of Organic Agriculture:New Markets, Food
Security and a Clean Environment, 19-21 August 2009, Bangkok, Thailand.
504
Production of Organic Seed of Groundnut: Strategies and Practices

Parshotam Kanani & Bhautik Savaliya
Department of Extension Education, College of Agriculture,
Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362001, Gujarat, India
Phone No. + 91-285-2672080-90 EXT 434
E-mail: prkanani@gmail.com

Abstract
Groundnut is the major oilseed crop of South Saurashtra region of Gujarat state of India. It
contributes a greater share in national economy due to its high export value and diversified
uses. During the production of groundnut many chemicals like Thiram and Captan for seed
treatment; Urea, DAP and Single Super Phosphate as chemical fertilizers; Monocrotophos,
Dimethoate and Endosulfan etc. for pest control; growth regulators and many chemicals for
storage of groundnut are widely used. Need for more groundnut production from limited
geographical area leads to indiscriminate use of these chemicals. These chemicals are having
their harmful and residual effects on soil, plants, animals and human being and they are
hazardous to nature.
But now people are awaked to reduce these hazards. They have started to adopt an
alternative to chemical farming i.e. organic farming. Organic farming is a production system,
which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides,
growth regulators and livestock feed additives. Adoption of organic farming system focus
attention on availability of seed material, which is organically produced. For the production
of such kind of seed there should be minimum use of chemicals and mainly organic and
traditionally prepared materials should be used in different phases of seed production and
storage.
To apply major and trace elements to groundnut crop organic manures like, farm yard
manure, compost, sewage and sludge, night soil, oil cakes, meat meal, blood meal, fish meal,
bio-fertilizers and vermi-composting can be adopted. Crop rotation, mechanical methods,
cultural methods and use of bio-pesticides, bio-control agents as well as traditional methods
for reducing pest, diseases and weeds should be encouraged. Use of Neem leaves, plant parts
and other indigenously prepared material for storage groundnut seed is very essential.
Thus for organic seed production of the groundnut, soil should be free from chemical
hazards. Nutrient supply, organic inputs with nature harmony, plant protection, production
and storage practices should be adopted. It is very important to concentrate on strategies for
creating real demand of organic seed by awareness, among the people about the importance
of safe and pure organic seed consumption for animals and human beings. Organic seed
producers, traders and consumers should be brought together so that producers can get
remunerative prices and consumers can get desired quality. Farmers should be provided
effective and sustainable organic farming practices by the research support. For this, more
concentrated organic farming research should be carried out and results should be
communicated to the farmers by extensive and integrated extension system. Thus, whole
process of production of organic seed of groundnut need package of production practices and
strategies for creating demand and sufficient supply system. This paper covers many of the
practices and strategies for organic seed production right from the seed treatment upto the
storage of groundnut seeds.
This may lead to increase in quality of produce, reduction of environmental hazards and
pollution. The main benefit of organic groundnut seed production is that the residues of
chemicals, which have long and harmful effects on health of consumers, can be reduced.
Key Words: Organic Farming, Groundnut, safe food, sustainable, environment
505
India is the major oil seed producing country with 21 per cent and 15 per cent worlds area
and production respectively. (Shakuntala Gupta, 2000). Groundnut is eulogized as King of
Oilseeds in India as it contributes 40 per cent of the total area and 30 per cent of total
production of oilseed crops. India ranks first in area (5 million hectares) and second in
production of groundnut (4.625 million tones) in the world (Singhal, 2003).
Groundnut is used mainly for table purpose. Nowadays, there is a trend to use groundnut for
different purpose by value addition. More than 50 food items can be prepared from the
groundnut kernels. As groundnut is used as direct consumption by human being and animals,
its quality directly affects the health of human being and animals.
Need for more targeted production from the limited area forces the farmers to use modern
high yielding varieties of groundnut which are more fertilizer responsive and sensitive to pest
and diseases. Significant higher yield of groundnut was achieved by use of High Yielding
Varieties, high level of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals. Such practices of modern
crop production technology has considerably raised the output but has created certain
problems like land degradation, residue of pesticides in farm produce, pollution of
atmosphere and water. Therefore, it is imperative to find out the economically viable,
environmentally suitable, eco-friendly and sustained system of farming. One such an efficient
and alternative agriculture system that will help to overcome such problems of soil
degradation, declining of soil fertility, over exploitation of natural resources and excessive
chemicalization of agriculture is organic farming.
Organic farming is an alternative agricultural production system, which avoids or largely
excludes the use of synthetically compound fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulating
hormones. It is also considered as a system of cultivation with use of organic manures to
maintain soil fertility and tilth to supply all essential plant nutrients in suitable amount and
aspects of biological pest control methods to control insects, pests and weeds.
Thus, organic farming focuses attention in two aspects environmental safety and food
quality. Organic farming includes the production of crop by applying organic inputs in soil.
For the production of organic groundnut, which is very nutritious and free from any hazards,
a seed produced by organic farming should be needed. As groundnut is highly self-pollinated
crop, no extra care other than isolation distance (3 meter) and roguging is required. The
practices which are alternative to the modern seed production technique of groundnut are
discussed as under.

Selection of Varieties:
- The traditional varieties or varieties with higher resistance towards pest and diseases
should be selected. However, use of genetically modified seed should be avoided.
- Species and varieties cultivated should, as far as possible, be adapted to the soil and
climatic conditions so less care is required for plant protection, growth and development of
plants as well as pods.
In choice of varieties genetic diversity should be taken into consideration.
In Gujarat agro climatic region of India, mainly there are three types of groundnut is
cultivated:
Bunch Varieties: GG-2, GG-5
Spreading Varieties: GG-10, GG-13
Semi-spreading Varieties: GG-20

Land preparation:
Field for sowing of groundnut should be ploughed, harrowed and leveled well to improve
sufficient aeration for growth and development of plant and pods. Land should be deep
ploughed in summer season so that the hibernated larvae, pupae and eggs of insects are
506
exposed to sun and are eaten by the birds. It also improves the structure and physical
properties of the soil.
To control soil borne diseases like stem rot, solution of Trichoderma hargianum strain 148
litre (1.38 x 103 microbes/ml) is mixed with 30 kg wheat straw and should be applied in
furrows. At the time of land preparation Farm Yard Manure@10 t/ha should be added in the
soil.

Seed Treatment:
Groundnut seed is mainly treated for two purposes.
To facilitate symbiotic N fixation.
Groundnut is legume crop and possesses symbiotic relationship with N fixing bacteria
Rhizobium. These bacteria form nodules on groundnut roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen
into soil. The crop requires nitrogen at initial stage of growth. Groundnut seeds should be
treated with Rhizobium biofertilizer @600 g/ha fixes 20-25 kg N/ha and increases yield by
10-25 per cent instead of applying chemical fertilizers.
To protect the crop from seed and soil borne diseases.
In groundnut major seed and soil borne diseases are collar rot (Aspergillus niger) and stem
rot (Sclerotium rolfsii). Seeds are treated with Thirum or Carbendazim or Mencozeb @ 3g/kg
of seed to control these diseases. Instead of these chemicals, biocontrol agent Trichoderma
should be used for controlling these diseases. Seed treatment with Trichoderma Spp @ 4 g/kg
of seed with soil application of Castor cake @ 500 kg/ha and Trichoderma Spp @ 25 kg/ha
reduced collar rot incidence by 56.52% (Annon., 2003).

Nutrient Management:
Nutrients are indispensable for growth and development of any crop. Groundnut requires
12.5 kg N and 25 kg P2O5 per hectare. To supply these nutrients farmers prominently use the
fertilizers like Urea, Diammonium Phosphate and Single Super Phosphate. In organic
farming, to supply major and trace elements to groundnut crop these chemical fertilizers can
be replaced by following sources.
Organic Manures:
Organic manures are of two types: bulky organic manures and concentrated organic
manures. Most utilizing organic manure in groundnut is farm yard manure. In a field
experiment of three years, among all the treatments including application of chemical
fertilizers, FYM@ 10 t/ha gave significantly higher yield (Annon., 2002). Vaghamshi et al
(1998) reported that there was increase in pod yield of groundnut and pods per plant by
addition of Gypsum@ 1 t/ha followed by FYM@ 10 t/ha. Gypsum functions as soil
amendment and also improves soil physical condition.
Bio-fertilizers:
Biofertilizers play an important role in biological N fixation, availability or uptake of
nutrients through solubilization or increased absorption, stimulation of plant growth through
hormonal action or antibiosis or by decomposition of crop residues.
Treatment of Rhizobium inoculation fixes 20-25 kg N/ha and increases yield by 10-25 per
cent in pulses. Asha Mehta et al (1995) concluded that application of bacterial culture (P.
strata) significantly increased the pod and haulm yield of groundnut.
The application of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobia as seed innoculant positively
influenced the groundnut growth and yield and also enhanced the haulm yield, nodule
number, pod number, shelling percentage and seed weight. Besides, it also improved the
nutrient uptake and significantly increased available N and Phosphorus content in soil
(Annon., 2002).
Vermicompost:
507
It is a method of making compost with the use of earthworms, which generally live in soil,
eat biomass and excrete it in digested form. In general, vermicompost can be utilized as a
substitute of Farm Yard Manure.
Other additives, which can be used as substitute of chemical fertilizers for supplying the
nutrients to groundnut, are compost, sewage and sludge, night soil, oil cakes, meat meal,
blood meal, fishmeal and green manuring.

Interculturing and Weed Control:
The competition for nutrients, space and sunlight should be decreased by controlling the
weeds. In production of organic seed of groundnut use of herbicides should be avoided and as
an alternative to this, hand weeding, interculturing and mulching should be adopted. This will
also facilitate healthy environment for crop without any hazards.

Plant Protection:
Insect-Pests:
Insects and pests are major threats for production of groundnut seed. Major pest attacking
groundnut are Aphid, Jassid, Thrips, Leaf minor, Spodoptera and Heliothis. To control these
pests, farmers are using pesticides like Dimethoate, Monocrotophos, Endosulphan and many
more and they have highly residual effects in seeds and soil. So, biological, cultural and
mechanical pest control measures should be adopted rather than these chemicals.
Many farmers in India are using traditionally made solutions for the control of these pests
since many years. Senguttuvan (1999) revealed that different neem products, Vitex leaf
extract and Eucalyptus leaf extract were effective against Scirtothrips dorsalis in groundnut
crop. Sahayaraj and Sekar (1996) shown that Vitex negundo leaf extract was effective in
controlling Spodoptera in groundnut. Sahayaraj and Paulraj (1998) concluded that plant
extracts of Azadirachta indica, Pongamia glabra and Calotropis gigantia were toxic to the last
instar larvae of groundnut leaf minor (Aproaerema modicella). Neem oil at 5 per cent
concentration was effective against the Jassid (B. hortensis).
Diseases:
Major diseases of groundnut are leaf spots, rust, stem rot and collar rot. To control these
diseases, use of bio-control agents and plant products should be used instead of chemicals.
Parakhiya et al (1998) observed that the suspension of Trichoderma harzianum was found
effective for control of stem rot (Sclerotium rolfsii) disease of groundnut. Trichoderma
harzianum mixed with wheat husk (200 ml sq. m.) and added in furrow before sowing
consistently reduced the disease i.e. 28.48 per cent as compared to check. Parakhiya et al
(1998) reported that Bacillus Spp., Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma harzianum
were found moderately effective against collar rot (Aspergillus niger) as compared to
fungicides. Ganapathy and Narayansamy (1990) inferred that Neem oil (1%) and Nerium leaf
extract (10%) reduced the incidence of leaf spot and rust and increased pod yield of
groundnut over control.

Harvesting and Storing:
After harvesting the groundnut crop, it should be dried well in sunlight to control the
aflatoxin production and then it is stored in gunny begs in ventilated rooms by covering it
with Neem leaves. Traditional practices for storage of groundnut seeds should also be used.

Strategies:
It is very important to concentrate on strategies for creating real demand of organic seed by
awareness among the people about the importance of safe and pure organic seed consumption
for animals and human beings. Organic seed producers, traders and consumers should be
508
brought together so that producers can get remunerative prices and consumers can get desired
quality. Farmers are generally not adopting the organic farming practices because they are not
giving higher yields during initial years and are not supported by research system. For this,
more concentrated organic farming research should be carried out. The organic farming
practices are sustainable and economically viable to the farmers on long run. Therefore,
effective and sustainable organic farming practices for groundnut seed production should be
communicated to the farmers by extensive and integrated extension system. Following is the
model for practices and strategies for production and promotion of organic seed of groundnut.

























Thus, by adopting these practices and strategies, production and promotion of organic
groundnut seed can be achieved on large scale for food security. It also increases the quality
of produce and reduces the pollution hazard to the environment. The main advantage of this
production system is ecological balance, low cost of cultivation, clean environment and
nutritious foods without residues that harm to human, animals and beneficial insects.

References:
Anonymous, (2002). Recycling of farm wastes in groundnut production. Progress Report-
2001. Kharif Groundnut Workshop. Dharwad, April 22-24, 2002.
Anonymous, (2003). Integrated management of major disease of groundnut at different
locations. Progress Report-2002. Kharif Groundnut Workshop. Banglore, April 11-13, 2003.
Asha Mehta, Malavia, D.D., Kaneria, B.B. and Khanpara, V.D. (1995). Ind. J. Agron.,
40(4):709-710
Ganapathy, T. and Narayansamy, P. (1990). Effect of plant products of the incidence of
major diseases of groundnut. International Arachis Newsletter. 19:36-38
Parakhiya, A.M., Akbari, L.F. and Vaishnav, M.U. (1998a). Biological control of stem rot
(Sclerotium rolfsii) of groundnut. GAU Res J. 24(1):106-108
Sahayaraj, K. and Sekar, R. (1996). Efficacy of plant extracts against tobacco caterpillar
larvae in groundnut. International Arachis Newsletter. 16:38-39
Senguttuvan, T. (1999). Efficacy of plant products against Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis
Hood) in groundnut. International Arachis Newsletter. 19:36-38
Production of organic seed of Groundnut
1. Soil should be free from chemical hazards.
2. Selection of natural habitat varieties.
3. Seed treatment with natural materials.
- Trichoderma Spp.
4. Nutrient supply
- Organic manures: Farm yard manure
- Bio-fertilizers: Rhizobium
- Vermi-compost
5. Interculturing and Weeding
- Hand weeding mulching interculturing
6. Plant protection
- Bio-control agents, Plant products
- Indigenous plant protection practices
7. Storage
- Traditional practices, Neem leaves
1. Awareness among consumers about pure and
safe organic groundnut seed.
2. Regulated markets for organic commodities
should be established
3. Value addition products should be marketed
4. Bringing together the organic producers,
traders and consumers on same platform.
5. Organizing exhibition and fairs.
6. Providing effective and sustainable organic
farming practices by research support.
7. Effective and integrating extension system for
communicating organic campaign.
8. Awards, rewards, prizes and recognition to
organic farming adopters.
Organic Groundnut Seed
Safe food and Sustainable agriculture
Practices Strategies
509
Shakuntala Gupta. (2000). Acerage response of major oilseed crops in Punjab. Agricultural
Situation in India, 12: 733-738.
Singhal, V. (2003). Indian Agriculture 2003. Indian Economics Data Research Center,
Mayapuri, New Delhi, pp. 398.
Vaghamshi, J.B., Patel, H.C. and Patel, J.C. (1998). Response of summer groundnut
(Arachis hypogaea L.) Var. GG-2 to soil amendments, biological and chemical source of
Nitrogen and Phosphorus under South Gujarat condition. GAU Res J. 24(1):83-85
510
Bioponic Cultivation (a New Technology) VS Hydroponics

Pawan Singhania 1 & Archana Singhania 2
Biodynamic Landscape & Agriculture Consultants
India
biogrow@vsnl.net
www.bioagro.co.in

Key words: Hydroponics, Bioponic, Biovedic, Biodynamic, Homoeopathy

Abstract
Hydroponics is the conventional method for soil less cultivation where primarily crops are fed by
chemical fertilizers. The medium is inert and lacks many components of a Living Soil. Bioponics
adds those components, including the Life giving Formative Forces by use of Biodynamic,
Biovedic and Homoeopathy Preparations. Advantages, Disadvantages of both systems are discussed.
Experimental example of the Plants grown primarily under Hydroponics, subsequently converted to
Bioponics, was a U Turn from dying stage to complete recovery to healthy growth shows clear
evidence of superiority of Bioponic system over Hydroponics. The term BIOPONIC is coined by
the first author out of his research experience over 10 years.

Introduction
Soil less cultivation is usually known as Hydroponics. The plants nutritional requirements are met
with chemical formulations. This requires good knowledge of chemistry on the part of the farmer or
gardener. Besides, I do not think any such work has been done where one can use any universal
chemical formulae on any particular crop, anywhere in the world, which can be applied
universally and the grower can cultivate his crop up to its optimum, without any problem.

Features of Hydroponic system
1. Cultivation is done on inert medium like sand, gravel, glass wool, cinder, vermiculite,
perlite, etc.
2. Requires initial capital investment to construct benches and fertigation tank, etc.
3. Requires sound knowledge of soil and plant chemistry.

Advantages of Hydroponic system
1. The plant growth can be monitored and nutrient demand can be balanced, by experts.
2. The yield can be increased.
3. The quality can be standardized.
4. Round the year cultivation can be done, under controlled conditions.
5. The plants deficiency and toxicity symptoms can be recognized.

1 Biodynamic Landscape & Agriculture Consultants, 39/1 Central Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata-
700032, India. E.mail: biogrow@vsnl.net Internet www.bioagro.co.in

2. Diet Therapy Clinic, 39/1, Central Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032, India. E.mail:
archanadietician@biagro.co.in Internet www.bioagro.co.in

Drawbacks of Hydroponic system
1. The medium needs to be sterilized, a complicated process which is not possible often,
when needs to be handled in large quantity.
Incidentally, one should realize the difference between sterilization (where all
microorganisms are killed, even the beneficial) and disinfection, where only pathogenic
organisms are killed.
511
2. Fertigation must be carried out in time. Any lapse will lead to development of deficiency or
toxicity symptoms.
2. Watering must be done in time. One cannot be negligent on this, especially during the hot
summer months, even for a day.
3. The EC level often goes high. One needs to keep constant check on this. This service is
scarcely available to small growers in unorganized sectors. Often time taken by the
Analytical Labs is too long, by which time the damage is already done.
4. The plants are fed completely in terms of chemistry. The other components of the soil like
the microbial life, humus factor, biochemical factors are missing. This obviously will not
make a complete plant as we visualize under the Bioorganic or Biodynamic system.

Majority of the farmers and gardeners are illiterate in terms of sciences related to cultivation of
plants, more particularly so in soil and plant chemistry. Therefore, Hydroponics is the field only for
the plant nutritionists. I thought of designing a system that would be very simple, easily followed by
the most illiterate farmer or even a child gardener; a system that can eliminate all the drawbacks of
the Hydroponic system. I therefore, developed the simplest system that would incorporate the other
components of a living soil and produce a complete plant, balanced in all ways, grow free of all
pest and diseases. I married the Hydroponic system with the Biological system and named the union
BIOPONIC CULTURE.

Features of Bioponic system
1. The same inert mediums could be used. No sterilization is required.
2. Life factor is introduced in the inert medium.
3. The infrastructure for the fertigation may or may not be installed. But, if it is installed, the
facility can be used to feed the plants with tailor made Bio Teas, Compost teas,
Homoeopathy preparations, etc.
4. The inert medium is activated by biological inputs like VITALIZER formulations,
BIOHUMUS-6X OR 10X, BD and Bio-Vedic preparations, friendly microbes, etc. The
antagonistic micro flora takes care of the pathogens.
5. The plants vital forces are enhanced and the cosmic formative forces are balanced by
judicial use of Biodynamic, Biovedic and Homoeopathy preparations.
6. The BD Calendar is followed. We also add the Astronomical guidance given in Krishi
Parasara*

Advantages of Bioponic system
1. The plants are not required to be irrigated everyday. Even if one misses to water the plants
any day, it can safely be delayed.
2. There can never be any nutrient toxicity.
3. The humus fraction helps as the buffer.
4. The microbial life is supported by the activated organic matter used.
5. The pathogens are controlled by the dominating friendly microbes incorporated through
VITALIZER, BD and BV preparations, Bio fungicides, antagonistic strains of microbes,
etc.
6. The inert medium is impregnated by Life giving forces, making the medium a LIVING
medium
7. The yield increased by 10-15% in comparison to HYDROPONIC system.

One example of curing plants growing under hydroponic system

About 3000 chrysanthemum plants were under HYDROPONIC cultivation system. Due to bad
weather and faulty nutrient supply, the plants became weak and were slowly moving towards
512
termination. The plant leaves showed lack of AURA, became discolored with signs of pest and
disease attack.

We stopped all chemical treatment and brought all the plants under BIOPONIC cultivation. In this
case the Bioponic medium was prepared by mixing sieved cinder 80% and coarse sand 20%. The
medium was immediately treated with an All-In-One Biological product, VITALIZER-FO @200
gms. Per pot and a tailor made LFC (Liquid Feed Concentrate) made of the following ingredients:

Water 20 liters
Wheat flour 1 Kg
Bengal gram Flour 1 Kg.
Curd 500 gms
Honey 100 gms
Lime 800 gms
CPP 1 unit*
Horn Clay 1 unit*
BD preparations 1 unit*
Dulcamara 30 (Homoeopathy preparation) 10 drops

These were dynamised for 30 minutes in 2 liters of water and mixed with the main
concentrate which was further dynamised for another 30 minutes.

Doses: The above was diluted in 1 part of LFC with 9 parts of water. Each plant
received about 500 ml of this once every 10 days, throughout the growing phase.

The plants were further treated with two applications of Dulcamara 30 (to remove
stress from plants caused due to continuous heavy rains with significant sign of return
of AURA and of BD501 once when the Moon was under Air/Light and again when it
was opposite Saturn, to strengthen the plants.

Results
1. A proved example of bringing life back to all dying plants. It should be noted that
HYDROPONIC is based on use of dead chemicals.
2. The plants showed immediate response.
3. All discoloration, pest and disease symptoms diminished to zero level
4. The leaves started glowing and showed emergence of unusual wax like substance, never
seen in chemically treated plants.
Conclusion

BIOPONIC system was found to be much superior to the HYDROPONIC system. BIOPONIC
system can emerge as substitute to and improvement over HYDROPONIC system. It can prove to
be ideal for arid and semi-arid regions of the world, especially where enough irrigation water and
good soil is not available.

Almost all flowering and vegetable crops, shrubs and Garden Lawns have responded positively and
have shown significantly superior results to Hydroponic or even to soil cultivated crops. The
Bioponic medium is undoubtedly more suitable for cultivating crops especially in regions with
heavy rainfall and as a replacement to heavy soils.

Further research with different commercial crops should be carried out in the world, particularly in
arid and semi-arid regions of the world.

513
It is possible that a universal method can be developed which will make possible to grow any crop
free of any pests or diseases, anywhere in the world, where the growers can cultivate their crop up
to its optimum, without any problems within the Principles of Organic Agriculture.

Book
Krishi Parasara (Translated by Majumdar and Banerji and Published by The Asiatic Society in
1960) is an ancient Indian Literature in Agriculture, which is far more exhaustive with
definite information and guidance than what we got from Rudolf Steiner. The ocean of
information given on various agriculture aspects given in this requires research.
514
Biovedic Cultivation of Herbs & Medicinal plants

Pawan Singhania
1
& Archana Singhania
2

Biodynamic Landscape & Agriculture Consultants, India

Key words: Biovedic Agriculture, Biodynamic, Homoeopathy, Herbs, medicinal plants

Abstract
The Herbal and Medicinal Plants that are used for their medicinal values and healing purpose are
being cultivated with chemicals and poisons. Crops grown with chemicals are constitutionally
weak and are devoid of Healing Properties, Vital Forces, Energy and Vitality. Toxic Residues in the
crops are raising alarming signals.

The concept of ORGANIC as is understood today is misleading!!!. Everything is NOT SAFE in the
conventional Organic Inputs!! They would still have the pest problems, soil compaction, have
adverse impact on the soil fertility, quality of the produce and in the long term production will not
be sustainable and might even lead to some problematic and dangerous situations. The growers
have been put into a VICIOUS CIRCLE

BIOVEDIC AGRICULTURE includes the principles of Biodynamic and Vedic agriculture.

Numerous field experiments under various crops and varied soil conditions conducted since 1978
showed significant and positive results. Chemicals and PPCs reduced to ZERO. Yield increased by
20% to 60%. Additional Biovedic Preparations with Barley, Sesame, Papaya and others have been
developed.

There is possibility of creating rain and alter climatic conditions by using BD Preparations as
SEQUENTIAL SPRAY.

Various Biological range of products like Energized Liquids, Potentised Alchemical Botanical
Elixirs, Triturated Biochemical Medicines,, Vitamins, Hormonal sprays, especially formulated
Liquid Feedings, various Compost Teas, Foliar Sprays, Potentised Bio-Vedic Preparations, Recipes
given in ancient Indian literatures and Homeopathy drugs have been used, on NEED BASIS with
success.

Biovedic approach could produce plants with balanced and better constituents, medicinal values,
health, vitality, weight, quality, oil contents in aromatic plants, etc. The Pharmacists of Homeopathy,
Ayurveda, Unani medicines would produce drugs with much better quality and healing properties.
Research is required to be done with use of Homeopathy drugs, Radionics, study influence of
Planetary hours, the 27 Nakshatras, the usefulness of the various Yantras, Mantras and Tantras,
Agnihotras, Music, the measurement of the Aura field by Kirlian Photography, etc.

1. Biodynamic Landscape & Agriculture Consultants, 39/1 Central Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata-
700032, India. E.mail: biogrow@vsnl.net

2. Diet Therapy Clinic, 39/1, Central Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032, India. E.mail:
archanadietician@biagro.co.in
Introduction
Soil is the basis of life. Our health depends upon the Health of the Soil and the food we eat.
Chemicalisation of agriculture may have increased yield but have failed to maintain health.
Unfortunately, to meet the commercial ends even the Herbal and Medicinal Plants that are used for
their medicinal values and healing purpose are being cultivated with chemicals and poisons. How
515
can such chemically grown Herbs and Medicinal Plants impart health properties? Crops grown with
chemicals are constitutionally weak and are devoid of Healing Properties, Energy and Vitality.
Toxic Residues in the crops are raising alarming signals.

The concept of ORGANIC as is understood today is misleading. Everything in organic input too is
NOT SAFE. The uses of chemicals have put the growers into a VICIOUS CIRCLE. They need to
know how to break out of this.

Every soil has its inherent fertility level that is affected by our soil management. The soil fertility
level is the true capital of any farmer that must be increased. While in Organic system, the fertility
remains constant, in case of Chemicals, the soil minerals become increasingly bound (tied up); the
soil's microbial life diminishes, resulting into decline in the inherent fertility level. That is why, we
have to use fertilizers at increasing doses to maintain the yield but in the long run, the ratio of
output (yield) declines and the soil becomes dead. It is not practical to replace the soil (especially
in large areas) and it is not necessary also that it will be a better one. In the Biological system
(which is intended for long term), the yield increases with the increasing soil fertility. With the
fertility increment, the input decreases unlike in other systems. The reduction in inputs and
increment in yield along with the soil fertility, the profit is also increased, unlike in the others. The
crops grow pest and disease free that saves upon the cost of plant protection chemicals. Even the
use of organic or bio-pesticides can be totally eliminated. This is achieved because of development
of the constitutional health, strong defensive mechanism, vital forces and total soluble solids.

Method, Materials, Discussion & Results
Steiner
1
described Biodynamic Preparations BD500-BD508, which are used to Heal the Earth. We
need more of BD 500 on tropical soils, especially on the sandy soils (under desert conditions),
which are extremely low in organic matter content. The high siliceous force in the sandy soil
requires to be counteracted by this Earthy preparation.

On the other hand, the use of silica preparation, BD 501 may need to be restricted because of high
light intensity under tropical conditions except of course under certain special circumstances such
as in foggy conditions, rainy days and to revive plants under stress. Its use in the desert conditions
may not be required at all, where the silica force is already in abundance.

Calcutta has high rainfall. The field has sandy soil. Okra was planted. Because of the silica force,
the plant growth was stunted and the fruits were fibrous. The BD 501 made it still rougher. Even
plenty of organic manure could not help in the first season. The same variety grown in a good fertile
loamy soil produced full height normal crop with abundant good quality ladyfingers.

Understanding and judicial use of BD preps. is essential. A wrong use will not produce the desired
effect. The soil has to be first sensitized and enlivened by increasing its life force to utilize the
subtle force introduced by BD preps. This cannot be achieved in chemically abused soil.

Cosmiculture: George Lakhovsky
2
proved that there exists a multitude of radiation, of all
frequencies, emanating from the movement of planets, the distant stars particularly, the Milky Way.
They penetrate and transverse our atmosphere unceasingly. The combined action of the Moon and
the Sun results into tidal waves twice a day, that shows that the most extensive mechanical work
taking place on the Earth is of Astral origin. These radiations of very high frequency and of very
small amplitudes (invisible and imperceptible to our senses) are susceptible of producing
infinitesimal effects. The movements of these planets influence our weather, various organs of our
plant (such as root, stem, leaf, flowers, fruits and seeds) and the pest and disease infestation. These
Cosmic Radiations also affects the Life Force or Energy level of our plants

516
BIOVEDIC AGRICULTURE: The use of Planetary Rhythm, Peppering and principles of Earth,
Water, Air/Light and Fire was followed in Ancient India. BD agriculture. repeats what is in Vedas
and considers an additional element, Space.

Parasar
3
and Surpala
4
gave practical directions, relating to influence of all Planets, 27 Nakshatras
(stars); determination of rainfalls by studying the clouds, wind direction; Do's and Don'ts on
different Lunar Mansions, auspicious and forbidden days and dates, weekdays and many cultivation
practices, weed, pest and disease control, etc.

The BD practitioners may refer to Oriental literatures to make further progress. I have combined the
sciences of Biological + Dynamic +VEDIC principles and have named it BIOVEDIC
AGRICULTURE. Additional Biovedic Preparations with Barley, Sesame, Papaya and other
indigenous plants under the domain of various planets are being developed. The BD preps have
been further enriched with numerous biological and energized additives. Biovedic Preparations
could be made following Junius
5
.

Sequence of weekdays, planetary hours, etc. to produce quality preparations: According to Junius,
Every plant is under the domain of one or the other planet. To reap the best of their healing
properties, all preparations should be made at appropriate time. According to Junius, every day of
the week is ruled by a planet e.g. Sunday by the Sun, Monday by Moon, Tuesday by Mars,
Wednesday by Mercury, Thursday by Jupiter, Friday by Venus and Saturday by Saturn. The
following sequence of the planetary hour always applies. Sunday, Friday, Wednesday, Monday,
Saturday, Thursday and Tuesday. The first hour of a day in each case is ruled by the planet of the
day. The rest follows the above sequence.

Ever since 1978, numerous on field experiments under various crops and agro-climatic conditions
have been conducted in India by us with favourable, significant and positive results. The
Preparations have produced better quality composts. Reduced the chemicals and PPCs to ZERO.
The yield has been increased by 20% to 60% and more. Experiments have been conducted with
SEQUENTIAL SPRAYS of the BD Preparations to create rain and alter climatic conditions.
Various Compost Teas, Foliar Sprays, Potentised Bio-Vedic Preparations, recipes given in ancient
Indian literatures and Homeopathy drugs have been used, on NEED BASIS with guaranteed success.
The normal recommendation rate of compost application in organic and biodynamic agriculture is
about 20 MT per acre. The Biovedic compost is used @ 500 Kgs. to 1 MT per acre only! The actual
quantity and frequency of doses is determined by the crop demand, soil status, agro-climatic
conditions, etc.

Homeopathy Remedies: We are also experimenting with Homeopathy remedies which also function
through drug forces. Salicylicum Acidum 30 and 200 potencies, Silicea 30, Thuja Q, Kali Iod 200
(dynamised) on various herbs, medicinal and other crops have shown reduction in diseases like
Powdery mildew, rust, and 100% control of post harvest fruit rot in tomato and mango fruits.
Dulcamara and Silicea have also been used to steer out the plants from the stress caused due to
heavy rainfall and under extremely warm and humid conditions. Dr. Vaikunthanath Das Kaviraj
6

developed Agro Homeopathy, prescribing remedies for control of insect, pest and diseases.

GEOMANCY: The Earth has various emanating fields named as Hartmann Grid, Curie Grid, etc.
The grid lines and their intersecting nodal points being weaker, any planting on them are avoided.
They drain out the energy from the plant. These fields and the energy of the soil, soil inputs, plants,
etc. can be measured with Lecher Antennae.

Brix (Refractive index): The Brix reading (to measure total soluble solids) is taken on the field
during all stages of crop growth, for all crops grown.
517

Conclusion
The observation has clear indications that mismanagement or over manuring as under the Organic
system is also not advisable, rather a rational and scientific approach is required. The results under
the Biovedic system are clearly superior to the Chemical and Organic methods, in the first year
itself. Biovedic plants are balanced and have better constituents, medicinal values, health and
vitality.
.
The Pharmacists of Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani medicines would produce drugs with much
better quality and healing properties than traditionally managed organics or with chemicals. A sick
or poor quality plant can produce only poor or weak medicines. How can an unhealthy plant
produce medicines for removing ailments?

Research is required to be done with use of Homeopathy drugs, Radionics, study influence of
Planetary hours, the 27 Nakshatras, the usefulness of the various Yantras, Mantras and Tantras,
Agnihotras, Music, the measurement of the Aura field with Kirlian Photograhy (Bio-electrography).
etc.

References
Rudolf Steiner (1974): Agriculture, Bio-Dynamic Agriculture Association, Rudolf Steiner House,
35 Park Road, London, N.W.1.
Georges Lakhovsky (1988), The Secret of Life Electricity, Radiation and Your Body, The
Noontide Press 1822, Newport Blvd., suite 183, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Mazumdar and Banerjee (1960), Krsi Parasara;, The Asiatic Society, India.
Surpala (1996): Vrkshayurveda The science of plant life. (English Translation by Nalini
Sadhale).The Asian History Foundation, India.
Manfred M. Junius (1979): Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy. Inner Traditions International
Ltd., 377, Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10016, USA.
Vaikunthanath Das Kaviraj (2006), Homoeopathy for Farm and Garden, Mark Moodie
Publications, Oaklands Park, Newnham-on-severn, Glouchester, GL14 1EF,

518
Recycling of Vegetable Crop Residues for Vermiccomposting and ITS
Response on Growth and Yield of Carrot (Daucus carota L.)

Ranjit Chatterjee* and J. C. Jana

Department of Vegetable and Spice Crops
Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya,
Pundibari, Cooch Behar-736165(W.B), India
*Email: ranchat22@rediffmail.com

Key words: Vegetable crop residues, Vermicompost, Carrot growth and yield.

Abstract
India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world and contributed more than
14% of the world production. After harvesting of the economic part an enormous amount of
vegetable crop residues remained unutilized and dumped in nearby field. These residues are soft,
succulent and rich in nutrients, instead of disposing, it can be used as source of organic residues
and the embedded nutrients can be utilized through compost production. In the present study
vegetable crop residues from different families were recycled for vermicomposting and their
effect were evaluated on carrot root production. Six different vegetable crop residues from
different crop families and their combinations thus a total of 10 treatment combinations were
used for vermicomposting for a period of 90 days employing the earthworm Eisenia fetida
during March to June of 2007 and 2008 at the University farm of UBKV, Pundibari, West
Bengal, India. The treatments comprised of residues from solanaceous vegetables (T
1
),

leguminous vegetables (T
2
), cruciferous vegetables (T
3
), cucurbitaceous vegetables (T
4
),
mixtures of solanaceous, leguminous, cruciferous and cucurbitaceous vegetable residues at
1:1:1:1(T
5
), non legume : legume vegetable residues at 1:1 (T
6
), non legume : legume vegetable
residues at 2:1 (T
7
), sole kitchen residues (T
8
) and sole vegetable market residues (T
9
) along with
a control cow dung (T
10
) were laid out in complete randomized design with three replications
using earthen pots of 40 cm diameter and 30 cm height. The prepared vermicompost from
different treatments were applied at 5t/ha in the field and carrot (cv. Early Nantes) was raised
during winter season of 2007-08 and 2008-09. The results revealed that among the vermicompost
treated plots T
8
(vermicompost prepared from kitchen wastes) recorded maximum shoot length
( 34.35cm ) and shoot weight ( 68.16 g ) but highest root length ( 19.24 cm ), root volume ( 73
ml) as well as root weight ( 68.43 g) and above all root yield ( 164.21 q/ha) were recorded with
the treatment T
7
(vermicompost prepared from non legume:legume vegetable wastes at 2:1). The
finding revealed that the treatment T
7
emerged as an effective source of organic nutrients for
production of organic carrot.

519
Management of Root Knot Nematode with Trichoderma Harzianum and Spent
Mushroom Compost

Saifullah and Baharullah Khattak
Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan
Email: abdulkafi.saifullah@gmail.com

Key words: Root knot nematode, Trichoderma harzianum, spent mushroom compost

Abstract
Trichoderma harzianum and spent mushroom compost alone and in combination were tested
against root knot nematode in tomato under field conditions at Heroshah & J abban in Malakand
division of Pakistan. The experiment consisted of five treatments; application of T. harzianum
grown on spent mushroom compost, root coating with T. harzianum, application of spent mushroom
compost alone, root coating +spent mushroom compost and check. The data were recorded on: 1)
Number of flowers per plant 2) Number of tomato fruits per plant 3) Plant height (cm), 4) Root
weight (g) 5) Number of galls per root system 6) Fruit yield per plant (kg). Significant differences
were observed among different treatments. T. harzianum and spent mushroom compost both
suppressed nematodes and enhanced growth of the tomato plants. Data regarding yield and growth
parameters, root coating with the fungus in combination with spent mushroom compost inoculated
with T. harzianum (T
4
) was found best among the treatments applied.

Introduction
Root-knot nematodes are one of the most important pathogens of tomato (Thompson and
Kelley, 1979). These nematodes are sedentary endoparasites and are considered to be the most
serious among the plant-parasitic nematodes (Maqbool et al, 1986) with a host range of more than
2000 species of crop plants (Barker, 1985). They cause unlimited losses to tomato crop throughout
the world especially in developing countries. Average crop losses due to these nematodes are about
25% and in individual fields may reach to 60% (Sasser & Carter, 1982).
Trichoderma sp. have been an exceptionally good model to study as biocontrol agent for soil
borne plant pathogens (Samuels, 1996). Reduction of M. javanica infection with several isolates of
T. lignorum and T. harzianum has been reported (Spiegel and Chet, 1998). Parasitism of T.
harzianum on potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiences was studied in vitro by Saifullah and
Thomas (1996). The organic amendments such as leaves of cabbage, mustard, radish, carrot, dried
algal catch and spent mushroom compost have been used against many root diseases and nematodes
(Kaul and Chhabra, 1993). Spent mushroom compost (SMC) inhibited the occurrence of Fusarium
wilt of watermelon, club root of cabbage, root-knot disease of watermelon, tomato and pepper and
Pythium root rot of tomato and watermelon (Chiu and Huang, 1997).A farmer friendly method
developed for the biological management of root knot nematode is reported here.

Materials and Methods
Trichoderma harzianum was isolated from village Zarakhella in Malakand division of
Pakistan. The fungus was mass cultured on wheat grains and spent compost of oyster mushroom.
Wheat grains were soaked in tap water for 24 hrs surface dried and filled into heat resistant glass
bags (250 g/bag) and autoclaved at 121C for 45 min. After cooling the bags small blocks of about
5mm, from the pure culture of T. harzianum, were transferred into each bag and incubated at
251C for 15 days. The bags were shaken with an interval of 3 days for uniform growth of T.
harzianum to prevent seeds from sticking together. Spent compost of oyster mushroom was
obtained from mushroom house of the Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural University
Peshawar and autoclaved at 121C for 45 minutes. After cooling down the compost was inoculated
with T. harzianum under sterile conditions and incubated at 25C for 15 days.
520

The experiments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block (RCB) Design with four
replications. Plant-plant distance was 25-30 cm and row-row distance was 70-75cm. The
experiments consisted of the following five treatments; (T
1
) Application of T. harzianum grown on
spent mushroom compost, (T
2
) Root coating with T. harzianum, (T
3
) Application of Spent
mushroom compost alone, (T
4
) Root coating +Spent mushroom compost and (T
5
) Check.

The data were recorded on the following parameters during the course of experiment.
(i) Number of flowers per plant
(ii) Number of fruits per plant
(iii) Plant height (cm)
(iv) Root weight (g)
(v) Number of galls per root system
(vi) Fruit yield per plant (kg)

The data recorded for each parameter was individually subjected to the ANOVA techniques by
MSTAT-C computer software and means were separated by using LSD test.

Results and Discussion
Significant differences (P =0.05) were observed in different treatments regarding number of
flowers per plant, number of fruits per plant, plant height (cm), root weight (g), number of galls per
root system and fruit yield per plant (kg), (Table 1) at both the locations. The fungus alone or in
combination inhibited nematodes and enhanced growth of the plants. Heroshah is a frost free zone
and farmers grow tomatoes in summer and winter here.

The study was focused upon the need to establish appropriate, environment friendly,
sustainable and farmer friendly control measures against these wide spread and important pathogens.
Species of Trichoderma are easy to isolate and culture, grow rapidly on many substrates, affect a
wide range of plant pathogens, are rarely pathogenic to higher plants, act as a mycoparasites,
compete well for food and site, produce antibiotics and have enzyme system capable of attacking a
wide range of plant pathogens (Parveen et al., 1993; Khan and Saxena, 1997; Hafeez et al., 2000;
Meyer et al., 2000; Rangaswamy et al., 2000; Sharon et al., 2001; Sukumar et al, 2005; Suarez et
al, 2005 and Sanchez et al, 2007). However, the interaction of Trichoderma spp. and nematodes
have been little explored (Windham et al, 1989; Dos Santos et al, 1992). Parasitism of T. harzianum
on potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiences was studied by Saifullah and Thomas (1996).
Testing the efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum and spent mushroom compost under field condition,
different application methods were evaluated. All the methods were found effective in suppressing
the nematodes thereby formation of less number of galls on roots and enhanced growth parameters.
The spent mushroom compost was used as substrate for T. harzianum. These results are in line with
those reported by Papavizas et al, 1982; Khan and Saxena, 1997 and Meyer et al, 2000. The
nematicidal and growth enhancement properties of spent mushroom compost have already been
reported by Kaul and Chhabra (1993). Organic amendments release nematode toxic substances into
the soil during decomposition. These amendments also improve the fertility of the soil and thus
increase growth and yield of plant. The decomposing residues of plant tissues release simple
organic acids such as acetic, propionic and butyric acids that are toxic to phytonematodes (Sayre,
1971). Our soils are very deficient in organic matter. Application of spent mushroom compost may
increase the organic matter content of the soil which in turn may increase its water holding capacity,
aeration and microbial activities helping plants and the environment.


Conclusion
521
Novel and farmer-friendly techniques for the application of bio-agent for the management of
root knot nematodes have been developed in this project. In coating method, the wet roots of
nursery plants are just inserted and shaken a bit in the inoculum of Trichoderma harzianum grown
on wheat grains in glass bottle. Millions of spores stick to roots of tomato plants that multiply
continuously with the growth of the roots. The plants with Trichoderma harzianum coated roots are
then planted as such in the soil as routine practice. A small amount of spent mushroom (i.e. 50 g) if
added to soil before transplanting, shall give more fruitful results. Spent mushroom provides food
for the bio-agent, as well as increases the fertility of soil. The methods are simple and can be used
for many other bioagents.

Acknowldgement
The research grant for this study by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad is
highly appreciated and gratefully acknowledged.

522
Tab.1: Effect of Trichoderma harzianum and spent mushroom compost on the
management of root knot nematodes.


Flowering
Fruits
per
plant
Plant
Height
(cm)
Root
wt. (g)
Galls
per
plant
Yield
per
plant
(kg)
T1
117 c
*
111.8 c
**

62.0 b
57.7 c
48.5 c

48.7 b
17.5 c

16.5 c
127 b
131 b
6.7 c
6.6 b
T2
122.5 b
118.3 b
62.0 b
60.0 b
53.0 b
51.2 ab
13.7 d
14.0 d
98 c
101 c
7.5 b
7.4 a
T3
96.5 d
84.2 d
49.5 c
42.2 d
46.0 c
48.0 b
20.7 b
19.7 b
133 b
137 b
5.8 d
5.5 c
T4
131.2 a
125.3 a
68.5 a
63.7 a
57.2 a
56.2 a
12.0 d
12.7 d
74 d
75 d
8.2 a
7.7 a
T5
81.2 e
72.5 e
41.7 d
38.5 e
37.2 d
32.5 c
24.0 a
22.2 a
166 a
170 a
3.9 e
3.6 d
LSD value
(0.05)
4.146
4.69
3.743
1.923
3.235
5.872
1.807
2.281
6.397
7.644
0.574
0.435

Means followed by same letter(s) are not significantly different at 5% level of
significance.

* Upper category data from Heroshah
** Data in the lower category is from Jabban

Literature cited
Barker, K.R. 1985. Nematode extraction and bioassays. Pages 18-35 in Advanced Treatise
Meloidogyne. Vol.2 Methodology. K.R. Barker, C.C. Carter and J .N. Sasser, eds. North
Carolina State University, Raleigh.
Chiu, A.L. and J .W. Huang. 1997. Effect of composted agricultural and industrial wastes on the
growth of vegetable seedlings and suppression of their root diseases. Plant Pathology
Bulletin 6: 67-75.
Dos Santos, M. A., S. Ferraz, and J .J . Muchovej. 1992. Evaluation of 20 species of fungi from
Brazil for biocontrol of Meloidogyne incognita race-3. Nematropica, 22:183-192
Hafeez, U.K., A. Riaz, A. Waqar, S.M. Khan and S. Akhtar. 2000. Evaluation of chemical vs.
biological control treatments against root-knot nematode (M. incognita) on tomato. Pak. J .
Phytopathol. 12(2): 118-120.
Kaul, V.K. and H.K. Chhabra. 1993. Control of Meloidogyne incognita by incorporation of organic
wastes. Plant Disease Research. 8: 35-41.
Khan, T.A. and S.K. Saxena. 1997. Effect of root-dip treatment with culture filtrates of soil fungi on
multiplication of M. javanica and yield of tomato. Tests of Agrochemic. and Cultivars. 18:
50-51.
Maqbool, M. A., S. Hashmi and A. Ghaffar. 1986. Eleven new host records of root knot nematodes
and identification of their physiological races in Pakistan. Pakistan J ournal
Nematology.4 :11-14.
Meyer, S.L.F., S.I. Massoud, D.J . Chitwood and D.P. Roberts. 2000. Evaluation of Trichoderma
virens and Burkholderia cepacia for antagonistic activity against root-knot nematode,
Meloidogyne incognita. Nematol. 2(8): 871-879.
523
Papavizas, G.C., J .A. Lewis and T.H. Abd-Elmoity. 1982. Evaluation of new biotypes of
Trichoderma harzianum for tolerance to benomyl and enhance biocontrol capabilities.
Phytopathol. 72: 126-132.
Parveen, S., E.S. Haque and A. Ghaffar. 1993. Biological control of M. javanica on tomato and
okra in soil infested with Fusarium oxysporum. Pak. J . Nematol. 11(2): 151-156.
Porras, M., C. Barrau and F. Romero. 2007. Effects of soil solarization and Trichoderma on
strawberry production. Crop Protection. 26 :782-787
Rangaswamy, S.D., P.P. Reddy and M. Nagesh. 2000. Evaluation of bio-control agents (P.
penetrans and T. viride) and botanicals for the management of root-knot nematode, M.
incognita infecting tomato. Pest Manag. Hort. Ecosys. 6(2): 135-138.
Sanchez, V., O. Rebolledo, R.M. Picaso, E. Cardenas, J . Cordova, O. Gonzalez and G.J .
Samuels. 2007. In vitro antagonism of Thielaviopsis paradoxa by Trichoderma
longibrachiatum. Mycopathologia. 163(1): 49-58.
Saifullah and B.J . Thomas.1996. Studies on the paratism of Globodera rostochiensis by
Trichoderma harzianum using low temperature scanning electron microscopy. Afro-Asian J .
Nematol. 6(2): 117-122.
Samuels, G.J . 1996. Trichoderma: a review of biology and systematics of the genus. Mycol. Res.
100: 923-935
Sasser, J .N. and C.C. Carter. 1982. An advanced treatise on Meloidogyne, Biology and Control.
Department of Plant Pathology and the US Agency for International Development Vol: 1 pp.
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Sayre, R.M. 1971. Biotic influences in soil environment. Pages 235-256. In: Plant Parasitic
Nematodes, Vol, I, B. M. Zuckerman, W. F. Mai, and R. A. Rohde, Eds. Xiv Academic
Press, New York. Pp. 345
Sharon, E., E.M. Bar, I. Chet, E.A. Herrera, O. Kleifeld and Y. Spiegel. 2001. Biological control of
the root-knot nematode M. javanica by T. harzianum. Phytopathol. 91(7): 687-693.
Spiegel, Y., and I. Chet. 1998. Evaluation of Trichoderma spp. as a biocontrol agent against
soilborne fungi and plant-parasitic nematodes in Israel. Integr. Pest Mang. Rev. 3:169-175.
Suarez, M.B., L. Sanz, M.I. Chamorro, M. Rey, F.J . Gonzalez, A. Llobell and E. Monte. 2005.
Proteomic analysis of secreted proteins from Trichoderma harzianum: Identification of a
fungal cell wall-induced aspartic protease. Fungal Genetics and Biology. 42(11): 924-934.
Sukumar, J ., S.D. Padma and U.D. Bongale. 2005. Biological Control of Mulberry Root Knot
Nematode Meloidogyne incognita by Trichoderma harzianum. Internl. J . Indust. Entomol.
8(2): 175-179.
Thompson, H.C. and W.C. Kelly. 1979. Solanaceous Fruits. Vegetable crops, 5
th
Edition. TATA
Mc Graw Hill-Publishing Co. New Delhi. pp. 471-513
Windham, G.L., Windham, M.T. and w.P. williams. 1989. Effects of Trichoderma spp. on maize
growth and Meloidogyne arenaria reproduciton. Plant Dis. 73: 493-495
524
Tropical Fruit Extract, an Environmental-Friendly Way to Combat Plant
Disease

Sanchez-Zaballero, Grecilda.
1
, Ahcil Laboratories, Inc., --- Inventor, Leading Presentor, e-mail
address : ahcil_laboratories@yahoo.com; website: http://www.antica-ahcil.com;
Taboada, Evelyn,PhD. Co-presentor, Department of Chemical Engineeting, University of San
Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines
Key words: Anti-cellular activity, alternative plant disease control, alpha hydroxy acids
(AHA), Lactobacillus species
Abstract
This invention presents an alternative plant disease control to chemical pesticides. It is composed of
a tropical fruit extract, sugar, and milk, with alpha-hydroxy acids or fruit acids (AHAs) as the
active ingredients and lactic acid as the most dominant AHA present. It has fungicidal and
bactericidal action against pathogenic microorganisms in agricultural products such as fruits,
rootcrops, field crops, and vegetables. Since all the major constituents of the composition are
generally regarded as safe, this natural pesticide is found to be non-toxic to non-target organism
and safe to humans and animals, and environmentally benign. The Antica fungicide and
bactericide invented by Engr. Grecilda Sanchez-Zaballero. The product has under gone a series of
field application trial studies and bio-assays conducted by accredited researchers namely Dr.
Evelyn Taboada of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of San Carlos, Dr.
Evelyn Gergon, PhilRice Research Institute, Thelma Flores, Twin Rivers Research Center, and Dr
Naomi Tangonan of the Plant Pathology Department of University of Southern Mindanao.
Antica, is the 1st Filipino invented-Patent Pending-Duly Registered and Approved for use in the
Philippines as Organic , Natural, Environment-Safe and Friendly Fungicide commercially
manufactured by Ahcil Laboratories, Inc. Anticameaning Anti-Cellular Activity.
Introduction
The anti-microbial activity of this invention is investigated against Mycosphaerella fijiensis causing
sigatoka disease, Ralstonia solanacearum causing Moko disease and Fusarium oxysporum causing
Panama disease in Cavendish (banana), Colletotrichum gloespoiroides causing anthracnose in crops
and fruits, tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) in tomatoes, downy mildew in fruits, vegetables
and sugarcane, Tungro virus and bacterial leaf blight in Rice, and many others as there are still on-
going field application researches on Antica.
1

Diseases are among the most important factors in agricultural production worldwide. They are the
reasons for which all of the worlds breeding programs were created and remain a primary focus of
all current programs. Recently, diseases also became principal targets of biotechnological efforts to
improve agricultural crops.
2
Banana is one of the worlds major food crops and is considered a poor mans fruit crop in tropical
and subtropical countries. This crop, along with other major crops, has the potential to feed the
world. Plantains and cooking bananas are subsistence crops in large parts of tropical Africa (Lusty
et al 2006). Examples of serious banana plant diseases are: Black Sigatoka is caused by the
ascomycete, Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet [anamorph: Paracercospora fijiensis (Morelet)
Deighton], Moko wilt disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, Panama disease caused by
1
(http://www.techcentralstation.com/010504E.html
2
www.cgi.cnn.com/TECH/science/9807/24t_t/banana.science/index.html
525
Fusarium oxysopum Race 4 which was reported to have wiped out the banana industry in Panama
some years ago. It has been recorded as a continuing problem worldwide.

Chemical control methods and cultural practices are some possible means to prevent outbreaks of
the disease. Most of banana plantations have practiced chemical control method through aerial
spraying. The chemicals evaluated found effective in controlling the disease include: Benomyl,
Mancozeb, Chlorothalonil, Tridemorph, Bitertanol, Propiconazole, and Fluzizole (Ploetz, 2003).
Benomyl is a systemic fungicide used to control black sigatoka of different varieties of banana and
diseases of other crops. However, in the 1990s resistance to this fungicide had already been
observed. Thus search for cheaper and safer fungicides is a continuing effort of all plantations and
growers of agricultural crops, fruits and vegetables and field crops. Environmental concern due to
hazards of this pesticide is locally a growing controversy. While globally, the demand for
pesticide-residue free and organic agricultural food products is getting popular and priced higher.
Hence evaluation of new, organic fungicide is recently becoming a must and a trend in the industry.

Materials and methods

Bio-assay Test ------- Anti-fungal activity through bioassay was determined using the nathans agar
well method and alternatively Kirby-Bauer method (paper disc method).The bioassay tests using
agar disc method. Petri plates were poured with 10 mL of melted potato sucrose agar (PSA) and 10
mL of different dosages of the composition samples and rotated to allow thorough mixing before
congealing. Agar planting was done using cork borer to cut agar with fungal growth from the two-
week-old pure culture of pathogens under evaluation. Plates were labeled properly and were
incubated in inverted position at room temperature. Observations were done after 48-72 hours.
Controls and standards are also used.

Test Identification ----- The invention was analysed for its composition using the High Performance
Liquid Chromatography (HPLC-VP series, Shimadzu, Japan), equipped with a UV-VIS detector
(SPD-10AV) 210 nm and an Inertsil ODS-3V column (5 m, 25 0 x 4.6 m I.D.). The oven
temperature is set at 40
o
C. The eluent used was 0.1 M ammonium dihydrogen phoshate +
phosphoric acid (pH 2.58) with a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. A sample volume of 20 L is injected
into the column. Triplicate runs of samples were done and the results obtained are the average of
these triplicates, with standard deviations of 0.005. Table 1 shows the results of the analysis.
Results indicate that the extract is mainly composed of alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) as the active
ingredients.

Lethal Dose Toxicity Test (LD50)

------- Antica has been tested for its Toxicity, Lethal Dose
(LD50) by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology under Industrial Technology
Development Institute where test mice were given high doses up to 160ml/kg. It also indicated that
further increase of dosing will require larger amount of sample to be administered to the test
animals which will exceed the maximum limit a mouse can normally take.
Field trials
Results
------Screenhouse, semi commercial plots and Actual Field trials were conducted by
accredited researchers in the field of Agriculture for banana, rice, abaca, mango, tomato, lettuce,
rootcrops and others. The procedures are based on standard farmers practice.
Tropical Fruit Extract againts Sigatoka Disease in Cavendish Banana-------Based on laboratory
assays and field tests, the invention Antica, inhibited the growth of the fungal pathogen M.fijiensis
causing black sigatoka disease in banana (Musa cavendish). The efficacy is comparable to
Mancozeb, which is the standard fungicide check after 48 and 72 hours of incubation. From 64 to
526
150 mL of the composition per 16 liters of water, the product showed significant efficacy against
the fungal pathogen. Results of the single-leaf test of the invention against Black Sigatoka disease
of Cavendish banana showed the lowest rate @ 0.187 li/ha as the most effective among the rates
evaluated comparable with Standard, mancozeb @ 2.0 kgs/ha and much better than the Untreated
Control. There was no phytotoxicity observed on young and old leaves of banana nor on young
baggable fruits. Stability of spray solution mixtures were comparable with the Standard, mancozeb
or numerically even better. Details of the trials are available upon request for the purpose of further
investigation of this paper. Semi commercial and commercial scale results and monitoring is stated
in the Discussion portion of this paper.

Tropical Fruit Extract againts Fusarium wilt or Panama Disease----- The results showed that
there was a significant difference in the zones of growth in the control of the growth of
F.oxysporum between treatment means. Among ANTICA treatments 1:5 (1 ml Antica and 5 ml
water) gave the lowest zone of growth average mean of 15.67% and it was found comparable to the
standard check (Propineb) with an average of 12.17.

Tropical Fruit Extract againts Moko Disease ----- Similar results were observed during
laboratory assays using the same composition of the present invention against R. solanacearum
causing Moko disease in banana (Musa cavendish), in which no growth of the bacterium is
observed after a week of incubation. This product containing lactic acid was effective against the
pathogen beginning at 50 mL per 16 liters of water, and was significantly superior when compared
to the bacterial antibiotic check streptomycin and also better than brine solution, which is
commonly used by farmers to control the disease.

Tropical Fruit Extract against Anthracnose----- Results show that the zones of inhibition of the
composition is only half (average = 21.02 mm) that of the zone of inhibition of Propineb, which is
on average 42.13 mm, at the highest formulation of Propineb at 65 g per 16 liter of water. During
the onset of the incubation, it is clear that Propineb is the better fungicide against C. gloesporioides.
However, it was observed that everyday thereafter during the incubation period, the zones of
inhibition of Propineb decreased as the pathogen persisted to grow further leading to the decrease in
its zones of inhibition. On the other hand, in the bioassays with the composition of the present
invention, the zones of inhibition were constant, which suggests that it could have kept its efficacy
during the entire five-day incubation period. These observations suggest that Propineb may be an
effective pesticide against C. gloesporioides on the onset, but it does not keep its efficacy for a
longer period of time, which gives the pathogen the chance to persist itself and grow rapidly by then.

Tropical Fruit Exract against post harvest in mangoes and banana------ A study was conducted
to evaluate the efficacy of the tropical fruit extract Antica in controlling the post-harvest diseases in
mangoes especially anthracnose, caused by the mold C. Gloesporioides and Crown rot post harvest
disease in banana. Application results indicate that the percentage of fruits infected with
anthracnose and crown rot disease after dipping in a suspension of 500 mL product composition in
16 liters of water is comparable with that percentage dipped in a toxic,chemical control fungicide.
This suggests that the composition of the present invention can be a good alternative to this
chemical control as it is organic, natural and non-toxic.

Discussion
Antica was also tested on a 26 hectares of banana plantation by La Frutera and was compared side
by side with a chemical pesticide on a separate a joining field for straight 8 cycles at 6 days interval
527
against black leaf streak or black Sigatoka disease of Cavendish banana compared to the standard
practice of systemic and contact fungicides. Antica showed better performance over the Standard
with higher number of functional leaves at harvest, considered the most important parameter in
efficacy evaluation of the product against Sigatoka. Although it showed higher earlier infections but
were not translated into corresponding losses of leaves but retained these up to harvest. The results
confirm the booster effect of Antica on the leaves aside from its fungicidal activity of containing the
disease infection, it has tolerated the plants the impact of infection. The build-up of bioactive
substances supplied by the macro and micronutrient contents of Antica directly feed to the leaves
might have prevented the loss of leaves. Antica therefore at 0.75 to 1.0Li/ha. can be used as an
alternate product in Sigatoka control program of Cavendish banana.
Several other efficacy trials and commercial applications using the tropical fruit extract Antica in
Rice, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Abaca, Lettuce, Strawberries, Bell Pepper, Ampalaya, Cucurbits, Melon,
have all proven Anticas efficacy in the control of fungal and bacterial plant diseases.
Conclusions
Based on safety data reports, the lactic acid-based products are completely safe for beneficial living
organisms or non-target organisms including humans, animals, plants and other micro-organisms
and the environment in general. Although little research has been done on the biological control of
black sigatoka, it is unlikely that a biological control agent or agents will be found that will provide
a similar level of control to conventional fungicides. However, they may be useful, especially where
fungicide resistance is a problem. From the research that has been conducted so far, it is clear that
any future use of biocontrol agents in the management of black Sigatoka must be part of an
integrated management program. Antica A Breakthrough because it breaks the popular
notion that a pesticide has to be toxic to be effective. end
Acknowledgments
1. Product Application Researcher Dr Evelyn Taboada, Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of San Carlos, Talamban Campus, Cebu City, Philippines
2. Product Applications Researcher Mrs Thelma Flores, Twin Rivers Research Center, Tagum,
Davao City, Philippines
3. Product Applications Researcher Dr. Naomi Tangonan, Plant Pathology Department, University
of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, South Cotabato, Philippines
4. Gergon, Evelyn, PhilRice Research Institute, Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
5. Former DA Secretary Senen Bacani and Roberto Magdua, LaFrutera, Datu Paglas Estate, Davao,
Philippines
References
http://www.apsnet.org/education/feature/banana/
http://www.techcentralstation.com/010504E.html
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Bennett JV, Brodie JL, Benner EJ, Kirby WMM. 1966. Simplified, Accurate Method for Antibiotic
Assay of Clinical Specimens. Applied Microbiology 14:2, 170-177.
Hangnga V, McCoy LF, Carino E, Washington J, Dang T, Villareal C, Rosenblatt J, Maness C,
Goodheart R, Heggers JP. 2002. Burn Wound Infection Susceptibilities to Topical Agents:
The Nathans Agar Well Diffusion Technique. P & T 27:8, 390-396.
Altindag MS, Mustafa E, Ahmet E, Sezai G, Muharrerm M, Domnez F, Sahin F. 2006. Biological
control of brown rot (Moniliana laxa Her.) on apricot (Prunus armenica L. cv. Hacihaliloglu)
528
by Bacillus, Burkholdria, and Pseudomonas application under in vitro and in vivo conditions,
J Bio Control (article online). DOI10.1016/j.biocontrol.2006.04.015.
Brown AE. 2005. Bensons Microbiological Applications.McGraw-Hill, NY, USA, pp.221-224.
529
Organiculture Manual

Sanggiel Shin
Director
International Organic Agriculture Research Institution

Introduction to Environmentally Friendly Organiculture of the 21st Century

[1] Organiculture
Organiculture refers to the form of agriculture that relies on sustainable and
environmentally friendly techniques to produce safe food or agricultural products.

[2] Starting organiculture
- Cease the use of chemical pesticides completely
- Plants have an innate ability to combat diseases
- Use organic farming techniques along with compost
-It is important to note that the beginning of organiculture is neither compost nor
organic techniques, but the farmers resolution.

[3] Maintaining soil productivity
- Soil is consist of air (25%), water (25%), minerals (45%), and organic matter (5%) and
is the place of co-existing life for plants, insects, worms, and micro-organisms.
- Soil is not only the foundation that supports the plants but also a very dynamic,
multilateral, and complex ecosystem.
- Humans long abuse of soil without giving something back has resulted in exhaustion
and desertification of the land.

[4] Micro-organisms of the soil
- The word micro-organism means a very small living thing.
- Soil micro-organisms include bacteria, actinomyces, eumycetes (true fungi), algae,
infusoria, leaven, and nematodes.
- Fertile soil contains earthworms and billions of micro-organisms that facilitate the
circulation of substances and promote plant growth.
- A chemical pesticides used to kill harmful micro-organisms also destroys beneficial
micro-organisms, thus disturbing the substance circulation mechanism of the soil.


(1) Organic matter
The term organic matter connotes the decomposed remains of an organism that can be
used by plants as a source of nutrients.







(2) Minerals
- Minerals account for 45% of the soil composition. They serve as important nutrients
and are indispensable to the growth and development of plants.
Plants Animals
Minerals Organic matters
Use
Die
Decompose
Micro-organism
Absorb
530
- Those minerals that contain essential nutrients are known as mineral nutrients. They
are: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, sulfur,
manganese, chlorine, boron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. All help the growth of
plants.

[5] Starting an organiculture program
Unlike a chemicals-based farming program that aims to control nature and artificially
supply nutrients to plants, the organiculture program helps plants naturally absorb the
necessary amount of nutrition from soil according to the law of nature,

The organiculture program begins with the farmers resolution.

[6] The basics of an organiculture program
- Selecting appropriate plants
- Aerating soil
- Composting
- Supplying minerals
- Mulching soil
- Prohibiting the chemical fertilizers
- Promoting biodiversity

[7] Enhancing soil fertility
Step 1: Aerate the soil and permeate the air by punching holes through the deep soil
Step 2: Sprinkle natural fertilizing materials such as tea leaves and seaweed extracts
Step 3: Cover the soil with a thin layer of earthworm casts
Step 4: Add a layer of well-matured compost in 2-3cm high
Step 5: Coat the soil with half-matured compost

[8] Securing biodiversity
Secure small and medium-sized organisms, including micro-organisms and earthworms
which act as decomposers of organic matters in the natural circulation mechanism.

Native Korean species (182 species):
1. Poaceae: 72 species
2. Leguminosae: 83 species
3. Pedaliaceae: 4 species
4. Cucurbitaceae: 4 species
5. Solanaceae: 4 species
6. Polygonaceae: 1 species
7. Malvaceae: 1 species
8. Medicinal crops: 1 species

Organic species of the US (627 species):
1. Vegetables: 410 species
2. Weeds: 46 species
3. Herbs: 52 species
4. Flowering plants: 119 species

[9] Preparation for organiculture
- Entrust Mother Nature with the farming field.
531
- Add compost(not entirely matured) six weeks prior to transplantation.
- Put the compost inside the soil when plowing (nitrogen).
- Use spike aerator for soil aeration avoiding subsoil plowing.

[10] Seven steps toward organiculture
1. Return the weeded or mowed products to soil.
2. Discontinue any use of synthetic fertilizers and insecticides.
3. Use environmentally friendly fertilizers such as compost and volcanic rock material.
4. Use natural or low-toxic insecticides only if needed.
5. Plant kinds that are appropriate to the local soil in the right season.
6. Bare grounds should be coated.
7. Water the plants sufficiently as required.

[11] Organic compost
- Synthetic fertilizers that lack carbon damage the soil immensely as soil micro-
organisms consume it.
- Organic compost provides nutrition not to plants but to soil.
- Organic compost facilitates the decomposition of organic matters by activating soil
micro-organisms, and supplies micro-nutrients.
- Unlike synthetic fertilizers, organic compost has a slow-release effect.
532
Ethylene Gas Adsorbent Usage

Seo, D. W.
Intern
Woolim Farm, Bonghwang-ri, Sobo-myeon, Gunwi-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea

Introduction
I completed the second Korean organic apple cultivation intern course while helping out at
my fathers seedling plantation over the last four years. Since starting to learn about ethylene
gas in the phytohormone class, I have keenly studied ethylene gas adsorbent usage. The
following is the result of my research.

Materials and methods
Plants exhale and inhale a variety of gases while they are growing. Among them, there is a
gas that plays a vital role in growing plants or ripening plants. That is ethylene gas, which as
an unsaturated hydrocarbon accelerates the aging of plant tissue, and one of the plant
hormones that controls ripening of plants. Also, it is a growing-control gas.

The gas is generated by itself from plants. Although it is a necessary gas to cultivate plants, it
must be removed, because it accelerates while plants ripen during distribution or storage.

If too much ethylene gas is accumulated during distribution or storage, it causes damage on
crops and causes such effects as over-ripened or rotten vegetables, fruits, or flowers.

Worse yet, over-ripened vegetables, fruits, or flowers produce far more ethylene gas, thus it
has a bad effect on immature vegetables, fruits, and flowers, stored nearby, accelerating their
over-ripening as well. In other words, once one plant or product emits ethylene gas, all the
rest of the plants or products are rapidly influenced. Thus, the gas should be eliminated
quickly, as it damages others even with an extremely small amount of gas.

Using an ethylene gas adsorbent will effectively absorb ethylene gas generated from products
while being distributed. This keeps the original taste or scent of vegetables, fruits, or flowers
from changing, and helps their freshness last. Therefore, it will bring about a breakthrough in
the food manufacturing process and distribution.

Characteristics of ethylene gas adsorbent:
- It easily and quickly removes ethylene gas generated from plants, fruits, vegetables and
flowers during the process of distribution.
- It is easy to use.
- It is possible to use for almost all products.

Application of ethylene gas adsorbent:
- Apples, bananas, flowers and vegetables.

Conclusion
The amount of ethylene gas adsorbent to be used is changeable according to product types
and the amount of emitted ethylene gas, and it should be placed at the most suitable location.
As its usage is changeable according to the storage place including storage temperature or
humidity, it is desirable to apply it based on an actual experiment.
533
Panchagavya - a Holistic Source of Nutrients, Growth Promotion and Immunity
Booster in Organic Agriculture

Somasundaram,E1 and Subbian,P2
Tamil Nadu agricultural University,Coimbatore-641 003. INDIA

Panchagavya is a combination of five products obtained from the cow, which includes cow
dung, cows urine, milk, curd and ghee. It plays an important role in providing resistance to
diseases, pests and in increasing the overall yield due to the immunostimulant activity of the cow
dung and it can be prepared by the farmers themselves with the materials available on the farm. It
was prepared by a slightly modified method as mentioned in Vrksayurveda and it was standardized
by innovative farmers of Tamil Nadu. An investigation was taken up to evaluate the scientific
rational for Panchagavya spray on growth and sustainable productivity of crops. Basal application
of biogas slurry to meet out the nutrient requirements and 3% modified Panchagavya spray at
critical stages was effective on maize, sunflower and green gram crops grown in
sequence. Presence of growth regulatory substances such as IAA, GA and Cytokinin, essential
plant nutrients, naturally occurring, beneficial, effective micro organisms (EMOs). Lactobacillus
in Panchagavya produces various beneficial metabolites such as organic acids, hydrogen peroxide
and antibiotics, which are effective against other pathogenic microorganisms besides its growth
promotion effect for animals and human being as probiotics.
In maize,basal application of 10 t ha-1 of bio gas slurry along with foliar application of
Panchagavya 3 per cent during 15
th
, 30
th
, 45
th
and 60
th
day after sowing recorded the maximum
grain yield.It was at par with recommended doses of NPK and chemicals as foliar spray. In
sunflower also basal application of 3.5 t ha
-
1 of bio gas slurry along with foliar application of
Panchagavya 3 per cent during 15
th
, 30
th
, 45
th
and 60
th
day after sowing recorded the highest seed
yield.In green gram, the basal application of 2.5 t ha
-1
bio gas slurry along with foliar application of
Panchagavya @ 3 per cent during 15
th
, 25
th
, 40
th
and 50
th
day after sowing recorded the highest
grain yield at par with the recommended doses of NPK and chemicals as foliar spray.



1
Associate Professor (Agronomy),
2
Professor of Agronomy and Registrar, TNAU,Coimbatore,INDIA
534
Enhancing Plant Defense through Ecological Farming Practices

Sujata and Maya Goel
Mojo Plantation, Galibeedu Post, PO Box 101, Madikeri 571 201, Karnataka, India.
Email: sujatamaya@gmail.com
Website: www.rainforestours.com

Key Words: Ecological farming, biodiversity, plant defense, spice cultivation

Introduction
Our Organic Spice Farm at Mojo Plantation is located in a high rainfall zone in Kodagu district, in
the Western Ghats of Southern India (Fig 1). Our main crops are cardamom, coffee, vanilla, black
pepper, turmeric, some spice trees, and fruits like banana, orange, pineapples. At an altitude of
4000 meters, we receive an annual rainfall of about 5 meters between the months of June to
September. The unique agroclimatic nature of this region has allowed the cultivation of crops
under the canopies of the rainforests (Fig 2). As a result, most plantations harbour a rich diversity
of plants, small mammals, insects, birds, and reptiles. However, heavy use of fertilizers and
pesticides have posed a serious threat to this fragile ecosystem and therefore it is important to
adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Organic farming enables a balance between land use and
conservation of biological diversity. The Western Ghats harbour a small pocket of unique and
rich species diversity and it falls upon the farmers and residents of this region to protect this
wealth. Therefore, we cultivate crops like cardamom (Fig 3) and pepper that can be grown in the
shade of the rainforest trees, employing practices which are in tune with the forest ecosystem. We
have been completely organic for the past 15 years and have encouraged others to do the same.

Methods and Results
Farming Practices and Crop Protection at Mojo: Emulating natural ecosystems and adapting them
into our farming systems has been done over the years by traditional farmers all over the world .
The major underlying principle of farming at Mojo has been to recycle all forms of organic matter
through composting cycles, generation of biogas, animal husbandry, towards enhancing crop
productivity (Fig 4). During the early years, our cardamom fields were infested with the
cardamom stem borer (Conogethes punctiferalis). The larva of this moth bores into the succulent
stem of the cardamom plant, feeds into the centre, cocoons, and the new moth emerges to lay
eggs in the canopy of the trees above or in the leaf litter below. One mother gives rise to about
200 larvae, and heavy infestations can devastate a cardamom crop. In order to circumvent the
damage, we developed bioassays to screen local plants for their efficacy as pest repellents, and
finally used the most common ones found in this region. These were Pongamia pinnata (karanj,
Indian beech), Annona reticulate (custard apple), Ocimum tenuiflora (wild tulsi), Vitex negundo
(chaste tree, neergundi), Lantana camara (lantana), and Nicotiana plumbaginifolia (wild tobacco).
Other plants like Adathoda vasica (adulsa), Alpina galanga (galanga), Acorus calamus (vacha),
Crotolaria retusa (rattlepods), Calotropis procera (ak, milkweed), Azadirachta indica (neem),
Cassia fistula (amaltas) are used for traditional crop protection. The leaves can be added to the
soil to control soil pests or infusions can be used as foliar sprays. In fields where plants of the
mustard family (Brassicacea) can be incorporated into the cropping systems, several fungal
diseases can be controlled. After harvest, if mustard plants are mulched into the soil, microbial
activity releases isothiocyanates which act as mild fumigants and suppress fungal growth (Angus
et al, 1994). This provides an excellent protection to crops against infestations like Rhizoctonia,
Pythium, and Sclerotinia. Phytopathogenic fungi like Trichoderma are effective in controlling
535
Phytophthora which causes root rots of several host plants, whereas Bauveria bassiana and
Verticilium leccani have been used effectively against larvae of beetles and mealy bugs.
Cow urine and whey from cheese can be used as protective foliar sprays against a range of
bacterial and fungal infestations, and wood ash is excellent for discouraging populations of aphids
in vegetables.

Encouraging Biodiversity in Crop Fields: On organic farms such as ours which have no trace of
chemicals around, parasitic insects colonize native plant species and play significant roles in
controlling pest populations (Fig 5). Beneficial microorganisms contribute to a rise in detritus
activity of the soil, increased nitrogen fixation, and increase in nutrient cycles. Areas where
grasslands are encouraged become sponges for harnessing rain water to replenish water tables and
aquifers. The integration of fallow lands into cultivated areas also enable pest-predator balances,
and promotes an even distribution of predators which offer effective pest control in the field
(Crowder et al, 2010), and attract pollinators
Through our years of growing crops in a fragile ecosystem, we find that screening and selecting
genetically resilient strains is a sound practice in disease management. Use of chemicals and
pesticides have degraded lands and water bodies all over the world. If we now find it essential for
species survival to revert back to holistic farming practices, it is imperative to understand what is
happening within the plant system when it is subject to disease and other stress factors.
Induction of Plant Defense: Plants have developed a wide range of defense mechanisms to survive
different stress factors including diseases (Bruinsma et al, 2009). Resistance genes confer genetic
protection. However, what is now coming to be understood is that plants have evolved highly
sophisticated mechanisms to defend themselves against a wide range of herbivorous insects and
pathogenic microbes, fungi and viruses. When a plant comes under attack, a primary set of
defenses get triggered which allow them to cope with multiple aggressors. When the attack gets
more severe, the production of plant hormones like jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and ethylene get
induced (Arimura et al, 2005). These hormones in turn induce a cascade of enzymatic reactions
that finally result in synthesis of compounds (terpenes, tannins, phenolics) which directly act to
repel the insect, inhibit its digestive enzymes, affect their reproductive cycles, and in some cases,
release volatiles which attract the predators of the insects feeding on the plant! In others where a
fungal or bacterial microbe invades the cell, the cell itself necroses and dies, immediately
arresting the further invasive growth of the pathogen (Fig 6).
Many of these pathways act together, or sometimes antagonistically, enabling what is best
described as a cross talk between metabolic pathways. It is this cross talk which provides a
powerful regulatory mechanism and helps the plant to prioritize and decide which defense
strategy to follow, depending upon the attacker. In some cases, the simultaneous activation of
multiple defense pathways result in enhanced levels of induced resistance to diseases.
Insects feeding on a plant trigger release of volatiles which can prime neighbouring plants for
enhancing their defense against those insects. This priming results in improved direct defense
(reduction in insects feeding on the host plant), or indirect defense (attraction of parasitoids or
predatory insects like wasps). Even roots release a number of metabolites in response to elicitation
by jasmonates, salicylates and chitosan which show antimicrobial activity. Rhizosphere of some
trees have been shown to suppress pathogenic fungal communities.
In nature, plant defense traits are polygenic and thus this variation becomes a fantastic reservoir of
natural adaptive mechanisms in response to changes in biotic stress. We have found that over the
years crop losses due to diseases have become negligible, the plants require no sprays (we have not
used the botanical repellents for the past 8 years) and exhibit an overall vigour that is gratifying for
any farmer to see.

536
Conclusions
With more information coming forth on induced defense mechanisms of plants, it is logical to
create conditions where plants can fend for themselves. Growing crops organically enables the
plants to develop and express their resistance pathway. Creating conditions within the agri-
ecosystem to encourage biological diversity enables crops to be surrounded with balanced
populations of predators (spiders, dragon flies, wasps, mantids, frogs, birds, shrews, etc) which
help in disease management far more effectively than any spray.
Finally, we have come to realize that it is only when farming is based upon natural principles can
it be truly sustainable. Ecological farming is based on nurturing and nourishing the soils. Having
healthy predatory populations within the agri-ecosystem naturally reduces the pest damage caused
to crops. Having genetic diversity amongst the cropping system also enables us to select and
maintain resistant clones. The heavy rainfall zones in the Western Ghats have a fragile ecology and
are extremely prone to soil erosion. It is important to try and adopt agricultural practices which
emphasize soil conservation and build up of organic and conservation of biodiversity.

References
Angus, J.F., Gardner, P.A., Kirkegaard, J.A. and Desmarchelier, J.M. (1994) Biofumigation:
Isothiocyanates released from Brassica roots inhibit growth of take-all fungus. Plant and soil
162, 107-112.
Arimura G., Kost C., Boland W. (2005) Herbivore-induced indirect plant defense. Biochim.
Biophys. Acta 1734 (2) 91-111.
Bruinsma, M. Pang, B., Mumm, R., van Loon, J.J.A. and Dicke, M. (2009) Comparing induction at
an early and late step in signal transduction mediating indirect defence in Brassica oleracea. J.
Exp. Bot 60 (9) 2589-2599.
Crowder, D.W., Northfield, T.D., strand, M.R. and Snyder, W.E. (2010) Organic agriculture
promotes evenness and natural pest control. Nature 466, 109-112.
537
Figures 1-6

Fig 1. Location of Mojo Plantation

Fig 2. Multiple cropping at Mojo
Plantation


Fig 3. Cardamom Cultivation


Fig 4. Composting and Recycling
Organic Matter

Fig 5. Balances in Land Use


Fig6. Mechanisms of Plant Protection

538
Role of Botanicals in Management of Phytopathogenic Fungi

SURENDER KUMAR BHARDWAJ*
Botanical Garden/ Herbal Garden, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
*E-mail: skbmdu66@gmail.com
Key Words: Plant Pathogens, Antifungal, Plant-Extracts, Phytochemicals.
Abstract
In order to maintain the productivity of various crops more and more synthetic chemicals are
being added in the natural environment by the farmers and layman who enter the food chain through
water, soil and air as a result it seriously affect the human health and environment. According to the
World Health Organization survey, more than 50,000 people in developing countries are annually
poisoned and 5,000 die as a result of the effects of toxic agents, used in agriculture. In India 35,000
40,000 tons of hazardous chemicals are sprayed on the crops every year, instead of helping the
poor, these chemicals are causing cancer, sterility and death. These synthetic chemicals are
unsustainable and uneconomical in the long run. So there is an urgent need to develop sustainable
methods for these horrible diseases. The remedy lies in the use of more natural products which do
not damage the ecosystems such as biofertilisers, bioinsectisides and biofungicides. Persistent
literature reveals that plants are rich sources of bioactive agents as plants and their product are
known to possess various secondary metabolites including alkaloids, coumarimes, flavonoids,
steroids/ terpenoids, quinines, tannins, phenolic and resins etc and are responsible for the biological
activities of the plant extracts, which showed inhibitory effect against the growth of pathogens.
Therefore, the plants and their product should be utilized to combat the diseases causing pathogens.
So, it is advantageous to use these plant-extracts to combat the pathogens, instead of using synthetic
chemicals as these chemicals are hazardous to human health and deteriorate the environment. Hence
eco-friendly management of crops diseases is the only safe substitute to be explored to control
these phyto pathogens and to maintain sustainable agriculture and environment. Keeping these
problems in view, efforts are underway to search economic safe phytochemicals, which could be
utilized for disease control. Thus in the present study laboratory bioassays were performed to
evaluate the antifungal activity of one hundred and twenty plant part extracts of hundred plants
spanning over forty five families against four plant pathogenic fungi by the food poisoning method
in terms of measuring the percent reduction in mycelium growth as compared to control. The
various plants tested for their antifungal activity have shown varied response. The results are
promising and some of the plants have shown inhibitory activity against one or two fungi whereas
others have shown a broader spectrum of activity, some plants showing good activity against all the
test fungi. Plants samples of some families such as Apocynaceae, Caesalpinaceae, Combretaceae,
Compositae, Ebenaceae, Liliaceae, Lythraceae, Meliaceae, Mimosaceae, Rosaceae, Salvadoraceae,
Sapindaceae, Theaceae and Zingibraceae were found to be comparatively more effective against
the test fungi.
In view of the above facts, the present study has elaborated our knowledge by accessing the
antifungal properties among the available natural flora which can subsequently be explored for the
possibilities towards the identification of the key bioactive agents, through implying modern
microbiology and biochemical techniques.

539
Effective Microorganism (EM) Technology and Mulching for Weed
Management in Sustainable Vegetable (Radish) Production

Udayakumar, A
1

Key words: EM, Mulching, organic fertilizers, Radish and yield

Abstract
The present investigation was aimed to study the possibility of reducing the use of chemical
inputs by the use of Effective Microorganisms (EM). In this study 14 treatment combinations were
tried. The treatment included the use of EM both as seed treatment (1:1000; soaking for 30
minutes) and soil application. EM treatments were combined with the applications of recommended
dose of organic fertilizers and 75% of the recommended dose of organic fertilizer. The treatment
without organic fertilizer application served as control. Morphological, physiological and yield
contribution characters were recorded, besides weed population. The randomized block design was
adopted and data showed significant differences in combined use of EM as soil application with
mulch and recommended dose of organic fertilizer in all the above said characters of Radish Cv.
Arka Nishant
Introduction
India is the second largest producer of vegetable next to China, accounting for about 10 per
cent of the worlds production. In 2009,129.07 million tones of vegetables were produced from an
area of 79.80 million hectare of land. This progress could be achieved by adopting improved
varieties/hybrids and modern production technologies (Rai et al.,2004).
The use of organic fertilizers and effective microorganisms gave the increased yield with
quality (Anonymous. 2004). In organic production weed is the major problem to control. If the
weeding is not done at an appropriate stage, there is a chance of losing the yield up to 37%.
Therefore, this study was carried out using organic fertilizers, EM technology and soil mulch
utilizing the available farm waste. The mulch has suppressed the weed germination and growth by
obstructing weed emergence, lowering the soil temperature and reducing diurnal temperature
fluctuations. As well they can increase weed seeds consumption by providing habitat for seed
foragers (Moore et al.,1994; Reader, 1991).Not much work is done on the effect of organic
fertilizers, EM and mulching on Vegetable(Radish) production, hence this study will a land mark in
sustainable
Materials and methods
The present study was taken up to study the performance of Effective Microorganisms (EM)
and mulch on growth and yield of Radish Cv. Arka Nishant and weed population dynamism in a
completely Randomized block Design with a plot size of 3.0 M x 2.5M , in Sandy loam soil area.

1
Subject Matter Specialist (Agronomy), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gandhigram Rural Institute(DU),
Gandhigram,
Dindigul-624302,Tamil Nadu-India.E-mail udayalatha@yahoo.com
The dose of organic fertilizer used in the present investigation was 125 kg/ha bone meal and 375
kg/ha Vermicompost as a basal dressing in 100% organic fertilizers recommended plots and 93.75
kg/ha bone meal and 281.25 kg/ha Vermicompost as a basal dressing in 75% organic fertilizers
recommended plots.
540
Effective Microorganisms was used both for seed treatment as well as for soil application. Seed
treatment was done for 30 minutes using activated EM solution of 1:1000 dilution. For soil
application EM was sprayed on soil after organic fertilizer application and covered with paddy
straw and coconut leaves for 7 days. The EM spraying was done at a concentration of 1:500 dilution.
After 7 days the mulches were removed and sowing of seed was done.


Figure 1: Effect of Organic fertilizers, EM and Mulching on Weed growth


Figure2: Effect of Organic fertilizers, EM and Mulching on Weed growth


Results
Weed Dynamics
The germination and growth of weed was less in the plots where EM was applied on the soil
and covered with mulches. This may be due to the temperature raised by the microbial action
happened in the soil by the microbes in EM and organic manures applied and the darkness created
by the mulch(Fig.1).. The maximum plant height was observed in T
6
(12.11cm) and the least
growth in T
4
(5.98)on the 20th day of observation.The weed population (Fig.2) was also higher in

541
T
6
(60 nos. /sq.ft.) and the minimum number of weeds were noticed in the plots of T
7
(11 nos./sq.ft.).
This is becuase the mulches can suppress weed germination and growth by blocking the direct sun
light on soil which changes the soil temperature. It also can possess allelopathic and/or phytotoxic
potentials, which reduce the ability of nearby plants to grow (Obaid and Qasem, 2005).
Morphological Characters
The treatment T
7
was found to be the best for most of the morphological characters like plant
height,No.of leaver and leaf area studied. The improvement in growth characters may be attributed
to the fact that the use of EM enhances the beneficial microbes in the environment and can improve
the photosynthetic efficiency due to an increase in nutrient availability and also capable of
producing beneficial organic acids, bioactive substances and vitamins (Higa, 2002).
Physiological Characters
The application of EM as soil spray and mulching was found to produce significant differences on
various physiological characters of radish. Among the 14 treatments, T
7
was again found to be the
best in terms of physiological characters such as Leaf Area Index, Total Dry Matter Production and
Harvest Index, ultimately leading to increased yield of roots. The increase in the photosynthetic
efficiency and nutrient uptake of crops with EM application could be the possible reasons for the
better physiological activities Moore et al.(1994)..
Yield Contributing Characters
The application of EM spray solution had recorded a yield increase of 20.50 per cent in radish as
reported by Higha (2002). In the present investigation also significant differences were observed
among the treatments for various yield contributing characters. The yield was highest in T
7
(12.60
kg/plot) followed by T
8
(11.70 kg/plot) and T
12
(11.35 kg/plot. This was further confirmed by the
increased weight of root length and width of root observed in these treatments. The use of EM as
seed treatment could not exhibit any significant differences and might possibly due to the prolonged
and incessant rains received immediately after sowing.
Conclusions
The germination and growth of weed was less in the plots where EM was applied on the soil and
covered with mulches. This may be due to the temperature raised by the microbial action happened
in the soil by the microbes in EM and organic manures applied and the darkness created by the
mulch. The growth and development and yield of Radish was also higher in the plots where EM and
mulching was done because of the initial competition for nutrients, water and other a biotic factors
was minimum for Radish. Thus, application of Organic manure, EM and mulching is a opt
technology for organic production of vegetables with quality.

References
Journal articles:
Moore, M.J., T.J. Gillespie and C.J. Swanton. 1994. Effect of cover crop mulches on weed
emergence, weed biomass, and soybean (Glycine max) development. Weed Technol. 8:512-
518.
Obaid, K.A. and J.R. Qasem. 2005. Allelopathic activity of common weed species on vegetable
crops grown in Jordan. Allelopathy J. 15:221-235.
Rai, U.N., Pandey, K., Sinha, S., Singh, A., Saxena, R., Gupta, D.K. (2004). Revegetating fly-ash
landfills with Prosopis juliflora L.: Impact of different amendments and Rhizobium
inoculation. Environ. Intl.. 30: 293 - 300.
Reader, R.J. 1991. Control of seedling emergence by ground cover: A potential mechanism
involving seed predation. Can. J. Bot. 69:2084-2087.
Book:
542
Higa.T.2002.Beneficial and effective Microorganisms for Sustainable Agriculture and
Environment.International Nature Farming Reseacrch Centre,Atami.P.16.
Report:
Anonymous. 2004. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.


543
Effect of Organic Farming in Rainfed Groundnut
on Red Sandy Loam Soils of Anantapur District

Vijay. M. Sankar Babu* , Rama.K Subbaiah and Madhan
M.Mohan
Key words: organic farming, rain fed, groundnut.

Abstract
A field experiment was conducted on a red sandy loam at
Agricultural Research Station, Anantapur for three successive
years i.e., from Kharif 2002-03 to Kharif 2004-05 to
investigate the influence of the organic farming on physico
chemical properties, yield and yield attributes of groundnut
crop. The maximum water holding capacity had negative
increase over initial in control (T1) and vice versa in T2 which
received organic materials (+ 11.6%). The pH of the soil was
moved towards neutral i.e. from 5.75 to 6.3 due to application
of organics like farm yard manure and other farm wastes. The
available macronutrient (N, P and K) content was increased in
the soil of organic plot due to release of in-situ nutrients by the
action of increased microbial population. There was a positive
increase (5.5%) of pod yield over control and also haulm yield
and oil percentage were always more with organics applied
plot only.
Introduction
Now-a-days organic farming has been getting very popular
of late with many advocating a return of traditional method of
agriculture. Organic agriculture is the key to sustainable
environment and to minimize the environmental pollution. It
is the pathway that leads us to live in harmony with nature It
conserves soil fertility and soil erosion through implementation
544
of appropriate conservation principles. It protects long term
fertility of soil by maintaining organic matter and providing
crop nutrients indirectly by using relatively insoluble nutrient
source which are made available to the plants by the action of
soil micro organisms. On the reverse side conventional
farming alarming the human beings about lethal doses of
pesticide and chemical residues in the food grains or in
eatables. In order to avoid the deleterious effects of synthetic
chemical fertilizers and pesticides, organic agriculture is
needed as an alternative farming system i.e., organic farming.
Now there is a demand world wide for organically grown
foods, which command a premium in export market.
Anantapur district has extensive groundnut production area
next to Gujarat state but export quality groundnut production is
very low. In order to change the farmers view from
conventional groundnut cultivation to organic farming
groundnut there is a need for investigations on the beneficial
effects of organic farming in relation to quality groundnut
produce. Hence present study is conducted to investigate the
effect of organic farming on physico-chemical properties, yield
and yield attributes of groundnut in on red sandy loam soils of
Anantapur district.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Scientist (Soil Science), Agricultural Research Station,
ANGR Agricultural University, DCMS buildings,
Kamalanagar, Anantapur-515 001, Andhra Pradesh, India.
E-Mail: vijay7970@rediffmail.com

Material and Methods
A field experiment was conducted for the three successive
years 2002-03 to 2004-05 to investigate the influence of the
organic farming on physico-chemical properties, yield and
545
yield attributes of groundnut crop in red sandy loam soils at
Agricultural Research Station, Anantapur. The site selected
for this experiment was non-fertilized for last 10 years. There
were two treatments which included T1: Control plot with all
general farming practices (use of recommended inorganic
fertilizer dose i.e., 20: 40: 40 N, P
2
O
5
, K
2
O kg/ha and need
based pesticides and fungicides application) and T2: Organic
farming plot (application of FYM @ 4t/ha, no pesticides and
no chemicals). Treatments are non replicated and large plot
(4000 m
2
Results and Discussion
of each treatment) trial. Soil samples were collected
from experimental field from a depth of 0-15 cm before
starting of the experiment, and every year after crop harvest
and the same were analysed for pH, EC, available nitrogen
(Subbaiah and Asija, 1956), available phosphorus (Olsen et al.,
1954) and available potassium (Hanway and Heidal, 1952),
whereas, bulk density and water holding capacity of soil
samples were estimated during second and third year of
experimentation. The annual rainfall of 253, 199 and 515.8
mm was received during 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively.
Soil properties
The increase in the H+ ion concentration towards neutral is
more (7.8 per cent increase over initial) in organics applied
plot than in control plot where soil pH increased by 2.6% only.
This will favors the growth of most of the crops. Decrease in
bulk density (- 4.24 per cent increase over initial) and increase
in water holding capacity (11.6 per cent increase over initial)
was recorded in organics applied plot (Table 1) compared to
control plot, where bulk density increased by 3.0 per cent and
water holding capacity decreased by 4.1 per cent. This may be
due to the increased soil available nitrogen content under
organic applied conditions. These results are in close
agreement with the results of Rita Dahia et al. (2003). The
546
increase in pH from 5.75 to 6.23 in red soils through treatment
with FYM contribution towards favorable environment for
crop growth than that has been possible in treatment with
commercial manures (Rita Dahiya et al., 2003). The organic
fertilizer application increased the available nitrogen content
by 26.1 per cent as compared to control plot where available N
increased by 20.7 per cent only (Table 1). Decomposition of
applied organic manures is responsible for this increase in soil
available nitrogen. Increase in available nitrogen with FYM
application might be attributed to the direct addition of
nitrogen through FYM to the available pool of the soil. The
increase in available nitrogen due to organic materials
application resulted in the greater multiplication of soil
microbes caused the conversion of organically bounded N to
inorganic forms. The favorable soil condition under FYM
addition might have helped in the mineralization of soil N
leading to build up of available N. Similar results were
reported by Tonalur and Badanur (2003).
Incorporation of FYM increased available phosphorus
contents by 69.4 per cent in surface soil over initial under
groundnut production organically when compared to control in
which available phosphorus increased by 15.1 per cent only.
This might be due to the solubilization of the native P in the
soil through release of various organic acids through
decomposition of applied organics. Tendon (1987) also
reported that the available phosphorus content of soil increased
significantly with incorporation of organic source over
fertilizer application.
547
Table 1. Effect of organic farming on physico-chemical properties of red sandy loam soils
Soil
properties
Initial
soil
status
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Mean % IOI
T1 T2 T1 T2 T1 T2 T1 T2 T1 T2

pH 5.7 5.7 5.3 6.3 6.7 5.6 6.7 5.9 6.2 2.6 7.8
EC (dSm
-1
0.037 ) 0.039 0.037 0.02 0.054 0.02 0.1 0.026 0.063 -
29.7
70.3
N (kg ha
-1
112.0 ) 141.7 108.4 124.8 145.2 139 170 135.2 141.2 20.7 26.1
P
2
O
5
(kg
ha
-1
18.6
)
15.0 5.0 22.4 29.1 26.8 60.5 21.4 31.5 15.1 69.4
K2O (kg ha
-
1
97.0
)
123.0 71.0 132.0 115.0 112 184 122.3 123.3 26.1 27.1
Bulk
density
(Mg m
-3
1.65
)
--- -- 1.67 1.57 1.72 1.6 1.70 1.58 3.0 -
4.24
WHC (%) 24.2 --- --- 22.5 25.5 24.0 28.50 23.2 27.0 - 4.1 11.6

Table 2. Effect of organic farming on yield and yield attributes of groundnut
548
Parameters
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 mean
%
IOC
T1 T2 T1 T2 T1 T2 T1 T2

Shelling (%) 70.0 73.6 71.4 71.6 71.5 70.7 71.0 72.0 1.41
Pod yield (kg ha
-1
350 ) 300 207 298 1025 1090 527 556 5.5
Haulms yield (kg
ha
-1
525
)
900 725 772 990 1022 747 898 20.2
Oil content (%) 50.2 51.3 40.6 47.5 45.2 49.1 45.3 49.3 8.8
Oil out turn (kg ha
-
1
122.9
)
114.1 59.8 94.3 91.2 102.9 91.3 103.7 13.6

% IOC = Percent increase over control T1: Control T2: Organic
farming
549
There was no major difference in potassium (27.1 per cent increase over initial) was observed in
organic fertilizer applied plot and in control plot (26.1 per cent increase over initial) where only
inorganics applied. The beneficial effect of FYM on available potassium may ascribed to the
reduction of potassium fixation and release of potassium due to interaction of organic matter with
clay in case of T2 treatment to which only organics were applied and direct potassium addition to
the potassium pool of the soil resulted in availability of more potassium in case of T1 treatment to
which only inorganics were applied. These results are in close agreement with Tandan (1987).
There was a slight difference between T1 (control) and T2 (organics applied) with regard to
shelling percent, pod yield, haulm yield, oil content and oil outturn of groundnut (mean of 3 year
data) (Table 2). Application of organics alone increased shelling %, pod yield, haulm yield, oil
content and oil out turn by 1.41, 5.5, 20.2, 8.8 and 13.6 per cent respectively compared to
application of inorganics alone. Lower pod and haulm yield levels were recorded during three years
of study because of continuous dryspells and low rainfall during crop growth period. The oil
content and oil outurn of groundnut was more in organic fertilizer applied plot, where 8.8 and 13.6
per cent increase was observed over control plot (only inorganics applied plot) respectively. These
results are in full accordance with the findings of Rita Dahiya et al., (2003).
Based on the above results it may be concluded that, the application of organic manures
influences the soil productivity through their effect on soil physical, chemical and biological
properties. The yield and oil out turn of groundnut will be enhanced with continuous use of organic
amendments.
Conclusions
In our present study it was concluded that the continuous usage of organic manures over 6 years
in organic farming system enhanced the dehydrogenase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activity
significantly over the conventional farming system.
Acknowledgments
Senior author is highly indebted to Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India
in the form of special budget allocation to do research on organic farming in rain fed agriculture.
References
HANWAY AND HIEDAL. 1952. Soil analysis methods used in Lowa State College. Soil Testing
Laboratory, Lowa Agric. Bull 57 : 1 31.
OLSEN, S.R., COLE, C.V., WATANABE, F.S. AND DEAN, L.A. 1954. Estimation of available
phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. Circular of U.S.D.A. - 939,
Washington D.C.
RITA DAHIYA, R.S. MALIK AND B.S. THORAR 2003. Effect of sugarcane trash and enriched
sugarcane trash mulches on ratoon cane yield and soil properties. J. Indian .Soc. Soil Sci.,
51 : 504 508.
SUBBAIAH, B.V. AND ASIJA, G.L. 1956. A rapid procedure for determination of available
nitrogen in soils. Current Sci. 25 : 259 260.
TANDON, H.L.S. (1987). Phosphorus Research and Agricultural Production in India. FDCO,
New Delhi
TOLANUR, S.I. AND BADANUR, V.P. 2003. Changes in organic carbon, available N, P and K
under irrigated use of organic manure, green manure and fertilizer on sustaining productivity
of pearlmillet pigeonpea system and fertility of an Inceptisol. J. Indian .Soc. Soil Sci.. 51 :
(1) : 37 41.



550
Promotion of Organic and Fairtrade Cocoa in Vietnam: Preliminary Results

Mr Vo Van Phong, Mr Daniel Valenghi, and Mrs Nguyen Lam Giang, Helvetas Vietnam,
Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, Program for the Development of Organic and Fair Trade
Cocoa in Vietnam

Corresponding authors email addresses: vo.phong@helvetas.org and
daniel.valenghi@helvetas.org

Key words: sustainability, organic agriculture, certified cocoa, farmer organization.

Abstract

Over the past decades, the Mekong River Delta has become a strategic region for the socio-
economic development of Vietnam including the agricultural sector. While the region is
currently producing the majority of the exported products (i.e. rice) of the country, the
sustainability of its conventional production system relying on chemicals (fertilizers and
pesticides) is challenged. It is known that organic agricultural systems are more sustainable
compared to conventional, chemical-based agriculture systems. With organic agriculture, farmers
not only can improve their soil fertility and structure, resulting in stable yields and better product
quality, but also sell their products at market prices plus premium. Therefore, Helvetas Swiss
Intercooperation, has started a five-year programme to develop Organic and Fair-Trade Cocoa in
Vietnam since 2009. The program aims to increase the living standard of the rural population in
the southern regions of Vietnam via improved social, economic and environmental conditions
related to agriculture. For that purpose, Helvetas has prepared technical guidelines such as a
guide for on-farm compost making, a manual for setting up and running internal control system
(ICS) and training of trainer (ToT) materials for farmer club leaders. In addition, the program has
organised a number of training courses for local staff and farmers including training on gender
mainstreaming in organic cocoa production, organic agriculture, compost making, soil
management and certification. Results from the first pilot farms converted into organic since
June 2009 show that organic cocoa is feasible under the local conditions. Local farmers able to
apply organic cocoa farming techniques in a cost effective manner with increasing support from
local governments. However, unsecured markets for organic premium have adversely affected
the promotion of organic cocoa production at a larger scale. It is very likely that under the
current high price levels for conventional cocoa, the premium of 20% for organic is not realistic.
Without such a premium, there are concerns about farmer participation. In response to organic
market fluctuations, Helvetas Vietnam has decided to promote a certified cocoa production
system that can accommodate different certification schemes including UTZ, Organic, and Fair-
Trade, aiming at offering farmers the opportunity of a stepwise conversion to different levels of
certified cocoa production (UTZ, FLO, organic) according to their individual means and needs.
With this new combination strategy, the program aims to capitalize the opportunities for certified
cocoa and minimizing the risks associated with fluctuated markets for organic cocoa, and by
2014 will directly benefit 4000 cocoa farmers.





551
Introduction
Vietnam Mekong Delta, covering an area of some 40,000 km
2
, and home to some 18 million people,
has become a strategic region for socio-economic development of the country, accounting for 50%
of the nations total food production, 95% of rice exports, 65% of fisheries production and 70% of
fruit (Truong 2009). However, over the past decades, agricultural production in the Delta has used
roughly a million tons of chemicals including pesticides and fertilizers a year (Chanh 2009). This
may have negative impacts on local environments and adversely affect the sustainability of
agricultural production in the region. The recent outbreak of rice brown plant hoppers is a typical
consequence of the improper use of pesticides. The improper use of agro-chemicals does not only
pollute the water resources but also the soils. In general a crop effectively uptakes only 30% of the
total amount of fertilisers applied and the remaining 70% is either washed off or accumulated in the
soil (Truc et al. 2006).

For developing the agricultural sector in a more sustainable manner the government of Vietnam has
made great efforts in applying more environmentally sound farming techniques. Since the early
1990s with the support from the international community the government has promoted and
successfully applied integrated pest management (IPM) techniques on rice, vegetables and other
crops in 61 provinces nationwide and 97% of villages in the Mekong Delta (Community IPM 2001).
Recently good agriculture practice (GAP) has been introduced on some crops such as rice, star
apple and pineapple, with global GAP on star apple in Tien Giang being a typical example of this
direction. At the same time, organic agriculture has been practiced in Vietnam and some 22 hectares
are under organic production.

Under that context, Helvetas Vietnam a member of Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, with its
substantial experience in rural development in Vietnam sees the combination of organic farming
and fair trade approaches as one of the key strategies for poverty alleviation and sustainable natural
resources management in the country. This is based on the two-fold premise that organic agriculture
can help smallholding farmers improve their income and that cocoa is a new crop in Vietnam thus
making it easier to introduce organic farming techniques and to setup a value chain for organic
cocoa products.

In organic agricultural production, small scale farmers are enabled to have better opportunities to
access to agricultural value chains and stable markets with premium prices of 10-50% (FAO 2007,
FAO 2005). Also, participation in this sector will enable small scale farmers to become less
dependent on chemical inputs that become expensive when factoring in the high transportation costs
for these items to reach rural areas and the higher unit costs for small volumes (IFAD 2003, UN
2008).

Cocoa has successfully been introduced to Vietnam since 2000 after several failures during the last
centuries. At present, cocoa is a new crop in Vietnam with a steady increase in planting area and
productivity. Until 2009, the total area under cocoa cultivation is about 12,000 hectares, a 19%
increase over 2008, with the total productivity of some 1500 tons of dried cocoa beans accounting
for a very tiny fraction of the world cocoa productivity of some 3.8 million tons in 2009. However,
with favorable climatic conditions and diligent farmers it is believed that cocoa will provide a good
opportunity of income generation for smallholding farmers.
Based on those strong foundations, a five-year program for the development of organic and fair
trade cocoa in Vietnam has been developed by Helvetas Vietnam, with funding from several
international donors including SECO, Rabobank and Helvetas. This program aims to increase the
living standards of the rural population in the southern regions of Vietnam via improved social,
economic and environmental conditions related to agriculture (Helvetas 2008b). The project is to be
implemented through the multi-stake-holder approach: the private sector (Ritter Sport, Cargill), the
552
farmers organizations, and the local public institutions (the Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh
City, the Ben Tre Province through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the
Tien Giang Province through the Department of Science and Technology).
For achieving the set objectives, since 2009, Helvetas Vietnam has collaborated with with Nong
Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (NLU) to conduct a number of studies on
management of cocoa pests and diseases and compost making, and with provincial partners in the
Mekong River Delta provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre to implement on-farm demonstration
plots to introduce and test organic farming. Results from the first pilot farms converted into organic
(21 in the 2 provinces) show that organic cocoa is feasible under the local conditions. 8 new organic
cocoa farmer clubs with a total number of 150 smallholders have been established. For the
promotion of the organic cocoa, the program has prepared technical guidelines such as a guide for
on-farm compost making, a manual for setting up and running internal control system (ICS) and
training of trainer (ToT) materials for farmer club leaders. In addition, the program has organised a
number of training courses for local staff and farmers including training on gender mainstreaming
in organic cocoa production, organic agriculture, compost making, soil management and
certification. However, unsecured markets for organic premium have adversely affected the
promotion of organic cocoa production at a larger scale. It is very likely that under the current high
price levels for conventional cocoa (3,500USD/ton), the premium of 20% for organic is not realistic.
Without such a premium, there are concerns about farmer participation.
This paper aims to present the rationales for the program interventions and an analysis of program
preliminary results, and the justifications for promoting a multi-standard ICS as an approach to
make organic production systems more responsive to organic market fluctuations, thereby
mitigating the vulnerability for the poor.
1. Description of program interventions as rationales for promoting organic agriculture
in the Mekong Delta

The world organic agriculture sector has been on a tremendous increase over the last few decades
(UN 2008). Generally speaking, organic agriculture is an agricultural production system that
sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people by combining site appropriate traditional farming
techniques and scientific innovations that rely on non-chemical inputs and ecologically sustainable
techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control (UNEP-
UNCTAD CBTF 2009). With chemical substances being mostly prohibited in organic production
systems, the inorganic fertilizers are substituted with the use of organic nutrient management
practices such as crop rotation, compost, mulches, green fertilizers, nitrogen fixation crops. This is
done in order to conserve and raise the level of organic materials and fertility in the soil (Nilda
2003). In fact, unlike conventional systems, organic production does not focus on the agro-products
per se but rather on the whole system employed to produce and deliver the product to the end user
(FAO 2005).

With these principles for successful promotion of organic cocoa in the Mekong Delta provinces of
Tien Giang and Ben Tre, Helvetas has identified five key areas to intervene; the development of site
appropriate organic cocoa farming techniques, the provision of training for local cocoa farmers,
the training of the necessary steps needed to obtain organic certification, the marketing of the
organic cocoa and enabling friendly policy for organic agriculture.

1.1 Development of organic farming techniques suited to local conditions

Helvetas has identified the development of site appropriate organic farming techniques as first and
foremost important intervention for promoting organic production in the Mekong Delta. The
553
international experience shows that it is difficult to develop a one-size-fits-all organic farming
technique and therefore, the principles of organic agriculture only serves as a guideline for organic
practitioners to formulate organic farming practices suited to individual farming locations with
specific social, technical and climatic conditions (IFAD 2005, CSIRO 2006). Therefore, before
designing and implementing the program, Helvetas conducted a feasibility study on promoting
organic cocoa to identify the most suitable regions, and perhaps more importantly understand the
opportunities and challenges likely to face the program. The study revealed that Tien Giang and
Ben Tre Provinces are the most suitable areas for the program to start organic cocoa due to the low
input requirements of local cocoa-coconut farming systems, availability of manure and green
materials for compost making, and high commitment from local authorities (Helvetas 2008a).

For conducting experiments to define organic farming techniques suited to local conditions,
Helvetas has collaborated with the Nong Lam University to conduct studies on management of
cocoa pests and diseases and nutrient management using compost made from local resources.
Instead of using agro-chemicals as conventional cocoa farming practices, Helvetas has directed
local farmers to use weaver and black ants to control cocoa mirids and to apply cultural methods
such as canopy management to manage cocoa black pod disease (Phytophtora palmivora). At the
same time, local farmers are recommended to use locally available resources such as cow dung,
hyacinth and coconut dusk to make compost to fertilize their cocoa instead of using NPK inorganic
fertilizers. The research activities to formulate site appropriate organic farming techniques are not
one off but rather on-going, and thus Helvetas needs more time to define organic farming practices
that are technically, socio-culturally and economically suited to local conditions. This is practically
accepted in the sense that it usually takes time for local farmers to test and learn newly introduced
farming technologies (IFAD 2005) and therefore, it would be desirable to promote organic
agriculture to a local area gradually, at least during the initial years (IFAD 2003).

1.2 Provision of training to farmers and other value chain actors

Helvetas has prioritized training activities to make sure local authorities and local farmers have a
sound understanding of organic requirements and principles. This is because organic agriculture by
international understanding is new to Vietnam. Also, Helvetas needs to make sure that participating
farmers fully understand the benefits of organic agriculture not only the requirements and standards
of organic agriculture. The international experience shows the likelihood of organic production
success will be greater if farmers are highly motivated, particularly by health and environmental
concerns in addition to the economic advantages (IFAD 2003).

For effective training activities, once the organic cocoa farming techniques are developed and
defined by the research team, they will be used to train local cocoa farmers and local extension
service providers. The training activities by the program will be accomplished using farmer to
farmer extension approaches, whereas key farmers will be selected and trained to become farmer
trainers. These farmer trainers will train their fellow farmers. It has been proven that these
approaches will be more cost-effective and more sustainable after the program ends because the
local people are still in their community to act as a local resource and continue the work.

1.3 Support to local farmer associations to certify and market their organic cocoa

For the organic cocoa to be recognized in the international market, the cocoa produced in the
program area must be certified by internationally recognized organizations. This is due to the fact
that certification gives the buyers the confidence that an organic product has been produced and
processed in accordance to the organic requirements and standards. This organic certification
enables small scale farmers to benefit from premium prices (FAO 2007).

554
In the Mekong Delta, organic certification has not been done before and thus certification is also a
key program intervention. Since farmers in the Mekong Delta are small scale farmers and not very
well organized for joining the organic cocoa production, the farmers need to group themselves as
clubs. The international experience shows farmer organizations play a key role in organic
production as groups will enable individual farmers to take advantage of collective marketing,
managing volumes, and perhaps most importantly to the increased efficiency in negotiating and
implementing contracts with buyers and suppliers (IFAD 2003).

Also, the farmer groups provide mechanisms for setting up and running internal control systems to
ensure the full compliance of organic regulations by participating farmers. This is due to the fact
that fraud may be a big challenge faced by small-farmer organizations producing organic products
as group members may be tempted to obtain premium prices without complying fully with organic
methods of production (IFAD 2003). Group certification is equally important, as it will reduce the
cost of certification per farmer. This is so crucial as it is financially impossible for small scale
Mekong farmers to be certified individually. Therefore, the program needs to have a minimum
number of farmers to convert to organic production in order to cover the costs associated with
organic certification (IFAD 2003, FAO 2005). Also, from the marketing perspective, local farmers
need to have a minimum volume of organic products for a buying company to set up a buying
system. In the organic cocoa program, Helvetas needs to motivate at least 2000 small scale farmers
to convert to organic cocoa.

Also, for the sustainability of the program intervention, farmer organizations need to build up their
capacities in marketing and contract negotiation to ensure that farmer groups are enabled to have
sufficient bargaining power in negotiating with buyers during the program life and long afterwards.
The international experience indicates that capacity-building at the farmer level (local farmers
associations, local training and advisory services) should be a central aspect of any strategy aimed
at using organic agriculture as a tool for poverty alleviation (IFAD 2005). Also marketing of
organic products through farmer organizations with direct contacts with buyers is a key to obtaining
better prices (IFAD 2003).

1.4 Enabling policy for organic agriculture

As with other development initiatives, for effectiveness and sustainability of the organic program
interventions, an enabling policy environment plays a pivotal role in promoting organic agriculture
in the target area. The international experience reveals that for developing countries, an enabling
environment is required to support institutional development and to set up norms and standards to
create favorable conditions for organic agriculture and markets to grow (FAO 2007). Equally
important, enabling national laws and regulations will help reduce certification costs, either by
stimulating foreign certification bodies to open local offices or by supporting the development of
local service providers (UN 2008, IFAD 2003).


Analysis of program preliminary results
1.5 Research activities and on-farm demonstration

For successfully promoting organic agriculture in the Mekong region, Helvetas has collaborated
with Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to conduct a number of studies on
management of cocoa pests and diseases and compost making, and with provincial partners to
implement on-farm demonstration plots to introduce and test organic farming.

Current cocoa farming analysis
555
For better understanding of the current cocoa farming practices and the issues that the program
needs to take into consideration in converting to organic cocoa, the program hired an international
organic farming expert and a national cocoa expert to conduct an analysis of farming systems in
Tien Giang and Ben Tre Provinces. The study made different knowledgeable recommendations
regarding plant nutrition, plant protection, the set-up or demonstration farms and the farmer
organisations.

Management of Phytophthora spp.
For effective management of cocoa black pod disease (Phytophthora Palmivora), Trichoderma
species were isolated from cocoa gardens in the program area, multiplied in the NLU laboratory and
tested in the demonstration plots. The multiplied Trichoderma species were then been sprayed on
cocoa trees to test against the disease. However, the effectiveness of the Trichoderma against the
black pod disease has not been clear as it may take longer time for the Trichoderma populations to
build up to a level that is sufficiently antagonize the pathogen causing the black pod disease. Also,
thanks to collaboration between the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL) and the NLU University in
HCMC, an applied research on biological methods to control cocoa black pod disease
(Phytophthora palmivora) has been conducted. Under laboratory conditions and small field trials in
NLU cocoa garden, garlic extracts could control effectively the dissemination of the disease on
various parts of the cocoa plant. For field application and especially for dissemination of this
method among the farmers, more investigations are needed. In the mean time, as fungicide is
prohibited in organic production, pruning and canopy management have proved the most cost
effective cultural methods against this disease.

Control Mirids with ants
Experimentations by NLU have revealed that effective management of cocoa mirids is a crucial
factor for successful conversion to organic production. Fortunately, weaver ants can control this
pest effectively. In the farms with low weaver ant population, the level of damage by this pest is
very significant. Based on the experimentation results on weaver ants, demonstration farmers are
now confident that with significant weaver ant population, cocoa mirids can be effectively
controlled. The effectiveness of weaver ants against cocoa mirids is higher when mealy bugs are
available on the pods (see picture). It is recommended, that farmers raise mealy bugs along with
weaver ants. The experience shows that rearing wear ants during the rainy season is very difficult
and therefore it is highly recommended that the conversion should be started during November,
when the dry season comes, and when the population of Mealybugs becomes higher.

Compost making
For compost making, the research findings indicate that under the local context for harvesting a kg
of dried cocoa beans, it is recommended to apply at least 15 kg of mature compost during the first 3
years. After the conversion (3 years), the soil system recovers its balance, acquires stable physical
and chemical properties and the required amount of compost per tree is reduced. The experience in
compost making also shows that for easily decomposed green materials such as hyacinth and
grasses farmers should not chop as recommended during the training. Also, cocoa leaves should not
be used for making compost because cocoa leaves are hard to be decomposed and therefore it is
better to use the cocoa leaves for mulching. Moreover, another valuable source for compost making
is cocoa husk which is also largely available in the region. Cocoa husk contains high content of
potassium which is very important nutrient element for cocoa plants at pod bearing stages. At the
same, using cocoa husk for compost making helps reduce environmental problems associated with
fermentation. For this reason, the farmer groups were supported with grinding machine of cocoa
husk to help them reduce the workload with husk grinding.

With this recommended dosage, local farmers may find it challenging to collect and chop sufficient
amount of green materials for compost making. An option for overcoming this challenge is to
556
introduce N-fixation crops that are suitable under shade conditions in the cocoa gardens
intercropped with coconuts in the program areas. Another solution is to timely start conversion. The
program experience shows the conversion should be started at the beginning of the dry season
(November) when cocoa husk is abundantly available and activities such as material collection,
chopping and compost piling are easier. If compost making is started in November, the conversion
farmers will have sufficient finished compost to fertilize their cocoa once the rainy season comes,
usually at beginning of April of the following year.

Cover plants
Pinto Peanuts as cover plant have been introduced to the demo framers. Cover plants along with
composting help to protect the soils from erosion and increase the soil fertility through nitrogen
fixation. However, the result indicates that Pinto Peanuts cannot grow well under shade conditions.
Therefore, there is a need to find other types of cover plants.

Yield during first year of conversion period

From December 2009 to May 2010, the total amount of fresh pods harvested from 21 demo farms
were about 29 tonnes, equivalent to 3 tonnes of dry beans. With these figures, it is estimated that the
average yield per tree per year among 21 demo farm are 8 kg of fresh pods (some 0.7 kg of dry
beans). Generally the yields in Ben Tre are higher. The higher yields in Ben Tre Province could be
attributed to the fact that in this province the trees are older and water is more available for
irrigation during the dry season. However, this yield disparity can only be justified once further
monitoring data are available.

For 11 demo farms in Tien Giang, the average yield per tree per year is estimated to be 4 kg of fresh
pods. This is only a half compared to the average yield of conventional cocoa in the province. In
both provinces the yield varies massively among farmers. The yields of the conversion farms vary
depending on the farming techniques practiced before conversions and farmers ability to make
compost during the conversion period.

1.6 Training activities

In principle, the training activities by the program are accomplished using farmer to farmer
extension approaches, whereas key farmers are selected and trained to become farmer trainers (ToT
approaches). These farmer trainers will train their fellow farmers. Once the organic techniques are
developed and defined by the research team, they will be used to train local cocoa farmers and local
extension service providers.



Training of Trainers (ToT) curriculum development
As mentioned above, for effective expansion and sustainability of the program, a network of farmer
trainers will be established from 2010. For doing so, the ToT curriculum has been drafted by an
expert from the NLU. The initial inputs for the organic TOT are expected to come from the
materials used by the former SUCCESS Alliance project and developed by ADDA organic project.

Because the program is now still at the stage of learning by doing, a whole ToT package should
not be developed at once. For general cocoa cultivation techniques such as pruning and shade
management, the program can make use of the training materials from previous cocoa development
projects. For organic related topics, the program will gradually develop individual sessions and
revise them taking into consideration feedback from farmers and local partners. A technical
document on compost making using the local resources has been prepared and tentatively used for
557
farmers converting to organic cocoa in 2010. With the experience gained during the upcoming
months, a brochure on compost making using local resources is produced by end of 2010. Other
guides for organic cocoa production such as pests and disease management in the light of organic
cocoa also need to be prepared.

Introductory training on organic cocoa for key stakeholders
For ensuring common understandings on organic cocoa and organic certification procedures as well
as requirements, standards in organic production, a 2-day training on organic cocoa under the
service provision contract with Qualiservice was organised with participations of 22 program
stakeholders including DOST, DARD, NLU, Cargill and Grand Place. Participants to the training
are particularly interested in compost making, organisation of Internal Control System (ICS) and
certification procedures which for them are the most challenging parts of the program.

Training on organic cocoa cultivation and compost making for demonstration farmers
Before implementation of demonstration activities, 22 demonstration farmers, local part-timers and
program staff were trained on compost making, management of pests and diseases using organic
methods for 3 days, one in each province. After the training, the farmers better understood more
effective compost making methods and methods for pest and disease management in the light of
organic principles. As a result, the demonstration farmers have made a significant amount of
compost using the recommended materials and reared weaver ants to control cocoa mirid.

Cross-visits for experience and information sharing among farmers
For strengthening information and experience sharing among the demonstration farmers, along with
indoor training activities, the program has also organised field days for the farmers from Ben Tre
Province to visit the demonstration farms in Vinh Huu Commune, Go Cong Tay District, Tien
Giang Province. Before the visit, the demonstration farmers in Chau Binh Commune, Giong Trom
District, Ben Tre Province had found it very challenging to make sufficient compost and had not
managed their cocoa gardens properly. After discussing with the demonstration farmers in Vinh
Huu Commune and observing what the farmers there had done, the farmers in Chau Binh Commune
gained momentum to finish their compost making as recommended and properly pruned their cocoa
gardens few weeks after the visit. The substantial changes in their attitudes and behaviours are
resulted from their pride and honour being that why cant they while the farmers in Vinh Huu
Commune can. With this valuable experience, the program will prioritise this type of activities
from 2010.

Training on gender mainstreaming
For better understanding the social aspect of organic cocoa production in the local context, Helvetas
has made a first gender disaggregated assessment of the division of labor in the current project areas
(Helvetas 2010). The study analyzed the challenges and the opportunities for women to be more
represented in trainings and farmers organizations and accordingly propose approaches and
strategies to improve the representation of women. Based on the assessment findings, a 3 day
training course on gender mainstreaming was organized for the program staff and the program
partners soon after the assessment made. As a result, gender has been mainstreamed into program
activities.

1.7 Setting up an internal control system

For the certification and the marketing of organic cocoa, the farmers have to be organized in small
local groups. These groups have to be associated in one single provincial organization. If the 2
provincial organizations could join for the certification, the cost will be highly reduced. At the first
time, the program will start the certification following the EU Standard for organic agriculture only.
The certification following the fairtrade standards of FLO will follow at a later stage.
558

For that purpose, the program needs a more systematic and professional ICS that reflects the type
and context of cocoa production in the Mekong region. Efforts were given to the analysis of
potential service providers in the ICS development. The main criteria for the selection were those
with experience in cocoa production; experience with organic standards such as EU, JAS and NOP;
good knowledge and understandings of the region. At the end, Green Net was selected and an
international expert from Thailand was hired to conduct a survey in the area. As a result, an ICS
manual have been drafted and this document will be used for training local key farmers and partner
staff to ensure that they are able to set up and manage an ICS for the sake of organic cocoa in
localities.

At the same time, the experience of Helvetas in organic cotton program in Africa was consulted.
Part of their ICS formats has been adjusted for the controlling of the demonstration farmers. During
2009, two ICS documents have been prepared. One is for each household to document all farm
activities such as fertilizing and harvesting. The other is for group inspectors who regularly visit
their group members for peer monitoring and document what have been done and crop performance
on the farms. Accordingly, group leaders visit their group members farms once a month to monitor
farming practices, farm diary and timely provide advice to the demo holders. At the same time,
Helvetas has drafted a sanction policy adapted from international experience clearly describing
incompliant faulty and corresponding sanctions. This policy is prepared using IFOAM guidelines
and Helvetas experience in organic cotton, and of course this document is subject to changes based
on the experiences at field level.

The experience shows that farmers may find it difficult to document all farming activities for later
references. Also there may be conflict of interest. The group inspector may find it challenging to
report cheating behaviours because group members are either close relatives like uncles or close
friends. Overcoming this issue, it is recommended that group leader of one group should carry out
internal inspection activities in other groups to ensure a more impartial check. Moreover, the group
inspector needs to show to their group members by his ability to practise organic farming technique
on his own farms before advising his members.

1.8 Market for organic cocoa

Until now, the program has made great efforts to involve partners from the private sector such as
Ritter Sport and Cargill. However, their commitment has been limited. Ritter Sport has agreed to
collaborate with DED to provide a Technical Advisor to the program. For setting up a buying
network for locally produced organic cocoa, Helvetas has collaborated with local partners to set up
a buying and fermentation station in the program area. Also, since December 2009, the program has
supported the demonstration farmers with 20% premium.

However, over the past months, the experience shows that the 20% premium policy may be too high
for the market and thus financially not viable. With a 20% premium, the program needs to calculate
the costs incurred for organic management such as ICS and certification costs. In other words, over
the past months, fierce competition on local cocoa markets has made organic premium less lucrative.
Some local companies like Pham Minh can buy cocoa beans at higher price than what the program
can offer (conventional price plus premium). As a result, Cargill, the most potential buyer of
organic cocoa in Vietnam has refused to involve directly in the organic cocoa value chain. For
stable and competitive markets for organic cocoa, the program team has tried to discuss this issue
with other cocoa traders such as Olam and with Chocolats Halba which is already a partner in the
Helvetas Honduras organic cocoa program.

559
In the meantime, Helvetas has decided to apply a fixed premium policy of 650 VND per fresh pod
kg which is equivalent to about 13% of the current market price. As a result, with this new premium
policy and the experience gained during the conversion period, starting with 22 demo farmers in the
two provinces since June 2009, there are now only 17 demo farmers. Two demo farmers decided
not to continue with the program as the premium is no longer attractive for them.

In short, unsecured markets for organic premium have adversely affected the promotion of organic
cocoa production at a larger scale. It is very likely that under the current high price levels for
conventional cocoa (3,500USD/ton), the premium of 20% for organic is not realistic. Without such
a premium, there are concerns about farmer participation.

1.9 Promoting a multi-standard flexibility to make organic cocoa more responsive to
organic market fluctuations

In response to this market situation, Helvetas has decided to promote a certified cocoa production
system that can accommodate different certification schemes including UTZ, Organic, and Fair-
Trade.

Generally speaking, three certification schemes (organic, UTZ and Fairtrade) have important
similarities and synergetic effects. They all require the small-scale cocoa farmers to be organized in
groups to meet requirements of group certification and an ICS to be set up to ensure full compliance
by participating farmers. The three certifications focus economic, social and environmental aspects,
though with different degrees.

UTZ certification can support organic cocoa with group management and ICS. As certification is
new to all local cocoa farmers, they have never experienced with group management, book keeping,
running Internal Control System (ICS). At its early stage, the organic production and organization
can not involve a sufficient group of cocoa farmers for a marketable volume. Additionally, among
the certification standards, organic is out of the top. Having an easier certification scheme such as
UTZ Certified could serve as entry point to the organic certification. Fairtrade can strengthen the
social aspects of organic production. Farmers are empowered to voice their opinions and involved
in decision making.

At the current expansion rate of organic cocoa, it is very costly if an ICS and a buying system with
traceability are set up only for organic cocoa. Therefore, it would be more cost effective if an easier
applied certification scheme in parallel with organic cocoa is introduced to the program area to
enable local farmers and organizations to gain knowledge and build up capacity which are also
required for organic certified cocoa such as setting up and running ICS, farmer clubs and farm
bookkeeping. In Vietnam UTZ certified has successfully been promoted on coffee and now on
cocoa with strong support from the parties concerned like Cargill, UTZ certified and cocoa farmers.
The ICS and buying system used for UTZ certified cocoa is at the same time used for organic cocoa
and thus the costs incurred is by far lower.

2. Concluding Remarks

Until recently, the program has made great efforts to accomplish numerous activities, making good
progress towards the achievements of its goals. After one year of conversion, organic cocoa is
technically feasible under the local context. Farmers are able to apply recommended organic cocoa
farming techniques such as composting and using ants to control cocoa mirids instead of using
agrochemicals. Technically speaking, the biggest constraint for local cocoa farmers in conversion to
organic cocoa production is to make sufficient compost due to shortages of green materials and
labour force. Moreover, it is also revealed that cocoa mirid has emerged as the most damaging pest
560
and thus for the first year of conversion, the build-up of ant population, along with effective canopy
management, in organic conversion cocoa gardens are of pre-requite conditions. For overcoming
the challenges associated with compost making, conversion to organic cocoa production should be
started from November to January of the following year because of abundant availability of local
materials and favourable conditions for compost making, lower damage by the black pod disease
and favorable conditions for building up weaver ant populations.

However, unsecured markets for organic premium have adversely affected the promotion of organic
cocoa production at a larger scale. It is very likely that under the current high price levels for
conventional cocoa, the premium of 20% for organic is not realistic. Without such a premium, there
are concerns about farmer participation. In response to this market situation, Helvetas has decided
to promote a certified cocoa production system that can accommodate different certification
schemes including UTZ, Organic, and Fair-Trade. This is based on the fact that the three
certification schemes have important similarities and synergetic effects. Moreover, At its early stage,
the organic production and organization can not involve a sufficient group of cocoa farmers for a
marketable volume. Additionally, among the certification standards, organic is out of the top.
Having an easier certification scheme such as UTZ Certified could serve as entry point to the
organic certification.

With this new combination strategy, Helvetas aims to capitalize the opportunities for certified cocoa
and minimizing the risks associated with fluctuated markets for organic cocoa and small volumes of
organic cocoa for export.
561
Reference

Chanh, D.T. (2009). Rural areas are polluted with chemicals: living with agro-chemicals (Lng qu
ang b u c: n, ng cng phn ha hc, thuc tr su). Vietnam Agriculture News
dated 9/7/2009.

Community integrated pest management (Community IPM). (2001). Vietnam country report.
Available: http://www.communityipm.org/Countries/vietnam.htm. Accessed 4 January 2010.

CSIRO. (2006). Organic agriculture: a global perspective. Eds by Paul Kristiansen, Acram Taji,
and John Reganold.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2007). Organic certification schemes: managerial
skills and associated costs.

FAO.(2005). Organic agriculture, environment and food security. Environment and Natural
Resouces Series No. 4

Helvetas. (2008a). Feasibility study for organic and fairtrade in Vietnam.

Helvetas. (2008b). Program for the development of organic and fairtrade cocoa in Vietnam.
Program document.

Helvetas. (2010). Gender assessment for the development of organic and fairtrade cocoa in
Vietnam.

International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). (2005). Organic Agriculture and Poverty
Reduction in Asia: China and India Focus. Thematic Evaluation

IFAD. (2003). The Adoption of Organic Agriculture Among Small Farmers in Latin America and
the Caribbean. Thematic Evaluation.

Nilda, P.C. (2003). Organic agriculture: foundations for the ecological management of pests.

Truc, N.T.T., Trinh. B.V., Danh. V.T. (2006). Agricultural Development and Natural Resources
Degradation: An environmental Review.

Truong, T.V. (2009). Integrated water resource management in Vietnams Mekong Delta. The
paper submitted to Workshop on Scientific and Rational Exploitation of Water Resources
Our Common Responsibility in China.

United Nations. (2008). Best practices for Organic policy: what developing country governments
can do to promote the organic agriculture sector.

UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force on Trade Environment and Development (UNEP-
UNCTAD CBTF). (2009). E-Learning Course on Successful Organic Production and Export.
562
Application of IPM in Organic Farming in China

Wang Xingping, Yu Kaijin, Zhang Jibing, Wang Yungang, Zhou Zejiang, Xiao Xingji
Organic Food Development Center, Ministry of Environment Protection, Nanjing 210042, China
E-mail:xiao@ofdc.org.cn
Website:http://www.ofdc.org.cn

Key words: IPM, Organic farming, Agronomic control, Biological control

I. Introduction
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) means the careful consideration of all available pest
control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the
development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are
economically justified and reduce or minimize risks to human health and the environment. IPM
emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and
encourages natural pest control mechanisms.
The principle of organic farming for pest, disease and weed control is that all organic farming
producers should adopt in an integrated way various agronomic, biological and physical control
means, specific to their respective crop-pest- disease-weed ecosystems and create ecological
environments that make against reproduction of pest, disease and weeds, while favoring
regeneration of various natural enemies, so as to ensure balance and biodiversity of the farming
ecosystems, reduce the losses that various pest, disease and weed hazards may bring about to the
farming production, gradually improve soil fertility and eventually realize the objective of
sustainable and stable rise of crop yield.
II. Main features of IPM
The main features of IPM is asking not for complete annihilation of harmful organisms, but for
tolerance of them; emphasize economic, environmental and social benefits of the control; stress
combination and integration of various control measures; and pay high attention to the effects of
natural controlling factors.
III. Practice and application of IPM in organic farming in China
1. Plant quarantine
Plant quarantine is an action mandated by law and administrative authorities to prevent
anthropochory of hazardous or harmful organisms by technical means. It is a mandatory and
preventive measure that is the forefront measure and defense line of IPM in pest, disease and weed
control in organic farming in China.
2. Agronomic control
Agronomic control is to adopt a series of agronomic measures, like diversified cropping,
various cultivation systems, farming cultivation techniques and field management, so as to regulate
563
the relations among pests, pathogens, weeds, hosts and environmental conditions, create conditions
favorable to crop growth, reduce the base populations of pest and the primary sources of pathogen
infection and lower the development rate of pest, disease and weeds. It is a fundamental measure of
IPM in pest, disease and weed control in organic farming in China.
3. Breeding and using pest/disease-resistant varieties
Breeding and using pest/disease-resistant varieties is an economical, effective and safe
measure in plant pest and disease control and the core of IPM for control of many major pests and
diseases and the priority choice of IPM in pest and disease control in organic farming in China as
well.
4. Biological control
Biological control is a promising measure to control population of pests by using organisms or
their metabolites and also an important component of IPM in pest, disease and weed control in
organic farming in China.
5. Physical control
Physical control is mainly to separate, inhibit, deactivate or kill hazardous organisms by
physical means, like segregating, heating, freezing, drying, etc. so as to realize control of pest,
disease and weeds. It is the most effective measure embodying IPM in organic farming production
in China.
6. Bio-preparation control
In case of emergency, bio-preparations of substances sourced from nature or live organisms are
to be used in an integrated way to control pest, disease and weeds. The use of bio-preparations is a
supplementary measure and the last defence line of IPM in pest, disease and weed control in
organic farming in China.
7. Integrated application of the above-listed control measures
Nowadays, in the organic farming production in China, it is quite common that two or more of
the above-list measures are used to control pest, disease and weeds instead of the use of just one of
them.
IV. Expectation and prospect of IPM in organic farming
1. Further intensify the research and extension of IPM technology in organic farming.
2. Train and educate high quality IPM technology extensionists.
3. Establish a shared IPM technical data network.
V. References
Gao Z N, Zhao K Q, Xiao X J, Tai C M, et al. Organic agriculture and organic food[M]. Beijing:
China Environmental Science Press, 2009.
Zhou Z J, Zong L G, Yang Y G, Xiao X J, et al. Chinese ecological agriculture and organic farming
theory and practice[M]. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 2004.
564
CNAT. National organic certification inspector training materials (Trial) [M]. Beijing: China
metrology publishing house,2005.
Zhou M Z. Agricultural Entomology (Agricultural Colleges trial materials)[M]. Beijing: China
Agriculture Press,1961.
Xu Z F. General Entomology (General Education Eleventh Five-Year Plan textbook) [M].
Beijing: Science Press, 2009.
Gao Z N. Protecting eco-environment and developing organic farming[J]. Rural Eco-Environment,
2001, 17(2):1-4.
Zhang J B, Xiao X J. Promote the development of organic agriculture and ecological civilization[J].
Management of Agricultural Science and Technology, 2009(1):54-55.
Guan R. Technologies of IPM and sustainable development of agriculture[J]. China Plant Protection,
200929(9)38-40.
Zhu Y Q. Integrated control basics of diseases and insect pests[J]. Jiangsu Rural Economy: the
brand of agricultural materials, 2010, 534-35.
Liang F, Hu W X, Zhang J F, Yu H J. Integrated control strategies of disease pest and weed for
organic rice [J]. Reclaiming and Rice Cultivation201040346-47.
Liang T J, Zheng L. Integrated control technique and occurrence of bacterial diseases of
vegetables[J]. Xinjiang Agricultural Science and Technology2010354.
Fu Y Z, Si Y. Several pests integrated control of greenhouse vegetables[J]. Jilin vegetables2010
272-73.
Lu D, Zhang J B, Xiao X J,et al. Organic agriculture-the inevitable choice of ecological
agriculture[J]. Research of Agricultural Modernization. 2006 (Special issue)23-24.
Yang Y G, Xiao X J, et al. Organic agriculture and biodiversity conservation[J]. Organic Food
Times (Internal Journal)2000621-7.
Yang L W, et al. Current situations and perspectives of organic agronomy[J]. China Seed Industry,
2002, (8)8-9.
565
Overview of Organic Agriculture Research in China

Wu, W.
1

, Qiao, Y. , Meng F., Li H. & Guo Y.
Key words: organic development, research, China, Chanllege
Abstract
Although organic agriculture is developing fast in China, it is still facing some chal-lenges for
research sector to provide substantial and practical support with technol-ogy and the way of
thinking. During last 30 years, Research mainly focus on eco-Agriculture and green food which is
the key area in China for sustainable agriculture development plan. By now there are no specific
funding schemes for organic agriculture research in China. Since 2000, International cooperative
programs provided financial supports for researches on China's organic agriculture mainly in the
area of organic agriculture development and assessment. Later, Research institutions and
universities also started technological consulting and research programs with funds from enterprises,
local government and little part from central government, some regions compiled organic
development planning by local governments at provincial and county level. At present, substantial
and practical organic technology, policy decision making and marketing linkage are the key needs
for the current organic research and development. There is no platform for organic research
cooperation at national level; a national organic industry alliance is foreseen to be set up with the
support from Ministry of Science and Tech-nology in near future.
Introduction
Organic agriculture in China started in early 1990s when Netherlands certificer Skal certified green
tea product as organic Product from Lin'an, Zhejiang Province in 1990. During the same period,
Nanjing Environ-mental Research Institute under China State Environmental Protection Agency
(SEPA) began organic research programs "Comparative Study on Energy, Material & Economic
Flows of Organic & Conventional Production System in Pan-Pacific Area" and "Comparative Study
on the Production of Organic & Conventional Wheat, Rice & Vegetable", in cooperation with the
University of California, Santa Cruz and by support of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1994, the first
specialized organization engaging in organic agriculture research, certification, training and
promotion, SEPA Organic Food Development Center, was founded in Nanjing. In 1998, Sino-
Germany cooperative GTZ project "Development of Organic Agriculture in Poverty Areas in
China" was initiated. Later on, China Agricultural University, Nanjing Agricultural University,
South China Agricultural University and Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of
Agricultural Sciences established several organic research, consulting and certification facilities;
other agricultural research institutions also began to launch research programs on organic
production technologies. Till 2002, organic agricultural research and consulting service system in
China had come to shape.
Key players and funders
Key government agencies involved in the management of organic agriculture and products are the
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) who introduced organic farming to China;
Certification and Accreditation Administration of the Peoples Republic of China (CNCA) who is
now in charge of organic certification; related ministries who promote the development of organic
products in China include Ministry of Agriculture (MOA); Ministry of Commerce (MOC), The
1
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences China Agricultural University , No. 2 Yuanmingyuan Xilu Haidian District, Beijing, E-Mail
wuwenl@cau.edu.cn
566
development and Reform Committee, and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), they also
provide some funding for organic research.
The Organic Food Development Centre (OFDC) of Nanjing Environmental Research Institute
under SEPA was established in 1994 and was the first organization to get involved in organic
management, research and certification. Agro-Ecology Research Institute and Organic Agriculture
Technology Centre under China Agricultural University, and the Institute of Organic Agriculture
under Nanjing Agricultural University, South China Agricultural University and Tea Research
Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences established several organic research,
consulting and certification facilities; China Certification and Accreditation Institute under CNCA
also play roles of organic research for certification and accreditation and policy makings.
International cooperative programs provided the first financial supports on China's organic
agriculture researches. The main foreign funders are Rockefeller Foundation; Sino-Germany GTZ
program, German Amber Fund, IFAD, Asian Development Bank Institute, Austria City
Sustainability Research Institute and EU etc (IFAD 2005).
In China, Eco-Agriculture and green food have always been key area in China's sustainable
agriculture development plan (Ye, X.J. et al 2002). 2.5 million EURO was allocated to the
development of eco-agriculture during national tenth Five-Year Plan (2000-2005). With the rapid
development of organic agriculture and in 2007 central government formally announced to support
organic agriculture in appropriate regions literally. In the national eleventh Five-Year Plan (2005-
2010), organic agriculture become a state supported study as the program "Organic Agricul-ture
Farming and Processing Technologies and Extension in Illi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region" was initiated by Ministry of Science and Technology.
State authorities in charge and local governments also support organic research and planning
programs by Scientific, Technological & Educational Office of Ministry of Agriculture, SEPA,
Jiangsu Science & Technology Program, etc. Enterprise also funded to some universities and
institutes to do some organic research on practical technologies. These researches paved the way for
the development of organic agriculture in China.
Major areas of research into organic agriculture
With the thriving of organic agriculture in China, national and international cooperative research
programs were carried out gradually, focusing on a much wider range of research issues including:
Development and Organic Planning: In late 1990s, international cooperative pro-grams initiated
organic agriculture research in China. These programs majorly fo-cused on the development of
organic agriculture, "Development of Organic Agricul-ture in Poverty Areas in China funded by
Germany GTZ etc. In late 2000, many re-gions started their research and developed the regional
organic plans to promote organic industries by local governments at provincial level and county
level.
Assessment of Organic Agriculture: Comparative studies on the Production of Organic &
Conventional crops and vegetables were carried out in some long term ex-periments(Xi, Y. G. 1997,
Liu Y. et al 2010), impact of organic agriculture on environment, rural development, ecosystem etc.
Organic Technology Research: Individual organic production technologies such as pest and disease
control, soil fertility improvement, organic products storage etc, in-tegration of the technologies and
demonstration, these project mainly funded by local government and enterprises for programs
consulting.
Rules, Certification and Recognition: funded mainly by CNCA and APEC, researches are carried
out on Promotion of mutual understanding on organic certifica-tion, Control system of import
and export rules of organic products etc.
Research and Promotion of Organic Education: Education-wise, Bioasialink is an EU - China co-
funded two-year project specifically designed to develop a curriculum in Organic Farming suitable
567
for the Chinese educational framework and production of teaching materials supporting curriculum
implementation(Cao Zh. et al 2009) .
Chanllege and Strategies
Firstly, research programs on organic agriculture are still scarce, the research on organic production
technologies are underestimated by authorities, and institutions conducting such researches are
insufficient. Using "organic agriculture" and "organic food" as keywords, published papers on
organic related researches from 2000 to 2009 were retrieved from CNKI (National Knowledge
Infrastructure) online database. The result showed that in year 2003 the number of published papers
reached its peak and began to decrease since. Most of those papers were introductory or conceptual;
only less than 5% were reports on research findings (Xi Y.G. 2007)
Secondly, organic agriculture as an industry requires pre-, mid- and post-production services, and a
lot of work on cultivation, husbandry, preserving, packing, transportation and marketing. Although
some accomplishments have been achieved, the research is not thorough and profound enough to
fulfill the requirement of developing organic products.
Thirdly, Due to limitations on production techniques and management measures, the cost of organic
production is much higher than conventional production (usually 1 times higher), leaving the
farmers having difficulties to receive consulting by increasing cost. The government does not have
a supporting policy to help farmers receiving consulting, nor to provide financial subsidy for
consulting. This leads to an awkward situation that farmers wish to receive consulting yet
consulting agencies cannot find any business.
At present, organic technology in practice, policy decision making and marketing linkage are the
key fields for the current research needs. Chinese organic production was promoted by the global
trade; the enterprises turn to the favorable area. Although the organizer of the organic production set
up a set of quality control system to guarantee the conformity of the organic regulations, but the
substantial technologies for pest and disease control, soil fertile maintenance were transferred to the
farmers and were not well implemented. The essence technology of the traditional agriculture and
new techniques was not well summarized, developed and implemented, the farmers can not find
practical techniques once they meet some problems which will cause crop failure. Thus, it is
necessary to carry out research from technology point of view and make some modifications about
traditional organic agriculture, to allow integration of each factor within the whole agricultural
ecological economy domain, then building up systematic agricultural production, focusing on the
self-replenishment of soil fertility. These techniques can be extened to organic famers in practical.
Research on current policies and regulations are also needed, problems are to be found out for
improvement, such as are there some conflicts between different policies? What are the appropriate
policies to support the development of OA in China especially for the support policies (subsidies,
technology extension, CSA )? Some Policies from developed countries could be the reference for
China OA. Right comments and suggestions are very important to different level government for
support policy to promote organic farming in China.
Organic market is the driven force for the development of organic industry, Research are needed to
study marketing linkage with organic farmers with competitive, trust-worthy and fair supply chains
locally and internationally from production, processing to market.

Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Niels Halberg from ICROFS and Dr. Helga Willer from FIBLE to promote organic
research movement in China.

568
References
IFAD. 2005. Organic Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Asia: China and India Focus
Thematic Evaluation. Document of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development, IFAD Report No. 1664. Rome.
Liu Y., Henning Hgh-Jensen, Henrik Egelyng and Vibeke Langer. 2010 Energy efficiency f
or organic pear production in greenhouses in China Renewable Agriculture and Food
Systems, Volume 25, Issue 03 , pp 196 -203
Ye, X.J.; Wang, Z.Q.; Li, Q.S. 2002. The ecological agriculture movement in modern China.
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 92 (23):. 261-281
Xi, Y. G. 1997 Comparison of organic agriculture and Chinese traditional agriculture (in
Chinese). Rural Eco- Environment, 13(1): 55-58
Cao Zh. Qiao Y. 2009 Organic Agriculture Beijing Chemistry Industry Press
Xi, Y. G. 2007 The Development of Organic Agricultural Research & Consulting Service System
in China http://www.ofrcc.com/c11/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID= 434

569
Organic Food Development under Current Situation of Food Safety

Xu Li, Yungang Wang
Organic Food Development and Certification Center, China
Lixu@ofdc.org.cn, wangyg@ofdc.org.cn
www.ofdc.org.cn

Key words: Food Safety, Crises, Organic Food.

Abstract
As several food safety events raised in the recent years, people are more and more care about the
food safety. In this paper, the current situation of food safety is introduced, reasons and results of
food crises are analyzed. With the result, the author proposed the way to develop organic food to
solve the problems under current situation of food safety. On the base of the proposal, this paper
analyzed how can organic food prevents the food safety crises from chemical and microorganism
risks, and then proposed the corresponding control manners. The prospect of organic food is also
introduced in this paper, and corresponding polices and advices are proposed for the authority. With
the improvement of peoples living standard and their expectation for food safety, the organic food
will be having a bright future.

1 Preface
1.1 Introduction of current food safety situation
In recent years, our nation has attained achievements in the number of food supplies, attracting
worlds attention. Accordingly food safety and hygiene situation have improved significantly.
However, the overall food security situation is not that optimistic, for the fact that food safety
incidents have occurred from time to time.
1.2 The consequences of food safety crises
1.2.1 Effects on international trade
Food safety is an important factor for food trade among nations and is also an important reason why
trade disputes arise. It is reported that a large number of China's food exports were seized every
year because of food contamination, pesticide residues, additives and other issues that do not meet
health requirements.
1.2.2 Effects on the survival and development of food enterprise
Food industry plays an important role in our national economy, while food safety is the base of
existence and prosperity for food brands as well as the life of food enterprises. In the event of food
safety issues, enterprises would immediately be bogged down into troubles, difficult to sustain.
1.2.3 Effect on social and economic development
In any social economy, food is one of the most important commodities. Food safety incidents can
not only cause severe economic losses, but also have productive strength declined, economic
effectiveness reduced, medical cost and national financial expenditure increased because of the
out-break of food-borne illness, which finally hampers national economic development and
threatens social stability and national security as well.
1.2.4 Effect on customers trust of food industry
570
Frequent occurrences of food safety cause the consumer confidence index for the food industry
continue to decline, and even provoke widespread panic against food safety accidents among people,
which eventually leads to a crisis of confidence in the whole community, thus affecting the social
development.
2 Reasons of food safety crises
The main reasons for food safety include two aspects, namely chemical pollution and microbial
contamination.
2.1 Chemical contamination and its effect on food safety
Large-scale application of chemicals plays an important role on China's food industrys sustained
and rapid development. However, improper use and management of chemicals pose potential
problems to the food safety.
Firstly, abuse and improper use of pesticides are the main reason for excessive drug residues in food.
Secondly, excessive or illegal use of food additives will do harm to human health. Thirdly,
Environmental pollution will also affect food safety
2.2 Microorganisms and its effect on food safety
Microbiological contamination includes bacteria, viruses, fungi and their toxins, of which the
largest role is bacterical contamination in areas, influence and problems. In addition, Mycotoxin is
an important source of food contamination.
3 Necessity for the development of organic food
Organic food ,according to the organic agricultural manufacturing system, are used to define all
kinds of agricultural and sideline products, including grain, vegetables, fruits, diary products,
livestock products, honey, aquatic products, seasoning and so on, all of which are produced and
processed based on the organic food manufacturing standard and, certified by legal and independent
organic food certification organizations.
Organic food must meet with the following four fundamental requirements: firstly, all materials
should be wild and natural products either produced under organic agricultural manufacturing
system or collected in an organic way; secondly, both production and process strictly comply with
the standard set for organic food' cultivation, process, packaging, storage and transmission; thirdly,
during production and distribution process, sound quality tracking examination systems and
complete production and sales records are needed;last but not least, all organic food have to pass the
certification launched by authorised organic food authentication organizations and detection by
related certificate-issuing organizations.
4 How can organic food prevents the food safety crises
4.1 Chemical Risks
As for the chemicals, organic agriculture differs from traditional one in that it controls such
synthetic inputs for agriculture as synthetic pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer, fungicide, veterinary
drugs(including antibiotic and growth hormone), synthetic antiseptic, additives and radiactive stuff.
Besides, organic farming production is strict with environment, which to the maximum rules out the
potential risks caused by environment and the residual of inputs. As a result, foundations for the
healthy of organic food are laid.
4.1.1 Food Additives
In the manufacturing process of conventional food in our country, food addictives are used
complying with the Standard for the Use of Food Addictives Hygiene in which all food addictives
are divided into 23 classes according to their individual different function. Though strict provisions
571
about the use of food sddictives are there in national standard, illegal vendors use them unlawfully
and excessively so as to extend the food's shelf life or display a more inviting appearance. If
consumers eat food of such kind for a long time period, addctives would accumulate in the human
body, and if things continue like this, great harm would be done to their health.
In the process of producing and processing organic food, it's very strict in the use of food addictives
and auxiliaries. Pigmentum, spice and addictives are banned if they're synthetic and, even though
they're natural, the Standard for Organic Food imposes severe restrictions on their types and scope
to be used. In addition, all addictives are required to find out their respective origin and be
controlled as well as their dosage should be well recorded as a proof for investigation in the future.
Severe control imposed on the food adictives brings down the dosage and types in the organic food
so much so that they are much less than those found in the conventional food,particularly the
disapperance of chemical addictives,preventing great food safety accidents from happening because
of chemical addictives like "clenbuterol", "malachite green" ,"tonyred" and "melamine"
4.1.2 Pesticide Residues
Currently, chemical synthetic pesticides commonly used in traditional agriculture are
organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides. The former are of low and medium toxicity, and
they do harm to nervous system, liver, and kidney. A chronic intake of organochlorine pesticides
at a small dosage can also lead to chronic poisoning. Besides, organochlorine can gain access into
the body of a fetus by passing through placental barrier. As a result, where such farm chemicals are
used relatively more, he rate of foetal deformities and fetal deaths is ten times that of the areas
where such chemicals are used less. Organochlorine pesticides pass on along the food chain and
their concentration increases gradually.Finally, they reach the human body and accumulate in the
internal organs and fat, causing all kinds of diseases, even cancers. The use of large amounts of
conventional chemicals would pose great harm to human health even their lives.
Organic food is produced under the guidance of the organic farming system, so the inputs are
strictly controlled in the organic farming production. Chemically synthetic substances such as
fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide and production regulator are banned. Priority should be given to
taking advantage of agricultural methods to make preparations or do corresponding treatments, for
example crop rotation and intercropping. They can also be achieved by physical-mechanical
measures. Only when both agricultural methods and physical-mechanical measures are unable to
control the situation, plant-protecting products made from plants and animals sources, mineral
sources and microbial sources ,permitted to be used in the Standard for the use of Food Addictives
Hygiene ,can be put into use. And only after they're assessed to be qualified by certification
organizations can they be used.
It is the strict control of the inputs that greatly reduces the amount of residue in the organic food so
much so that the amount can be none. As a result, the safety of organic food get guaranteed, which
makes it healthier, safer for people to eat
4.1.3 Other Chemicals
Organic food should avoid the contamination of chemicals in the process of being produced,
processed, stored, and transmitted. They should be strictly separated from other potentially
contaminative substances, and are required to be stored independently and well recorded so as to
prevent organic food from being contaminated by substances that are harmful to human health such
as heavy metals and other poisonous and harmful substances, guaranteeing the safety of food.
4.2 Microorganism Risks
4.2.1 Pathogens in natural fertilizer
There is much pathogenic microorganism in the natural fertilizers used in the agricultural
production system before they're subject to the harmless handle, as a result, they would contaminate
572
food, earth and water after their access into the agricultural system. However, in the organic
agricultural production system, natural fertilizers are harmlesslised before they're used, which is
also laid down in detail in the National standards for natural fertilizer processing. Handling natural
fertilizers properly, like composting, can eliminate all pathogenic microorganism and other harmful
elements hiding in them efficiently, which makes natural fertilizers more safe and efficient and
reduces food security problems caused by pathogenic microorganism from them.
4.2.2 Other pathogens
(1) Contamination caused by mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are by-products of some particular mold feeding on particular food and products under
a suitable environment, of which the aflatoxin are the most poisonous. Even though a person takes
in a little amount of it, he would develop liver cancer in a few days.
The reasons that help create favorable conditions for mycotoxins are as follows: raw materials have
long been stored; the warehouse is humid, leaky, and the amount of inventory is too much as well as
unawareness of ventilation, esiccation, incomplete cleaning; pulverizing materials easily absorb
circumambient moisture because of their small size in granule; materials either suffer from rain, and
absorb moisture or are kept under the blazing sun or heaped up for quite a long time or get for a
long
Strict standards set for production, handling, and storage in the process of manufacturing bring
down risks caused by the growth of mold and contamination of toxins to the minimum. Firstly, raw
materials are strictly controlled in the production of organic food, thus reducing the possibility that
food is contaminated originally. Besides, during storage, rigid restrictions should be imposed on the
physical conditions, hygiene, temperature as well as humidity of the warehouse so as to give a
control to prerequisites of the growth of mold.Thirdly, as to the organic livestock products, these
livestock should feed on large proportion of hay, grass and silage forage, which greatly brings
down the probability that livestock would become poisonous after intake of contaminated fodder.
(2) contamination caused by E. coli
E. coli main sojourn in human and animal intestines. When they excrete, part of the pathogenic
escherichia coli will be excreted from the body therewith.
If in the food processing, ample attention are not paid to the health of food safety, there will have a
great influence on the food safety. In addition, when animals are under slaughtered and process,
they're extremely easy contaminated by e. coli. It has been found that pathogenic escherichia coli
manage its breeding mainly in the digestive tract of animals feeding mostly on starchy grain for
food.
5 Conclusion and Outlook
Consumer's growing awareness of the quality and safety of organic food together with the active
effect left on the environment by organic agrilcultural practice contributes to the rise in demand for
organic food.Such rise is expected to continue in the future.Government, industry and consumer
organizations ought to make and disclose standards related to the quality and safety of organic food,
and ,to some extent, intervention is essential in order to achieve the purpose of consumer
protection.
Food produced in an organic way have a apparently low level in the residue of pesticides, drugs
made from animals and plants as well as nitrate. Raising lovestock in an organic way also reduces
food contamination caused by animals. Besides,the brand name"being organic"promises consumers
that food are neither radioactive nor gene-modified products.
However, considering that strict restrictions imposed on the use of food addictives during the
production, there would be some disadvantages in the storage and flavor of organic food.
573
Consequently, there is a long way to go before we can improve the flavor and storage conditions of
organic food with new methods.


574
Application of Total Quality Management (TQM) as Quality Improvement
Effort of Organic Vegetables

1st presenter Yusda Mardhiyah, 2nd presenter Hepi Risenasari
Departement Agribusiness, Faculty Economics and Management ,
Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Indonesia
hepi_agb42@yahoo.co.id

Key word: organic vegetables, TQM, partnership, Analytical Hierarchy Process,
(AHP), and R/C ratio analysis

Introduction
Agriculture is facing major and rapid changes which can significantly affects of sustainability of
human and environment. As customer are increasing their alinated, a demand for higher food safety
is being voiced by both government and foodwatches (Bahlmann and spiller, 2008). The revolution
of vegetables market that also supported by supermarket revolution make producers of organic
vegetables market more concerned about the quality of their product. The development of
supermarket evidences that people now concern about the safety and the quality (Vincent, 2009) by
sorting, grading and packaging (Sahara,2009). This transformational changes market condition
between traditional market to modern market makes small farmers have higher product
specification. Consumers value perception has been changed and begins to evaluate specific
atributes such as safety attributes, nutritional attributes, value attributes, package attributes, ecolabel
attributes, and humanistic attributes. The relationship between retailers and producers (also theirs
suppliers) are important to consider the understanding the determinants of quality, variety and
prices. In food sector, some issues have been extensively studied : impacts of private labels on
retailer or supplier competition, effect of the various supply contract on the profit sharing between
stakeholders in chain, price transmission from upstream to down stream levels. (Vincent, 2009).
Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach to maximize the company competitiveness to
achieve a quality level as well as to achieve the satisfaction of their customers. Giga is a supplier of
organic vegetable supply twelve retails and five agents in the Jakarta (Capital City of Indonesia)
area and surroundings. Activities of Giga consists of procurement, handling, and distribution of
organic vegetables. This obstacle found that products of Giga still didnt meet retail requirement in
terms of quality and quantity so that the amount of vegetables that are not requested not accordance
with the sale of Giga. The concept of TQM requires an integrated quality. In order to achieve this
purpose, Giga has partnership with some farmers incompliance demand for organic vegetables. The
objective of this paper is to analyze the quality system that had been applied in Giga, and focused
on the opportunities for more efficient quality management based on the enviromental and the spot
market (retail wants). Analyzing the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) on Giga,
analyzing the priority of factors that affect Giga in implementing TQM, and analyzing partnership
between Giga and farmers

Methods and Materials
As a result of the increasing food crisis, a growing consumer demand for quality and the market
power of food retail, quality assurance have become a common in Indonesia. Figure 1 illustrated the
conceptual framework of this research based on theoretical background introduced in the previous
chapter and allocates the research question about how to implement the TQM in organic vegetables
suppliers. According the purpose and the research question the study hold by qualitative method
because it appropriate to implies the discovery and description. The focus of this research is to
know the implementation of TQM including the maintain relationship of the companys partner.
The research was conducted in 2009, with 5 Respondents were interviewed. The application of case
study allowed for discovering a greater variable in implementing of TQM in Organic Vegetables. In
first step, in depth personal interviews were conducted with the actor of TQM like company
575
(suppliers, retail, and farmers). A semi structured and structured question was developed to collect
the data. At the second step, the data was proccesed by descriptive analysis, Analitycal Hierarchy
Process in order to analyze the implementing of TQM, analyzing the priority of factors that affect
Giga in implementing TQM and analyzing partnership between Giga and theirs farmers (Partners).
And also using the R/C analysis to analyze the benefit that farmers received.

Figure 1. Framework of Operational
Farmer Partners
Comparative Analysis
R / C ratio when farmers
supply to Giga and
other
Application TQM
Gilland Ganesha
Excess demand and sales of organic vegetables
Giga which resulted in dissatisfaction customer
Descriptive Issues (TQM)
Quality Control
Technique
Identification Issues Of
TQM
Basic Prinsiples Of
TQM
Compilation of Hierarchy
Problem and causes
Elements Of TQM
Compilation Scale Priority
Issues and Causes
Descriptive
Analysis AHP Method
Suggestions to improve
TQM

Results
PT Giga conducted the quality control on each step of its business activities. It started from
procurement process followed by handling and distribution process. TQM elements that had been
implemented by PT Giga were human resources, standardization, facilities, organization, internal
audit and training. Altough these elements existed, they still need to be improved.

The implementation of TQM depends on how far each of principles is implemented. First principle
is focus on customer and its involvement in which PT Giga still had lack of this principle, since PT
Giga had not frequently visited its customers and asked feedback from them. Secondly is employees
involvement. Employees of PT Giga are free to share their ideas, however each decision was still
made by the board of directors, means this principle was not fully implemented. The third principle
is decisions based on data and facts. Data and informatiosn internally were provided based on
financial reports and direct observations, while externally was from farmers and retails (customers).
The fourth principle is process orientation that also had been implemented by providing standard
and procedures. The last principle is focus on continuous improvement that had been conducted by
PT Giga but not in systematically method and still more to a responsive instead of proactive action.
PT Giga was facing four problems in effort to implement TQM. According to the AHP method
calculated by Expert Choice 2000 software, resulted the main problem in PT Giga was matchless in
quality understanding among farmers, PT Giga, and retails (customers). The main factor of this
576
problem was Memorandum of Understanding that had been approved by each party but not
implemented well. However, all of these problems and factors are still under PT Giga control.

Relationship between PT Giga and farmers could be analyzed by classifying its type of partnership
and the advantages that each party had been received. The result of the partnership analysis showed
that PT Giga and farmers has been conducting a trading partnership pattern. The R/C ratio of the
first and the second farmer in supplying Non-PT Giga resulted a higher value than supplying PT
Giga. In contrary, the third famer R/C ratio value showed a higher value in supplying PT Giga.
Overall, the farmers has been conducting an advantageous partnership with PT Giga.

Figures 2. Management Process Quality Control on Vegetables in PT Giga.
Products From Farmers
Cleaning and Shorting
Weighing
Leaf Vegetables Non Leaf Vegetables
Packaging
Flush With Water
Distribution

Conclusion
The result of study showed that the TQM concept of PT Giga has been conducted. Yet, there were
some elements and principles implemented imperfectly. While the analysis of factor priority
resulted matchless of the organic vegetables quality as the ultimate problem. The main priority
factor of this problem was Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The result of the partnership analysis showed that PT Giga and farmers has been conducting a
trading partnership pattern. The R/C ratio of the first and the second farmer in supplying Non-PT
Giga resulted a higher value than supplying PT Giga. In contrary, the third farmer R/C ratio value
showed a higher value in supplying PT Giga.

References
Arthatiani F Y. 2008. Penerapan Manajemen Mutu Terpadu pada PT Maya FoodIndustries di Kota
Pekalongan [Skripsi]. Fakultas Perikanan dan Ilmu Kelautan, Institut Pertanian Bogor.
Gasperz V. 2005. Total Quality Management. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Ishikawa K. 1992. Pengendalian Mutu Terpadu. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya.
Rampersad H K. 2001. Total Quality Management. Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag Berlin.
Saragih S E. 2008. Pertanian Organik Solusi Hidup Harmoni dan Berkelanjutan.
Jakarta: Penebar Swadaya. Sahara, et al. 2011.
Farmer-Trader Relationships In The Indonesian Chilli Markets: The Role Of Relationship Quality
In Modern And Traditional Supply Chains. Paper presented at 55th Annual Conference of
the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) Crown Conference
Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 8-11 February 2011
Spiller And Bahmann, 2008. The Relationship Between Supply Chain Coordination And Quality
Assurance Systems: A Case Study Approach On The German Meat Sector. Paper Prepared
For Presentation At The 110th EAAE Seminar System Dynamics And Innovation In Food
Networks Innsbruck-Igls, Austria February 18-22, 2008
577
Increasing Productivity of Head Lettuce by Foliar Spraying of Some
Bio and Organic Compounds
Zakaria Fouad Fawzy
E-mail zakaria6eg@yahoo.co.uk
Vegetable Crops Department - National Research Centre , Dokki , Cairo, Egypt.

Key words: Head lettuce, Yeast, Humic acid, Amino acid, Growth, Yield, Chemical content.

Abstract
Two field experiments were conducted during the two successive winter seasons at
Berkash "Giza Governorate" to investigate the response of head lettuce plants cv. Lymor (9283) to
foliar spray by dry yeast at a rate of ( 2 and 4 g/L), amino green compound at a rate of (2 and 4
cm/L) and humic acid at a rate of (2 and 4 cm/L) on growth, yield and some chemical contents of
head lettuce plants.
The results indicated that, application of amino green compound as a foliar spray at a rate of
4 cm/L gave the maximum number of head lettuce leaves compared with other treatments. In
addition, the highest values of leaf dry weight, head fresh weight, total yield of heads and quality (
ascorbic acid and T.S.S ) were obtained by foliar application of 4 g/L dry yeast.
The lowest amount of N-NO
3
in leaves of head lettuce was recorded by using humic acid as
a foliar spray at a rate of 4 cm/L. On the other hand, the highest amount of N-NO
3
was recorded
when amino green compound was used as a foliar spray at a rate of 4 gm/L.
The highest content of N and P as well as Fe, Mn and Zn were recorded by foliar spray of
dry yeast at a rate of 4 cm/L. Meanwhile, the highest amount of K given when humic acid was
sprayed at a rate of 4 cm/L.

Introduction
Head lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the world's most used salad crop. It is one of the
important leafy vegetable crops which are eaten fresh and is a major and extensively grown cool
season vegetable best adopted to temperate locations (Rubatzky and Tamaguchi, 1997).
Dry yeast is a natural bio-substance suggested to be of useful stimulatory, nutritional and
protective functions when it is applied on to vegetable plants during stress conditions due to its
content of hormones, sugars, amino and nucleic acids, vitamins and minerals. Thereby, it can be
induce thermatolerance due to its role in the synthesis of protein and nucleic acids and in
minimizing their degradation (Natio et al, 1981).
Many investigations cleared out that, application of dry yeast as a foliar spray was found to
increase growth, yield and quality of some vegetable crops. (Abdel Aziz 1997, Fathy and Farid
2000 on some vegetable crops, Abou El Nasr et al, 2001 on squash, Fathy et al 2002 and Khedr
and Farid 2002 on tomato plants, Tarek 2003 and Mona et al, 2005 on cucumber plant ).
Amino green compound contains (w/v) told organic acids plus amino acids 15% and some
microelements such as iron, zinc and manganese.
Micronutrients in yeast and amino green compound play a very important role in vital
processes of plants. They improve photosynthesis which intensifies the assimilating activity of the
whole plants (Marschner, 1995). Zinc in plants is involved in enzymatic relations. One of the most
important functions of zinc show that starch synthesis is widely interrupted at zinc deficiency. It
578
was also added that zinc plays also an important role in protein synthesis from amino acids and in
decarboxlation of pyruvate. Concerning iron, Derar et al, 1996 observed that using some materials
containing Fe as a foliar spray significantly increased growth and yield of beans.
Humic acid is particularly used to decrease the negative effects of chemical fertilizers and
could have beneficial effect on the nutrition of the plant (Martinez et al, 1983).
The commercial humic acids were found to improve growth, yield production, quality and
increased significantly in the accumulation of P,K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Mn in tissues of some
vegetable crops (David et al 1994, Padem and Ocal 1999 and Erik et al 2000).
This work was carried out to study the effect of dry yeast, amino green compound and
humic acid as a foliar spray on the growth, yield and chemical contents of head lettuce plants.

Methods and materials
The present investigation was carried out during the two successive seasons of 2004/2005
and 2005/2006 at Berkash Giza Governorate, to study the effect of 7 treatmentsas a foliar
application .i.e., dry yeast, amino green compound and humic acid at two rates for eash compared
with the control (spray with water only) on growth, yield and chemical content of lettuce plants.
Seeds of head lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) cv. Lymar (9283) were drilled in foam trays of 209 holes
in a media consisting of peatmoss and vermiculite 1:1. Trays were wetted and warmed under plastic
sheet for three days, then kept under plastic tunnel. Normal nursery treatments were followed till
seedlings become suitable for transplanting.
The time of transplanting took place 15
th
and 19
th
of November in both seasons,
respectively. The experiment included seven treatments as follows:
1- Foliar spray with water (control).
2- Foliar spray with amino green compound at a rate of 2 cm/L.( Amino 1)
3- Foliar spray with amino green compound at a rate of 4 cm/L.( Amino 2) .
4- Foliar spray with dry yeast at a rate of 2 g/L.( Yeast 1).
5- Foliar spray with dry yeast at a rate of 4 g/L. ( Yeast 2)
6- Foliar spray with humic acid compound at a rate of 2 cm/L. (Humic 1)
7- Foliar spray with humic acid compound at a rate of 4 cm/L. (Humic 2)
Plants were sprayed with dry yeast, amino green compound and humic acid solution at 4 and
6 weeks after transplanting.
Pest control and other agriculture practices, such as cultivation and irrigation, etc. were
applied wherever it was necessary and as commonly recommended in the commercial head lettuce
production. Harvesting was carried out 85 and 91 days after transplanting in the first and second
seasons, respectively.
With regard to the chemical analysis of the dry yeast, N.R.P 1977 stated that, the analysis of
dry yeast was protein (47.2%), arginine (2.6%), glycin (2.6%), histidin (1.4%), islysine (2.9%),
lauicine (3.5%), Lysine (3.8%), methionine systine (0.6%), phnyl-alanine (3%), tyrosine (2.1%),
threonine (2.6%), tryptophan (0.5%) and vitamin B (2.9%).
Goyal and Khuller (1992), Yatskovskaya et al (1992), Murakami et al (1996) Ahmed et al
(1997) and Khedr and Farid (2002) reported that, yeast preparation contained carbohydrates, sugars,
proteins, fatty acids, amino acids, hormones, macro and micro elements in suitable balance.
Amino green compound contains (w/v) total organic acids plus amino acids 15%, iron (Fe)
2.9%, zinc (Zn) 1.4% and manganese (Mn) 0.7%, free amino acids, proline, hydroxy proline,
579
glycine, alanine, valine, methionine, escaliosin, lysine, cycteine, phenylalanine, serine, glutamic,
arginine, histidine, lysine and hystiden.
Humic acid compound contains humic acid 25.0 g/L, Folic acid 0.7 g/L, nitrogen 4.0 g/L,
phosphorus 0.6 g/L and potassium 8.0 g/L. This compound from theorem will be reformed to as
"humic acid" . The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized block design in four
replicates. Six plants of each plot were chosen randomaly at 75 days after transplanting and the
following data were recorded.
A- Vegetative growth:
1- Number of leaves/ plant.
2- Dry weight of leaves/ plant (g).
B- Yield:
1- Average head weight (g)
2- Total yield (Ton/fed.)
C- Chemical content:
Samples of heads were taken at harvesting time. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C mg/100) and
Total soluble solids (T.S.S) were determined according to A.O.A.C (1984). Nitrate-N content in the
fresh head lettuce leaves was determined using the method of Wooley et al (1960).
Samples of leaves were oven dried at 70C then fine grounded and wet digested. Total
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentration in the tissues of plant leaves were determined
according to the methods described by Jackson (1958), Troug and Mayer (1939) and Brown and
Lilleland (1946), respectively. Some micro-elements, i.e. Fe, Zn and Mn were determined using
Atomic Spectrophotometer (Phillips) according to Chapman and Pratt (1961).
Data obtained were subjected to the statistical analysis according to the method of Gomez
and Gomez (1984).
Results and Conclusions
Data in Table (1) show clearly that, using dry yeast, amino green and humic acid as a foliar
spray on head lettuce plants increased leaves number and dry weight of leaves per plant compared
with the control treatment except for dry weight of leaves in the second season of the study. The
highest number of leaves was recorded by using 4 cm/L amino green in the two seasons. On the
contrary, the lowest number of leaves was found in case of the control treatment.
These findings were true in both seasons. These results may be due to the physiological
roles of amino acids in the amino green which increased the metabolic processes rate, and in the
same time it is cells that each micronutrient in the amino green compound has a role in improving
plant growth. Zn directly involved in the synthesis of the in dole acetic acid (IAA). Mn is directly
involved in the catalytic rates in plants being the enzyme activator on some respiratory enzymes and
in reaction of nitrogen metabolism and photosynthesis (Marschner 1995).
These results may be attributed to the effect of yeast extract in increasing levels of
endogenous hormones in treated plants which could be interpreted by cell division and cell
elongation (Khedr and Farid 2002).
In addition, these results may be due to the physiological roles of vitamins and amino acids
in the yeast extract which increased the metabolic processes role and levels of indogenous
hormones, i.e. IAA and GA
3
(Chailakhyan 1957).
Table(1): Effect of foliar spray of amino green, yeast and humic acid
on leaf number and leaves dry weight of head lettuce plants
in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons.
580
2005-2006 2004-2005 Treatments
Leaves dry
weight (g)
Leaf number Leaves dry
weight (g)
Leaf number
21.83 33.02 14.73 36.30 Control
16.02 43.30 16.49 38.60 Amino 1
20.80 49.00 16.25 43.40 Amino 2
23.41 40.00 16.60 38.01 Yeast 1
27.20 43.00 18.14 37.60 Yeast 2
25.98 43.03 15.97 38.70 Humic 1
26.28 43.02 16.32 37.34 Humic 2
3.53 4.08 2.20 4.88 LSD at 5%

The obtained results were in accordance with regarded of dry weight leaves. Data in Table
(1) show that, the highest amount of dry weight of leaves was found by using foliar spray of dry
yeast at a rate of 4 gm/L. On the other hand, the lowest dry weight of leaves was given by foliar
spray of water (control treatment) in the first season and by foliar spray of amino green at a rate of 2
cm/L in the second one. These increments due to using yeast as a foliar spray are agreement with
those reported by Sonmez and Bozkurt 2006 and Tufenkei et al, 2006 on lettuce plants.
Total yield:
As shown in Table (2), there were significant differences in the average head weight and
total yield of head lettuce among the different foliar spray treatments. The highest average head
weight and total yield were produced by using dry yeast at a rate of 4 g/L. On the contrary, the
lowest head weight and total yield of head lettuce were recoded by the control treatment (foliar
spray with water). These results held true in the two seasons of the study.
The positive effect of applying active dry yeast was attributed to its own contents of
different nutrients, high percentage of protein, large amounts of vitamin B and natural plant growth
regulators such as cytokinins (Ahmed et al 1997). These results agree with those reported by Abou
El Nasr et al, 2001 on squash , Fathy et al 2002 on tomato plants, Tarek 2003 and Mona et al,
2005 on cucumber plant. Moreover, Abdel Aziz (1997) on tomato concluded that, using yeast (5
g/L) solution significantly increased total yield of tomato plants. Also, using yeast preparation was
the best treatment for growth and yield (136% of control) of snap bean (Fathy et al, 2002)
Table(2): Effect of foliar spray of amino green, yeast and humic acid
on yield and quality of head lettuce plants in 2004-2005 and
2005-2006 seasons.
2005-2006 2004-2005 Treatments

T.S.S
%
Ascorbic
acid
(mg/100g)
Total
yield
T/fed.
Head
weight
(g)

T.S.S %
Ascorbic
acid
(mg/100g)
Total
yield
T/fed.
Head
weight
(g)
3.20 7.30 11.27 450.81 3.10 6.21 7.07 282.74 Control
3.52 8.10 12.57 502.69 3.61 7.11 10.30 412.16 Amino 1
3.74 8.40 13.95 557.95 3.72 7.50 11.50 459.93 Amino 2
3.82 8.92 13.89 555.62 3.74 8.2 9.56 382.33 Yeast 1
3.86 9.40 14.74 589.66 3.82 8.44 12.75 510.19 Yeast 2
3.30 7.45 14.53 581.20 3.02 6.70 9.76 390.21 Humic 1
3.40 7.78 14.68 587.32 3.64 6.92 12.39 495.53 Humic 2
NS 0.97 1.14 105.50 NS 1.01 4.06 162.59 LSD at 5%

Chemical content:
581
1- Ascorbic acid and T.S.S :
As illustrated in Table (2) show that the highest values of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and
T.S.S were recorded by using dry yeast treatment at a rate of 4 g/L without any significant with
other treatments in case of Ascorbic acid. On the contrary, the lowest amount of Ascorbic acid and
T.S.S were found by foliar spray with water (control plants). These results hold true in the both
seasons. The trend of obtained results are in good accordance of the previous investigators such as
Fathy et al, 2002 and Khedr and Farid 2002 on tomato plants.
2- Nitrate content in leaves:
Data in Table (3) show the effect of foliar spray of the dry yeast, amino green compound
and humic acid compared with the control (foliar spray of water) on nitrate content in leaves of
head lettuce plants. The highest amount of nitrate content was found due to the spray of the amino
green compound. On the other hand, the lowest amount of nitrate content was recorded by using
foliar spray of humic acid at a rate of 4 cm/L. without any significant difference between this
treatment and using dry yeast treatment and /or the control treatment. These findings held true in
both seasons of study.
Table(3): Effect of foliar spray of amino green, yeast and humic acid
on chemical content of leaves of head lettuce plant in 2004-2005 and 2005- 2006
seasons.
2005-2006 2004-2005 Treatments
Potassium
(mg/100g)
Phosphorus
(mg/100g )
Nitrogen
(%)
Nitrate
content
Potassium
(mg/100g)
Phosphorus
(mg/100g )
Nitrogen
(%)
Nitrate
content
214.63 28.60 3.12 0.43 203.60 25.34 2.91 0.49 Control
230.66 32.42 3.30 0.54 225.40 28.43 3.23 0.54 Amino 1
248.32 34.72 3.41 0.54 240.11 30.13 3.32 0.57 Amino 2
270.30 38.70 3.34 0.42 260.70 29.70 3.07 0.48 Yeast 1
302.60 41.24 3.30 0.36 286.83 36.36 3.38 0.48 Yeast 2
226.86 29.94 3.30 0.37 220.63 27.69 3.18 0.43 Humic 1
240.86 32.30 3.26 0.34 236.72 31.42 3.23 0.40 Humic 2
17.55 2.66 0.06 0.06 12.72 3.13 NS 0.01
LSD at 5%

Nitrates are relatively nontoxic constituents in foods, but may be considered as a potential hazard,
as they are the precursor of nitrites. If the nitrate ion is absorbed into the blood, the ferrious iron
hemoglobin may be oxidized to the ferric form producing methemoglobin which cannot transport oxygen,
especially in infants, and can reach with secondary amines to form carcinogenic nitrosamines, which cause
cancer (Gunes et al, 1995).
However, nitrate can be reduced to nitrite in the gastrointestinal tract of the human infant,
and by microflora of human mouth. The formed nitrate presents a toxic hazard both because of the
direct toxicity of nitriate and the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compound by reaction with
amino compound (Swann, 1975). These results seem to be apparently in agreement with those
reported by Fathy et al 2002 on tomato plants. With respect to the effect of the different treatments
on nitrate accumulation in head lettuce leaves, the obtained results (Table 3) reflected different
responses to the studied factors with respect to NO
3
-N content of head lettuce leaves. The
application of amino green compound significantly increased the content of NO
3
-N in lettuce
leaves, compared with control treatment. Meanwhile, the application of humic acid at a rate of 4
cm/L as a foliar spray caused a significant reduction in nitrate content compared with control.
Concerning the effect of humic acid or dry yeast on nitrate content of lettuce leaves, it seems under
conditions of the present study that, the application of humic acid or dry yeast resulted in the reduce
the content of NO
3
-N . That was found to be very important to human health, since, head lettuce
leaves are used in fresh status. Similar results were found by Abd El-Fattah and Sorial (1998).
582
3- Mineral content in leaves of head lettuce plants:
Foliar application of dry yeast, amino green compound and humic acid resulted in slight
increases in head lettuce leaves content of N, P, K, Fe, Zn and Mn elements (Tables 3 and 4). The
data in these tables indicate that there was a statisticaly significant effect for the foliar application
treatments on the content of N, P, K, Fe, Zn and Mn elements in the leaves of head lettuce plants.
The highest values of all elements were recorded by using dry yeast at a rate of 4 g/L except for K
element where the highest values were recoded by using foliar spray of humic acid at a rate of 4
cm/L. On the contrary, the lowest values of all elements were found in case of the control plants
(foliar spray of water). These result may be due to the content of macro and micro elements of the
dry yeast, amino green and humic acid. El-Fouly 1983 reported that, foliar application of
microelements is highly recommended under Egyptian conditions. In view of the fact the soil pH
exceeds 7.5 and sometimes even 8.5 some areas show high CaCO
3
contents which among other
factors, make soil application of micronutrients more costly and unpractical. Also, the increases in
pea yield and in the contents of microutrients in pea leaves due to the foliar application of
micronutrients agree with the findings of Soliman 1996 Alphons and Saad 2000 on cucumber plant
and El-Shal et al, 2002 on head lettuce plants.
Table(4): Effect of foliar spray of amino green, yeast and humic acid
on Fe, Zn and Mn content of leaves of head lettuce plants
in 2004-2005 and 2005- 2006 seasons.
2005-2006 2004-2005 Treatments
Mn (ppm) Zn (ppm) Fe (ppm) Mn (ppm) Zn (ppm) Fe (ppm)
73.00 66.00 260.00 55.00 63.00 233.00 Control
89.00 74.00 369.00 82.00 73.00 340.00 Amino 1
90.00 84.00 380.00 83.00 74.00 362.00 Amino 2
130.00 78.00 413.00 90.00 76.00 352.00 Yeast 1
145.00 93.00 447.00 103.00 83.00 426.00 Yeast 2
84.00 66.00 340.00 74.00 70.00 312.00 Humic 1
89.00 77.00 348.00 76.00 65.00 329.00 Humic 2
16.00 1.69 89.00 11.00 1.22 56.00 LSD at 5%

Conclusion
The results of the present investigation indicated that, foliar application of dry yeast, amino
green and humic acid , especially the application of dry yeast, stimulated most of vegetative growth
characters of head lettuce plants and some chemical compounds of head lettuce leaves which led to
producing higher head weight and total weight of head lettuce plants.
The results of the present study also, support the fact that, the use of dry yeast as a foliar
spray leads to increasing plant growth which causes significant increases in head weight and total
yield of head lettuce plant.
Nitrate content was lower when head lettuce plants were sprayed with 4 g/L humic acid.

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585


Developing Organic Systems
586
Forecasting of Plant Disease and Insect for an Agricultural Complex and
Farm in Environment-friendly Cultivation of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Cha, K. H.
1
, Oh, H. J
2
, Park, R. D.
3
& Jung, W. J.
4


Key words: Plant disease and insect, organic faming, organic pesticide, Rice
Abstract
To investigate the forecasting of plant disease and insect for an agricultural complex and farm
in environment-friendly cultivation of Rice, environment-friendly agricultural five complexs
and five farms were selected in Youngam and Naju area, Jonnam, Korea. Preventation
objects of plant disease and insect were leaf blast, neck blast, sheath blight, bacterial leaf
blight, and hopper. Factors of sheath blight occurrence in environment-friendly agricultural
complex were a fast transplanting time and a narrow planting density. Bacterial leaf blight in
rice occurred severely in the area under water. Rice growth in environment-friendly
agricultural complex was decreased heavy drying by hopper appearance.
Introduction

In 2000 year, the rapid increase of environment-friendly agricultural products occurs with the
current of wellbeing. The important things of environment-friendly cultivation are a selection
of resistant cultivar, transplanting time, planting density, seed disinfection, and rapid
forecasting of plant disease and insect. Lee et al (2007) reported that the best problems of
environment-friendly agriculture are weed control and insects such as leaf and neck blast,
sheath blight, hopper, and rice leaf folder. Kang et al (2008) reported that neck blast was
occurred in Hopyeong and Bosukchal cultivars, also sheath blight and bakanae disease
occurred in rice cultivation, regardless of cultivar. Cha (1997) reported that occurrence
frequency of plant disease and insect indicated with different susceptible cultivar, fertilizer
amounts, transplanting time, planting density, temperature, precipitation, and hours of
sunshine. The objective of this study is to apply control method to farms from the information
obtained by forecasting of plant disease and insect.

Materials and methods
1. Weather meteorological observation
Data obtained from Gwangju area including daily average temperature, daily average
precipitation and daily average sunshine for Rice growth (April to October, 2007) were used
compared with mean of 30 years (1971 to 2000), normal year in this study.
2. Cultural method of environment-friendly agriculture complex
Research of plant disease and insect was investigated for one non-pesticide and four low-
pesticide complex at Jollanamdo Youngamgun in 2007. Seedling (var. ilme) was transplanted
1,2
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Research Center (EFARC), Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea, E-mail:
cha9004@hanmail.net ; owj2991@naver.com
3,4
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Research Center (EFARC), Division of Applied Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chonnam National University,
Gwangju 500-757, Korea, E-mail: rdpark@chonnam.ac.kr ; woojung@chonnam.ac.kr


587
at 10 Jun with planting density of 60 hill per 3.3m
2
in non-pesticide complex. Bordesux
mixture, brown rice vinegar, and chitin microorganism compost were used in non-pesticide
complex. Seedling (var. ilme and woongwang) was transplanted with planting density of
70~80 hill per 3.3m
2
3. Cultural method of environment-friendly agriculture farm
in low-pesticide complexs.
Research of plant disease and insect was investigated for four non-pesticide and one low-
pesticide farm at Jollanamdo Naju city in 2007. Seedling was transplanted at 11~20 Jun with
60~70 hill per 3.3m
2

. Bordesux mixture, pyroligneous acid, and chitin microorganism
compost were used in non-pesticide farms.
Results & Discussion
1. Weather observation for Rice growth
Daily average temperature (DAT) of May, Jun, Aug, and Oct 2007 was higher than normal
year. Daily average precipitation (DAP) of Apr, May, Jun, and Jul 2007 was lower than
normal year. High occurrance of plant disease and inscet was caused by the high DAP of
Aug, Sep, and Oct 2007. Daily average sunshine (DAS) was lower than normal year for Rice
growth. The low DAS condition caused the decrease of Rice growth.
2. Forecasting of plant disease and inscet in environment-friendly agriculture complex
Bakanae disease occurred in environment-friendly agriculture complex B and E from initial
growth to harvesting season (Tab. 1). Leaf blast occurred at initial growth in complex D at
the beginning of July. Neck blast occurred in complex A at the beginning of August, and leaf
blast occurred in complex D at the beginning of july. Sheath blight occurred severely from
the beginning of August to the end of August. in complex E. Factors of disease occurrence in
this complex E were fast transplanting time and narrow planting density. Bacterial leaf blight
occurred severely in complex B, C, and D of the area under water. Kang et al (2008) reported
that neck blast occurred severely at Hopyeong and Bosukchal cultivars in environment-
friendly agriculture complex. In our work, leaf blast occurred at susceptible Ilme variety.
Environment-friendly cultivation needs an extension of transplanting time and broad planting
density (Kwon et al. 2010). Rice water weevil not occurred in all complexs. Panara guttata
occurred in complex A at the beginning of July. Hopper occurred severely from the
beginning of Aug. to the end of Sep. in all complexs except complex E.









588
Tab. 1: Plant disease and insect forecasting in an agricultural complex of environment-
friendly Rice cultivation

Degree of plant disease and insect: + (1~5%), ++ (6~10%), +++ (11~20), ++++ (above 21%)

3. Forecasting of plant disease and inscet in environment-friendly agriculture farm
Leaf blast was occurred high the middle of Jul. in farm B and E (Tab. 2). Pyroligneous liquor
and Bordeaux mixture were treated in rice field of the two farms. Sheath blight was occurred
severely from the beginning of Aug. to the beginning of Sep. in all farms. Rice leaf folder
was occurred very severely from the end of Jul. to the beginning of Sep. in farm B and E.
Regular forecasting of plant disease and insect plays an important role in decision of control
time to continue an environment-friendly agriculture.
Conclusions
In environment-friendly agricultural complex and farm, prevantation objects of plant disease
and insect were mainly leaf blast, neck blast, sheath blight, bacterial leaf blight, and hopper.
Fast transplanting time and narrow planting density were caused by sheath blight occurrence
in environment-friendly agricultural complex. Bacterial leaf blight occurred severely in the
area under water. Decrease of Rice yield was caused by hopper appearance with heavy drying
in environment-friendly agricultural complex.
Tab. 2: Plant disease and insect forecasting in farm of environment-friendly Rice
cultivation
589

Degree of plant disease and insect : + (1~5%), ++ (6~10%), +++ (11~20), ++++ (above 21%)
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Technology Development Program for Agriculture and
Forestry, Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of Korea.
References
Cha K. H. (1997) Theory and practice for integrated pest control of plant disease and insect in
Rice. Plant Protection Report 10: 17-25.
Cha K. H., Oh H. J., Park H. G., Jung W. J. (2010): Comparison of rice stripe disease
occurrence and yield under different Rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars. Kor. J. Organic
Agri. 18: 75-82.
Cha K. H., Oh H. J., Park R. D., Park H. G., An, K. N., Jung W. J. (2010): Comparison of
growth, yield and quality between organic cultivation and conventional cultivation in
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) field. Kor. J. Organic Agri. 18: 199-208.
Kang B. Y., Kim S. G., Kwon O. D. (2008) Study on disease management techmology in
Rice organic cultivation. Jonnam Agriculture Report 1: 159-175.
Kwon O. D., An K. N., Park H. G. (2008) Selection of suitable variety and development of
cultural practice in Rice organic cultivation. Jonnam Agriculture Report 1: 159-175.
Kwon O. D., Kim B. H., Kim I. S., Kim I. S., Park H.G., Oh H. J., Lee H. B., Jung W. J., Cha
K. H. (2010) Manual of Rice organic cultivation. Environment-Friendly Agriculture
Research Center. 68-71 p.
590
Optimal Application Rate of Mixed Organic Fertilizer for Substitution of
Chemical Fertilizer in Rice Cultivation

Cho, K. R.
*
, Won, T. J., Kang, C. S. & Park, K. Y.
Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Hwaseong-si, 445-972, Korea

Key words: Mixed organic fertilizer, Nitrogen use efficiency, Rice yield

Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate optimum application rate of mixed organic fertilizer
(MOF) for substitution of chemical fertilizer. The rice (Chucheong) was cultivated in clay loam soil
of paddy field. Chemical properties of soil used in the experiment were 6.4 of pH (1:5), 26g kg
-1
of
soil organic matter content, 159mg kg
-1
of available silicate content, and 0.26cmol
c
kg
-1
of
exchangeable potassium content, respectively. MOF was applied at 0, 50, 100 and 150% levels of
recommended nitrogen amount (133kg ha
-1
), respectively, based on soil testing compared with plot
of chemical fertilizer (control). Nitrogen use efficiency by rice plant applied with 100% level of
MOF was higher than that of control. Rice yield of 100% plot of MOF increased by 4% compared
with control. The optimum application rate of MOF was as follows ; OAR
MOF

(Mg ha
-1
)
=(NAR
ST
NC
MOF
/1,000 0.93/1,000

OAR
MOF
: Optimum application rate of MOF.

NAR
ST
: Nitrogen application rate (kg ha
-1
) by soil
testing, NC
MOF
: Nitrogen content (g g
- -1 1
) of MOF, and 0.93 : 124.3 kg ha
-1
/ 133.0kg ha
-1
, respectively.

Introduction
Rice is the most important food for more than 50% of the world's population, and it is grown on
almost 155 million hectare worldwide (Kogel-Knabner et al., 2010). In Korea, rice is also the most
important food crop, with a land area of 924,471 ha in 2009 (MAF, 2010). Farmers and consumers
have recently shown interest in environment-friendly rice cultivation (Park et al., 2008). To produce
environment-friendly rice, chemical fertilizer use should be reduced. One method of reducing the
use of chemical fertilizer is through the use of organic fertilizer. The objective of this study was to
investigate the effects on rice yield of application of mixed organic fertilizer as a substitute for
chemical fertilizers and nitrogen use efficiency in paddy field.

Materials and Methods
This study was conducted at the rice field in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. The experimental
fields were located at 37

22'10''N latitude and 127

03'85''E longitude. Chemical properties of soil

used in the experiment were 6.4 of pH (1:5), 26g kg
-1
of soil organic matter content, 159mg kg
-1
of
available silicate content, and 0.26cmol
c
kg
-1
of exchangeable potassium content, respectively.
Paddy rice (Chucheong) was cultivated at clay loam soil from May 20 to October 10, 2006.
Chemical contents of mixed organic fertilizer (MOF) used in the experiment were 45.6g kg
-1
of
nitrogen, 23.4g kg
-1
of phosphate, 14.3g kg
-1
of potash, and 16.5 of organic matter/nitrogen ratio,
respectively (Tab. 1). MOF was applied at 0, 50, 100 and 150% levels of recommended nitrogen
amount (133kg ha
-1
) by soil testing compared with chemical fertilizer, respectively (Tab. 2).

Tab. 1: Chemical contents of mixed organic fertilizer used in the experiment
N P
2
O
5
K
2
O Organic matter Water content
Organic matter/
nitrogen ratio
--------------------- g kg
-1
----------------------
45.6 23.4 14.3 752 165 16.5
591

Tab. 2: Application amount of chemical fertilizer and mixed organic fertilizer
Treatments
Application amount
of chemical fertilizer
Application
amount of MOF

(Mg ha
-1
)
Application amount
of fertilizer ingredients
N P
2
O
5
K
2
O N P
2
O
5
K
2
O
----- kg ha
-1
----- ----- kg ha
-1
-----
Control 133 42 73 0 133.0 42 73
MOF

O% 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MOF 5 50 0% % 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1. .4 46 6 6 66 6. .5 5 3 34 4 2 21 1
MOF 100 0% % 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2. .9 92 2 1 13 33 3. .0 0 6 68 8 4 42 2
MOF 150 0% % 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4. .3 38 8 1 19 99 9. .5 5 1 10 02 2 6 63 3

MOF: Mixed organic fertilizer.

Results
Nitrogen use efficiency by rice plant in the treatment with 100% (N 133kg ha
-1
) of mixed organic
fertilizer (MOF) at 30 days after transplanting (DAT) was higher than that of chemical fertilizer (N
133kg ha
-1
). It was highest in the plot applied with 50% (N 66.5kg ha
-1
) and lowest in the plot
treated with 150% (N 199.5kg ha
-1
) of MOF. Also in the examination at 60 DAT, nitrogen use
efficiency by rice plant showed the same pattern as at 30 DAT. But the nitrogen use efficiency at
143 DAT was highest in 100% application plot of MOF and lowest in 50% treatment plot (Tab. 3).

Tab. 3: Changes of nitrogen use efficiency by application of mixed organic fertilizer
Treatments
30 DAT

60 DAT
1 14 43 3 DAT
Rice straw Grain Total
----------------------- % ----------------------
Control 19.4 28.1 13.2 15.2 28.4
MOF 5 50 0% % 2 27 7. .5 5 3 30 0. .1 1 1 10 0. .1 1 1 15 5. .5 5 2 25 5. .6 6
MOF 100 0% % 2 20 0. .5 5 2 29 9. .1 1 2 23 3. .1 1 1 18 8. .4 4 4 41 1. .5 5
MOF 150 0% % 1 17 7. .7 7 2 27 7. .4 4 2 20 0. .4 4 1 13 3. .6 6 3 34 4. .0 0

DAT: Days after transplanting of the rice (Chucheong).

Milled rice yield and yield components are shown in Tab. 4. The yield between 100% fertilization
plot of MOF and control equivalent to application rate of nitrogen was not significantly different.
Regression equation derived from statistical analysis was as follows: Y = -0.0575
2
+ 22.314 +
3006.4(R
2
: 0.9886), Y : Milled rice yield (kg ha
-1
), and : Nitrogen content in MOF (kg ha
-1
),
respectively. Consequently, the calculated optimum application rate of MOF from regression
equation was as follows: OAR
MOF

(Mg ha
-1
) =(NAR
ST
NC
MOF
/1,000 0.93/1,000

OAR
MOF
:
Optimum application rate of MOF.

NAR
ST
: Nitrogen application rate (kg ha
-1
) by soil testing,
NC
MOF
: Nitrogen content (g g
- -1 1
) of MOF, and 0.93 : 124.3 kg ha
-1
/133.0kg ha
-1
, respectively.

Tab. 4: Yield and yield components by application of mixed organic fertilizer
Treatments
No. of
panicles
No. of
spikelets
1000 grain
weight
(g)
Ripened grain
rate
(%)
Milled
rice yield
(kg ha
-1
)
Control 18.5 67.8 21.7 86.6 4,892
592
MOF 0 0% % 13.9 55.0 21.2 88.2 3,047
MOF 5 50 0% % 1 17 7. .4 4 6 67 7. .8 8 2 21 1. .6 6 87.2 4,114
MOF 100 0% % 2 21 1. .2 2 6 67 7. .2 2 2 21 1. .0 0 85.6 5,078
MOF 150 0% % 2 24 4. .8 8 6 63 3. .2 2 2 20 0. .6 6 84.9 5,127
LSD(5%)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
230
CV(%)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3

Discussion
To produce environment-friendly rice, chemical fertilizer use should be reduced. One method of
reducing the application of chemical fertilizer is through the use of organic fertilizer. Hence, the
objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mixed organic fertilizer substituting
chemical fertilizer on rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency by rice plant.

Conclusions
The use of mixed organic fertilizer (MOF) is a promising technology as a substitute for chemical
fertilizer, especially for organic farming of rice in Korea. Therefore, in this study, the application
effects of MOF in rice cultivation were evaluated in a field experiment. Chemical properties of
mixed organic fertilizer used in the experiment were 45.6g kg
-1
of nitrogen content, 752g kg
-1
of
organic matter content, and 16.5 of organic matter/nitrogen ratio, respectively. The nitrogen use
efficiency by rice plant at the treatment with 100% (N 133kg ha
-1
) of MOF at 143 DAT was higher
than that of chemical fertilizer (N 133kg ha
-1
). The regression equation between rice yield and
nitrogen contents in MOF was as follows: Y = -0.0575
2
+ 22.314 + 3006.4(R
2
: 0.9886), Y :
Milled rice yield (kg ha
-1
), and : Nitrogen content in MOF (kg ha
-1
), respectively. The optimum
application rate of MOF was as follows ; OAR
MOF

(Mg ha
-1
) =(NAR
ST
NC
MOF
/1,000
0.93/1,000

OAR
MOF
: Optimum application rate of MOF.

NAR
ST
: Nitrogen application rate
(kg ha
-1
) by soil testing, NC
MOF
: Nitrogen content (g g
- -1 1
) of MOF, and 0.93 : 124.3 kg ha
-
1
/133.0kg ha
-1
, respectively.

Acknowledgments
This study was carried out with the support of Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and Extension
Services, Hwaseong-si, Korea.

References
Kogel-Knabner I., W. Amelung, Z. Cao, S. Fiedler, P. Frenzel, R. Jahn, K. Kalbitz, A.
Kolbl & M. Schloter. (2010): Biogeochemistry of paddy soils. Geoderma 157:1-14.
MAF (Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of Korea). (2010):
Statistical year-book of agriculture and forestry, Gwachon.
Park S. T., W. T. Jeon, M. T. Kim, K. Y. Sung, J. H. Ku, I. S. Oh, B. K. Lee, Y. H. Yoon,
J. K. Lee, K. H. Lee, & J. H. Yu. (2008): Understanding of environmental friendly agriculture
and rice production using green manure crops. RDA, NICS, Sammi Press, Suwon, Korea.
Jeon W. T., K. Y. Seong, J. K. Lee, I. S. Oh, Y. H. Lee, & Y. S. Ok. (2010): Effects of
593
green manure and carbonized rice husk on soil properties and rice growth. Korean J. Soil Sci.
Fert. 43(4): 484-489.
594
Creating Added Benefits through Supply Chain Monitoring

Frank Gerriets, Gerald A. Herrmann
Organic Services GmbH, Germany-Brazil-India-USA
f.gerriets@organic-services.com, g.herrmann@organic-services.com
www.organic-services.com

Key words: Supply chain, monitoring, additional benefits, communication

Introduction
Supply chain monitoring is often seen as additional burden for organizations. Creating
transparency along the product chain is challenging, sometimes costly especially in cases of
multi-ingredient products. Pressure to establish transparency mounts with regulations,
(voluntary) quality management systems or with showing responsibility as company.

Content
Supply chains have moved into spotlight because of food safety standards (e.g.
GLOBALG.A.P., BRC, IFS, SQF), regulations (e.g. 178/2002, US homeland security),
marketing claims (Transparency creates trust), Internal Quality Management and CSR and
lastly due to efficiency and cost reduction.

Companies and organizations are turning extra work involved for establishing supply chain
monitoring into advantages by communicating additional benefits to market partners of the
consumer.

Additional benefits will be presented as overview and by providing examples. These are
structured according to three different approaches related to organic (fair), traceability and
through the perspective of third party certification (see examples below).

1 www.organic-services.com
Side aspects can generate additional benefits
When working organically additional
benefits may consist of:
Calculating carbon emissions
Calculating water emissions
Social aspects
Sustainable production
Biodiversity
Fair trade aspects


595
7 www.organic-services.com
Carbon footprints for organic and/or fair trade products


13 www.organic-services.com
Side aspects can generate additional benefits
When dealing with third party
certification additional benefits may
include:
Operator access
Self assessments
Online applications
Transparency about certification procedures
Integrity programme


14 www.organic-services.com

596
Integrated Rural Development

Gerald A. Herrmann
Organic Services GmbH, Germany-Brazil-India-USA
g.herrmann@organic-services.com
www.organic-services.com

Key words: Organic farming, agroforestry, renewable energy, community services, income
generation.

Introduction
The combination of organic farm production and manufacturing with renewable energy from
biomass leads to benefits both for the people and the environment. Agroforestry elements, like
oilseed producing trees, increase the biodiversity of otherwise species-poor land use systems,
reduce risks of soil erosion and flooding, and as provider of both edible oil and biomass and biogas
energy multiple direct uses are generated. Based on a certified organic farming systems with value
addition along the supply chain generates supplementary income. A community centre providing
services will further supplement integrated rural development.

Content
The Indian pilot project of Soil & Energy will be introduced. Its nucleus is the development of a
decentralised energy supply from biomass and biogas from agroforestry products, developed in
cooperation with a certified organic cotton and chili producing smallholder organisation.

The setting-up of a regional centre for sustainable energy- and land use is part of the strategy. It
should promote sustainable rural development and, grace to its interdisciplinary approach, develop a
network of highly competent partners. Social Business Models for the development of value chains
will create new qualified jobs in the rural area.

The local organic farming system will be enriched by tree planting. This agroforestry element helps
to protect the soil and the climate. It also delivers marketable goods (oil for food and cosmetic use)
and organic fertilizer. Once a sufficient number of trees have been planted, carbon credits may add
to income generation. A special programme for tree planting has been launched (Treepreneur
Programme).





A decentralized energy supply has been set up with the installation of a special oil-press and high
performance biogas plant, the latter also producing organic fertilizer to be used in the farming
system.
597


Furthermore the establishment of a community centre delivering services needed by the rural
population will help to further improve its livelihood. Energy generated from biogas will be used
locally for running the community centre, the oil mill and other load).

Supplementary value addition along the product chain is planned for future implementation, e.g. for
cotton to yarn and fabrics or even textiles.
598
Pest Control Using Natural Enemies

Gwon, Gi Myeon
Nabis Agricultral Environment Research Institute
Woobon-ri, Sanyang-myeon, Moongyeong-si, Gyeongbuk, Korea

Introduction
Serving as the head of the Nabis Agricultral Environment Research Institute located in
Moongyeong, Gyeongbuk for the last 10 years, I have been involved in the program of
integrated pest management which conjectures preventive pest activities and controls pest
using natural enemies. This is a summary of the program.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

The concept of integrated pest management:
- Integrated pest management is an applied science aiming to apply a variety of pest control
techniques in many different and mutually supplementary ways so as to keep pest density
under the level at which economic loss may happen and minimize side effect of organic
synthetic chemicals.
- Ecological control
- Make use of breeds resistant to pest
- Physical and mechanical control
- Chemical control
- Biological control

Ecological control:
- Sod culture: Provide habitat for natural enemy of pest
- Phytosanitary: Remove pest winter habitat, shelter, damaged tree, and fallen leaves giving
rise to pest e.g. if damage from disease is serious
- Clean up around field: Remove abandoned garden and wild peaches e.g. Lyonetia
Prunifoliella, Carposinidae
- Tillage: Expose the underground pest to the surface so that it naturally dies or get killed by
natural enemy e.g. beetle caterpillar
- Pruning, trimming, and fruit thinning: Cut the damaged parts of stock, leaf, and fruit,e.g.
fire blight, cicada, moth, apple leafminer (sucker removal)
- Reduce chemical fertilizer and add appropriate amount of basal manure to create an
environment where micro-organisms can live
- Keep crops healthy by using healthy seedling
- Remove harmful crops: pulse family, crucifer e.g. shield bug, Tetranychus Urticae Koch
- Grow pest-luring crops: Plant alternative crops which pest like and then remove the crops
e.g. attract shied bugs with bean and then remove the bean or get rid of the shield bugs

Physical and mechanical control:
- Use water: Pour water and get pest drowned e.g. soil pest, insectivora
- Use light: Lure pest with light and kill the pest e.g. cicada, moth, beetle
- Attract pest with Pheromone and kill the pest e.g. shield bug, beetle
- Cover with plastic bag e.g. insectivora
- Use insect screen to keep pests out e.g. shield bugs, birds
- Catch pest with wire e.g. longhorn beetle
599
- Use flypaper to lure and kill pest e.g. wood borer, oriental fruit moth
- Remove rough bark e.g. Tortricidae
- Use yellow and green water glass e.g. cicada, beetle
- Use flypaper glue to keep pest from laying eggs or kill pest when it comes to lay egg or
block it from moving e.g. wood borer, Tetranychus Urticae Koch

Chemical method:
- Selective agricultural chemical (e.g. growth regulator, micro-organism pesticide
- Use pesticide which is mildly toxic and does not affect natural enemy (Nicotinoid)
- Spray pesticide at the point of pest outbreak (e.g. woolly apple aphid, Tetranychus Urticae
Koch)

Biological method:
- Try a variety of techniques to protect natural enemy (use habitat, luring substance,
alternative feed, and alternative host)
- Augmentation: Spray once or twice in massive volume to get natural enemy to take hold
and keep pest under control

Eco-friendly model based on organisms:
Organic matter control (agricultural chemical control)
Culture, physical, and mechanical control
Biological control

Understanding natural enemies:
- Natural eco-system
- Agricultural eco-system
- Increase in pest entities
- Change in pest and natural enemy density
- Natural enemy leveraged for pest control

Natural eco-system:
- Land eco-system
- Food chain network: The natural eco-system has diversity. It has a complicated food
chain which is balanced and restores itself when the balance is broken. It is sustainable and
restricts itself.

Agricultural eco-system:
- Agricultural eco-system is simple: It has a lot of energy input and is highly productive. It
requires artificial management and is not sustainable.

Tab. 1: Increase rate of pest entities
- If one aphid reproduces 1 aphid a day:
Start -> 1 day later -> 3 days later -> 6days later -> 10 days

- If one aphid reproduces 4 aphids a day:
Start -> 1 day later -> 3 days later -> 6days later -> 10 days
Note: If there is no factor limiting pest growth and pest is left alone to grow, its growth is
exponential (Biological natural enemy, micro-organism, etc.; non-biological rain, sunlight,
wind, etc.).
600



















Natural enemies used in pest control:
Natural enemy: Organism which eats pest in the natural food chain

Types of natural enemy:
- Predatory natural enemy: It directly eats pest
- Predatory and parasitic natural enemy: It lives off pest and gradually kills the pest
- Pathogenic natural enemy: It is a micro-organism which infects pest and kills the host pest

Predation habit of natural enemy:
- Natural enemy which preys only on one type or one group of pest (e.g. Aphidius Colemani,
Encarsia formosa)
- Natural enemy which eats similar eco-groups (e.g. Neoseisulus Californicus)
- Natural enemy which eats multiple types of groups (e.g. flower bug, emperor dragonfly,
turtle vein ladybug)

Change in pest and natural enemy density:

High
density

Low
density

Natural enemy meets pest

Level of
economic
damage

Pest
Natural
enemy
Early stage of cultivation

Late stage of cultivation
Agricultural chemical is sprayed

Pest vulnerable to
control

Pest resistant to
control
Natural
enemy

Natural enemies used in pest control
601
Effect of Volume of Irrigation with Saline Water on Olive Fruit and Oil Quality

Ioannis Stamatas
1
, Philip J. C. Harris
1,*
, George D. Nanos
2
1
Coventry University, United Kingdom.
2
University of Thessaly, Greece
*
p.harris@coventry.ac.uk
*
wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/saf/Pages/saf.aspx

Abstract

Although the olive tree is regarded as salt tolerant, olive oil and fruit production may be negatively
affected by salinity. Twenty year-old olive trees, var. Amfissis, were grown under deficit (0.70-1.60
m
3
tree
-1
) and control (3.33-3.63 m
3
tree
-1
) saline irrigation. The olives that were collected from the
deficit irrigated trees late in September fell short on the most important qualitative parameters such
as size, fresh weight and firmness, compared with well-watered. Size was also smaller at the final
harvest although bulk density, seed ratio and chlorophyll content were not significantly downgraded
and the firmness of the olives was higher with deficit irrigation. Overall, the commercial value of
table olives was reduced by deficit irrigation and deficit treatment was detrimental in terms of oil
acidity, but not of oil absorption coefficients.

Introduction

In Greece, as in many other countries in the Mediterranean basin, high rates of population growth,
urbanization and industrialization have affected the availability of water for irrigated agriculture.
Moreover, salts from the irrigation water are concentrated in the soil and rainfall is not enough to
leach them out, while in coastal areas, the high water consumption reduces the level of sub-soil
water and allows seawater contamination of water tables. Although the olive tree (Olea europea L.)
is regarded as a salt tolerant tree, a number of reports have shown that olive oil and fruit production
is negatively affected by long term saline conditions (Bartolini et al. 1991, Weisman et al. 2004,
Therios 2005) or by high salinity irrigation (Murillo, Lopez, and Fernandez Cabrera 2000; Weisman,
Itzhak, and Ben Dom 2004; Chartzoulakis, 2005). There is a need to find tolerant varieties in
combination with new irrigation techniques, to facilitate the use of saline water for irrigated crops
with minimum adverse impacts on crop yield and quality (Hamdy n.d). In this study the Greek olive
variety, Amfissis was grown with normal and deficit saline irrigation to determine whether water
consumption could be reduced without affecting the product quality.

Materials and methods

The experiment was conducted in a mature olive (Olea europea L.) orchard (39 35 33 N 22 88
80 E) 11 km south west from Volos, Greece. The 20 year-old olive trees cv. Amfissis are planted
at a spacing of approximately 10 x 10 m. Standard cultivation methods were applied from the
beginning of 2006. No fertilizers were added. Immediately after pruning the trees were sprayed with
Bordeaux mixture to protect against leaf fungus diseases. No other chemical pesticides or
fungicides were used. Weeds were controlled by tillage to a depth of 5 cm in May and June.
Two treatments were carried out, deficit irrigation (0.70-1.60 m
3
tree
-1
) and the control treatment
(normal farmers practice; 3.33-3.63 m
3
tree
-1
). The irrigation water contained salts at 2000-3000
mg l
-1
. Irrigation was applied every 15 days from July until mid-September.

In late September, green olives were harvested to measure their initial quality in terms of size,
weight, colour and firmness and stored for two weeks in perforated plastic bags at 5C. A Vernier
caliper was used to measure the length and width of the fruit. Skin colour was measured using a
colorimeter (Hunter Lab, MiniScan XE Plus, Reston, Virginia, USA). The fresh weight and dry
weight after drying at 100C for more than 6 h were measured. To evaluate firmness, the skin was
602
removed on opposite sides of the fruit using a knife. Then the barrel from fruit firmness tester
(Penetrometer tr, Italy) penetrated the flesh without touching the pit.

On 5 November 2006 plastic boxes containing 30 kg fruits each were filled with olives from trees
of the deficit and control treatments and transported to Bari, Italy on 7 November 2006. On 8
November 2006, samples of olive fruits from each box were evaluated as above but using an Instron,
model 2519-104 firmness machine. Chlorophyll from 5 g frozen samples was extracted in 20 ml of
methanol in the dark for 24 h. The absorbance at 666 nm and 653 nm was measured, and the
concentrations of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b calculated using the following equations and
expressed as mg 100 g
-1
fresh weight.
Chl a = 15.65 x A666 - 7.340 x A653 (g ml
-1
)
Chl b = 27.05 x A653 - 11.21 x A666 (g ml
-1
)

The true density was calculated as the ratio of the weight of the samples to the solid volume
occupied by the sample in water measured by displacement. The bulk density was calculated as the
ratio of the weight of the samples to the total volume occupied by the sample when loosely packed
into a graduated container.

Samples of 3.5 kg of fruit were hammer-milled by a mobile pilot plant (Dietz-motoren KG, 7319
Dettingen-Ieck, West Germany). The kneading step was undertaken by hand at 37C for 30 min or
by machine (Raffineria Olii Lubrificanti). Oil was extracted by means of a laboratory centrifuge.
Acidity value index was determined following the analytical methods described in the Regulation
EEC/256891 (EEC, 1991).

Data were statistically analysed using SPSS (SPSS 13.0, Chicago, IL, USA). The influence of
irrigation on qualitative parameters of fruits and olive oil was analysed by ANOVA and the LSD
test was employed for mean separation at p < 0.05.

Results and conclusions

Harvest of 28 September

At the green olive harvest date of 28 September 2006, the length and width of drupes were
significantly reduced by deficit irrigation compared with the control (Table 1). The colourL of fruits
was significantly lower from the deficit treatment than from the control treatment after two weeks
storage. Coloura was not significantly affected by deficit irrigation was significantly lower after
storage than at harvest. Colourb and Chroma did not differ significantly with irrigation treatment
but declined significantly in both deficit irrigation and control olives between harvest and two
weeks storage. The value for hue did not vary significantly with storage but was significantly higher
in the deficit irrigation olives than in the control after two weeks storage only.

Table 1: Effect of deficit irrigation on characteristics of olives harvested on 28 September
2006.

Irrigation treatment
At harvest

After two weeks storage
Control Deficit

Control Deficit
Length (mm) 25.3 a 23.0 b

- -
Width (mm) 21.4 a 17.8 b

- -
ColourL
41.8 a 41.0 a 40.9 a 37.9 b
Coloura -7.46 ab -7.61 a -6.63 c -6.95 bc
603
Colourb
24.4 a 24.2 a 22.6 a 21.7 a
Chroma
25.5 a 25.4 a 23.6 a 22.8 a
Hue 107 b 107 b 106 c 108 a
FW (g) 43.8 a 28.5 b

45.9 a 30.8 b
DW (g) 24.885 bc 25.86 ab

23.941 c 27.512 a
Firmness (N) 9.88 a 7.44 b

7.80 b 8.33 b
Means for each parameter not followed by the same letter differ significantly at P < 0.05. n = 3

Table 2: Effect of deficit irrigation on characteristics of olives harvested for oil on 5
November 2006.

Irrigation treatment
Control Deficit
Length (mm)
24.9 a 21.0 b
Width (mm)
20.7 a 17.8 b
True density (g cm
-3
) 0.96 a 0.95 a
Bulk density (g cm
-3
) 0.56 a 0.55 a
Seed ratio 16.8 a 18.3 a
Firmness (N) 16.0 b 19.6 a
Colour# 3.5 a 3.0 b
Total Chl (mg 100

g
-1
FW) 2.30 a 1.53 a
K
232
1.82 a 1.93 a
K
270
0.041 a -0.029 a
Acidity index 0.447 a 0.253 b
#Skin colour 1 = deep green; 2 = yellow-green; 3 = more than half the surface turning purple or
black; 4 = purple or black having little green on edge; 5 = deep black. Means for each parameter not
followed by the same letter differ significantly at P < 0.05. n = 3

At the harvest and after storage the fresh weight of fruits was lower from the deficit treatment than
from the control. At the harvest the dry weight of fruits did not differ significantly between the
control and deficit treatments. After storage the dry weight of fruits from deficit treatment was
higher than from the control. Thus the fruit from the deficit irrigation treatment had a higher dry
matter percentage and lower moisture percentage. Fruit firmness was significantly lower in fruit
from the deficit irrigation treatment than in control fruit at harvest but after storage the difference
was no longer significant. After two weeks storage the fruits from both treatments had similar
marginal discoloration of flesh and skin injures.

Harvest of 5 November

There was no significant difference between the control and deficit irrigation in the true density,
bulk density or seed ratio of olives harvested on 5 November 2006 (Table 2). However, the olives
from the deficit irrigation treatment were significantly firmer than those from the control treatment.
Olives from the deficit treatment had a significantly lower colour score than those from the control
although the total chlorophyll concentration of the fruit did not differ significantly between the
treatments. There was no significant difference in specific absorption coefficients, K
232
and K
270
,
between olive oil from olives grown in the deficit and control treatments (Table 2). Both
coefficients do not exceed the maximum levels for extra virgin olive oil that are for K
232
2.5 and for
K
270
0.2. However acidity was significantly lower with deficit irrigation than in the control.
604

The green olives that were collected from the deficit irrigated trees late in September fell short on
the most important qualitative parameters such as size, fresh weight and firmness, compared with
well-watered. That means that the commercial value of table olives is reduced by deficit irrigation.
Size was also smaller at the final harvest although bulk density, seed ratio and chlorophyll content
were not significantly downgraded and the firmness of the olives was higher with deficit irrigation.
The amount of water that was offered to tress in deficit treatment seems to be detrimental in terms
of oil acidity, but not of absorption coefficients of the oil. Further work is required to assess the
minimum irrigation volume required to avoid these decreases in crop quality.

References
Bartolini, G., Mazuelos, C., Troncoso, A. (1991): Influence of Na
2
SO
4
and NaCl salts on survival,
growth and mineral composition of young olive plants in inert sand culture. Adv. Hort. Sci.
5:73-76.
Chartzoulakis, K. S. (2005): Salinity and olive: Growth, salt tolerance, photosynthesis and yield.
Agric. Water Manage. 78(1-2):108-121.
EEC (1991): Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 of 11 July 1991 on the characteristics of
olive oil and olive-residue oil and on the relevant methods of analysis. Brussels, EEC. 76 p.
Hamdy, A. (n. d.): Saline Irrigation Management for a Sustainable Use,
www.researces.ciheam.org/om/pdf/b36/05002178.pdf, (accessed 2006-12-30).
Murillo, J. M., Lopez, R., Fernandez, J. E., Cabrera, F. (2000): Olive tree response to irrigation with
wastewater from the table olive industry. Irrigation Sci. 19(4):175-180.
Therios, I. N. (2005): Olive tree cultivation. Gartaganis, Thessaloniki, Greece:. p.
Weisman, Z., Itzhak, D., and Ben Dom, N. (2004) Optimization of Saline Water Level for
Sustainable . Borneo Olive and Oil Production in Desert Conditions. Scientia Horticulturae
100, 257-266.
605
Evaluation of Influence of Position and Moon Phases on Crop Development of
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)

Jimnez, B.
1
,Adeodato, T.
2
,Diniz, C.
3
, Soares, A
4


Key words: Moon phases, Moon influence, Biodynamic.
Abstract
The moon influence above the vegetal development is as well phenomenon, but still being in the
border of scientifically surroundings. This work objective was studied the influence of phases and
moon position on vegetative development of lettuce.
The trial was conducted at the Amway Nutrilite Brazil farm, wich practices Organic and
Biodynamic Agriculture for over 12 years in the Brazilian Northeast between May and July 2010. It
works with five treatments for planting lettuce in five different phases and moon positions. The
measurement variable was aerial weight (gr). The results showed significant differences between
treatments, being the most favorable days for planting this crop when the moon is waxing and its
position on the orbit around the earth is ascending.
Introduction
The organic production management system promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles,
and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management
practices that restore, maintain or enhance ecological harmony, also combines tradition, innovation
and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of
life for all involved.

The influence of the moon in earth living beings has long been observed by farmers, livestock
breeders, fishermen, etc... However, this empirical knowledge is still marginalized in the scientific
circles, except that a few researchers report (Oliveira et al., 2000).
Who has contact with farmers who actually live in the land for generations always hear stories
about the relationship of the Moon with the time of planting, pruning, seeding, etc. But mainly on
the phases of the moon that is visible from the pace astro (Jovchelevich, 2010).

According to results in studies about moon influence, species that are cultivated with the aim to
exploit their underground parts should be planted in a waning moon, as for those whose commercial
interest is one that over the soil surface should be planted in waxing moon (Thun, 2000)
The moon controls ocean tides, influences the groundwater tables beneath our feet and the
movement of fluids in plants. Based on this information, we evaluated the influence of the phases
and moon's position in the development of Lettuce as a method of organic- Biodynamic farming.
.
Materials and methods
The experiment was conducted at the Amway Nutrilite Brazil Farm, the largest farm Acerola
Organic and Biodynamic of the world, located in northeastern Brazil, Cear State, Ubajara City.
1
Agronomist from Chile, Curic city E-Mail bernadita_jim@yahoo.es
2
Nutrilite Brazil Farm, Ubajara, CE, state, E-Mail talita.adeodato@nutrilite.com, Internet www.fazendabr.com.br
3
Nutrilite Brazil Farm, Ubajara, CE, state, E-Mail Cicero.diniz@nutrilite.com, Internet
www.fazendabr.com.br
4
Nutrilite Brazil Farm, Ubajara, CE, state, E-Mail francisco.deassis@nutrilite.com, Internet www.fazendabr.com.br
606
The site has the geographic coordinates 3 51'12'' south latitude and 41 5'10'' West longitude. The
altitude is approximately 710 meters over sea level. The soil is classified as Typic Quartzenic. The
average annual temperature and precipitation are 24 C and 556 mm respectively.
The trial began on May and finished in July 2010, being used lettuce, Lactuca sattiva of the variety
Grand Rapids
Was used a statistical design randomized complete block (RCB), five treatments in four blocks
and five samples per block, N = 20.
Each of five treatments corresponds to the sowing of lettuce at five different position and moon
phases. To determine the planting. To determine the planting date using
2 calendars to support biodiynamic agricultural practices 2010 modified for the southern
hemisphere by Piamonte and Jovchelevich respectively.
.
Tab. 1.

Positions and moon phases per treatment
Treatment
.
Moon phase Asd-Des Sideric Moon planting date
T1 waning moon
Descending
Leave 11/05/2010
T2 waning moon
Descending
Fruit 12/05/2010
T3
waxing moon Descending
Root 14/05/2010
T4
waxing moon
Ascending Flower 17/05/2010
T5
waxing moon
Ascending ----Perigee 20/05/2010
The sampling was performed at 55 days of planting. The measurement variable was aerial
weight (g). Statistical analysis was done on the IBM SPSS Statistics 19. An average analysis was
made to to find out if there are significant
differences between them. Later used the Tuckey test to determine which averages differences
Results
betw
een.
The test between subjects effects for variable aerial weight (g) indicated significant
differences between

treatment averages. Then use the Tukey test to find differences between
treatments.

Tab. 2. Differences between averages for aerial weight (g)
Tukey B
a,b,c

Treatment N Subset


5 4
86,38

1 4
90,57

2 4
129,80 129,80

3 4

163,40

4 4

227,56
607
= ,05.
Figure 1. Box plot per treatment for Aerial weight (g).


Discussion
According to the results, the cycles of the moon show that the greates influence on plant growth was
the Synodical cycle and the crescent moon with moon ascending (tropical cycle) the best time for
snowing of lettuce, such as speech literature.
Its probably that the favourable results seen in this trial have been due to land
Conclusions
where they made has
been paid to biodynamic compost and biodynamic preparations for over twelve years asserting
versions of some authors that in conventional land the effects are not positive as shown in this study.
The results of this trial show that if done the sowing of lettuce in a waxing moon and
ascending days can get 163% more production if done in a day inadequate.
If these influences were taken in consideration by farmers today, it would be possible to
obtain higher yields in the same area and possibly shorter times.
Anyway, due to limited scientific literature on the subject, we must look into this line of research

.
Acknowledgments
The Nutrilite Farm by the trust they have in organic agriculture which performs, at the dedication of
the technicians responsible for design, respect for human beings and the environment through good
farming practices carried out.
References
Oliveira M., Ottmann M., Da Cruz M., Leal L., Ferriani A. (2009). Influncia das Fases da Lua No
Enraizamento de Estacas de Dichorisandra Thyrsiflora Mik. (Gengibre-Azul) e Brunfelsia
Uniflora (Pohl.) D. Don. (Manac-De-Cheiro) na Primavera. Revista Brasileira de Agroecologa.
Vol 4 No 2.
Piamonte R. 2010. Calendario Agrcola/Astronmico de apoyo a las prcticas biodinmicas 2010.
Thun M. 2000. Sembrar, plantar y recolectar en armona con el cosmos.128 p.

608
Urban-rural Interchanges in Consumer Living Cooperative
Association: Challenges and Alternatives

Kwan-Hyun Cho
1
Korean Federation of Sustainable Agriculture Organizations

Keyword: Consumer living cooperative association, Urban-rural interchange,
Rural festival

Introduction
The Consumer living cooperative association is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose
is to improve consumers well-being by promoting volunteer activities based on a spirit
of mutual help. It can be defined as a community activity organization in cities or an
organization pursuing good consumer activities and high quality of life through close
relations with rural areas.
Currently, the Consumer living cooperative association is mainly working on urban-
rural interchanges in line with mutual help and close relations between urban and rural
areas. The aim of the urban-rural interchanges is to meet urban peoples various needs
related to agriculture, rural community, and environment using existing resources in
rural areas by maintaining products, services and people to people exchanges.
In fact, urban-rural interchanges are a good start for alternative cultural activities and
to expand the understanding of agriculture and rural communitys public function as
well as the need for protecting the environment through people to people exchanges.
Urban-rural interchanges are conducted in the form of experiencing rural life and
material exchanges such as direct trade of agricultural products from farmers.
Though it is an effective way, people point out that the current urban-rural
interchanges are too much focused on food related events.

Materials and methods
As people are concerned with environmental pollution and want to improve their
quality of life, they pursue community sprit and actively participate in urban-rural
interchanges through which they can directly experience the environmentally friendly
community and environmentally friendly farming.
In reality, people cannot ignore that the organization of Consumer living cooperative
association is getting bigger, centralized, and powerful. In addition, the structure of the
association is getting similar to that of a corporation and its value and slogan become a
commercial brand for the production. As the principle of direct trade of environmentally
friendly agricultural products is wavering, it is no exaggeration that members activity is
limited to purchasing branded products from the association and farmers become
environmentally friendly agriculture producers, far less than the expected to be activists
of protecting life. Under such circumstances, the Consumer living cooperative
associations are actively promoting urban-rural interchanges to restore and reorganize
the close relationship between consumers and farmers.

As pointed out earlier, there is a weakness in current urban-rural interchanges which
1
Korean Federation of Sustainable Agriculture Organizations, Waboo-eup, Namyangju-si, Kyungki-do, Korea, E-Mail:
kfsa@chol.com, Internet: http://www.kfsao.org

609
are limited to consuming agricultural products. Although the current Consumer living
cooperative association values the importance of rural communities and a cooperative
life style, it is a problem that current activities are too much focusing on food. The
association has a limitation in that they make efforts to protect members interest. In
other words, the current activities of the Consumer living cooperative association are
effective in resolving members agricultural issues but insufficient in resolving
comprehensive rural communitys issues.
The centerpiece of urban-rural interchanges is to promote cooperative relations
between farmers and consumers and to strengthen regional solidarity and cooperation
with rural communities. However, by focusing more on protecting the consumers
interest, the solidarity and cooperation is getting weaker. In addition, there is the
possible problem that farmers are considered as producers of agricultural products
rather than cooperative members of a community which shares similar values.
Against this backdrop, the concept of festivals in urban-rural interchanges is
introduced to realize the true meaning and value of urban-rural interchanges.
A festival is a comprehensive art performance encompassing all human activities such
as politics, religion, culture, art, and history as a public event. Historically, festivals
served as a cultural method to ease the conflict between God and people and between
peoples. The Korean definition of festival is celebration and ritual or public event to
celebrate something. In this context, the celebration is to have comfort by praying to
God, a ritual to have Gods blessing, and a public event or a party to celebrate the
received blessing.
People pursue change of life through festivals. Human beings have been defined as
Homo Festivus since festivals are the method of expressing human beings desire of
social activities. Festivals provide pleasure to people and make human life plentiful. The
origin of regional festivals in rural communities is spontaneous. The characteristics of
rural culture are not only regional culture but also a prototype of Korean culture. That is
why the collapse of the rural community is directly regarded as a disconnection of
traditional culture. Rural culture is a lifeline which connects Koreas traditional culture.
Rural culture is a viable alternative to overcome the negative cultural aspects of modern
society.
In the agricultural society, people are the most important and valuable resource. In that
society, people do farming together, strengthening the cooperative sprits. People get joy
and pleasure and reinforce the community sprit through festivals.
By introducing the value of festival in current urban-rural interchanges, the
relationship between farmers and consumers can be strengthened, bringing social and
political outcomes through strong solidarity and exchanges.

Conclusion
As the organization of the Consumer living cooperative association is getting bigger,
centralized, and powerful, the identity of the association is weakening. At the same time,
WTO and FTA, and the market-oriented ideas of neo-liberalism, are putting pressure on
society. The competition of environmentally friendly agriculture is getting tougher by
increasing imports of environmentally friendly products and increasing supply from
commercial corporations.
Under such circumstances, it is encouraging that the Consumer living cooperative
association is actively pushing ahead with urban-rural interchanges to promote
solidarity and a win-win spirit, but issues on current activities are raised. To cope with
such issue, the value of festival is introduced.
Recently, many Consumer living cooperative associations such as Dore,
610
WomenMinwoo, Hansalrim, and iCOOP are holding regional festivals including
harvesting events, as well as life, peace, environment, and agriculture grand festivals as
ways to improve their work and meet the members needs.
Through regional activities, interaction and education, the regional-oriented activity
and the value of cooperation can be strengthened. The Consumer living cooperative
associations have a potential that could establish a community which can bring about
change in the entire society based on trust and solidarity. Now, Consumer living
cooperative associations can restore and reorganize their identity through solidarity and
cooperative ties between farmers and people living in cities.

References
Seo Manwon (2002): Study on policy and development direction to develop eco-
friendly agriculture, Graduate School of International Trade, Baejae University.
Lee Jasoek (2005): Study on community characteristics of urban-rural interchanges type
consumers living cooperative association, Graduate School, Anyang University.
Ha Jaejeong (2008): Study on way to promote urban-rural interchanges using
cooperative association.
Kwon Youngkeun (2007): Heuknae, Definition, value, and 7 principals of cooperative
associations.
Pyo Inju (2007): Folk Festival, Taehaksa. Understanding of Rural Culture (2010):
Campaign on finding traditional rural cultural resources. Rural resources division,
Extension Service Bureau, Rural Development Administration.

611
612
The Development of Organic Sowing Mix of Vermicompost and Coconut
Coir Dust: a Knowledge Transfer to Small Scale Farmers, Thailand

Manenoi, A.
1
, Tansungnern, A.
1
& Tamala, W.
1
Key words: organic sowing media, vermicompost, coconut coir dust, seedling

Abstract
The organic sowing media has been one of major concerns at the early stage of organic crop
production. In Thailand, there are a number of local bio-materials that can be substituted for
other imported products. The objective of this work was to transfer the research output to our
small scale farmers who produce the organic seeds and fresh vegetables. Red leaf lettuce and
chilli pepper seedlings were tested on various media mixes of coconut coir dust and
vermicompost. We found that red leaf lettuce grew significantly larger in diameter when
raised in the coconut coir and vermicompost at 2:1 (v/v). The chili pepper seedlings were
significantly taller in height when planted in peat moss (control), followed by vermicompost
alone. The pepper seedlings had significantly higher fresh and dry weight when planted in
vermicompost. We found that chili pepper seedlings (raised in vermicompost) maintained its
fertility longer than the seedlings planted in peat moss. Thus, the vermicompost and coconut
coir dust media mix, promises to help farmers increase their crop qualities and yields in the
future.
Introduction
For nearly 10 years, Adams Enterprises LTD has provided an extension program to aid
farmers in organic crop production. A tested and proven technique (for raising seeds), using
local materials has been suggested. There is also an economical benefit while maintaining as
much reliability as when using imported medias. Recently, we explored the suitable organic
sowing mix such as aquatic weed compost, which had previously been introduced to farmers.
We have since learned, there are number of other local materials such as coconut coir dust
and on-farm vermicompost which can be substituted for commercial peat. Vermicompost has
been widely used as a nutrient supplement in the sowing media and potting mix (Chaoui et al.
2003). Research has found that vermicompost supports growth, yield, and disease
suppression in many crops. Coconut plants (Cocos nucifera L.) have been an eco-friendly
product and are used in many agricultural industries. Coconut coir dust is available all over
Thailand and suitable to use as potting mix. It has comparable properties to other growing
materials for many crops including ornamental potted plants (Stamps and Evans, 1999:
Meerow, 1994).
This work proposes the use of vermicompost and coconut peat mixes as organic seedling
media.
Materials and methods
The tropical earthworm, African night clawer (Eudrilus eugeniae) were raised for
vermicompost production. The bedding materials were made of cow dung collected from
small farms and placed in a shady area with good ventilation. Before making the worm bed,
1
Reserch Department, Adams Enterprises LTD., 153 Ban Napho, Banphai, Khonkaen, 40110, Thailand, E-mail
ashariya@adamsel.com
613
Cow dung was sprayed with water (for leaching the excess salt) and subsequently dried for 1
week, (to an 80% moisture level). Approximately 1 kg. of earthworms were placed on 1x1x
0.2 m
2
Crude coconut fiber was purchased from a general nursery. Coconut coir dust was prepared
by breaking and screening (with cloth netting) from the crude coconut fiber until it became a
fine granular material. Coconut coir dust was soaked with water for 1 week, (to eliminate the
excess salt) and then let air-dry, before using as sowing media.
beds. The worms feeding material, such as cow dung; organic vegetables (cucumbers
and melons) were fed to the worms and left (as feed) from 5 to 30 days. Vermicompost was
collected from the bed by separating the vermicompost from the earthworms. Vermicompost
was subsequently dried until the humidity was reduced to 30%. The vermicompost was then
cleaned with a screener and only the resulting granular material was used for this sowing
media study.
Red leaf lettuce (Lettuce satica) represented the short season crop, and the chili pepper
Huarue, variety (Capsicum frutescens L.) was chosen as the long crop. They were pre-
germinated (using the top paper method) until the root emerged from the seed. Thereafter,
they were transplanted to all the different mixtures of coconut coir dust and vermicompost
(v/v). Each unit had 100 seedling replications. The evaluation was based on 30 samples of
seedlings (in the plug tray) every 3 days. The fresh and dry weights (80C by dry oven) of
the pepper seedlings were determined before the seedlings were ready to transplant.
Significance of the treatment and comparison to the mean, were analyzed by SAS.
Results
The red leaf lettuce had significantly different diameters after testing with the media mixes.
The mixture of coconut coir dust and vermicompost at 2:1 (w:w) resulted in the largest
diameter of all the treatments (Tab 1.). Observing the seedlings visually, we found that the
lettuce seedlings raised in coconut coir dust and vermicompost mix at 2:1 (w:w) gave the
highest fertility (data not shown). The results were not as good, when the mixture ration of
coconut coir dust was increased or when using the coconut coir dust alone (Tab 1).
Chili pepper seedlings did significantly better when transplanted to peat moss before 29 days.
This was followed by re-planting the seedlings in vermicompost and the mixture of coconut
coir dust and vermicompost at 1:1, respectively (Tab 2). It was noted that the average of the
fresh and dry weight of the seedlings (in the vermicompost alone) were significantly higher
than the seedling from peat moss. We found that seedling in vermicompost had maintained
its healthy green colored leaves over 29 days. This was compared to the seedlings in the peat
moss, which started to have yellow leaves when kept in the plug tray longer than 25 days.
Discussion
From our protocol, on-farm vermicompost can be produced simply from organic residues
such as cattle compost and on-farm organic residues. Coconut coir dust is always available
and can be prepared quickly with simple tools.
We think that this testing is of primary interest and that famers can adopt these techniques.
This study of the growth and development of leafy vegetables such as lettuce (using a sowing
mix of coconut coir dust and vermicompost) has had very promising results. The chili pepper
seedlings in vermicompost alone had better results than when mixed with coconut coir dust
but grew slower than when in peat moss. The positive discovery was that the seedlings in
vermicompost maintained their fertility one week longer, than when grown in the peat moss.
Tab.1 Growth record of red leaf lettuce in different media mixes
614
Treatment Diameter (cm) of lettuce
6 days 9 days 12 days 15 days
Coconut coir dust 1.30cd 1.43c 1.51d 1.53e
CD: V (1:1) 1.39bc 1.77b 2.01bc 2.79b
CD: V (2:1) 1.80a 2.21a 3.44a 4.82a
CD: V (3:1) 1.50b 1.78b 2.12b 2.03c
CD: V (4:1) 1.19d 1.33c 1.49d 1.67e
CD: V (5:1) 1.49b 1.69b 1.84c 2.04d
F-test ** ** ** **
C.V. (%) 18.40 16.82 22.88 24.67
** Significant for P<0.01: Means in the different letter are significant different.
CD = Coconut coir dust, V = Vermicompost
Tab. 2 Growth record of chili pepper seedling in different media mixes
Treatment Height (cm) of chili pepper

13 Days 17 Days 21 Days 25 Days 29 Days
Peat moss 3.03a 4.54a 7.00a 8.81a 9.25a
Vermicompost 2.09b 2.76b 3.69b 4.78b 7.61b
CD: V (1:1) 1.67d 2.11c 2.60c 3.52c 4.03c
CD: V (2:1) 1.97bc 2.02c 2.51c 2.98c 3.48c
CD: V (3:1) 1.80cd 2.02c 2.30c 2.32d 2.56d
CD: V (4:1) 1.29e 1.17d 1.45d 1.55e 1.68e
CD: V (5:1) 1.33e 1.22d 1.37d 1.53e 1.63e
F-test ** ** ** ** **
C.V. (%) 21.04 26.2 26.04 31.61 28.75
** Significant for P<0.01: Means in the different letter are significant different
CD = Coconut coir dust, V = Vermicompost
Tab. 3 Fresh weight and dry weight of chili pepper seedlings in different media mixes
after 29 days
Treatment Average fresh weight/plant (g) Average dry weight/plant
(g)
Peat moss 1.53b 0.21b
Vermicompost 1.90a 0.24a
CD: V (1:1) 0.75c 0.11c
CD: V (2:1) 0.32d 0.04d
CD: V (3:1) 0.20de 0.02de
CD: V (4:1) 0.08e 0.01e
CD: V (5:1) 0.07e 0.01e
F-test ** **
C.V. (%) 36.34 36
** Significant for P<0.01: mean in the different letter are significant different.
CD = Coconut coir dust, V = Vermicompost
615
Vermicompost provides a slow source of available nutrients, greater root initiation, increases
biomass, enhances growth and development and also balances nutrient composition (Chaoui
et al. 2003; Bachman and Metzger, 2008; Zaller, 2007). Coconut coir dust supports the root
by its water holding capacity, when combined with an organic substance, such as
vermicompost (Garcia and Daverede, 1994).
This work should be continued by varying mixture proportions among vermicompost,
coconut coir dust and by including other natural substances, to help balance available
nutrients to seedlings, before transplanting to the fields.
Conclusions
Vermicompost and coconut coir dust mix is a promising sowing media as found in this trial.
Companies can use this research data to help educate farmers in using their own resources for
growing organic crops.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank to Board of Directors of Adams Enterprises LTD for funding the research
as part of the farmers extension of organic seeds and fresh vegetable production in Thailand.
References
Chaoui H. I., Zibilske L. M., and Ohno T. (2003): Effects of earthworm casts and compost on
soil microbial activity and plant nutrient availability. Soil Biol. Biochem. 35: 295-302
Garcia M., Daverede C. (1994): Dust from coir fibres: New substrate for soilless culture.
PHM Revue Horticole. 348: 7-12.
Bachman G. R. , Metzger J. D. (2008): Growth of bedding plants in commercial potting
substrate amended with vermicompost. Bioresour. Technol. 99: 3155-3161.
Zaller J. G. (2007): Vermicompost as a substitute for peat in potting media: Effects on
germination, Biomass allocation, Yields and fruit quality of three tomato varieties. Sci.
Hort. 112: 191-199.
Stamps R. H., Evans M. R. (1999): Growth of Dracaena marginata and Spathiphyllum
Petite in Sphagnum Peat- and Coconut Coir Dust-based Growing Media. J. Environ.
Hort. 17(1): 49-52.
Meerow A.W. (1994): Coir (Coconut mesocarp pith) as peat substitute. TropicLine 17(3): 1-5.
616
Jute Mallow Response to Types and Rates of Organic Matter

Mukhtar, A.A., Tanimu, B., Amans, E.B., Sharifai, A.I. & Arunah, U.L
Department of Agronomy/Institute for Agricultural Research, A.B.U. Zaria


Abstract
Productivity of soils in the savannah regions of Nigeria are constrained by low organic matter
which consequently has negatively affected the chemical and physical properties of soils in the
region. This declining fertility has thus compromised the productivity of soils in the region. Jute
mallow is a popular vegetable in the savannah region of Nigeria. Jute is one of the cheapest sources
of natural fibres and is second only to cotton in the amount of fibre produced and variety of uses.
Application of organic matter to soils not only improves the soils by adding nutrients but also the
crop by improving its quality thus improving the sustainability of crop production on our soils.
Result of this study show that increasing organic matter led to corresponding increase in the plant
height, number of leaves and final vegetable harvest of jute mallow up to 5 t/ha.



617
ECO Heater

Park, J. K.
DOOIL
Yongsu-dong, Dong-gu Daegu, Korea

DOOIL, a member of the International Organic Research Institute, is a leading green energy
developing company and an inventor for cutting-edge future energy supply. The companys
patented invention which took 10 years of research was awarded the Grand Prix at the World
Genius Convention Prize of the International Invention Society, Tokyo, Japan on October 2010.
Here is a brief introduction of the principle of the invention; eco heater.
Purpose
Eco heaters are used in farming greenhouses, stables, glass greenhouses, factories and offices for in-
house heating. The heaters are provided in different size for different use.
Installation


Specification of a renewable fuel blend generator is adjusted to fit the size of the eco heater and the
heater is connected to the appliance through a flashback arrestor, distributor and specified burner.
Product description
(1) Renewable fuel blend generator
The renewable fuel blend generator breaks down organisms among organic waste water (food
wastewater, livestock waste, etc.) and generates flammable hydrocarbons, a high-efficiency gas
mixture, such as hydrogen, oxygen and hexane.
(2) Flashback arrestor
The gas mixture generated by electrolysis of liquid organic waste can cause implosion due to the
quick induction of the flame when burning or igniting, and therefore, the flashback arrestor is
essential (Patent number: 10-0799023).
(3) Distributor
The distributor sustains a certain amount of gas pressure and provides the gas to help the stable
burning of the gas mixture generated through the renewable fuel blend generator.
(4) Specific burner
The gas mixture generated by electrolysis of liquid organic waste shows a difference in burning
(high-temperature) and gas composition when compared to other fuels, and therefore, a specific
burner is required.
Renewable fuel blend generator Flashback arrestor Distributor Eco heater

618
Comparison with other companys product
Tab. 1: The economic feasibility of the renewable fuel blend (green gas) compared to other
fuel (diesel)
Specification Unit Our product
Other companys
product
Others
Rated capacity Kcal/HR 50,000 50,000
Fuel
consumption
rate

Renewable fuel
blend
Diesel
14.3 /hr 4.7L/hr
Fuel price
60 /won*14.3
= 858 won
1,077L/won*4.7
=5,062 won

Fuel price is only one sixth of other companys product
Conclusion
A renewable fuel blend is a green energy source which does not generate waste gas during
combustion, and therefore, all waste heat can be collected for reuse. Size of the eco heater can be
reduced to two thirds of that of other heaters that use oil as a fuel. Furthermore, the life of the heater
is much longer, since the heater produces no polluting substances such as NOx, SOx or CO2. In
addition, the automatic temperature control system allows maintaining proper temperature and
effective heating. Using waste water as a resource dramatically cuts the product price of the
renewable fuel blend. This eco heater using a renewable fuel blend helps reduce fuel price by 80%,
40%, 60%, and 35% compared to diesel, Bunker-C oil, LPG and LNG, respectively.
619
Technology Adds Value

Scartascini, J.C.1, Rois, R2
Key words: innovative, processing, employed, sustainability, developed.

Abstract
There is a remarkable increasing demand of those products ready to be consumed. It is shown
by organic products, as the possibilities to sell them with those characteristics increased as
well as those for ingredients and components to elaborate them.
Preserving the environment we can obtain productions to which we apply technologies of
adequate process that will enable us to have access to different markets and remain in them.
The objective is to combine adequately those terms in such a way that will turn out with good
results.
The total of the actions of producers plus the organizations that bunch them together and their
government support, the divulging of adequate technologies that respect the environment and
the training on them, as well as the market requirements, all these have to drive this tendency
up that will enable a continuous increase of productions.
Introduction
The market scenery that was created as of the world economic crisis that started in 2008 and
still maintains, is provoking a change not only on the situation but above all, on perspectives.
We must acute our ingenious and take advantage of the opportunities that appear at this
instance. If there is something about what we can be sure, is that someone will be favored and
if we can develop adequately we can get a good benefit.
The sale of organic foods and beverages in the world continued going up reaching 50million
dollars. However the world wide economic deceleration is affecting the sales of organic
products, changing some rules: sensibility to prices increase is driving to pay more attention
to them, due to the fact that purchases are defined taking into account this aspect.
Although some countries such as United Kingdom have slowed down its growth as
consequence of the crisis, other north European countries (Denmark, Sweden, etc.) that have
been affected less, show an increase of two digits that is still going up. Simultaneously, new
markets are appearing with an enormous potential, such as Asia countries (China, Korea,
Japan, India, etc.).
During a forum, when it was introduced the situation of the Spanish ecological production
centered on the analysis and appraisal of the activities of the ecological agricultural industries
in their three aspects: primary production, industrial structure and market of ecological foods,
it has been pointed out that the production of ecological agricultural raw food has increased
520% between years 2000 and 2009, with an original estimated value of 100millions Euros in
year 2000 to 650millions Euros in 2009, with a 75% of vegetal origin and a 25% of animal
1
Movimiento Argentino para la Produccin Orgnica, MAPO, Sarmiento 1562 Buenos Aires Argentina, Email
jscartascini@yahoo.com www.mapo.org.ar
2
Produciendo Mejor Ambiente y Sociedad, PMAS, Garay 492 P 6 A Buenos Aires Argentina - Email
rerois@arnet.com.ar www.pmas-argentina.org
620
origin; the ecological producers represent a 2,42% of the total agricultural operations in
Spain.
With respect to the ecological industrial structure, it has been informed that during 2009 the
ecological industry in Spain was composed by 3.038 industries, which invoiced approx.
685millions Euros, and employed 18.000 workers, with an important export tendency (50%
of the industrial invoice corresponded to exports), and a high grade of internationalization (32%
of the industries are exporters).
The above mentioned description reveals also what is happening in other countries and areas.
Markets show the necessity that the value chains and also the dealers, must invest in new
technologies updating not only to prepare the products, but also their shops, storages and
transportation-storage systems. At the same time, they request from their suppliers products
with the characteristics that the consumer ask them, which must comply with all the
technological requirements implemented by them.
At the same time, the markets are at present demanding more particulars from the organic
products and from the enterprises that produce and commercialize them. The retailers must
satisfy to the evolution of consumer expectations to continue with success, conducting the
wholesaler channels to search for those new requirements and as consequence, also to
producers. They are more continually: ethics in the sources, fair commercialization, carbon
trace, environmental impact, social investment support, waste recycling, support of biological
diversity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility, among the most important. The
producers of organic food and the retailers must satisfy the evolution of consumer
expectations to go on being successful. Some pioneers of ecological foods are running with
that challenge and have adopted wider strategies. Some European Certifiers Organizations are
replying to the increasing market sophistication of organic products by means of integration
of sustainability aspects in their standards. Some of those entities introduced modifications to
their standards which comply with the ecological methods of production, or they embrace the
maintenance or strengthen the biological diversity, also searching to reduce the
environmental impact of the organic food products.
Work methodology
Starting from the order and analysis of the information revealed, the focus has been extended
not only to the production or processing aspects, but also to the technological, commercial
and logistical points, evaluating the situation and the possible development of other
destinations for the local productions, and the possibilities of access to the technologies that
will enable those productions to turn out into organic products processed to be
commercialized in different markets, searching to adding up an increase of volume.
Conclusions
First of all, we remark the presence of Organic Products in the Argentine domestic market.
The most effective distribution channels have turned out to be specialized stores and chains
of supermarket, it has appeared lately the e-commerce system that is not available for all
people yet. Also, some social organizations joined to become producers, in many cases with
government support, and the ONG`s, that organize the bio-fairs in different areas of the
country, with diverse success. It is remarkable that there are some markets hollows not
covered that in case that an adequate coverage is managed, they will result into a commercial
success.
621
It is remarkable that there is an important shortage of supply to restaurants or to stores of
food ready for home delivery. It is a sector that if it had a consistent offer, it could succeed in
an important and quickly growing up. There is also a strong demand by tourists.
In those cases the products can be released in different steps of processing, as they will be
used in the preparations and it could be very important to take into account that there must be
developed a very good logistics to satisfy this sector that can require freezing in storage and
transport, or some other requirements.
This also comprises some other small industries that in case that they have a consistent offer
of elaborated organic products, will certainly propose the elaboration of products with those
special features to have a differential offer. In example, ice-cream stores, pasta shops,
bakeries, etc., in which elaborated organic products can be offered, or prepared with organic
supplies.
Among the products that stand out with a larger presence we met: teas, sugar, honey,
marmalades and jellies, wines, juices, flours, cereals, grains, bread, pasta, canned vegetables,
oils, cheese and other milk products, baby-food, aromatic spices, fruits and vegetables. There
are some other products offered but they have a shorter importance.
There is absence of some products such as: food ready to delivery with meat (bovine, pork,
sheep and chicken), fresh pasta with or without stuff and cakes, eggs and milky products,
milk and/or yoghurts.
The price rank of organic products is between 10 and 100% above the conventional products,
it implies that this type of products cannot be attainable by the segment of people with lower
income.
Another feature to point out is that the domestic consumer is every day more interested in the
consumption of healthy food being this a highlighted tendency, but they do not charge with
the same value some other concepts such as the environment care, or social values, as the
world tendency is detaching.
As a second step to reach a level of production in accordance with the demand and the
hollows of which no advantage has been taken, it is recommended to invest so that it will
facilitate the technological growth of the below process or production systems and associated
products, with potential to be developed in value chains, by individual producers as well as
by associated groups:
Storage by IQF (Individual Quick Freezing) and/or dehydration of fruits and
vegetables.
Manufacture of pulps, juices and concentrates of fruits and vegetables.
Baby food
Manufacture of cereals, flours and pasta.
Replacement of nitrates of meat to manufacture sausages.
Vegetables peeled in advance using natual preservatives.
Innovative developments affordable in packaging area.
Development of bio-protectors to storage food, using bacterium without any genetic
modification and safe to human beings.
Improvement of the energetic efficiency during processing.
622
Analysis and search how to solve the environment contamination problems, including
the reduction and the integral profitable use of waste.
Multi-factorial innovative techniques in relation to organic production, to conserve
vegetables and by-products: pH control, slight reduction of water activity, slight
thermal treatment, etc., taking care of the textural features, its rheological properties
and its correlate in the texture perceived by consumers.
The premise has to be searching of those processes that are compatible with the demand
requested by the expected destinations of the products obtained.
With respect to the problems that crop up reducing the sector potential the following are
remarkable: the instability of the fair play and the uncertainty caused, the difficulties due to
administrative official procedures, the scale change that could happen to operations of
industrialization; the scarce availability of storage that comply with the adequate conditions
or the lack of credits. As it can be appreciated it is an amount of efforts that if they are faced
accordingly, they will turn out positively in favor of the sector development.
In order that the long way ran could be fruitful with regards to the possibility to access to the
commercialization of products with a higher added value, it is required the strong support of
the Estate and ONGs, so that the producers could have the possibility of joining in groups or
companies that incorporate the available technologies and studies on the different markets,
and they could place their productions in markets that will be more profitable and stables, that
will consolidate their position in the meantime.
Bibliography and references
Agro Fair Annual report 2007
IICA Polticas de Promocin Pymes Ganduglia
Organic Monitor Global Organic Market: Time for Organic Plus Strategies
Gives 2009 Predictions
2009 Upcoming Reports:
#7003-40 The Global Market for Organic Food & Drink (3rd Edition)
#7001-90 The Global Market for Fairtrade Products
http://www.agroinformacion.com/noticias/23/industria/31355/la-produccion-de-materias-primas-
agroalimentarias-ecologicas-en-espana-ha-crecido-un-520-en-diez-anos.aspx
Encuentro CONICET Industria Alimenticia www.conicet.gov.ar
623
Evaluation of Beneficial Function for Organic Paddy Farming in Korea

Seo. M.C.
1*
, Park, K.L.
2
, Ko, B.G.
2
, Kang, K.K.
2
, Ko, J.Y.
1
and Lee, J.S.
1

1
Department of Functional Crop, National Institute of Crop Science(NICS), RDA, 1085 Neidong,
Milyang, 627-803, Korea200-701, Korea (mcseo@korea.kr; (O) 82-55-350-1265; (F) 82-55-352-
3059)
1
National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Neidong, Milyang, Korea
2
National academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS), Seodung-Dong, Suwon, Korea


Key words: Multifunctionality, Beneficial Function, Organic Paddy Farming

Abstract

In order to evaluation of beneficial functions for organic farming, we have divided beneficial
functions as 9 sub-functions such as flooding control, fostering water resources, purifying the air,
mitigating summer climate, purifying water quality, decreasing soil erosion, accumulating soil
carbon, conserving biodiversity, and preventing accidents from pesticides. And they were quantified
by searching related repots and statistics, and surveying fields. Organic farming, especially organic
paddy farming, showed that some functions like fostering water resources, accumulating soil carbon,
conserving biodiversity, and preventing accidents from pesticides were higher than conventional
paddy farming, while the others were almost similar. The fostering water resources function was
evaluated as 4,297 ton ha
-1
year
-1
to increase about 3.6% comparing with that of conventional
farming. New function for accumulating soil carbon at organic paddy fields has been assessed by
4.67 ton ha
-1
in terms of long periods over 10 years. Considering area of organic paddy farming in
Korea and value of carbon price, it was evaluated monetary value as 22.4 to 84.1 billion won using
replaced method. It could be also evaluated that flooding control, fostering water resources,
purifying the air, mitigating summer climate, purifying water quality, decreasing soil erosion, and
preventing accidents from pesticides were 2,980, 123.4, 482.6, 87.5, 0.9, 55.6, and 284.1 billion
won, respectively. Conserving biodiversity function would be very big at organic farming though it
couldnt be evaluated as monetary value.

Introduction
Modern agriculture made it possible to grow more food per unit area by using of modified
seeds and chemical input like pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Because agro-ecosystem has been
threatened by over application of pesticides and fertilizers, the current challenges is to meet the food
demands of a growing population by maintaining and enhancing the productivity of agricultural
system without further damaging their beneficial functions, so called multifunctionality. Especially,
organic paddy farming will be predicted to have higher values of beneficial function than
conventional paddy farming. But most people dont know how much beneficial values has been
embedded, even though they have recognized there are many beneficial side in paddy farming
including organic farming. The role of environmental service at organic farming should be need to
propagate to public citizen.
Objectives of this study were to assess the beneficial functions of organic paddy farming on
the basis of research reports, national statistics, and fields survey, and evaluated as monetary values.


Materials and Methods
Categories There would be many beneficial functions according to researchers or other
peoples because of differences on standpoints. According to privious reports(Seo et. al.), it could be
categorized 6 sub functions at conventional paddy farming such as flooding control, fostering water
resources, purifying the air, mitigating summer climate, purifying water quality, decreasing soil
624
erosion. In addition to these sub functions, it could be also esteblished sub functions at organic
paddy farming such as accumulating soil carbon, conserving biodiversity, and preventing accidents
from pesticides.
Assessment It was quantified the amount of each function against 9 categories. flooding
control, fostering water resources, purifying the air, mitigating summer climate, purifying water
quality, decreasing soil erosion were followed by previous researchs method, which were
established estimated models. Especially, the depth of water level at organic paddy fields was
measured with near conventional paddy fields for estimating the function of fostering water
resources. The function of accumulating soil carbon was analyzed by establishing model using data
from long-term rice cultivating fields and analyzing soil carbon at organic paddy fields. The
function of preventing accidents from pesticides havd used with stastical data about pesticides
poisoning death.
rates were evaluated using the first-order kinetic models.
Economic value After assessment on beneficial functions about organic paddy farming, we
made a attempt each function to monetary value by means of replacing method. The amount of
carbon accumulated in soil at organic paddy fields should be replaced by the price in carbon
exchange marckets which is related climate changes.

Results and Discussion
As results of surveying the level of flooded water at organic snail paddy fields with near
conventional paddy fields, it was showed water level at organic snail practice filed were deeper as
almost two times than near conventional practice. Comparing soil organic matter with organic and
conventional paddy fields, its content at organic was also higher than conventional, recorded 30.1
and 23.5 g Kg
-1
, respectively. On the basis of soil carbon in the view of long term practices, the
function of accumulating soil carbon could be estimated by 4.69 ton ha-1 at organic paddy farming.
Organic farming could prevent their sustainable practices from poisoning pesticides accidents. The
amount of each sub function was estimated by unit area as shown as Table 1 except conserving
biodiversity.

Table 1. The amount of beneficial function for organic paddy farming dividing as 8 categories
Sub functions
Amount of sub
function
Monetary value
(billion won)
Comparing with
conventional farming
flooding control 2.94 ton ha
-1
year
-1
2,980 Same
fostering water
resources
4.3 ton ha
-1
year
-1
123.4 Increase 3.6%
purifying the air
CO
2
: 21.9 ton ha
-1

year
-1

76.2 Same
O
2
: 15.9 ton ha
-1

year
-1

406.4 Same
mitigating summer
climate
3,049 ton ha
-1
in
summer
87.5 Same
purifying water
quality
20.7 N kg 0.9 Same
decreasing soil
erosion
110.8 55.6 Same
accumulating soil
carbon
4.69 C 22.4-84.1 New
preventing accidents
from pesticides
984 person 284.1 Average in 2003-2005

Table 1 is also showed their monetary values for sun functions on organic paddy farming while
the function of preventing accidents from pesticides was about whole organic farming. But It was
625
couldnt quantify about the function of conserving biodiversity even though there were many
evidences related during the research times for example finding rare animals in organic paddy fields.


Conclusion
The beneficial function on organic paddy farming was investigated by analyzing reports, statistics
and fields data. In the view of environmental conservation function, almost sub functions were very
similar with conventional farming except fostering water resources, which is increased by 3.6%.
But in the view of alleviating green house gases, new beneficial function was revealed to make a
role of accumulating soil carbon in long term continual practices. Generally organic farming doesnt
use dangerous chemicals. It means that organic farming has the function for preventing accidents
from pesticides which bring about social problems.

References
Harpinder S. Sandhu, Stephen D., Ross C., and Brad C. 2008. The future of farming: the value of
ecosystem services in conventional and organic arable land. An experimental approach.
Ecological Economics 64:835-848.
Seo M. C. et al. 2001. Assessment of positive Function of Paddy Farming According to Agricultural
Production Conditions. Report on Research of Agricultural Environment, NIAST, Official No.
11-1390093-000064-10. pp355-377.
Jeong M. H., Kim J. H., Park K. H., Lee H. D., You A. S., Kim B. S., Choi J. H., and Kwon O. K.
2008. Examination of pesticide poisoning death statistics in Kore and precautionary measures
against pestiside-poisoning, The Korean J. of Pesticied Science 12(2): 134-140.
626



Contribution's proposal for the 17
th
ABioDoc, a Real Source of Documents Dealing with Organic Farming
IFOAM Organic World Congress
In 1993, the regional resource center was created at the Agricultural College EPLEA
Brioude - Bonnefont (43). It became a national center in 1998. Transferred in Enitac in 2003, the
national resource center on Organic Farming take the name of AbioDoc in 2005.
ABioDoc is a VetAgro Sups department, supported by the French Ministry of
Agriculture. It provides a technical, economic and regulation documentation support to all the
partners of organic farming, and proposes references on innovative techniques of production and
marketing, on environment, energy, and rural development, to all the actors working on
agricultural development.
ABioDocs missions
ABioDoc's missions are intelligence, data collecting and processing, and dissemination of
information on organic farming. In order to meet the needs of the development actors, ABioDoc
is in contact with many national partners of organic farming : ITAB, Agence Bio, FNAB, CIAB,
APCA, and international partners : European researchers, European Data base (Organic
Eprint), IFOAM.
ABioDoc takes part in many meetings and events (annual general meetings, conferences,
trade fairs, technical meetings) and in many Exchange and Coordination Groups.
ABioDocs main activities
- The development of a bibliographic database in organic farming, Biobase, which can be
consulted on ABioDocs website http://www.abiodoc.com. 1,500 or more new references
was created by year,
- The management of a database containing the addresses and the skills of people and
organizations working on organic farming (research, training, advisory services),
annuaire des acteurs de la bio,
- The edition of a monthly bibliographic review, Biopresse,
- The service Questions-Rponses (Questions-Answers),
- The production of different documents (bibliographic compilations, bibliographic
synthesis).
ABioDocs database is rich of more than 21 000 national and international references,
including around 2800 technical and economic books, training course reports, experimentation
reports The other documentary references are principally composed of articles from different
periodicals.
ABioDocs organization
Four persons are working in ABioDoc : 2 librarians, 1 librarian- development, 1 responsible, and
the staff receive an editorial assistance for about two month by year.
The ABioDocs budget is around 200 000/year.




Acronyms:
VetAgro Sup: Agricultural engineers National College of Higher Education and research,
627
ITAB: Technical Institute of Organic Farming
Agence Bio: French Agency for the Development and the Promotion of Organic Farming,
FNAB: National Federation of Organic Farming of French Regions,
CIAB: Internal Committee for Organic Farming of INRA,
APCA: Standing Assembly of Chambers of Agriculture,
IFOAM: International federation of organic agriculture movements,
Synabio: National Union of Organic Business serving the farming sector
Formabio: Network Organic Agricultural Education

Partnership with a Quebec French organization

In September 2010, ABioDoc signed a convention with a similar organization in Quebec
(Canada) called the CETAB + (Expertise and extension center in organic agriculture). After
many exchanges and due to their common interests, the CETAB+ and ABioDoc decided to work
together. They will share and develop the bibliographic database, Biobase , and both will
have available access on their websites. CETAB+ aim is to develop organic farming intelligence
in the North of America. Our goal is to develop library exchange between our documentary
resource centers.

We believe that our experience, intelligence and data processing on organic farming could
interest other organic farming organizations. French speaking countries such as Belgium,
countries from West Africa may also benefit from our documentary database.

For those interested, we propose a course on how to use our database. Depending on the
availability of our computers and demand, the information session could last a few hours or be a
throughout one day workshop. For the moment the information will be given in French.

Contacts:
Sophie Valleix
ABioDoc
VetAgro Sup
Campus agronomique de Clermont
89 avenue de lEurope - BP 35
63370 Lempdes
FRANCE
E-mail : s.valleix@vetagro-sup.fr
Website : www.abiodoc.com
Louis Rousseau
CETAB+
CEGEP de Victoriaville
475 rue Notre-Dame Est, Victoriaville
Qubec, CANADA
G6P 4B3

E-mail : rousseau.louis@cgpvicto.qc.ca
628
Nutritive Evaluation of Liquid Fertilizer Manufactured by Farmers Using
Organic Material in Korea

Won, T. J.*, Kang, C. S., Cho, K. R. & Roh, A. S.
Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research & Extension Services, Korea

Key words: Liquid fertilizer, Organic material

Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the chemical characteristics of 13 liquid fertilizers
made up of organic material produced by the Korea Organic Farming Association between
2004 and 2006. The manufacturing process of the liquid fertilizer involved mixing 5 liters of
pyroligenous liquor (also known as wood vinegar) with 1kg of relevant organic material, such
as peat, jade stone powder, oil cake, fish meal, bone meal and bone ash. The mixed liquid
fertilizers were analyzed after being stored at room temperature for a period of 7 days. Most
of the liquid fertilizers showed low pH and nutrient content. The mineral content of liquid
fertilizer indicated that farmers selection of organic materials should be supported.

Introduction
In the internationally recognized standards of organic agriculture (Codex, 1999; IFOAM,
1997) includes the rotation of green manure crops, legumes and deep-rooting plants, optimum
compost application, and animal manure and compost produced by regulated heads of
livestock. In Korea, microbial inoculants are known to contribute to the acceleration in
decomposition of organic matter, yield increase, improved quality of crops and increased
nutrients in soil (Yun, 1999).
In the organic production, commercial liquid fertilizer was used to insure the availability of
nutrients during the formation of the yield. The cost of supplemental liquid fertilizer could be
reduced by developing a fertilizer based on animal fertilizer (Ryoo, 2009).
Liquid fertilizer was used variously for disease, pest and weed control. However, this control
could also be achieved with extensive use of environmentally friendly agricultural material
(Lim et al., 2007).
Recent research into the practical use of micro-organisms that can be effective for growth
acceleration of crops has been revitalized. In addition, various work has gone ahead to try and
determine the use of microorganisms being applied to crops, in the preservation of mycelium
and in the improved ability of root zone establishment (Frommel et al., 1991). Meanwhile,
the effect of decomposition acceleration was verified from several products, but other effects
such as yield increase, quality improvement, soil chemical property progress, and positive
assessments have not been prevailed upon (Yun et al., 1994). Though a variety of material
and substances such as lactic acid bacteria, effective micro-organisms, green vegetable juices,
native micro-organisms and rice-hulled vinegar have been used as possible beneficial
microbial inoculants, an actual developed system on how to use them as such has not yet
been established. Long-term consequences of the input material could not be confirmed in as
much as there was no compelling evidence (Jeong et al., 2000), therefore calling for an urgent
diversification in research efforts.

629
Materials and methods
The materials tested consisted of 13 variations of Bamboo smoke distillate, peat, shell meal,
crab shell, jade stone powder, oil cake, fish meal, bone meal, bone ash, cuttlefish skin,
soybean powder, barley stone powder, feldspar powder. The bamboo smoke distillate was
produced by the Korea Organic Farming Association. The manufacturing process with
regards to the liquid fertilizer was to mix 5 liters of bamboo smoke distillate with 1kg of solid
organic material. This resultant mixed liquid fertilizer was analyzed after being stored at
normal room temperature room periods of 7 and 120 days.

Tab.1: Major chemical properties of organic materials
(Unit: %)
Material T-N P
2
K O
2
CaO O MgO
Bamboo smoke distillate 0.02 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.00
Peat 0.54 0.06 0.09 1.17 0.27
Shell meal 0.19 0.31 0.16 14.60 0.71
Crab shell 3.83 3.07 0.66 9.00 0.82
Jade stone powder 0.06 0.05 0.17 12.88 14.75
Oil cake 5.22 2.49 1.13 0.82 0.86
Fish meal 7.57 2.37 1.11 1.87 0.31
Bone meal 4.67 19.39 0.17 10.45 0.54
Bone ash 0.04 40.06 0.03 15.22 1.29
Cuttlefish skin 6.54 1.54 0.82 2.28 0.38
Soybean powder 5.90 1.48 1.98 0.32 0.42
Barley stone powder 0.03 0.12 0.25 0.57 0.29
Feldspar powder 0.04 0.12 2.71 12.11 0.37

Tab. 2: Minor chemical properties of organic materials
(Unit: %)
Material Na
2
Fe O Zn Mn Cu
Bamboo smoke distillate 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.000
Peat 0.10 0.45 0.00 0.00 0.002
Shell meal 0.48 0.21 0.01 0.03 0.002
Crab shell 1.27 0.08 0.01 0.01 0.004
Jade stone powder 0.02 0.29 0.00 0.02 0.000
Oil cake 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.004
Fish meal 0.54 0.11 0.00 0.01 0.005
Bone meal 0.89 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.000
Bone ash 0.78 0.16 0.03 0.01 0.002
Cuttlefish skin 1.05 0.15 0.03 0.01 0.001
Soybean powder 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.000
Barley stone powder 0.08 0.59 0.00 0.03 0.000
Feldspar powder 0.17 0.20 0.00 0.01 0.003


630
Results
Organic material high in N content were fish meal, cuttlefish skin and bone meal. Organic
material high in P
2
O
5
content were bone ash, oil cake and fish meal. Organic material high in
K
2
O content were cuttlefish skin, oil cake and crab shell. Organic material high in CaO
content were crab shell, jade stone powder and shell meal. Organic material high in MgO
content were jade stone powder, bone ash, oil cake. The mixed liquid fertilizers were
analyzed after being stored at normal room temperature for periods of 7 and 120 days. The
chemical characteristics of most of the liquid fertilizers showed no notable change. However,
in shell meal liquid there was a substantial increase in content of P
2
O
5

and CaO after 120
days storage.
Tab. 3: Major chemical properties of organic liquid fertilizer
(Unit: %)
Liquid fertilizer pH T-N P
2
K O
2
CaO O MgO
Peat liquid
2.9-
3 4
0.01-
0 03
0-
0 002
0.03-
0 04
0.06-
0 09
0.01-
0 02
Shell meal liquid
5.7-
6 0
0.02-
0 05
0.01-
0 012
0.05-
0 08
0.26-
0 35
0.02-
0 03
Crab shell liquid
4.2-
5.4
0.08-
0.16
0.04-
0.18
0.13-
0.19
0.38-
0.46
0.05-
0.11
Jade stone powder liquid
5.3-
6.5
0.02-
0.04
0
0.05-
0.07
0.37-
0.40
0.12-
0.15
Oil cake liquid
3.5-
4.3
0.14-
0.18
0.40-
0.43
0.25-
0.28
0.06-
0.10
0.09-
0.10
Fish meal liquid
3.7-
4.3
0.27-
0.33
0.27-
0.31
0.18-
0.22
0.10-
0.12
0.04-
0.041
Bone meal liquid
4.1-
4.5
0.18-
0.20
0.22-
0.34
0.08-
0.11
0.09-
0.19
0.05-
0.06
Bone ash liquid
3.8-
3.9
0.02
0.18-
0.84
0.07-
0.08
0.08-
0.26
0.13-
0.14
Cuttlefish skin liquid
3.6-
3.7
0.22-
0.25
0.18-
0.20
0.26-
0.28
0.12-
0.13
0.03-
0.04
Soybean powder liquid
3.4-
3.8
0.11-
0.15
0.07-
0.10
0.25-
0.36
0.01-
0.05
0.03-
0.04
Barley stone powder liquid
2.8-
2.9
0.01-
0.03
0-
0.005
0.05-
0.06
0.02-
0.04
0.01-
0.011
Feldspar powder liquid
2.6-
2.8
0.02-
0.03
0-
0.003
0.08-
0.23
0.01-
0.02
0-
0.01

Tab. 4: Minor chemical properties of organic liquid fertilizer
(Unit: mg/L)
Liquid fertilizer Na
2
B O (%) Fe Zn Mn Cu
Peat liquid 0.03-0.05 0.4-5 12-412 0-12 0-11 0-157
Shell meal liquid 0.04-0.06 3-11 71-503 6-15 27-157 0
Crab shell liquid 0.13-0.23 0.2-5.5 69-143 0-26 3-32 0
Jade stone powder liquid 0.02-0.04 0-8 74-194 0-20 47-126 0
Oil cake liquid 0.02-0.03 3-6 9-60 12-19 6-84 0
631
Fish meal liquid 0.13-0.14 0-3 129-491 0-16 3-66 0
Bone meal liquid 0.12-0.15 0-3 37-90 0-31 2-5 0
Bone ash liquid 0.11-0.13 0.5-7 65-349 12-37 2-6 0
Cuttlefish skin liquid 0.11-0.13 0.5-12 101-404 0-29 13-26 0
Soybean powder liquid 0.02-0.04 0.4-7 40-107 0-17 6-10 0
Barley stone powder liquid 0.03-0.04 0.1-3 102-793 0-18 6-523 0
Feldspar powder liquid 0.03-0.04 0-4 38-2155 0-15 5-46 0


Tab. 5: Chemical properties change of organic liquid fertilizer
(Unit: mg/L)
Liquid fertilizer T-N P
2
K O
2
CaO O MgO Na
2
Bamboo smoke distillate (7days)
O
300 2 696 0 0 274
Bamboo smoke distillate (120days) 240 0 617 11 0 242
Peat liquid (7days) 200 2 444 647 159 373
Peat liquid (120days) 180 0 395 645 143 356
Shell meal liquid (7days) 300 124 771 3481 277 521
Shell meal liquid (120days) 210 45 637 3537 180 444
Crab shell liquid (7days) 800 1848 1291 4642 503 1264
Crab shell liquid (120days) 990 1831 1127 3096 396 1102
Jade stone powder liquid (7days) 200 5 710 3976 1391 270
Jade stone powder liquid (120days) 240 0 633 3543 1183 242
Oil cake liquid (7days) 1400 4016 2829 597 1032 259
Oil cake liquid (120days) 1220 3935 2534 848 878 231
Fish meal liquid (7days) 2700 2735 2056 1173 390 1300
Fish meal liquid (120days) 2540 2623 1886 1068 324 1187
Bone meal liquid (7days) 1800 3449 1047 1882 534 1235
Bone meal liquid (120days) 1840 3390 935 1846 467 1113
Bone ash liquid (7days) 200 8390 707 2638 1309 1098
Bone ash liquid (120days) 210 2276 644 1261 1119 994
Cuttlefish skin liquid (7days) 2200 1798 2575 1245 334 1058
Cuttlefish skin liquid (120days) 2210 1583 2311 1042 290 953
Soybean powder liquid (7days) 1100 726 3064 157 293 231
Soybean powder liquid (120days) 1290 742 3102 186 277 227
Barley stone powder liquid (7days) 300 24 618 258 103 337
Barley stone powder liquid (120days) 220 15 492 249 59 319
Feldspar powder liquid (7days) 300 34 2308 114 87 275
Feldspar powder liquid (120days) 220 20 729 108 16 237

Conclusions
Liquid fertilizers in this study (5 liters of bamboo smoke distillate X 1kg organic material)
are considered to be efficient for various plant growth, in improving the physio-chemical
property of soil and also activating physiological function of crops. To conclude, the mineral
content of liquid fertilizer indicated that the farmers selection of organic material should be
encouraged and supported.
632
Acknowledgments
This study was carried out with the support of Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Research and
Extension Services, Hwaseong, Korea.

References
Codex. (1999): Draft guidelines for the production, processing, labelling, and marketing of
organically
produced foods , Report of the twenty sixth session of the codex committee on food labelling.
ALINORM 99/22. 71 p.
IFOAM. (1997): Basisrichtlinien, SOEL. Nr.16. 46 p.
633
The Rice Growth and Yield for Organic Rice Production on Pot Seedling Type

Young-Rip Kwon
1
, Young-Hun Moon
2
, Praveen Kumar Sharma
3
, Dae-Hyang Kim
4
, Hyeong-Jin
Jee
Key words: Organic Farming, Organic material, Organic agriculture, rice pot, economic
analysis
5


Abstract
In traditional organic rice culture practices, control of weeds is a big problem. This study was
conducted to increase the rice production. Results showed that Plant height, SPAD, root length and
weight were higher in pot raised seedling than broadcasting method except number of panicles.
High plant density caused reduction in plant height, number of culm and chlorophyll content of the
rice. No lodging was observed in both methods. Thickness of third internode and culm length was
more in pot raised seedlings at both sites. When organic material was used rice yield increased by
3.81%. Higher rice production (10%) was recorded in the fields planted with pot raised seedlings.
From the above study it could be conclude that the pot raised seedlings perform better than the
seedlings raised by broadcasting methods.
Introduction
In traditional organic rice culture practices, control of weeds is a big problem. Use of ducks and
snails are very common in Japan and this method is widely used over the years (2005). This method
is useful but also has some drawbacks. When water level in field is low and seedlings are small,
besides the weeds, ducks/snails feed on rice seedlings too. Growth rate of weeds are faster than the
rice seedlings so they compete successfully with rice seedlings for nutrients, water and space. This
causes reduction in rice production. Keeping all these problems in mind we have developed a new
method for rice cultivation. In this study, we have tested this proposed methodology in the farmers
field.
Materials and methods
Experiments were conducted in a farmers fields of Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Korea, during 2009-10.
Seedlings were prepared in plates containing 448 pots. Two to three seeds of Samkguang cultivar
were sown in each pot and 40-50 days old seedlings were used for transplanting. Morphological
parameters, SPAD and yield attributes were recorded.

Results and Discussion
Plant height, SPAD, root length and weight were higher in pot raised seedling than broadcasting
method except number of panicles (Fig. 1 and Table 1). High plant density caused reduction in
plant height, number of culm and chlorophyll content of the rice (table 2). No lodging was observed
in both methods. Thickness of third internode and culm length was more in pot raised seedlings at
both sites. When organic material was used rice yield increased by 3.81% (Table 4). Higher rice
production (10%) was recorded in the fields planted with pot raised seedlings (Table 5 and 6).

1
J eollabuk-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Iksan, 570-704, Korea, E-Mail: 1954kwon@korea.kr
2
As above
3
As above
4
As above
5
National academy of agricultural science, NAAS, RDA, Suwon 441-707, Korea

634

Fig. 1. Root growth of rice in pot raised seedlings and in traditional method.

Table 1. Growth characteristics of rice in organic farmers field.
Methods
Plant Length
(cm)
Panicle
(no/hill)
SPAD
Root
Length
(cm)
Root
weight
(g/hill )
Broadcasting
method
54.0 17.1 35.2 20.3 7.1
Pot seedling 73.2 12.8 37.8 23.1 8.9

Table 2. Effect of population density on the growth parameters of rice raised by pot seedlings
Parameters
Number of rice seedling hills(hill/3.3 )
41 45 50 56
Plant length (cm) 55.1 53.0 52.1 50.7
Culm(no/hill) 17.9 16.9 16.2 15.1
SPAD 39.6 38.5 37.3 35.9

Table 3. Thickness of third internode according to the rice cultivation pattern and at two different
sites.
Parameters
Samgi site Mangsung site
Lodging
(09)
Pot
seedling
Broadcasting
method
Pot
seedling
Broadcasting
method
length of
3rd
internode
(mm)
3.74 3.40 3.75 3.47
No
lodging
Column
length
72.6 72.3 79.9 78.4
No
lodging

635
Table 4. Rice yield and organic materials type
Details
Panicle
(no/hill)
No. of
grain
(no/panicle)
Ripened
grains
(%)
Grains
weight
(g)
Yield
(kg/10a)
Non-
application
19 91 66.2 22.0 530
Application 19 93 71.9 23.0 551

Table 5. Yield and yield attributes of rice cultivated from seedlings developed by two different
methods.
Details
Panicle
(no/hill)
No. of
grain
(no/panicle)
Ripened
grains
(%)
Grains
weight
(g)
Yield
(kg/10a)
Broadcasting
method
18 88 68.4 22.0 529
Pot seedlings 20 105 70.8 24.0 582


Table 6. Yield and the components according to cultivation pattern
Transplanting
(hill/)
Panicle
(no/hill)
No. of
grain
(no/panicle)
Ripened
grains
(%)
Grains
weight
(g)
Yield
(kg/10a)
Pot
50 19 101 72.4 24.0 542
56
ab
21 95 68.2 24.0 555
Spray
a
60 17 87 73.4 22.0 535
70
ab
16 85 64.9 22.0 506
Conclusions
b
From the above study it could be conclude that the pot raised seedlings perform better than the
seedlings raised by broadcasting methods. Pot raised seedlings grow faster than traditional method
and their root establishment was better. Hence, this method of rice cultivation is better previous
method and can give higher returns to the farmers.
References
Zong L., Y. Wang, R. Li, X. Xiao, Y. Yang, D. Lu, R. Liuy, Ye G. (2008): Effect of eco-fertilizer
on the growth of rice and biological characters of soil in organic agriculture system. Organic
agriculture in Asia, p. 276- 288.
636
Hasegawa H., Y. Furukawa, S. D. Kimura. (2005): On-farm assessment of organic amendments
effects on nutrient status and nutrient use efficiency of organic rice fields in north-eastern
Japan. Agriculture. Ecosystems and environment 108.
Shin J. H., (2008): Relationship between organic matter input and soil properties in organically
managed soil in Korea. Proceedings organic agriculture in Asia. 208-215.
Seo, J. H., D. H. Kim, C. G. Kim, S. H. Choi and M. H. Koh(1997): Variation of soil inorganic
nitrogen and utilization efficiency of nitrogen in maize and oat at different level of nitrogen
application RDA journal of agricultural science 39(1): 43~49.

637
Policy and Advocacy Interventions Required for the Development of Organic Agriculture
Sector in Zimbabwe

Fortunate Hofisi Nyakanda
fortunate@zoppa.org.zw
www.zoppa.org.zw

Zimbabwes economy is largely agriculture based and the agriculture has been highly conventional
until the year 2000. In sub Sahara Africa Zimbabwe comes after South Africa when it comes to the
amount of fertilizers and chemicals used in the agriculture sector. Like any country that has been
agriculture based for a long time, Zimbabwe farming sector has also been affected highly by
climate change, with rainfall patterns changing, while soil has degraded and productivity has gone
down. The economic situation which has crippled the fertilizer and Chemical industrys ability to
produce enough affordable inputs has left the farmer with very little options to maintain crop
production high.

These problems are not unique to Zimbabwe; the world is going organic for reasons that stretch
from environmental concerns to health concerns as well as sustainability. The world market is
increasingly moving towards organic. Zimbabweans are beginning to respond to this but the formal
Zimbabwean organic sector is very small, less than 1% and there are a number of impediments as
to the growth of this sector. Given the above mentioned problems being faced in Zimbabwe, the
Zimbabwe agriculture sector needs to switch on to organic in order for sustained production.
However this requires a shift in the agriculture policy and others policies that supports organic
agriculture if the organic sector in Zimbabwe is to grow. The big question is whether or not the
Zimbabwe government is prepared to support organic agriculture development.

This paper explores the policy and advocacy issues that surround the development of the Zimbabwe
organic sector. Zimbabwe Organic Producers and Promoters Association Trust (ZOPPA Trust)
i
The research looks at policy issues as regards to the following areas:
did
a research on these policy and advocacy issues that underpins the development of the organic sector
in Zimbabwe. A case study of one province, Mashonaland East was done with other researches
being done at national level since that is where most policy issues are handled.
i. Production- Production and productivity levels depend on the inputs into the crops and how the
soils and crops/ animals are being cared for. This includes the technical support services for the
production. The research looks at technical support services that are available and should be
available for the development of the organic sector. As for the inputs the research looks at the
available natural resources and how they could be tapped for the increase in production and
productivity.
ii. Processing- Value addition is an important part of an agriculture production. This research
looks at processing challenges that are faced by smallholder and large scale processors such as
knowledge and equipment.
iii. Marketing-The research explores on the programmes that support the development of the
organic agriculture market. It also looks at the strategies that can be used to expand the market,
whether push or pull strategies. The research also looks at how best the local organic label can
be promoted. The research goes on to articulate the role of government in local and export
marketing.
638
iv. Education and Training-Agriculture education that is pro Organic is required for the support of
this sector. The research looks at what is lacking in the agriculture education that affects
agriculture extension support for the farmers
v. Research-Empirical evidence is very important in supporting any initiative. The research looks
at research work throughout the production cycle, be it on fertility, pests and disease
management that targets the specific problems that farmers are facing. It also looks at how
national resources can be channeled to support such research work.
vi. Development programmes As a country Zimbabwe runs many development programmes in
agriculture sectors and some sectors that are pro organic such as health and environment. The
research explores which programmes can be of relevance and support. What could be the roles
of these programmes in supporting organic agriculture growth?
vii. I nstitutional linkages- In this section the research looks on what institutions , government or
non government are important in forming a synergy that will strengthen the Organic agriculture
sector.
Research findings
The research finds out the need for government intervention in many different areas such as
Trade, agriculture education and extension, information dissemination, market development and
health in order to create space for organic agriculture. This calls for a multisectoral approach
both from the government and the private sector, but the enabling environment created by the
government increases private sector participation.
Conclusion and recommendations
This research is being carried out in all structures of one province and tacking areas as stated above.
The research also includes some national structures as they have influence on the provincial sets ups.
The research results will be used to engage policy makers and influence policy change. Expected to
be identified are the policy blocks that require intervention, and by which government department
or private sector. The results will be used to design short term, medium term and long term
advocacy programmes that will address the identified blocks and unease them to create a fair field
for organic agriculture development. The outcome of this will be government that is aware of its
role in Organic agriculture development and structures and systems that are supportive of this
farming system and a responsive private sector. It is hoped that the findings may also help other
national movements in the IFOAM family in their Endeavour to influence their policies to be pro
Organic.
i
ZOPPA Trust is the Zimbabwe Organic agriculture Movement
639
Organic Value Chains: New Approches in Development Cooperation

Frank Eyhorn, Peter Schmidt, Jens Soth,
Helvetas Organic & Fairtrade Competence Centre, Switzerland.
frank.eyhorn@helvetas.org. www.organicandfair.org


Key words: rural development, value chain facilitation, public private
partnerships, sustainable commodities

Introduction
Using organic agriculture as a tool in development cooperation is not new. Organic
production practices and related methods such as Low External Input Sustainable
Agriculture (LEISA) have been playing a considerable role in promoting more
sustainable land management. Since the 1990s, export oriented organic production of
commodities like coffee, tea and cotton has gained momentum. Today, certified organic
production for local and global markets involves more than 1.5 million smallholders in
developing countries and emerging economies (Willer and Kilcher, 2011). Export
oriented organic production is increasingly linked with fair trade certification
1

.
In the past decade, system comparison research and various case studies in the tropics
have shown that organic agriculture in combination with fair trade can produce multiple
economic as well as non-economic benefits in a rural development context (e.g. Parrott
and Marsden, 2002; Eyhorn et al., 2007; Bachmann, 2011). Considerable efforts have
been taken to improve training on organic agriculture methods and certification aspects
(see IFOAM training platform and modules
2

).
Current approaches
In recent years, the focus in development cooperation related to organic farming shifted
from production and certification to developing and up-scaling certified value chains.
Accordingly, some development organizations adopted the role of facilitators that
provide know-how and linkages in strategic aspects of value chains and their enabling
environment (Figure 1). Various guide books have been developed on value chain
promotion (e.g. GTZ, 2007; KIT and CFC, 2011).

1
See http://www.fairtrade.net and http://www.wfto.com
2
http://www.ifoam.org/growing_organic/7_training/training_platform_MainPage.html
640

Figure 1: Possible levers for value chain facilitators

Business management aspects of producer organizations and local companies gained
more attention, covering topics from business planning to value chain finance (see van
Elzakker and Eyhorn, 2010; KIT and IIRR, 2010). Instead of focusing solely on
promoting producer organizations that do everything from training to marketing, many
donors and development organizations have shifted to a closer collaboration with the
private sector (public private partnerships). Besides improving farmer incomes, aspects
like food security and climate change are increasingly taken into consideration. At the
same time, other sustainability standards such as UTZ certified and Rainforest Alliance
gained market shares. Many producers as well as retailers nowadays work with several
standards at a time.

Experiences and lessons learnt
The experience of the Swiss development NGO Helvetas and its partners (SECO, ICCO,
Hivos, Oxfam, GIZ etc.) illustrates the approaches outlined above. Helvetas has so far
facilitated 17 organic value chain projects in 14 countries. Always starting from a real
market potential backed by one or several buyers, it supports local actors in designing
sustainable production systems, organizing and training farmers, establishing extension
and internal control systems and linking them with suitable processors, traders and
service providers. Local actors can be both the typical farmer organizations (e.g.
Mobiom in Mali
3
) as well as local companies (e.g. Yayra Glover Ltd. in Ghana
4
3
http://mobiom.org
). While
4
http://yayraglover.com
Smallholder
Producers
Cooperative
or Company
Processors,
Traders
Final
consumers
Retailers,
Brands
Design of
Internal Control
Systems
Production
System Design
Business environment
Services (financial, certification, advice etc.)
Access to
services
Business management
know-how and tools
Policy advice and
advocacy
Market access
facilitation
Communication &
awareness building
Knowledge
management
641
the focus in these projects is usually on one main commodity for export (e.g. cotton,
cocoa or dried fruits), Helvetas encourages producers to diversify their cropping
systems and facilitates access to local and regional markets. This diversification strategy
not only reduces risks, but also improves food security and addresses sustainability
issues. Since the recent food crisis, food security figures high on the agenda of most
development agencies. Farmer organizations and companies involved in export
commodity chains increasingly shift from a single crop to a farming system approach.
At the same time, local and regional market opportunities for organic products are
growing. Shorter chains between producers and consumers make it possible to work
with verification systems like Participatory Guarantee Systems that are less costly than
formal internationally recognized certification.

A major focus in the work of Helvetas is on capacity building and knowledge sharing.
The Helvetas Organic & Fairtrade Competence Centre supports this by conducting
training workshops and facilitating online exchange via Communities of Practice
5
. It
advices governments and companies in formulating conducive policies, and contributes
to sensitizing consumers on the relevance of buying organic and fairtrade products.
6


Further, Helvetas collaborates with related networks (e.g. Textile Exchange, ISEAL)
and shares its experience through publications and in international conferences.
Through this work, Helvetas managed to improve the livelihoods of more than 100000
people. However, as other actors in this field it is confronted with a range of challenges
that need to be addressed:
Including very small and marginal farmers in value chains involves high
transaction costs for extension and certification;
The capacities of producer organizations to manage growing businesses are
often weak and need further strengthening;
The business environment in many countries is far from being conducive for the
development of private sector initiatives;
Price fluctuations and pig cycles that are typical for commodity markets make
it difficult to establish long-term partnerships between farmers and buyers.
5
E.g. the Global Organic Cotton Community, http://www.organiccotton.org
6
E.g. through a campaign on organic and fairtrade textiles in Switzerland, http://www.bio-fair.ch
642
Competition for resources (land for biofuels), water (climate change!) and
labour (migration!)
Conclusions
The development of organic value chains can only be sustainable if all actors, including
the private sector, play an appropriate role that may change over time with evolving
capacities of producer organizations and increasing maturity of the value chain (Soth et
al., 2008). In order to facilitate the development and up-scaling of organic value chains
for poverty alleviation, donors and development organizations need to take care not to
get directly involved in value chains by absorbing or subsidizing core functions like
extension or marketing. Diversified production systems that include crops for local
markets need to be promoted rather than single commodities. The focus in this work
should be on building capacities of local actors and service providers, and on facilitating
the access to information and know-how. In doing this, organizations need to coordinate
with other initiatives (see van Beuningen, C. and Knorringa, P., 2009). A continuous
learning process is needed in order to further develop and fine-tune the approaches.

References
Bachmann, F. (2011): Potential and limitations of organic and fair trade cotton for
improving livelihoods of smallholders: evidence from Central Asia. Renewable
Agriculture and Food Systems, Available on CJO 2011 doi:10.1017/S1742170511
000202.
Eyhorn, F., Ramakrishnan, M., Maeder, P. (2007). The viability of cotton-based organic
farming systems in India. International Journal for Agricultural Sustainability 5(1), 25-
38.
GTZ (2007): ValueLinks Manual. The methodology of value chain promotion.
http://www.value-link.de.
KIT and IIRR (2010): Value chain finance: Beyond microfinance for rural
entrepreneurs. Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam; and International Institute of Rural
Reconstruction, Nairobi.
Parrott, N. and T. Marsden (2002) The real Green Revolution. Organic and
agroecological farming in the south. Green Peace Environmental Trust, London.
Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) and Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) (2011):
From sorghum to shrimp: A journey through commodity projects. KIT publishers,
Amsterdam.
Soth, J., Meier, T., Eyhorn, F. and Bischof, A. (2008): Organic and fair trade cotton
value chains Cornerstones and achievements of Helvetas. In: Proceedings of the 16
th

IFOAM Organic World Congress June, 16 20 in Modena. IFOAM, Bonn.
van Beuningen, C. and Knorringa, P. (2009): Inclusive Improvement. Standards and
Smallholders. Hivos, The Hague.
643
van Elzakker B. and Eyhorn, F. (2010): The Organic Business Guide. Developing
sustainable value chains with smallholders. IFOAM.
Willer, H. and Kilcher, L. (Eds.) (2011) The World of Organic Agriculture - Statistics
and Emerging Trends 2011. IFOAM, Bonn, and FiBL, Frick
644
Organic Agriculture in International Cooperation Projects: Guidelines for
Sustainable Results.

1st presenter Michele Maccari, 2nd presenter Antonio Compagnoni
ICEA, Italy
E-mail: m.maccari@icea.info
Website: www.icea.info

Key words: International cooperation projects, guidelines, Fair Trade.

Introduction
During the last seven years ICEA, in collaboration with the EQUOBIO network
(Organic&Fairtrade network), has undergone through a process to enhance the role of Organic
Agriculture especially when combined with Fair Trade - as viable tool to obtain sustainable results
in International cooperation projects. ICEA and the EQUOBIO network have therefore summarized
their experience in a guidelines document, highlighting the main recommendations to be adopted
when formulating a cooperation project focused on Organic Agriculture.

Methods
This process has been implemented through different phases. In 2008, for the 16 IFOAM World
Congress in Modena (Italy), ICEA and the EQUOBIO network have collected best practices of
cooperation projects focused on Organic Agriculture, implemented by various organizations
worldwide. The projects collected have been shown in a poster exhibition during the IFOAM World
Congress and they have been discussed during a dedicated workshop included in the Congress
programme. During the workshop, several issues were raised that were of inspiration for the
guidelines document.
After the IFOAM Congress, ICEA has analyzed how to apply on the field the convergence of
Organic and Fairtrade certification schemes in cooperation projects. And finally, based on the
previous analysis and experiences, ICEA and the EQUOBIO network have prepared the guidelines
document.


Description of the guidelines
The final version of the guidelines document has been elaborated in 2010 by ICEA in coordination
with a wide range of stakeholders represented in the EQUOBIO network. NGOs, Universities,
Fairtrade and Organic Agriculture organizations, public institutions have provided their
contributions in order to identify the main areas of intervention and to offer practical suggestions
and solutions in order to reach sustainable results in the cooperation projects.
The principal suggestions and recommendations can be summarized into five main areas: 1) Market
Access; 2) Certification; 3) Multifunctionality; 4) Knowledge sharing, awareness and cooperation;
5) Policy and lobbying.
A list of the main points for each area are listed below:

1. Access to Markets
Organic agriculture should be used to promote market access for smallholders and to develop
sustainable supply chain at the local level and at the international level, in synergy with Fairtrade.
The importance of local markets is pivotal to guarantee the sustainability of the production for
export. Local markets for organic products can be developed adopting various strategies. For
instance: i) redirecting part of the export bound productions for the local and regional markets,
creating networks of producers and consumers; ii) developing innovative market opportunities,
particularly by re-connecting the countryside with highly populated urban areas; iii) using public
catering (schools, hospitals) as way to promote knowledge and consumption of organic and
645
Fairtrade products.
A general but key-recommendation emerged in the guidelines, is to appropriately consider all the
relevant aspects (e.g. cultural, geographical, technical) before starting implementing an
Organic/Fairtrade supply chain.

2. Certification
Certification must always be seen as a tool to support the growth of smallholders and not as an
objective in itself. The most adequate form of certification must be chosen in order to provide
sustainable benefits to the smallholders. Group certification (implemented using Internal Control
Systems-ICS) and Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) represent interesting forms to facilitate
the adoption of certification by the smallholder, supporting at the same time the development of the
local markets.
When possible, organic certification must be used not only as a tool to approach international
markets, but also as an entry-point to offer other certified products and services related to Organic
agriculture (e.g. eco-responsible tourism).
Combined certification: the synergy with Fairtrade is very often appropriate and is highly demanded
by the consumers. It is recommended to enhance the accessibility of Fairtrade certification for
smallholders, developing practical tools of integration of the two certification systems, especially in
the context of Internal Control Systems
1

.

3. Multifunctionality
Organic agriculture in international cooperation projects can offer a wide range of externalities and
benefits related to crucial aspects such as Biodiversity conservation and Climate Change.
Organic and Fairtrade products should be strictly connected with the cultural heritage
(geographical identification) and linked to biodiversity conservation and valorisation.
Eco and responsible tourism initiatives, implemented by organic producers, should be encouraged
as tool to promote biodiversity conservation.
Income generator services: diversification of the income of producers through other services
like eco and responsible tourism and educational farms networks, should be strengthen.
Organic Agriculture techniques should be considered as an integral part of the international
cooperation projects aiming at mitigation and adaption to the effects of climate change.


4. Knowledge sharing, awareness and cooperation
All the stakeholders involved in the preparation of the guidelines stressed the importance to
facilitate and support innovative forms of knowledge sharing and capacity building. Exchanges
between organic producers networks in the same (or different) Regions can reach sustainable results
in sharing best practices and increase the cooperation between sustainable rural networks.
Awareness among consumers and public opinion on Organic, Fair trade and sustainable/ethical
farming is another key-aspect that should always be included in the formulation of cooperation
projects.


5. Policy and lobbying
Including Organic Agriculture elements in international cooperation projects can offer the
possibility to establish sound linkages to various political issues like Climate change, Biodiversity
conservation, Food-security, Food Sovereignty and others.
1
ICEA has collaborated with FAO in the South Pacific Region to implement: Guidelines for smallholders group
management of organic and fairtrade certification.

646
Cooperation projects focused on Organic Agriculture should also support and stimulate the work of
local and regional governments in developing legal frameworks and policies in favour of Organic
and Fairtrade production systems.

Results and conclusions
These guidelines represent a first attempt to systematize the main aspects related to Organic
Agriculture and Fairtrade in international cooperation projects. The guidelines document want to be
a practical tool to promote further discussions among different stakeholders interested and involved
in these topics. The guidelines would like to represent an inspiring overview for donors, about the
options and possibilities offered by the adoption of Organic Agriculture schemes and techniques in
cooperation projects.
In the future ICEA and EQUOBIO network, would like to widen the consultation platform about the
guidelines, in order to collect and share experiences and make the document more complete. The
main objective of this consultation would be to agree on a series of common elements that are
essential to obtain sustainable results in cooperation projects. These essential elements should
include the definition of shared principles and a common framework, and also practical aspects that
can maximize the benefits (e.g., convergence of different certification schemes) and reduce the
negative impacts (e.g., certification costs, burden of bureaucracy and documents) for smallholders.
To reach these results, an open and participative dialogue among international stakeholders, donors
and policy-makers will be pivotal. ICEA and the EQUOBIO network would be delighted to offer
their platform to initiate a worldwide dialogue on the role of Organic Agriculture in international
cooperation projects.

References
FAO; Guidelines for smallholders group management of organic and fairtrade certification (2010);
http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/282336/al808e.pdf
Willer, Helga and Lukas Kilcher (Eds.); The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging
Trends 2010. IFOAM, Bonn and FiBL, Frick.
FAO; Organic Agriculture and Fair Trade in West Africa (2010).
http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/al134e/al134e12.pdf
FAO; Proceedings of the International Conference on Organic ASgriculture and Food Security
(2007). ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/012/ah952e.pdf
IFOAM; Proceedings of the 16th World Congress (Modena, Italy 2008).

647
Organic Agriculture, a Powerful Tool for Change in the South: an
Allys Perspective

Mrs. Willy Douma, Hivos, the Netherlands (w.douma@hivos.nl, www.hivos.nl)
Moderator: Vanaja Ramprasad

A free, fair and sustainable world: Organic Agriculture?!
Hivos is a development aid agency and its mission is to contribute to a fair, free and
sustainable world, where all people, men and women, have equal opportunities. While
Hivos has contributed to several of the positive changes of the past decades, many
challenges remain and many new come up. Our green entrepreneurship programme
focuses on rural areas in developing countries where 85% of the 525 million farms are
below 2 ha. Not only these numbers are impressive, also their combined scale: 60% of
the worlds arable land is occupied by small scale farmers. Through their efforts 70%
of the worlds food is produced. Given their numbers and their importance small scale
farmers ought to be part of the efforts to address global food security and poverty. That
is the first part of our focus.
Farming based on ecological practices is considered by many outside this room a road
to more scarcity, forgetting that current practices leave almost 1 million people hungry.
We need more ecologically based approaches both at production, marketing and
consumption levels . That is the second part of our focus.

Is organic agriculture a tool for change? Can it reach scale to be of relevance for the
society at large but also for the millions of small scale farmers? Hivos thinks it is a tool
for change but currently only on a small scale. It can become more influential if more
investments are done in knowledge, institutions and lobby in an innovative way.

Will organic agriculture reduce production risks and increase productivity ?
I would like to share the results of an evaluation we did of the Hivos supported organic
agricultural programme in East Africa. It concluded that organic agriculture increases
productivity through improved agricultural practices. This conclusion does not stand on
its own but is confirmed by other research. Organic agriculture has the potential to be
relevant because of three features :
higher productivity in many areas in the world if focus on increasing soil
fertility and biodiversity e.g. through composting and crop rotation. (research of
Pretty et all) . higher production and thus potentially higher marketable surplus
more resilient to climate change. water holding capacities improve, diversified
production. More different crops, less risks for reduced productivity
it reduces the need for external financial inputs, important for cash deficient
farmers

And, will organic agriculture increase marketing opportunities?
Small scale farmers tend to produce for different markets. The current market for
certified produce is small. The main market is still Europe and the US and small scale
farmers tend to be excluded due to the costs involved and in general the difficulties to
comply with the standards. Our evaluation in East Africa led to the conclusion that this
remains a more difficult topic. Any successful marketing whether conventional or
organic, depends on the ability of farmers to know what the market wants and to
translate that into practice. Being organised tremendously helps them.
648
An example of such organised marketing is a small group of organic farmers in
Indonesia called Brenjonk, that successfully links up with a supermarket for organic
vegetables through Participatory Guarantee System. It provides a welcome income and
more nutritious food at home.

Being organised empowers farmers (and especially small holder farmers) in the market.
Through bulking and collective marketing costs of for instance transportation can be
reduced and bargaining power increases. Also market information can become more
easily available for instance information about the current demand (quality, product,
quantity) and prices. It also enables the set up of quality insurance mechanisms through
some kind of internal management system. For organic farmers it can reduce the costs
of certification of individual members. Getting organised is important but not done
overnight. Only a small percentage of the small scale farmers is currently organised.
This requires tools, investments and in general attention of policymakers, bankers,
CSOs and researchers.

Organic agriculture a powerful tool?
If organic agriculture remains a niche market it is of less relevance to the larger
numbers of small holders. Only if it opens up much more by further developing local
markets for products based on organic principles there is a possibility that small holder
farmers will sufficiently benefit. Whether organic agriculture remains a niche or a
broader principle in agriculture around the world is not yet clear.

From our point of view organic agriculture has clear benefits but realization of these
benefits for small holder farmers requires that there is a strong vibrant movement with
farmer organisations and national organic agricultural movements that are able to
support them. This movement needs to signal problems in society and de-construct the
myths around the effectiveness of the chemical and large scale food system. And, it
needs to collaborate with other stakeholders in society like businesses, government and
providers of trade finance and make it attractive to link with small holder farmers

Required changes
Being convinced is one step, seducing others to move is another step. Scaling up
requires investments, credits, supportive policies and research, adapted curricula etc.
The societal support for development cooperation is dwindling. Dwindling resources at
the Dutch Ministry for Development cooperation and dwindling resources at
organisations like Hivos from traditional development aid sources.
At the same time more funds are becoming available for joint activities, joint efforts.
We are moving away from our single roles as funders to becoming initiators and
managers of joint initiatives, bringing together different stakeholders. An example of a
more programmatic approach is in Rwenzori region, West Uganda where Hivos helped
to set up a Think Tank of local government, NGOS, private sector, academic
institutions and farmers shaping future directions in times of climate change and critical
food debates.

Our work started with a focus on production techniques but has moved away from a
single entry point to a broader approach that addresses the whole value chain: from
farmers and their organisations, their access to the market and credit and investment
needs to marketing arrangement and consumer awareness and preferences. To further
649
scale up we see three focal areas of change. We will put our resources in these areas and
invite others to do that with us.

Knowledge for change: R&D focused on small holders realities, products and
markets that are within reach of these small holders, rules and regulations
favourable for more agro-ecological (or organic) practices. There are gaps to cover.
Institutions for change: Sufficient plans, ideas generated through institutions
(including farmer organisations) that have build up human capacities to link up with
both decision makers and with individual farmers to address new developments like
payment for ecosystem services or make use of new technologies e.g. to ensure ,
mobile market intelligence, pressure of public opinions on critical developments
(food prices, landgrabbing, flooding and harvest losses etc) , New tools required
looking at the new media: bringing information to people, ensuring necessary
institutions are functioning well and that decisionmakers, politicians and CEOs, are
aware.
Policies for change: Current policy choices around climate change and food
security require being opened up and questioned on their assumptions regarding
low productivity of organic farms and no future for small scale farms .

With investments in these areas in the coming years we hope to see a vibrant agro-
ecological (including organic) agricultural sector around the world, a powerful tool for
fair, free and sustainable development.




650


Fair Trade
651
Combining Organic and Fair Trade Certification

Elizabeth Henderson and Michael Sligh

Keywords: domestic fair trade, social justice

Summary
Despite the economic downturn, Fair Trade and Certified Organic labels continue to expand in the
marketplace. Though both concepts are basic to organic agriculture, the National Organic Program
in the United States only covers production and marketing. In this workshop, two of the founders
of the Agricultural Justice Project describe recent developments combining organic and fair trade in
the US and the establishment of the Domestic Fair Trade Association, and lead a discussion on
efforts around the world to strengthen social justice in organic agriculture.


The concepts organic and fair trade are two sides of a coin, and stand for a sustainable, organic
method of agriculture which preserves natural resources while pursuing fair trade relationships that
offer viable economic returns to all involved. Family-scale organic farming in the United States
builds on methods, which smallholders have already been applying by long tradition. These
practices can only be termed sustainable, however, if the growers can live off the sale of their
products and farm revenues provide an economic base for future prospects. In the US marketplace,
sales of domestic organic products and international fair trade products are on the rise. The goal of
the Agricultural Justice Project is to bring the benefits of fair trade home to struggling family-scale
farms and exploited farm workers, and in the long term, to all who labor from seed to table.

Born of the recognition that the National Organic Program of the US Department of Agriculture
did not address the needs of the people farmers or farm workers who make organic agriculture a
real alternative to conventional agribusiness, the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) came together in
1999. Four US grassroots organizations are partners in the project: the Rural Advancement
Foundation International, Comit de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agrcolas/Farmworker Support
Committee, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, and Florida Organic Growers/Quality
Certification Services. The purpose of the AJP is to develop, pilot, and promote a market-based
food label for social justice and economic equity.
During four years of meetings with workers, small-scale farmers, fair trade companies and
organizations, indigenous peoples, consumers, and organic certifiers, the AJP developed standards
that codify in concrete terms what farms and those who buy from farms would have to do to make a
claim of social justice. Hundreds of people from over sixty countries participated. The revised
version expands the standards to all food system workers.

The AJP standards address:
* Farmers and all food system workers' rights to freedom of association
* Fair wages and benefits for workers
* Fair and equitable contracts for farmers and buyers
* Fair pricing for farmers
* Clear conflict resolution policies for farmers, workers and buyers
* The rights of indigenous peoples
* Workplace health and safety and decent farmworker housing
* High quality training for farm interns and apprentices
* The rights and protection of children on farms
* The elimination of the use of toxic materials
652
In August, 2010, AJP posted the revised and expanded version of these standards on its website
www.agriculturaljusticeproject.org. Four years of pilot projects where AJP tested the draft
standards against the reality of actual farms and food businesses and then two years of experience
with social justice certifying shaped the revisions. During this time, AJP also developed the tools
and materials necessary to conduct audits for certifying farms and food businesses to those
standards, and the policies that will govern the certification and accreditation program, training
modules for certifiers and auditors, and materials to help farms and businesses comply with the
standards. This label is distinguished by a verification process that includes the participation of
farm worker organizations. Besides the label for certified farms and businesses, AJP is also piloting
a pledge version for small-scale direct sales farms with no more than five workers. After endless
research and debate, AJP decided on Food Justice Certified and Food Justice Pledge Farm as its
label.
An important aspect of the AJP program is to distribute the tools across the country and build the
capacity of regional certifiers and worker organizations and community groups to carry the
certification and education models forward in their local communities. Currently, Qualify
Certification Services (qcsinfo.org) and Midwest Organic Services Association (mosa.org) offer
Food Justice Certification. CATA/Farmworker Support Committee (catafarmworkers.org), Centro
Campesino (centrocampesino.net), and the Agriculture Workers Alliance in Canada (awa-ata.ca)
have been through trainings to provide the worker inspection component of this certification. The
Farmworkers Association of Florida (floridafarmworkers.org) is scheduled for training early in
2011. The Agricultural Justice Project will be training additional certifiers and farm worker
organizations to ensure that the verification process is available all over North America.

The Farmer Direct Coop, a marketing cooperative of 70 grain farms in Saskatchewan, is the first
group of farmers to earn the Food Justice label. Hoch Orchards, Featherstone Farm, the Bluff
Country Coop, and the Midwest Organic Services Association in the Upper Mid-West have also
met the high bar for AJP certification as part of its pilot project over the past three years. The
Midwest Organic Services Association awarded its first certifications in 2010. The Organically
Grown Company in Oregon has made the commitment to gradually certify all the farms that carry
its Ladybug label.

In response to the rapidly growing market for socially responsible goods, the AJP steering
committee joined with others to found the Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) in 2007. The
purpose of DFTA is to organize food system stakeholders around the issue of justice in the North
American food system. It is a collaboration of farmers, farm workers, food retailers, processors and
distributors, non-profits and civil society organizations to bring the principles of international fair
trade to bear on the challenges of local and regional food production at home.
Building on the priorities of supporting family farming, farmer co-operatives and sustainable
agriculture, the DFTA identified the principles of international Fair Trade, as expressed by
organizations such as the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and the Fair Trade Federation
(FTF), as a starting point for looking at North American regional and local food systems. The
group set as its goal to contribute to the creation of a more holistic model of commerce that is
consistent with the basic values of the international Fair Trade movement, and builds on the values
of the organic and sustainable agricultural movements. Recognizing the need to reinforce the
position of family farmers, farmer co-operatives and farm workers in the global movement for trade
justice, the DFTA consciously focused on these stakeholders in the development of these principles:
Family Scale Farming.
Capacity Building for Producers and Workers.
Democratic, Participatory Ownership & Control..
653
Rights of Labor.
Equality and Opportunity.
Direct Trade.
Fair & Stable Pricing.
Shared Risk & Affordable Credit.
Long-Term Trade Relationships.
Sustainable Agriculture.
Appropriate Technology.
Indigenous Peoples Rights..
Transparency & Accountability.
Education & Advocacy.
Six months before the inaugural meeting of the DFTA, farm workers organizations from around
the United States gathered in Owatonna, Minnesota, to discuss how a Domestic Fair Trade label
would affect farm workers. The group reached consensus on the need for farm workers
organizations to have equal representation in the creation and implementation of any seal, and the
centrality of fair wages and the right to organize without retaliation in any certification program.
Conference participants also discussed the issue of pesticide exposure as one of the most serious
dangers confronted by agricultural workers and consumers alike. It was agreed that organic
production combined with a just relationship between agricultural workers and farmers represents
the most positive path to a just food system. As a result of this gathering, the farm worker sector
within the DFTA has had a strong voice in shaping the organization.
While there are still very few products that bear a domestic fair trade label in North American
markets, a number of certifiers have declared their intention to introduce domestic fair trade labels.
Besides AJP, IMO, Transfair America, Scientific Certification Services and the Food Alliance have
set domestic fair trade as an area of development. Since the DFTA was founded to establish a
common foundation for such claims in the marketplace and to review and analyze them for validity,
DFTA convened a series of meetings in 2010 among these certifiers to begin setting a code of
conduct for domestic fair trade. The goals of this process are to minimize undue competition,
promote collaboration and cooperation among programs and companies engaged in domestic fair
trade and to explore possibilities for equivalency agreements. The meetings have allowed
participants to compare technical aspects of standards and procedures in the presence of key
stakeholders.

The urgency of reuniting the principles of fairness and organic is underlined in the concluding
report of the National Organic Action Plan, From the Margins to the Mainstream Advancing
Organic Agriculture in the US (January 2010). As Lynn Coody summarized in The Organic
Standard of June, 2010, At their beginning organic regulations set a high bar for advancing
cultural and social values in agricultural production. It is proposed that this foundation be restored
by rededicating organic practice to an ethical food and agriculture system that honours the values of
fairness and basic rights. Fairness includes fair trade; fair pricing (and contracts); fair access to land
(and credit); and fair access to quality, organic food and seeds. These basic rights also encompass
the rights of all people to follow their own cultural and traditional knowledge systems and the rights
of farmers and farmworkers to have an empowered voice in the continued improvement of an
ethical food system. This should apply directly to both domestic and foreign agricultural policies
with the recognition of organic agricultures contributions to local food security and the alleviation
of hunger both nationally and internationally. (p. 7)
654

While international fair trade has provided some relief for family-scale farmers in developing
countries, the financial pressures on farmers in industrialized countries like the US continue
unrelenting. Bringing fair trade home for the benefit of US farmers promises to alleviate the loss of
farms and to make farms that are using ecological practices economically as well as
environmentally sustainable. This workshop discussion will enlighten participants and help
stimulate future developments around the organic world.



655
Fair Trade Relations in Regional Organic Food Chains

Jrg Schumacher
1, 2
and Hans Ramseier
1

1
Bio Suisse, Margarethenstrasse 81, 4053 Basel, Switzerland
2
Corresponding author: joerg.schumacher@bio-suisse.ch
www.bio-suisse.ch

Key words: domestic fair trade, organic farming, Bio Suisse, business ethics

Abstract
Organic Farming and Fair trade are based on the principle of sustainability. The ongoing discourse
on the combination of organic and fair labels comprises both fair international trading relationships
and fairness within local food chains (in developed countries). This paper focuses on the
implementation of domestic fair trade concepts in economically developed countries. We discuss
the importance of fairness in regional food chains in the north and show different strategies how
actors try to implement fairness along the whole food chain from farm to fork. As a case study we
refer to the fairness strategy of Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic farmers association. The strategy tries
to combine individual responsibility (integrity) with some external (social) control mechanisms
which aim at ensuring compliance with the standards and the principles of a conjointly elaborated
code of conduct.

Introduction
The basic understanding of fairness in organic farming is expressed in the principles of organic
agriculture as defined by IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements).
The key message is that Organic Agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness
with regard to the common environment and life opportunities (IFOAM, 2005).

Fairness, thus, concerns (international) trade, intergenerational justice and responsibility towards
the environment. The current debate on the combination of organic and fair is often related to
market and price-finding issues. The importance of the topic for the organic movement was also
reflected by the subject Organic and fair of the worlds largest organic trade fair BioFach in
Nuremberg in 2010. Both Fair Trade and Organic markets have undergone significant market
growth within the last years. The discussions on how to and whether to implement fair trading
conditions in organic supply chains relate both to international trading relationships and fairness
within local food chains (in developed countries). This paper focuses on the implementation of
domestic fair trade concepts in economically developed countries. We discuss the importance of
fairness in regional food chains in the north and show different strategies how actors try to
implement fairness along the whole organic food chain from farm to fork. As a case study we refer
to the fairness strategy of Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic farmers association.

Fairness a principle for the south and the north
In the international context fair trade is clearly defined e.g. by FLO (Fair Trade Labelling
Organization). By fair prices and premiums, FLO certified actors contribute to meet basic needs of
cooperatives and improve infrastructure, school education etc. Many of such international fair
trading relationships certified against FLO standards have proven successful in the improvement of
livelihoods of the poorest (see e.g. deMare, 2008 for an extensive overview).

For many farmers, processors and their communities in developing countries, the need for a fairer
economy seems obvious. At first glance, the case is less clear for producers in industrial countries
where actors of the food chains live in a rich society and benefit from much better socio economic
conditions such as school education, infrastructure, state payments or gender equality. Still, there is
an ongoing discourse about the meaning and importance of domestic fair trade and fair trading
656
relationships in organic agriculture (see for example Schmid, 2007; Hinrichs and Allen, 2008;
Eichert and Mayer, 2009, Schumacher and Eichert, 2010, Schfer et al., 2010). In Europe, one of
the reasons of this discourse lies in the substantial growth of the organic markets and the
corresponding concern of the pioneers of the organic community that the core values of organic
farming are eroding in the mass markets. These arguments gain ground if the fact is considered that
the EU organic regulation (No 834/2007) covers almost no fairness values (Padel et al, 2009) and
that markets are strongly influenced by comparably new players whose major focus is making
profits. Even though German organic companies seem to have a clear advantage in applied business
ethics and corporate social responsibility (Stiftung Warentest, 2010) some organic actors have been
publicly criticized in terms of fairness. Be it for not paying fair wages which correspond to the
collective labor agreement, be it for using the term fair in a confusing way.

At first sight, most people have an idea on what is fair and unfair. However, although the term is
often used in advertisements, the definition of the term fair is difficult to define in general. The
examples mentioned above also indicate the area of conflict between compliance and integrity. The
philosopher and theologian Hans Kng illustrates that a sheer focus on compliance with laws is not
enough to create a healthy corporate culture. In contrast, those persons who intrinsically (out of
self-motivation) act according to ethical principles are one key factor of long-term success for
companies and for well-functioning markets (Kng, 2010).

The domestic fair trade initiatives introduced below define fairness and fair pricing for the mid-
European context. They use mechanisms to foster compliance and integrity in order to bring the
fairness principles to life, both within their member companies and between the partners along the
supply chain.

Domestic fair trade initiatives in Western Europe
Around the year 2006, several organic actors have initiated domestic fair trade networks. A wide
variety of approaches and standards were developed and are currently being implemented. Some
organic farming associations like Naturland from Germany or Soil Association from the United
Kingdom have set standards for a voluntary fair-certification (for both the international and
domestic context). The standard can be inspected at the same time of regular organic inspection
which is time and cost-saving for the participating companies. Other farmers associations like
demeter or Bio Suisse do not certify fairness. They have set mandatory principles of fairness in a
Charta or a code of conduct respectively and initiate fairness round table discussions along the
whole food chain on a regular basis.

Independently of the organic farmers and growers associations, several new initiatives have been
created in Germany, Switzerland and other West-European Countries. They focus on fairness,
regional and organic production as well as fair working conditions for own employees. One of the
German initiatives ("bestes Bio fair fr alle) has developed a labeling program for all partners
along the food chain. Certification against these standards is conducted by the annual organic
inspection.

The Bio Suisse approach
The Bio Suisse Fairness-Strategy does not plan a certification scheme but aims at involving as
many organic stakeholders as possible into a discourse on values and fairness and their
implementation in everyday situations. The approach comprises a set of instruments: A standard
names basic principles of fairness and sketches all implementation instruments, those being a code
of conduct, round table discussions, a fair trade panel and an instrument for control of success.

1. Code of conduct (CoC): even though fairness depends more on deeds than on words, a
common basis which shows where the stakeholders want to go is an indispensable
657
requirement for implementation. Bio Suisse has hosted a series of workshops with
stakeholders from all along the organic food chain in Switzerland. A working group
composed of farmers, processors, traders and consumers found consensus on criteria and
principles which should be set in the CoC for trading Bio Suisse products. The draft of the
CoC consists of two parts: firstly, the aims, self conception and scope are described and
secondly, the guidelines for all market partners are defined in several subsections. The first
subsection of guidelines contains criteria for cooperation and negotiations of contracts. They
reach from long-term trade relations to transparency and common planning of quantities.
The second subsection sets guidelines for fair pricing and the third one deals with quality
orientation. The fourth subsection covers social and environmental responsibility.
2. Round table discussions: Fair trading relationships need communication and an ongoing
discourse on how trading relations can and should be improved within a certain product
sector. Bio Suisse organizes experimental roundtable-discussions in the most important
organic product sectors in Switzerland in 2011. In the future, such discussions take place at
least every year and aim at finding realistic and transparent ways for continuous
improvement of fairness in the everyday-decisions of organic food chain actors.
3. Fair trade panel: complete organic and fair integrity of all stakeholders is a vision which
cannot be reached. Therefore, some kind of external evaluation and assurance of compliance
must be possible. The fair trade panel is meant to evaluate cases of dispute which cannot be
solved amongst the market partners. The panel only becomes active if the market partners
ask for it and have tried to conciliate their dispute. This idea only leaves the planning stage
end of 2011.
4. Control of success: Measuring and monitoring fairness without extensive paper
documentation and other resources is a challenge. However, some monitoring and
transparency is necessary for the credibility of the strategy. Bio Suisse develops and tests
methods and instruments which allow getting qualitative and quantitative feedback on the
state of compliance to the criteria and indicators in the CoC. Measuring the impact of the
Fairness strategy in a more holistic way e.g. by asking stakeholders for annual reports would
also allow some estimate of their integrity.

Discussion and outlook
The domestic fair trade initiatives have steadily developed and improved their fairness concepts
during the last years but generally the movement is still in its infancy. Another couple of years will
be needed to improve the approaches and especially to develop and test new assurance methods.
Today, organic more and more loses its ideological character and is required to clearly and
continuously prove its environmental, social and other benefits to society. An adequate control of
success to prove such benefits probably needs unconventional methods and seems one of the key
challenges for the future.
In the case of Switzerland, a special challenge is how to apply the Bio Suisse standard to imported
products from European countries.

The organic and fair movement faces several potential conflicts. The term fair will remain difficult
to define if, on the one hand, some organizations have strict and detailed requirements for
(voluntary) fairness certification and, on the other hand, others rely on commitment of their
stakeholders without being able to transparently evaluate the success of their fairness concepts.
Therefore, much more intensive discussions, cooperation and mutual exchange of ideas and
experiences are needed between the domestic fair trade initiatives in Europe. The same applies to
cooperation of international and domestic fair trade movements. The experiences of the
658
international fair trade movement can and should be integrated for reaching the common aim of
truly sustainable production, processing and trade.

References
Eichert, C. and E. Mayer (2009): Bestehende und mgliche denkbare Anstze fr eine faire
Preisgestaltung im Domestic Fair Trade. [Existing and possible approaches for fair pricing in
Domestic Fair Trade] In: Mayer, J., T. Alfldi, F. Leiber, D. Dubois, P. Fried, F. Heckendorn,
E. Hillmann, P. Klocke, A. Lscher, S. Riedel, M. Stolze, F. Strasser, M. van der Heijden and
H. Willer (Eds.) (2009): Werte - Wege - Wirkungen: Biolandbau im Spannungsfeld zwischen
Ernhrungssicherung, Markt und Klimawandel. Beitrge zur 10. Wissenschaftstagung
kologischer Landbau, ETH Zrich, 11.-13. Februar 2009.
Hinrichs, C.C. and P. Allen (2008): Selective patronage and social justice: Local food consumer
campaigns in historical context. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 21 (4), pp.
329-352.
IFOAM (2005): Principles of organic agriculture. International federation of organic agriculture
movements. Available at
http://www.ifoam.org/organic_facts/principles/pdfs/IFOAM_FS_Principles_forWebsite.pdf
(last access on 15.11.2011).
Kng, H. (2010): Anstndig Wirtschaften. Warum komomie Moral braucht. Piper, Munich,
Germany, 352 p.
Le Mare (2008): The Impact of Fair Trade on Social and Economic Development: A Review of the
Literature. Geography Compass 2 (6) pp. 19221942
Padel, S., H. Rcklinsberg, and O. Schmid (2009): The implementation of organic principles and
values in the European Regulation for organic food. Food Policy 34 (3), p. 245-251.
Schfer, M., M. Krger and A. Wirz (2010): Mit alten Werten die Zukunft gestalten. Eckpunkte
fr ein faires Miteinander entlang der Bio-Wertschpfungskette. [Shaping the future with
old values. Key points for fair cooperation along the organic food chain]. Brochure of the
Technische Universitt Berlin, Zentrum Technik und Gesellschaft (ZTG), 38.p. Available at
http://orgprints.org/17273/4/17273-08OE105-tu_ztg-schaefer-2010-fairness_broschuere.pdf
(last access on 15.11.2010)
Schmidt, O. (2007): Werte und Richtlinien im Wandel. [The Change of Values and Standards].
kologie und Landbau 144 (4). Available at http://orgprints.org/11552/1/schmid-2007-werte-
richtlinien.pdf (last access on 15. 11. 2010).
Schumacher, J. and C. Eichert (2010): Elaboration and Implementation of a Domestic Fair Trade
Concept in Switzerland. Contribution to the 9th European IFSA Symposium, 4-7 July 2010,
Vienna (Austria). Available at
http://ifsa.boku.ac.at/cms/fileadmin/Proceeding2010/2010_WS4.3_Schumacher.pdf (last
access on 15.11.2010).
Stifung Warentest (2010): Qualitt von Biolebensmitteln: Die Bilanz aus 85 Tests. [The quality of
organic food: conclusions from 85 tests.]. Test 06/2010, Berlin, Germany.


659

J ulia Edmaier, Peter Schaumberger
Institute for Marketecology (IMO), Switzerland
jue@imo.ch, psc@imo.ch
www.imo.ch, www.fairforlife.net


Abstract:
Since its beginning, the fair trade movement has changed fundamentally: economical criteria have
replaced initial political intentions and multinational companies and retailers have become part of
fair trade. Standard setters must take account of these new developments and include more steps of
the supply chain in their control procedures like Fair for Life currently did.

Organic and fair: a successful combination
From the very first, the organic movement did not only include ecological aspects but also focused
on ethical values. Fair trading practices have therefore been naturally a part of organic agriculture.
With organic making its way into mainstream, these long-term values however, got more and more
out of sight. Consumers did no longer connect organic with social or fair criteria. Fortunately, this
has changed during the last years and ethical values have found their way back to organic. Various
international standard setters took their consequences and revised their criteria with regard to fair
trade principles. With success: additionally to the importance of ecological criteria, more and more
consumers want the products they buy to be also produced socially responsible. Ethical production,
sustainability and social justice have become main indicators for their buying decision today. Not
only in combination with organic, but also as an individual scheme, fair trade is becoming more and
more important.

Fair Trade a definition
Fair trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater
equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading
conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers. Fair trade
organizations, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness
raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade.
(definition of FINE, informal association of the four main fair trade networks FLO, WFTO, NEWS,
EFTA). According to the European Commission, fair trade therefore contributes to reach the UN
millennium goals.
Originating from the same initial movement, there is however not only one fair trade programme
today, but many different approaches to fair trade. Different standard setters have defined different
requirements with different labels on the final product. But is it all fair trade?

Back to the roots: the alternative trading model
The fair trade movement is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing developments today. In
2009, fair trade products amounting to the volume of 3.4 billion Euro have been sold, which makes
an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. Everything began with a Christian solidarity
movement in the 1970s. Back then it was called alternative trade: demonstrations against the
growing unfairness in global world trade arose and a group of committed people aimed to inform
consumers about negative impacts of globalization and unfair structures of the growing world
market. Products from disadvantaged producers in the Global South were sold to visualize and
communicate problems more easily. Trade not Aid was the slogan these days. Products were
offered on markets and later on in the well known world shops. Conventional channels of trade
660
were denied categorically: the conventional economic model was accused to be responsible for the
unfair structures in the world economy and participation in these markets was considered as
undermining of the alternative trade concept.

From Christian solidarity to fashion is it still fair trade?
40 years later, denial of participation in conventional markets is unimaginable. Today, almost 50%
of fair trade products are sold in supermarkets and discounters. The fact that better knowledge and
more sales figures mean a better deal for producers in the south led to a turn from political to a more
economical thinking. Fair trade has stepped out of its niche and has found its way into mainstream.
Reasons for both consumers and companies to participate in this movement have also changed
fundamentally. The ethical consumer, buying fair trade products due to political reasons and
awareness of negative impacts of globalization, has turned to a Feeling Good consumer. For him,
the additional benefit through buying fair trade, feeling good and gaining recognition, is more
important than the idea of global fairness or a political background. Doing good and at the same
time feeling good thats the new device. The development goes from conscious consumers to the
Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability. Sustainability nowadays has become a factor for success and
ethical behavior in the market has become a market of ethics, says Prof. Dr. Christoph
Stckelberger, executive director and founder of the global network on ethics. But is this still what
was called fair trade?

Lets make it fair trade!
Today everyone wants to be part of the clean image of fair trade and even more important: everyone
involved in this movement benefits from fair trade. There are many reasons why companies profit
from social responsibility and fair trade: just to mention the increase in security, productivity,
motivation, sustainability, business volume, and most of all the increase in image. Although fair
trade nowadays has become a marketing tool mainly for companies at the end of the supply chain,
fair trade standards however still seem to focus on producer certification; and: requirements for
producer companies have become more and more complex and difficult to fulfill. Steps further on
the supply chain are tended to be ignored. But with the growing marketing power of fair trade,
responsibility must be taken by all members of the chain. Companies cannot just profit from the
trend of social turn. Responsibility along the supply chain must be equally distributed.
Multinational companies and retailers are nowadays part of fair trade and through volumes and
market power, they even have a great influence down the supply chain. Therefore, requirements
must be adapted and fair trade must be made to what its name always has indicated: a certification
of the trade chain.
This is exactly what has been done in the latest revision of the Fair for Life certification
programme: requirements have been included for all Fair for Life handlers, from FairTrade buyers
over intermediate handlers to brand companies and retailers. It was a difficult decision to make, but
today, it is clear that it has been right: only if as many steps as possible of the supply chain are
included in control requirements, we have a chance that fair trade principles are serving all people
involved and that real change can happen.

Fair trade - fair for all
Fair trade shall be fair for all: it shall provide a fair deal for marginalized producers, no matter
where, and it shall also require fair conditions for all people involved in processing, manufacturing
and trade of these products. All companies benefitting from fair trade must also be obliged to accept
and promote the values of fair trade. This is what the Fair for Life certification programme stands
for. But there are still some challenges to be met in future. It is aspired that, some day, the real
contexts of production will become more important for consumers and handlers and that supply
chains escape anonymity. Companies at the end of the chain shall start to know the realities of their
661
producers and also communicate it to their customers. Transparency on all stages is envisaged. But
this has now finally broke ground: The core idea of fair trade that trade shall serve all people
involved and shall respect social and ecological minimum standards has now, through a high-bar
fair trade certification programme like Fair for Life, extended to the whole supply chain.


662
Meaning of Fair Trade in South and North? the New Naturland Fair Trade
Certification

Reese, S.
1
; Sachs, F.
2
; Frst, M.
3
; Br, M.
4
und Heine, P.
5
Keywords: Naturland, organic, fair trade, certification, worldwide, fair partnership

Abstract
Over 53.000 farmers worldwide cultivate an area of more than 270.000 hectares in compliance with
the Naturland Standards for organic farming. Social responsibility, both in production and in
processing, is an integral part of the Naturland Standards and a fundamental basis for the present
Naturland Fair Trade Certification. Fair trade relationships along the value chain in North and South
are the basis to enable more Naturland members worldwide the access to value added markets and
more efficient trade routes, as well as to encourage the values of organic, social, regional and fair.
The Naturland Fair Trade Certification is a logical development from the Naturland history and the
co-operation with the Naturland partners out of the fair trade sector. On the one hand it presents an
expansion of the "Naturland criteria of fair partnerships" in 2006. On the other hand it is based on
the definition of FINE and the core principles of fair trade organizations, which are described in A
Charter of Fair Trade Principles (WFTO et FLO international. 2009).
Introduction and objectives
Organic agriculture, social interaction and fair trade are the three pillars of sustainability. Taken
together, they form a coherent and consistent whole. A fair environment is a particularly favorable
pre-condition for organic agriculture to safeguard in a sustainable fashion the livelihoods and the
very existence of farmers and their families worldwide.
Worldwide over 53.000 farmers cultivate an area of more than 270.000 hectares of land after the
Naturland standards for organic farming. Among these guidelines the sustainability of organic
products is an important aspect for Naturland since the beginning.
Also in Germany, Europe and other "rich"
countries fair conditions are the basis for the organic food sector.
On one hand objectives of the Naturland Fair Trade certification are to enable for the access to
value added markets and more efficient trade routes for more Naturland members worldwide and on
the other hand to encourage the values of organic, social, regional and fair
Methods
. This way they can and
should contribute to improve livelihoods and to protect agricultural operations Fair trade is about a
co-operative commerce to advance change and development with the help of transparency and
fairness. Due to their transparency fair trade relationships are an important component to network
producers as well as consumers and to inform the public about the organic food sector, social justice
and opportunities for change. Only with the support of the consumers it is possible to succeed in
comprehensive reforms of trading patterns and to preserve our environment.
1
Naturland e.V, Kleinhaderner Weg 1, 82166, Grfelfing, Deutschland, p.heine@naturland.de, www.naturland.de
On one hand the existing Naturland Fair Trade standards are based on the Naturland history and
they represent a consistent result of a long grown process by clarifying and expanding the
"Naturland criteria of fair partnerships". On the other hand they depend on the definition of FINE
and the core principles of fair trade organizations being described in The Charter principles of Fair
Trade(FLO WFTO et international. 2009).
2
Naturland e.V, Kleinhaderner Weg 1, 82166, Grfelfing, Deutschland, f.sachs@naturland.de, www.naturland.de
3
Naturland e.V, Kleinhaderner Weg 1, 82166, Grfelfing, Deutschland, m.fuerst@naturland.de, www.naturland.de
4
Naturland Baden-Wrttemberg Landesverband fr kologischen Landbau e.V., Schillerstr. 41, 89077 Ulm, m.baer@naturland-fachberatung.de, www.naturland.de
5
Naturland e.V, Kleinhaderner Weg 1, 82166, Grfelfing, Deutschland, s.reese@naturland.de, www.naturland.de
663
Results
Checklists have been developed completing or extending the criteria of the Naturland social
standard checklist, the already mentioned Naturland criteria of fair partnerships" and those of other
fair trade certifying organizations. The other ways round the Naturland Fair Trade standards have
been developed out of the checklists. In this case there was a guideline supplement given by the part
"corporate strategy and transparency" as well as a more precise definition and subdivision of the
guidelines being transferred of the Naturland criteria of fair partnerships. The Naturland Fair
Trade standards have been adopted by the Naturland delegates' meeting in November 2009 and
presented to the public at the BioFach 2010 for the first time.
Naturland offers now a voluntary, additional fair trade certification to its members and partners
(processors) from Germany and abroad. Definitely a valid Naturland organic certification is the
basis for a Naturland Fair Trade certification. The social standards are already obligatory for all
members and partners included in the Naturland organic certification.
An important attention has been turned to the region as a value added location, which is primarily
reflected in the parts "3.4 Acquisition of raw materials from local sources" and "3.6 Social
Responsibility" of the Naturland Fair Trade standards (Naturland 2009).
1.
In comparison to other fair trade certifications the following special features have been identified
for the Naturland Fair Trade certification:
2.
certification and inspection of organic and fair trade from one single source possible
3.
simultaneous focus on both "regional" and "international"
4.
the possibility of a product and a company certification
5.
instead of a completely new logo the established Naturland logo was added by "Fair"
6.
it is an additional and voluntary certification only for Naturland certified farmers and
processors.
small farmers in all product areas have the priority.



Figure 1: Naturland logo with the new addition "Fair" to describe a certified product
according to the Naturland Fair Trade standards.
In contrast to the classical approach the Naturland Fair Trade standards should apply globally.
Therefore differences in the guidelines have been revealed (e.g. "3.3 Fair producer prices").
Furthermore there is a differentiation between OECD countries (Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development) and countries from the DAC's (Development Assistance Committee)
list,
The following guidelines with subtopics have been developed:
which determines which countries are given public recognition as being entitled to receive
development aid payments.
1. Social responsibility
664
2.
3.
Reliable trading relationships
4.
Fair producer prices
5.
Acquisition of raw materials from local sources
6.
Joint quality assurance
7.
Social involvement
Corporate strategy and transparency
Naturland organic standards require conversion of the whole company as a matter of general
principle. The objective is therefore to certify the whole enterprise as conforming to Naturland Fair
Trade standards.

The focus is on the value added chain beginning from the producer up to the processor, including
subcontractors. With the exception of own private labels representing the trader as a processor a fair
trade certification is not yet implemented for retailing.

During the development of the Naturland Fair Trade certification the awareness arose that there
are significant differences in the formulation and verifiability of these standards in contrast to an
organic certification. It is difficult to implement human values into standards and to develop
indicators by which an inspector on site using the checklist is able to check and retrace. An organic
certification is based more on technical processes and defined numerical values, and is thus
technically simpler to implement.
Discussion
For members and partners it might be an advantage that Naturland collaborates with the respective
existing organic inspection body and trains them on the fair trade inspection. Consequently both
certifications will be checked at one inspection.
References
The product certification conduces as a market entry on the way to the complete conversion of the
company for a company certification respectively. For producers there is only the possibility for a
company certification.
Documents online
Naturland (2009): Naturland Fair guidelines.
http://www.naturland.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/Richtlinien_deutsch/Naturland-
Richtlinien_Fair-Richtlinien.pdf, (access 15.09.2010).
World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International
(2009): A Charter of Fair Trade principles.
http://www.fairtrade.net/fileadmin/user_upload/content/2009/about_us/documents/Fair_Trade
_Charter.pdf, (access 15.09.2010).

665
Index of Authors
666
Index of authors
A
. TOBIAS 313
A.Thimmaiah 139
A.V. 324
Abdel Wahab M. Mahmoud 342
AbdolmajidMahdaviDamghani 242
Abila, P 348
Addisu Alemayehu 208
Adeodato, T. 606
Aderibigbe S.G. 496
Agus Kardinan 351
Ahn, J. 262
Ahn, S. W 353
Akali Sema 212
Akinobu. Harada 355
Alam, M. K 87
Alan Broughton 3
Ali. Monsefi 490
Allemann, R 216
Amans, E.B. 617
Amit Kesarwani 142
A.N.F.Perera 34
Anilkumar,A.S 357
Anna Ciaperoni 224
Anna 368
Antonio Compagnoni 645
Antoun,H. 410
Archana Singhania 511, 515
Arunah, U.L 617
Auerbach, R 92
B
.M. Lee 373, 375, 394
Bae, C. W 377
Baek, Yi-nam 378
Baharullah Khattak 520
Baker, B 382
Balasubramanian, A.V. 324
Balasubramanian, 324
Br M. 662
Basanta Ranabhat 195
Basanta Rana Bhat 162
Bea, W. H 309
Bhautik Savaliya 505
Bikash Subedi 385
Blanco,D., 148
Blesilda M Calub 229
Boillat 148
Borthakur,P.K. 388
Bossardi, M 12
Brindza, J. 497
C
.K. Kang 373, 375, 394
C.S. Kim 373, 375
Carlos, Escobar 230
Cha, K. H. 587
Chi, Jeong- Hyun 406
Cho, K. R. 591, 629
Choi, Byeong-Chan 166
Choi, H. S. 402
Choi, J. H. 402
Choi, J. I. 445, 448
Choi, Jong-in 406
Choi, S. H 7
Chuenchooklin, S. 500
Csambalik,L. 191
D
. Abe 297
D.K.Grover 236
Dae-Hyang Kim 633
Daniel Valenghi 551
DelValle,Y. 148
Diao Pinchun 19
Diniz, C. 606
Dittakit, P. 47
Divky-Ertsey Lszl 368
Dorais, M. 410
Dr. Jerry Moles 106
E
. Farajzadeh Memari 480
Edgardo Uychiat 93
Elizabeth J. Trenchard 172
ElizabethHenderson 652
Eric Andrew Meili 11
ErikFog 146
Escobar, Carlos 241
Escosteguy, A*. 12
F
ang Zheng 16
Fortunate Hofisi Nyakanda 637
Frank Eyhorn 640
Frank Gerriets 595
667
Funes-Monzote, F.R., S 148
Frst M. 662
G
.J., Surez, J. 148
George D. Nanos 602
Gerald A. Herrmann 595, 597
Gerd Schnepel, Asociacin 96
Gina, Villegas-Pangga 414
Gmez-Cruz, M 293
GravelV. 410
Gunawan, J., Slamet 100
Guo Y. 566
Gwon, Gi Myeon 599
Gyngy Fanni 368
H
.J. Jee 373
H.J. Jee 375, 394
H.S. Nam 373, 375 ,394
Ha, T. M., 420
Ha, T. M 420, 417
Ha, Tai-Moon, 406
Hak-Kyun Jeong 254
Han Y. Y 306
Han, N. Y. 425
Han, O 262
Hans Ramseier 656
Harkirat Singh Sidhu 103, 48
Heine P. 662
Hepi Risenasari 575
Hideaki Chishima 435
Hoda Zare Mirakabad 489
Hossein Azadi 431
HosseinMahmoudi 242
Houman Liaghati 242
Hu Yunfeng 19
Hyeong-Jin 633
Ikuko Furihata 435
Ildik Vrs 188
In, T. J. 428
Inderpal Singh 236
Ioannis Stamatas 602
Irini Maltsoglou 154
Isaac O. O. Aiyelaagbe 172
J
. C. Jana 519
J.H.Lee 373, 375
J.K.Vidanarachchi3 34
Jagadeeshwara K. 481
Jaime Ferreira 246
Jamal Javanmardi 431
Jean-PaulC. 410
Jens Soth 640
Jeong, S. T. 402
Jigme Wangchuk 139
Jimnez, B. 606
JrgSchumacher 656
Ju, Young-Cheul 406
Ju, Y. C. 420, 445, 448
Julia Edmaier 660
JuliaLernoud 172
Jung Ran, Lee 432
Jung, W. J. 587
K
.F.S.T.Silva3 34
K.W. Jung 394
Kamal Melvani 65
KamalMelvani 106
Kang, C. S. 591,629
Kang, K.K. 623
Kaoru Ishiwata 435
Kaoru. Ishiwata 355
Karen Mapusua 247
Kesang Tshomo 139
Ki, J. D. 252
Ki-hyeong, Choi 443
Kim, H. C 265
Kim, H. 262
Kim, J. H. 445, 448
Kim, J. H 23
Kim, J. S 177
Kim, K. M. 265
Kim, S. E 269
Kim, S. W. 451
Kim, S 262
Kim, T. Y. 402
Kim, Y. S. 265
Kim,Chang-Giland 254
Kim,G.C. 265
Kim,H.D. 417
Kim,Y., 265
Ko, B.G. 623
Ko, J.Y. 623
Koa Tasaka 453
Kong, Y. K 271
668
Kongsom, C 47
Kowalska J. 455
KRISHAN CHANDRA 459
Kwan-Hyun Cho 609
Kwon M. K. 306
Kwon, S. J 276
L
. CSAMBALIK 313
L. RADICSA. DIVKY-ERTSEY 313
Landcare Lanka 106
Lszl Radics 188
LAVDOSH FERRUNI 470
Lee K. I 179
Lee S. W. 475
Lee, E. Y. 477
Lee, G. Y 281
Lee, H. B 26
Lee, H.W 252
Lee, J.S. 623
Lee, S. H. 402
Lee, T.G. 283
Lee, Y. B. 428
Lee, Y. J 285
Li H. 566
Li Xianjun , Jiao Xiang 289
LIU Qiang 29
LIXianjun 29
Louis Rousseau 627
M
. Yarnia 480
M.B.Khorshidi Benam 480
M.K. Hong 373, 375, 394
Madhan M.Mohan 544
Mahatab Ali K.M 481
Manenoi, A. 613
Markus Arbenz 185
Martn Martn 148
Martnez-Carrasco, F. 293
Mathavan B1 34
Maya Goel 535
Melvani, Kamal 58, 115
Mnard C 410
Meng F. 566
Meng Qingxiang 29
Michael Sligh 652
Michele Maccari 645
Miki.T, S. Kato 297
Mirek Fruzsina 368
Mohammad Ghorbani 489
Mohammad Mirzakhani 302
Mohammadreza Davari 302, 490
Moiss, Quispe 121
Monika Tthov 188
Mukhtar, A.A. 617
N
. Nobari 480
Nam H. H. 306
Ndonga LK 494
Nmeth - Petra 368
Nguyen Lam Giang 551
O
h, H. J. 587
Okeleye K. A. 496
Okonji C. J. 496
Organic Food in China 289
Ornit Raz 189
Ostrovsk, R. 497
Oyekami A. A. 496
P
angnakorn, U. 500
Parimala, K. 324
Parimala, K. 324
Park, K. Y. 591
Park, K.L. 623
Park, N.S. 309
Park, R. D. 587
Parshotam Kanani 505
Partap, T 328
PawanSinghania 511, 515
Peter Mejnertsen 146
Peter Schaumberger 660
Peter Schmidt 640
Peter Tth 188
Philip J. C. Harris 172, 602
Praveen Kumar Sharma 633
Premala Jeyanandarajah 65
Pusztai,P. 191
Q
iao, Y. 566
R
. Varga 313
R.. Martnez-Paz, J. 293
Radics - Barbara 368
Radics,L. 191
669
Rajan Ghimire 195
Rama.K Subbaiah 544
Ranjit Chatterjee 519
Ranjith de Silv 34, 316
Reena Mukherjee 38
Reese S. 662
Rishi Ram Adhikari 195
Rivero,J.L., 148
Roberto Gasparillo 93
Rochette P. 410
Rodrguez, E. 148
Roh, A. S. 629
Rois, R 620
Ryu, G. M 318
S
. Iwaishi 297
S.B. Lee 373, 375, 394
S.K.THAKRAL 75
S.N. Sharma 490
Sachs F. 662
Saifullah Khattak 520
Salvatore Basile 188
Sanchez-Zaballero, Grecilda 525
Sang Mok Sohn 199
Sanggiel Shin 203, 530
Sanjita Sharma 45
Sarma, D. 388
Sarma,P.K. 388
Saro Gerd Ratter 151
Scartascini,J.C. 620
Schwentesius-Rindermann 293
Seo, D. W. 533
Seo, H. 262
Seo. M.C. 623
Seong J. J. 306
Sharifai, A.I. 617
Sherief,A.K 357
Shih Shiung Chen 142
Soares, A 606
Somasundaram,E 534
Song, J. S 321
Sophie Valleix 627
Sotolongo,J.A. 148
Souza, M.C.M 124
Stehlkov,B. 497
Stephen Hazelman 247
Subbian,P 534
Subramanian, K. 324
Sujata Goel 535
Sung Kyo Choi 199
Sung, J. M. 420
Sun-rae Yang 42
SURENDER KUMAR BHARDWAJ 539
Szalai,Z. 191
T
aboada, Evelyn 525
Taiwo .A. Adedokun 172
Tamala, W. 613
Tanimu, B. 617
Tansungnern, A. 613
Tirpkov, A. 497
Tobias Bandel 172
Tobias Bandel 81
Tbis, A 191
Toshio. Nakagawara 355
Tth, D. 497
U
dayakumar, A 540
Umesh Lama 128
V
. Ahmadzadeh 480
Vaidya, C.S. 328
VIC I. TAGUPA 129
Victor I. O. Olowe 172
Vijay.M.SankarBabu 544
Vijayalakshmi, K 324
Vijayalakshmi, K 324
Vishnu Sharma 45
Vo Van Phong 551
W
ang Xingping 563
Wang Yungang 563
Watanasorn, S. 500
Wattanasiri,C. 47
Willy Douma, Hivos 647
Won, T. J. 591, 629
Won-ho, Gang 332
Wu, W. 566
X
IA Zhaogang 29
Xiao Xingji 563
Xu Li 570
Xuhang 19
670
Y
.H. Choi 394
Y.J. Lee 394
Y.J. Oh 394
Y.K. Lee 394
Y.S. Shivay 302
Yasmeen Khwaja 154
Yeo, S. H. 402
Yoo, J. K 336
Yoon, G. H. 428
Yoon, S.H 283
Young-Hun Moon 633
Young-Rip Kwon 633
Yu Kaijin 563
Yungang Wang 570
Yusda Mardhiyah 575
Z
akaria Fouad Fawzy 578
Zhang Jibing 19, 563
Zhou Zejiang 16, 563
671