Sikkim participated in International Organic Trade Fair in Bangalore

[Veena Annadana]

Sikkim participated in International Organic Trade Fair in Bangalore

Bangalore: November 18, 2011
Sikkim has been actively participating in the annual International Organic Trade Fair BioFach India since the last three years and in BioFach Germany for the last two years. The Biofach India 2011 was held at the Palace Grounds, Bangalore from November 10-12, 2011 which was participated by the Sikkim Organic Mission, Government of Sikkim in a grand manner as a Gold Partner.
A strong Sikkimese contingent of over 150 participants led by PL Subba, GC Rai, Chairman SIMFED, Chairman Sikkim Farmers Welfare Board, BM Ramudamu, Advisor to the Govt. Of Sikkim, Deepak Gurung, General Secretary and DN Sapkota, Convenor, Kisan Prakostha, Vishal Chauhan, IAS, Secretary, FS&AD and H&CCD Department participated in the Organic Trade Fair. The Sikkimese contingent comprised of FS&AD and H&CCD Departmental Officials, Field Functionaries, representatives of Service Providers and Farmers. The State Cooperative Marketing Supply and Federation (SIMFED), an ICS Service provider, and TEMI Tea Estate were also invited to participate in the exhibition with the objective to provide exposure in the international and national Organic market. The participating farmers were sponsored by ATMA, SOM and National Horticulture Board, who had arranged for a train bogey and DA to farmers during the visit. The last team of participants from Sikkim reached back to Gangtok on November 17, 2011.
BioFach India 2011 consisted of exhibition of organic products seminar and buyer-seller meets. The Sikkim pavilion of Sikkim Organic Mission (SOM) was accorded the second best exhibition stall from amongst about 150 national and international pavilions. Kiran Pradhan, Addl. Executive Director, SOM received the award on behalf of the Government of Sikkim during the valedictory function.
Exotic organic products, potential cash crops, Himalayan cereals and pulses, vegetables and spice crops, organic certified TEMI Tea, canned products from Sikkim Supreme, etc. Some of the exotic products on display were heracleum (chingphing), bokey timbur, chirata, etc. on which a lot of enquiries were generated by the visitors in the Sikkim stall. From the business and export point of view, ginger, large cardamom, turmeric, buckwheat, millet, soyabean, cherry pepper, mandarin oranges, canned baby corn, ginger oil generated a lot of interest from prospective national / international organic traders. Most of these organic fresh products were sourced from the various ICS Service Providers from their respective ICS sites and SIMFED made the logistic arrangements for their transportation. The pavilion having decorated with the majestic view of Mt. Kanchendzonga, and Gurudongmar Lake as the background helped in generating substantial enquiries from prospective tourists. SOM had kept a special gift packages and souvenirs for VIPs and prospective big organic buyers as a gift which helped a lot in generating a good camaraderie with the delegates and Organic Players of repute.
A presentation titled “Sikkim Going Organic – Policy, Present Scenario and Future Thrusts”, was also given in the International seminar by Vishal Chauhan, IAS, Secretary, FS&AD and H&CCD Department. The Secretary highlighted the vision of Dr. Pawan Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim to convert all of Sikkim into fully organic.
The policy of the Government of Sikkim towards Organic Farming was applauded by all the participants during the presentation. Incidentally, Sikkim and Karnataka are the two major states in India to give topmost priority to Organic Farming and in 2003 Sikkim was the first state to declare itself fully organic by the year 2015.
The delegates from Sikkim also visited Himalaya Drug Company, Tumkur Road, Makali Bangalore, and Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Hessarghatta, Bangalore, to explore the latest technology on Horticulture. The participating farmers also visited the University of Agricultural Sciences, Hebbal, Bangalore to get an exposure on the latest technological developments in the field of agriculture and horticulture. Discussions was also held with Dr. PVSM Gouri, Advisor, APEDA for training for educated unemployed youth on marketing and export of organic products.
All the farmers were extremely grateful to the Chief Minister, Minister for Agriculture and FS&AD and H&CCD Department and Sikkim Organic Mission for giving them the opportunity for such an exposure international exposure on Organic Farming which has motivated them for taking up Organic Farming in the state.

Kumar
November 19, 2011 at 1:48 am
We must be thankful to Dr Pawan Chamling for his vision to make Sikkim Organic State. But in the same go we must also thankful to the whole country who is providing such an opportunity to our farmers. It is the tax payers money which is providing all this free shows.

Source: Sikkim participated in International Organic Trade Fair in Bangalore | iSikkim

 

[Veena Annadana]

Future of Organic Food and Agriculture at Risk

Future of Organic Food and Agriculture at Risk

The Cornucopia Institute is urging members of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board to vote to preserve the integrity of organic food and farming at its meeting in Savannah, Georgia.

Cornucopia, W I — The Cornucopia Institute, one of the nation’s leading organic industry watchdogs, is urging members of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), in formal testimony, to vote to preserve the integrity of organic food and farming at its upcoming meeting in Savannah, Georgia.

Some of the hot button issues on the agenda, including using artificial preservatives and genetically modified ingredients, would seem Orwellian to many longtime organic farmers and consumers. The forecasted dustup will be debated by a USDA panel, deeply divided between corporate agribusiness representatives and organic advocates.

Under the Bush and Obama administrations, the USDA Secretaries have been criticized for appointing a significant number of corporate representatives, whose primary interest appears to be loosening the federal organic standards, allegedly in pursuit of enhanced profits.

"We think this meeting may well decide the fate of organic food and agriculture in this country" said Mark A. Kastel, Codirector of The Cornucopia Institute, which represents family-scale organic farmers and their consumer allies across the U.S.

The 15-member NOSB is a citizen panel, set up by Congress, to advise the Secretary of Agriculture on organic policy and rulemaking. Upcoming votes concern the use of genetically modified and synthetic additives that have been petitioned for use in organic foods and drinks, including baby foods and formula.

While these synthetics seemingly fail the legal criteria for inclusion in organic foods, the NOSB committee recommending their use is comprised mostly of representatives working for corporations like General Mills and Campbell Soup that have only a sliver of their total sales in the organic food sector.

Additives being recommended for use in organics include nutritional oils manufactured by Martek Biosciences Corporation, part of the $30 billion multinational conglomerate Royal DSM. These oils, genetically modified to provide isolated omega-3 and omega-6 nutrients DHA and ARA, are derived from algae and soil fungus, and stabilized with a wide variety of synthetic ingredients.

When incorporated in infant formula, these oils are processed with a neurotoxic solvent, n-hexane. A byproduct of gasoline refinement, n-hexane is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency as a hazardous pollutant. The recommendation to approve Martek’s oils, processed with hexane, has industry observers scratching their head since solvents, commonly used in conventional food production, are expressly forbidden in organic food production.

“What is most egregious about the NOSB push to approve the Martek Biosciences Corporation petition is that these DHA and ARA oils are in no way essential in organics, as claimed by Martek,” states Cornucopia’s Kastel. “Other organic manufacturers have successfully used fish oil and egg yolks as legal and natural alternative sources of supplemental DHA.”

According to a poll of nearly 1,500 Seattle area organic consumers, conducted by PCC Natural Markets, the largest member-owned food cooperative in the United States, the overwhelming majority of shoppers would reject organic products with Martek’s oils if they knew the manufacturing details of Martek’s “Life’sDHA®”.

76.4% of shoppers polled in the PCC survey would not purchase organic products with DHA from genetically modified algae, and 88.6% would not purchase organic products if hexane-extracted. If consumers knew that Martek’s oils are stabilized with synthetic ingredients, the poll suggests that 78.3% of consumers would reject the products as well.

The NOSB will also vote on a petition allowing the use of the synthetic preservative sulfur dioxide (sulfites) in wine. Winemakers who currently use sulfites are prohibited from using the USDA organic seal on their labels. "Approving sulfites, not only a synthetic preservative but a common allergen, would represent another blow to consumer confidence in the organic label, which has always signified the absence of artificial preservatives" Kastel noted.

The success of a growing number of certified organic winemakers that shun artificial preservatives proves that this synthetic is not essential to making a high quality organic wine.

"If the standards are weakened by the USDA, allowing these synthetics, it will significantly narrow the difference between organic and conventional wine" said Paul Frey of Frey Vineyards. "A major strength of the organic standards comes from consumers trusting that organic foods are wholesome and free from artificial preservatives and other threats to health and environmental stewardship"

Meanwhile, the Livestock Committee of the NOSB, which is refining the standards aimed at ensuring high levels of animal welfare on organic farms, appears to be backing away from adopting strong, enforceable standards for laying hens and other species.

"They are caving to the factory farm lobby, listening to giant vertically integrated egg producers, and ignoring the voice of rank-and-file family farmers" said Tim Koegel, a nationally prominent certified organic farmer producing pastured eggs and chickens. "The NOSB has an opportunity to make organics the true gold standard in terms of animal husbandry but instead might choose to make the organic label a joke"

The proposal for chickens would give animals as little as one square foot of living space. "Like allowing synthetics, this woefully inadequate standard would violate the organic law that requires animals be allowed to exhibit their natural instinctive behaviors" added Koegel. "Hell, those birds will not even be able to fully span their wings, let alone forage outside for insects, seeds and worms"

This is not the first time the organic community, farmers and consumers, have come together to defend the integrity of the organic label. In the mid-90s, when the Clinton Administration first suggested allowing antibiotics, genetic engineering and sewage sludge in organics, over 300,000 citizens recorded their objections with the USDA—and they won.

"We have already received numerous proxies, downloaded from our website (Cornucopia Institute) from organic stakeholders demanding that the NOSB back away from sweetheart deals for corporate agribusiness at the expense of the organic label" affirmed Kastel. "We hope many other folks, who care about organics, will make their voice heard as well"

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The Cornucopia Institute has a proxy letter on its web page that concerned farmers and consumers can sign and mail. Cornucopia will hand-deliver the letters at the NOSB meeting in Savannah. The proxy can be found here: http://www.cornucopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Proxy-letter-NOSB-2011.pdf

“This is an important time; time for the NOSB to choose the high road and bring organic standards, and enforcement of those standards, up to a level of integrity that the consumer expects. Failure to do so will undermine the future of the organic label, injuring the legitimate family farmer and deceiving the public,” added Koegel, a New York certified organic livestock producer.

Cornucopia testimony and detailed analysis on Martek Biosciences Corporation’s proposed novel DHA/ARA oils can be found at: Official Comments to the USDA National Organic Standards Board | Cornucopia Institute

Cornucopia’s response to the wine industry lobby’s request for artificial preservatives (sulfites) in organic wine can be viewed at: Official Comments to the USDA National Organic Standards Board | Cornucopia Institute

A detailed response from The Cornucopia Institute, to the NOSB livestock committee’s proposal on animal welfare standards can be found at: Official Comments to the USDA National Organic Standards Board | Cornucopia Institute


The Cornucopia Institute is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy and economic development our goal is to empower farmers both politically and through marketplace initiatives. Its Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit. We will actively resist regulatory rollbacks and the weakening of organic standards to protect and maintain consumer confidence in the organic food label.

Source: Future of Organic Food and Agriculture at Risk

 

[Veena Annadana]

The total surface of Bulgarian plots for organic farming has increased tenfold

The total surface of Bulgarian plots for organic farming has increased tenfold

Balkans.com Business news correspondent - 16.11.2011
The proposed amendments to the Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020 drafted by the European Commission lay an emphasis on the adoption of policies that encourage ‘green’ practices. Thus, the European Union’s executive body envisages 30% of the funding for direct payments to farmers and 25% of the subsidies for the development of rural areas to be directed to that end. With its natural assets and agricultural traditions Bulgaria is bound to be a leading country in the field of organic farming. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons the country is still lagging behind, although there has been some sort of movement in going on in latter years.

Thus, the total surface of Bulgarian plots for organic farming has increased tenfold compared to 2008. In 2010 the number of registered organic farmers was 820, which is four times more on 2006 figures, which can be explained with Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union and the access Bulgarian farmers have been given to EU funding. Also growing is the number of beekeepers in this country, who turn towards organic apiary. In fact, their total has doubled on 2008 estimates. However, the total area of the arable land dedicated to organic farming remains modest – some 25 000 ha. Equally scarce are the European subsidies that had been paid to organic farmers under the Rural Development Programme, which amounted to EUR 3.75 million in 2008, EUR 5.7 million in 2009 and EUR 11.1 in 2010.

“The pace at which organic farming develops in this country is not satisfactory,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Svetlana Boyanova pointed out. “There is still a lot to do in terms of improving administrative procedures. But I am optimistic and I believe that with the support of EU funding and the natural assets this country has to offer, we shall be able to remove the existing obstacles. The statistics prove this and in all likelihood organic farming will expand. It is our job as representatives of the state to do our best to facilitate them in doing so. That requires a great deal of awareness of application procedures for EU, and also of the best green practices, which goes along with more rigorous eligibility criteria.”

There are still 200 organic farmers in Bulgaria who have not been included in the EU-funded schemes, and these people will be our target group, Ms. Boyanova maintains. The Agriculture Ministry has proposed the allocation of EUR 32 million from the state budget to be redirected to the modernization of the existing farms for investments in organic farming. Currently only 5% are earmarked for farmers who wish to switch to organic farming under that particular measure of the Rural Development Programme. The EU is yet to give its approval of this transfer, as well as of the increase in compensatory subsidies for organic farming. The amount of the latter was last updated in 2006. Source: BlackSea Grain

Source: Balkans.com Business News : The total surface of Bulgarian plots for organic farming has increased tenfold

 

[Veena Annadana]

Good for You, Good for the Planet?

Good for You, Good for the Planet?
Is healthy food always better for the environment?
By Brian Palmer|Posted Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011, at 11:12 AM ET

Is a salad better for the environment than a bag of French fries?
Photograph by George Doyle/Thinkstock.
While pondering the many choices I have to make when buying tomatoes—How important is it to buy local? Is it worth it to buy organic? Should I even considered canned?—I started to wonder whether the interests of my body and the environment coincide. Is eating healthy better for the environment, too?
You raise a critical point. Too often, environmentalists slip half-knowingly between human health and environmental health. Ask a stranger in the grocery store why he buys organic, and he’ll almost certainly conflate the two issues. We’re all one, after all. Gaia or whatever.
Unfortunately, there’s no natural law saying that planet health and human health are unitary. Consider the potato. According to a 20-year study involving more than 120,000 people, potatoes correlate more closely with obesity than any other food (including soda). And yet, potatoes aren’t exactly giving Mother Earth diabetes, so to speak.
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It takes 466 kilocalories of energy to produce a pound of potatoes, according to research by David Pimentel of Cornell University. That’s an unremarkable cost for produce. Spinach—a certified superfood packed with phytochemicals—requires 1,139 kilocalories per pound. Other health foods like Brussels sprouts and snap beans also take significantly more fossil fuel energy to produce than the maligned potato. A heaping bowl of steamed greens might be good for you, but the planet would prefer that you ate a plateful of microwaved potatoes.
The situation becomes even more complicated when you think about fresh, frozen, and canned foods. Michelle Obama has made fresh food a centerpiece of her campaign for health (even though not everyone agrees that fresher is healthier). And yet, there are many circumstances in which limp, salty, canned food is better for the environment.
Environmental research firm Scientific Certification Systems compared the embedded energy in fresh, frozen, and canned foods in a 2005 study. They found that it takes 1,136 kilocalories of energy to produce 1 pound of canned, prepared foods like soups and stews. Fresh foods came in at 1,151 kilocalories of energy per pound, a statistical dead heat with the canned meals. Canned, unprepared foods, like green beans and corn, were scored at 1,606 kilocalories per pound, and frozen foods rated between 2,250 and 2,405 kilocalories, depending on packaging.
Before you committed environmentalists go on a potato-and-soup diet, a few caveats are in order. First, although the study was conducted by a respected company and subjected to peer review, it was funded by the canning industry. Second, the research is based on a specific set of assumptions that might not apply to you.
Start with transportation. Canned foods are energy-intensive on the front end—between 40 and 50 percent of their embedded energy comes from heating the ingredients and sticking them into a can. Because canned food is cooked down and efficiently packed, however, you can fit more of it on a truck. Only 7 percent of the embedded energy in canned food goes toward transport, according to the study, compared with between 21 and 27 percent for fresh foods.
The SCS analysts assumed that all foods traveled about 1,500 miles by truck from farm to table. That’s reasonable, because a lot of food goes from California to the East Coast. But if you cut back on food miles by buying local, then canned foods wouldn't look quite so good. If you assumed a 300-mile trip instead of a 1,500-mile one, fresh food would be significantly more efficient than canned prepared meals overall, rather than slightly less so. (Frozen food would still be way behind. Frozen food is bad for the environment. Sorry, Green Giant.)
Same goes for storage. Keeping fresh green beans refrigerated at the store and in your home accounts for 18 percent of their embedded energy, compared with zero storage kilocalories for their shelf-stable canned counterparts. Go to the farmers’ market for your green beans—excuse me, haricots vert—and eat them the same day, and that difference disappears.
This discussion wouldn’t be complete without a mention of farming methods. Organic farming generates a lot of intense debate. Despite a few studies suggesting that conventional agriculture might be more energy efficient for certain foods, the Lantern believes that organic really is better for the environment. In a decades-long study of staple crops grown on adjacent fields by the Rodale Institute, organic methods required 30 percent less energy to produce corn and drew about even on soybeans. By the end of the experiment, the nutrients in the organic soil had substantially increased, while the conventional fields had stayed the same or had been depleted. Conventional fields also lack organic matter to prevent water from running off. That means leaching of pesticides into groundwater, as well as soil erosion. You should take soil erosion seriously. The stuff in which we grow our food is disappearing between 10 and 40 times faster than it’s being renewed, and we’re losing 37,000 square miles of crop land every year to the problem.
Of course, the jury is still out on whether organic food is any healthier than conventionally grown products. That’s just one more place where planet health and human health might not match up.

Source: Health Food: Is It Better for the Environment Than Junk Food? - Slate Magazine

 

[Veena Annadana]

Krishi Mela to begin on November 16

Krishi Mela to begin on November 16
Express News Service , The New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS)- Bangalore will host National Krishi Mela from November 16. Krishi Mela - 2011, the annual farming expo, will be inaugurated at the Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra on Wednesday.
It will showcase the latest technologies developed by the university and create awareness among the farming community. Special emphasis will be given to agricultural processing and value addition, agricultural machinery and organic farming from across the state, which will be displayed in nearly 600 stalls during the mela.
“In this mega mela several farm equipment will be displayed, which are useful to small and marginal farmers. We are exhibiting six varieties of hybrid crops. Special attention will also be given to organic farming. There will be an information cell where farmers can get details on all aspects including credit schemes that they can avail,” said Dr. K Narayana Gowda, vice-chancellor, UAS.
“Other arrangements have also been made for showcasing the improved practices relating to animal husbandry, diary, poultry, sheep, fish and rabbit rearing apart from exhibiting improved live stock breeds. Cattle-show of rare animal breeds is also organised for the first time,” said Narayana Gowda.
He further said, “During the Krishimela, the university scientists will offer on-the-spot solutions to various crop production related problems through consultancy cell.”
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Source: Krishi Mela to begin on November 16 - southindia - Bangalore - ibnlive

 

[Veena Annadana]

Organic farming can't feed the entire world

Organic farming can't feed the entire world
6:26 PM, Nov. 14, 2011 | 4 Comments


Frances Moore Lappe, “Let’s Make Small-Scale Farming a Viable Option,” (Nov. 2 Register), automatically makes the assumption (as do the people in the “organic” movement), that organic farming is the best way to protect the environment.

Lappe then cites a study by GRAIN (supposedly an independent educational organization) that “estimated that if organic practices were combined globally with re-integration of livestock and farming and a big shift to local markets, our food and farming sector could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by half in a few decades.”

That is patently untrue. If the whole world was farmed organically, greenhouse gas emissions would more than double. Tillage breaks down organic matter releasing CO2 into the air, and, since organic production does not allow use of modern methods, the only option for pest control is tillage, tillage and more tillage. It takes a lot of fossil fuel for tillage, and, when that fuel is burned, even more gasses are released into the atmosphere.

The truth is proponents of organic are not concerned with the environment, or, if they are, they do not understand the positive influence modern farming practices have on reducing greenhouse gas emission. The best practice is no-till for obvious reasons. Continuous corn no-tilled recaptures carbon in crop residue, and, the natural process that Mother Nature has used forever, allows that carbon to return to soil organic matter.

Unless we all become farmers, someone has to decide which 2 billion of us die of starvation. That’s the inevitable result of the whole world farmed organically.

— Jerry Crew, Webb

Source: Organic farming can't feed the entire world | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com