Organic Education: Nine Best Internet Tools

The Internet offers unprecedented opportunities for a free organic farming and food education, allowing instant access to the most recent through to seminal works. Nine of the best tools for free organic education and training are described

European Information System for Organic Markets

The project European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) is a European Concerted Action, funded under under key action 5 (Quality of Life) of the 5th Framework Research and Technological Development Programme of the European Union. The project will run from 2003 to 2005. EISfOM aims to build up a framework for reporting valid and reliable data for relevant production and market data about the European organic sector in order to meet the needs of policy makers, farmers, processors, wholesalers and other actors involved in organic markets. The major outputs of EISfOM will be - A review of existing data collection systems - Proposals to improve data quality and data collection systems for organic markets - Recommendations for future development and co-ordination of data collection systems in 32 European countries The project is managed the project partners core partners and representatives of key international organisations, including Eurostat, the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). The EISFOM member network unites numerous experts, including representatives of regional, national and European statistical offices and the private organic sector. The following institutions are part of the EISfOM partnership: - Partner 1 (Coordinator): University of Wales Aberystwyth, Institute of Rural Sciences, led by Dr. Nicolas Lampkin, Llanbadarn Campus, UK- SY23 3AL Aberystwyth Ceredigion - Partner 2: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Fachgruppe Sozio-Ökonomie, Dr. Toralf Richter, Ackerstrasse /Postfach, CH-5070 Frick, Tel. +41 62 8657272, Fax +41 62 8657273, E-mail [email protected], Internet http://www.fibl.org - Partner 3: Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck, Zentrum für Berglandwirtschaft, Dipl.-Ing. Markus Schermer, Technikerstr. 13, A-6020 Innsbruck, Tel. +43 512 507 5690, Fax +43 512 507 2817, E-mail [email protected], Internet http://www2.uibk.ac.at/berglandwirtschaft/ - Partner 5: Zentrale Markt- und Preisberichtstelle (ZMP), FB Ökologischer Landbau, Markus Rippin, Rochusstr. 2-6, D-53123 Bonn, Tel. +49 228 9777 0, Fax +49 228 9777 369, E-mail [email protected], Internet http://www.zmp.de - Partner 6: Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica, Gestionale dell'Automazione (DIIGA), Prof. Dr. Raffaele Zanoli, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Tel. +39 071 2204929, Fax +39 071 2204858, E-mail [email protected], Internet http://www.agr.univpm.it/ - Partner 7: Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF), Claus Bo Andreasen, P.O. Box 50, Foulum, DK-8830 Tjele, Tel. +45 89 99 10 35, Fax +45 89 99 16 73, E-mail [email protected], Internet http://www.foejo.dk - Partner 8: Warsaw Agricultural University SGGW, Faculty of Human Nutrition Sciences and Consumer Studies, Dr. Sylwia Zakowska-Biemans, Nowoursynowska 159 C, PL-02-776 Warszawa, Tel. +48 22 843 90 41 ext. 112 91, Fax + 48 22 847 27 83, E-mail [email protected], Internet www.sggw.waw.pl - Partner 9: WUR Landbouw Economisch Institut, Dr. Klaas Jan Kramer, P.O. Box 29703, Burgermeester Patijnlaan 19, NL-2502 LS Den Haag, Tel. + 31 70 3358245, Fax +31 70 3615624, E-mail [email protected] - Partner 10: Universität Kassel, Fachbereich Ökologische Agrarwissenschaften, Fachgebiet Agrar- und Lebensmittelmarketing, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hamm, Steinstraße 19, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Tel. +49 5542 98-1284, Fax +49 5542 98-1286, E-mail [email protected], Internet http://php.uni-kassel.de/fb11cms/alm/default.php?cPath=

Organic Industry Challenges in the Face of Negative Media Reports

As the organic industry continues to grow in volume and profile, so too does the resistance to the industry by vested interests, aided by the sensationalist media. Information and misinformation concerning the quality and safety of organic foods is being conveyed to consumers via the mass media and the Internet. Although the organic industry is defined by process standards, detractors of the industry are focusing on product quality and safety issues. Reactive responses by the organic industry may be justified and may or may not include critiquing the disparaging research and the negative media reporting. Proactive responses involving disseminating favourable research are more desirable but must be based on well designed research. Reducing opportunities for critics can be accomplished through rigorous organic product quality control and ensuring that the touted product benefits match the actual product attributes

Provision of information on organic soft fruit production OF0306

Although there is a demand for organic soft fruit in the UK, especially from processors, these crops are only grown on a very small scale at present. As the demand for organic fruit continues to grow much of this is therefore currently met by imports. Lack of technical knowledge, information and advice for growers, together with uncertainties over the economics of production are at present major barriers preventing growers becoming involved in this area. The purpose of this project is to address this problem, by collating the knowledge gained on this topic in previous projects (OF0150), updating it with new developments and produce a technical guide on organic soft fruit production for growers. The content of the booklet is likely to be based on a booklet on the same topic that has been published by FiBL and this has already been translated to English as part of a previous DEFRA project (OF0150). The collated information will be available in a user-friendly format as a published booklet and over the Internet. The findings of the project will also be disseminated to growers and other stakeholders within the industry at a seminar dedicated to the topic of Organic Soft Fruit Production and through articles in the horticultural press. The dissemination of this knowledge should have a beneficial effect by contributing to increasing the interest in organic soft fruit production and giving growers greater confidence to convert to organic production and thus eventually increase the domestic production of organic soft fruit. The project is relevant to DEFRA as it fits in with its overall policy of assisting UK organic farmers to meet the growing demand for organic produce and provide the necessary information to enable farmers to assess whether they should convert to organic production. Objective The overall aim of this project is to provide information for growers on organic soft fruit production (raspberry, currants and gooseberry). The specific objectives will be to: 1) to update, collect and review information on existing knowledge on, current practice and best practice techniques for organic production of raspberry, currants and gooseberry, building on the findings of OF0150. 2) to produce a published technical booklet for growers - Organic soft fruit production (title to be confirmed) 3) to disseminate the information to growers and other stakeholders in the organic fruit industr

The Organic Market in Switzerland and the EU - Overview and market access information for producers and international trading companies

The organic market is highly diverse. Production standards and certification and trade rules place considerable demands upon market participants. At the same time, this market holds out excellent opportunities for creative and circumspect producers, processors and traders. To operate successfully in organic import and export business alike, it is crucial to have accurate information on the potential of the specific organic market and on the conditions governing market access. The attractively designed handbook offers the very latest market information for producers an international trading companies, organized both by product group an by country on 80 pages. This second edition is updated in all chapters and has in addition three new markets: Austria, Italy and Sweden. In addition, the handbook provides an easily accessible overview of the - in some instances - quite complicates - import requirements applicable in Switzerland and the EU. In a further 50-page appendix, the handbook contains an extensive collection of addresses (trading companies, authorities, certification bodies, organizations etc.) and Internet Websites. The second edition of this handbook has been produced in English

Knowledge transfer to organic fruit industry

Although consumer demand for organic fruit is strong, it is currently the least developed sector of the UK organic industry, represented by only a small number of commercial growers. One of the main constraints preventing growers becoming more involved in this sector has been the lack of technical information and guidance, resulting in very few growers having the knowhow and confidence to convert. The aim of this project was to produce technical guides for growers on two of the more important commercial fruit crops in the UK, one entitled ‘Organic Apple Production – pest and disease management’ and the other, ‘Organic Strawberry Production – a grower’s guide.’ These have now been published and the information contained within the two booklets should go a long way to meet the current lack of information on organic fruit growing for apple and strawberry crops. The guides will provide valuable information and advice for current and potential growers, researchers, advisors and colleges. The two guides are based on previous DEFRA funded studies, ‘Organic Fruit Production; a review of current practice and knowledge’ (OF0150) and ‘Economics of Organic Fruit Production in the UK’ (OF0151). During these studies, advisory material published by the Swiss Organic Agriculture Research Institute (FiBL) was identified as a useful source of information and extensively revised and updated with relevance to UK conditions. Much additional information for this project was obtained through discussion with growers, advisors and researchers. These included fruit researchers at HRI East Malling, ADAS Fruit Team, Farm Advisory Services Team (FAST Ltd), The Soil Association, The Organic Advisory Service at Elm Farm and The Organic Soft Fruit Working Group. Upon completion, the guides were extensively peer reviewed by organic growers, researchers and advisors both in the UK and abroad. The booklets have now been published as full colour, user-friendly guides (36 pages per guide) priced £8 each. The information contained in the booklets will also become accessible over the internet on the HDRA website. The booklets themselves will be publicised through relevant trade press and horticultural magazines together with relevant forthcoming horticultural / fruit shows. Through the production of these fruit booklets, HDRA has established good contacts and expertise within the organic fruit industry and is well placed to continue to provide growers with further information on organic fruit crops through future collaborative projects. Following successful collaboration with the Organic Soft Fruit Working Group on the strawberry technical guide, the opportunity exists to do similar information provision for other soft fruit crops and a proposal for a further booklet on organic cane and bush fruit production has now been accepted by DEFRA (OF0311)

Organic Livestock: Animal Health, Welfare and Husbandry Assessment of existing knowledge and production of an advisory resource compendium(OF0162)

1. A compendium of animal health and welfare information relevant to organic livestock production has been produced by the Organic Livestock Research Group (OLRG), Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics Research Unit (VEERU), Department of Agriculture, the University of Reading. The compendium is supported by full scientific abstracts taken from the CAB International information database. 2. The objective of the project was to: - Create a database and archive of information on animal health, welfare and husbandry relevant to livestock production under organic standards; - Assess the database and its relevance to organic livestock production; - Develop a series of compendia of advisory resource materials on CD-ROM and in printed format, in consultation with relevant sector bodies, the veterinary profession and organic livestock producers. 3. The compendium has been produced in a CD ROM format and is internet accessible (http://www.organic-vet.reading.ac.uk/). The compendium has been reviewed by specialist veterinarians, advisors and farmers. For copyright purposes, the internet accessible version has been produced without scientific abstracts 4. The aim of the compendia is to serve as a resource material for advisors, inspectors and veterinarians who work with organic or converting farmers in the UK. It is also envisaged that the compendia could be used as a training tool for advisors and veterinarians learning about the issues related to general and specific animal health and welfare aspects of organic livestock production. In addition, the material will provide a useful resource material for the sector bodies and policymakers in the development of organic livestock production standards and regulations. 5. Each compendium is divided into four sub-compendia: Cattle, Sheep, Pigs and Poultry. Each is further divided into two sections. An introductory section, Health and Welfare, outlines general health and welfare issues related to the specific organic production system. Emphasis is placed on the requirements of organic standards in the approach to health and welfare problems. A second section, accessible via the Disease Index, deals in detail with the specific conditions affecting the species in question. Each disease is indexed alphabetically, and by the veterinary and common terms normally applied. 6. The Disease Section describes a range of specific condition is divided further into sub-sections on causes, symptoms, treatment, control, prevention, welfare implications, good practice based on current knowledge and guidelines for the conversion period. The poultry compendium does not contain a sub-section on the conversion period as there is little technical information available to support this. 7. In total, the compendium covers 45 cattle, 44 sheep, 32 poultry and 27 pig diseases and conditions. 8. Each section is supported throughout by references to scientific literature and other publications. These references can be accessed directly from the text by using text links to scientific abstracts, scanned-in advisory materials and reference or reading lists. 9. The compendium has Help and Search facilities. 10. At the time of publication. the compendium contains over 1700 scientific references and more than 50 full advisory documents. It is intended that this particular feature of the compendia will prove useful when in-depth information is sought, or the compendia are used as a training tool. 11. It should be emphasised that the compendium is not intended as a diagnostic or self-help tool for animal health management on the farm. For this reason, diagnostics are not covered in any depth, and the treatment sections usually only suggest potential treatment categories and discuss the urgency and need for treatment from an animal welfare perspective. The authors wish it to be known that diagnosis should always be carried out by a veterinary surgeon, in response to problems seen on a farm. 12. The compendium have been reviewed by members of the advisory team at the Organic Advisory Service on Elm Farm Research Centre in Berkshire, by specialist veterinarians and by organic farmers. 13. In light of the rapid developments within organic farming and research, it is proposed that the information contained within the compendium will require frequent updating, probably on an annual basis. A proposal for the maintenance and expansion of the compendium has been included within the final proposal. The main component of this proposal is the development of a “stakeholder club” of interested parties, whose function would be to raise financial support, to supply technical information and to provide a practical link to the organic farming, advisory and administrative sectors

Survey on the control methods of Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) in organic olive groves producing oil and table olives in Sicily

In Sicily there are several organic farms producing olive oil and the number of farms has grown in the last years. The control methods of Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) used by Sicilian organic farms were surveyed in 2004 and 2005. After a bibliographic search on internet and by personal contacts, a sample of 30 organic farms in Sicily was chosen; 23 farms produce bottled extra-virgin oil and 7 produce table olives. Then farms were contacted by phone, some of them visited and olive growers were interviewed. For each farm were put together data about: interventions vs. the olive fruit fly, altitude, surface of the olive grove, olive cultivar, irrigation method, harvesting period, milling procedure, product destination and production results in 2005 and in the previous years. From collected data we can say that obtaining oils of excellent quality and table olives of good quality in organic farming is surely possible; the early harvesting and a quick milling (for the oil) let to obtain good results. The most used interventions are: mass trapping with ammonium carbonate, pheromone and pyrethroids, bottled-traps baited with sardines, yellow sticky traps, sprays with kaolin, Bordeaux mixture or pyrethrum, but there is more than one third of sampled oil producers not using any control method except early harvesting and a quick milling. Unfortunately the organic farms producing table olives in Sicily are very few, perhaps because, differently from olive oil producers, table olive plantings are almost all young and the experience of growers in such organic cultivation is not strong. Also these growers prefer to use mass trapping to control olive fruit fly, but best results were achieved by farmers spraying kaolin, rotenone or copper hydroxide