Farmers checking organically grown vegetables

Controlling and going against nature has never been a wise thing to do. The repercussions could be fatal in the long run, and this is especially true when you talk about one of my favorite pastime – eating. There was a time when fresh vegetables really mean ‘fresh vegetables’, without any agrochemicals or chemical fertilizers coursing unseen in its roots or hanging invisibly on the surfaces of lea ves. Not so today. Conventional farming methods are now very much dependent on chemical inputs, producing food products that are detrimental to our health in the long term.

Outbreaks of food scares such as mad cow disease (BSE) and bird flu; emergence of unknown diseases in humans, plants and animals; and emergence of highly-resistant pest strains that are immune to toxic pesticides are just a few disasters nature has thrown at us. The world has to deal with an increasing aging population that is health conscious and concerned about the environment, and where consumer demands have shifted from synthetics and chemically-laden products to alternative natural health products. Realizing the negative consequences of ingesting unhealthy and contaminated food produced by uncontrolled chemical-dependent agricultural practices, an outcry from people worldwide has rapidly snowballed.

We have indeed come full circle. It’s back to nature and the basics. No more chemically tainted or genetically-modified food for us and our future generation. Natural food is the best and this is where organic farming comes into play. What is organic farming? It is a holistic production management system, which promotes and enhances the agrosystem, biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity in the food production process. Organic
farming involves feeding of the soil instead of the plant and takes into account food safety practices, for example, GMP and HACCP. This means organically produced food is much safer for consumption; and also lessens environmental damage due to the minimal use of harmful agrochemicals and chemical fertilizers.

Natural compost used in organic farming system

Global interest has heightened in the last decade on organic agriculture because of its direct impact on sustainable development, rural development, environmental protection, people’s health, poverty alleviation, gender empowerment, biodiversity conservation, and food security and safety. As people become more and more health and environment-conscious, the popularity of organic farming has only gained in strength. Recognizing the huge potential of organic food, the Malaysian government is encouraging this ‘back to nature’ trend in society.

The present National Agricultural Policy (1998-2010) has identified organic farming to be one of the potential farming systems to promote sustainable agriculture production in Malaysia, particularly for fruits and vegetable production. Farmers are duly advised to view this as an opportunity for additional income generation. According to YB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, organic farming is a bountiful investment to venture into as the costs of the system as compared to conventional farming is about the same or less. Global sales for organic and natural products are estimated to reach US$100 billion in 2008 as compared to US$23 billion in 2000. With an annual growth rate of 20-30%, the demand for organic products is going to be more than supply in the near future.

In Asia, no country has yet to achieve 1% organic (of its total agricultural land area). The total organic area in Asia is around 50,000 hectares as compared to 15.8 million hectares worldwide. Developing countries like Malaysia has a great potential to supply the world market with organic products. At present, 583 hectares of land area in Malaysia has been developed for organic farming, and the country trades about RM15 million worth of organic products annually. The Malaysian government plans to increase organic production area by 250 acres in the period 2001 to 2005.

Visitors browsing an organic shop

Some of the constraints faced by Asia countries in supplying organic products to the world market are lack of certification or organic regulations, lack of
government support or organic-friendly policies and high cost of certification for organic exports (most products certified by foreign certifying bodies). For malaysia, the government is getting on the organic bandwagon through its efforts in encouraging ‘organic villages’ in kampungs and farmlands, organizing awareness seminars, for example, the recent National Natural Farming Seminar, highlighting successful ‘organic villages’ such as Tampin in Negeri Sembilan, Beranang in Selangor, developing the Malaysian Standard – MS 1529: 2001, and introducing the Organic Certification Scheme.

MS 1529: 2001, which focused on the production, processing, labeling and marketing of plant-based organically produced food, was developed by a Working Group on Organic Foods, comprising of representatives from Department of Agriculture (DOA), Ministry of Health, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA),Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Centre for Environment Technology and Development Malaysia (CETDEM), SIRIM Berhad, and a few organic product producers.
The Organic Certification Scheme complements the MS 1529: 2001, and goes a long way to increase the nation’s organic food exports. YB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is targeting organic food exports to Singapore to achieve a volume of RM7.42 million with the scheme. Japan and Singapore are two markets projected to show rapid growth for organic product. The Organic Certification Scheme will serve to enhance the competitiveness and pricing of agricultural product. Todate, 23 farms comprising of 465 hectares have signed up for the Organic Certification Scheme.

Organic products is a multi-million dollar industry

The Advantages of an Organic Farming System:

� Enhances the biological diversity within the whole system

� Increases soil biological activity

� Maintains long term soil fertility

� Recycles wasters of plant and animal origin in order to return nutrients to the land, thus minimizing the use of non-renewable resources

� Relies on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural system

� Promotes the healthy use of soil, water and air as well as minimizing all forms of pollution thereto that may result from agricultural practices

� Handles agricultural products with emphasis on careful processing methods in order to maintain the organic integrity and vital qualities of the products at all stages

Processed organic-certified tomato sauce