1. ORGANIC AGRICULTURE Where? Why? What? How? Koen den Braber Technical Advisor Organic Agriculture – ADDA June 01, 2007

2. The Global Picture (2004)  Organic agriculture now in  110 countries  Over 26 million hectares managed organically (Vietnam has 6,475 ha)  For some countries up to 10% of their land area is set aside as organic (Austria, Denmark), but in general organic land still less than 1% of total  Huge range of products sold globally  Retail sales in 2003 were estimated to be at least $US 23 billion

4. World Organic Area Area under organic management per continent (2004)

5. Organic production in Vietnam  Very new concept: since 5 – 10 years only  Area developing rapildly, now around 6,475 ha  Mostly driven by companies for export (aquaculture, tea, spices, fruits, …)  Only one company is/was active in the local market (vegetables)  Few international and local organizations supporting organic agriculture (main exceptions ADDA and GTZ)  IFOAM has two members from Vietnam

6. Why Organic Agriculture?  First organic pioneers started their work in 1920s – 1930s (Steiner, Okada, Howard, …)  Organic agriculture has developed as a reaction to the negative aspects of conventional farming: –Environmental factors –Food quality –Agronomic factors –Economical and social factors  Other alternatives (IPM, safe agriculture) are NOT a transition from conventional to organic agriculture

7. Conventional Agriculture  Environmental factors (e.g., pesticides disrupt ecological balances, herbicides pollute the ground water)  Food quality (e.g., pesticides contaminate food, high levels of nitrate, negative effect on taste)  Agronomic factors (e.g., heavy use of chemical fertilisers leads to weak plants  more susceptible to diseases, less attention to organic fertilisers  erosion, insect resistance to insecticides, limited crop rotations  increase pest and diseases and exhaustion of the soil, genetic engineering, loss in biodiversity, …)  Economical factors (e.g., labour force in agriculture greatly reduced, production of excess food, shift to large and mechanised farms, farms more specialised, …)

8. Comparison of Vietnam Standards Safe and Organic Agriculture Integral to production methods No specific standards Soil and Environmental Conservation Restricted to more natural methods No LimitationsAnimal breeding Not PermittedPermittedUse of growth promoters Defined limitNo LimitationsFodder purchase Strict regulationsNo RegulationAnimal friendly keeping No chemical treatment PermittedTreated seed material Not PermittedPermittedUse of GMO Not PermittedPermittedChemical fertilizers Not PermittedPermitted, with certain restrictions Chemical insecticides, fungicides and herbicides Organic AgricultureSafe FoodCriteria

9. The Basic Principles On a general level:  Improve and maintain the natural landscape and agro-ecosystem  Avoid over-exploitation and pollution of natural resources  Minimize consumption of non-renewable energy and resources  Produce sufficient quantities of nutritious wholesome and high quality food  Provide adequate returns, within a safe, secure and healthy working environment  Acknowledge indigenous knowledge and traditional farming systems From: IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements)

10. The Basic Principles On a practical level:  Maintain and increase the long-term fertility of the soil  Enhance biological cycles within the farm, especially nutrient cycles  Provide nitrogen supply by intensive use of N-fixing plants  Plant protection based on prevention instead of curing  Diversity of crop varieties and animal species, appropriate to the local conditions  Animal husbandry appropriate to needs of the animals  Ban on synthetic chemical fertilizers, plant protection, hormones and growth regulators  Prohibition of Genetic Engineering and its products  Ban on synthetic or harmful methods, processing aids and ingredients in food processing

11. Organic only for the market?  Organic production for the market  big opportunity for farmers in developing countries  But organic farming also leads to more sustainable production:  Less dependency on external inputs  More efficient production (recycling, soil and water conservation)  less waste (erosion)  Improvements of yield particularly in marginal areas with poor soils  Improved nutrition through wider crop rotations  Good potential for organic agriculture to contribute to more sustainable production among poor farmers (not just for the market)

12. Why do farmers choose organic production? There have been many surveys carried out around the world to answer this question. Farmers in each country respond in a similar way (including in Vietnam).  Health of the family  Potential for better cash income  Better for the environment  Better food security (diversity of products)

13. Why are consumers interested?  Growing concern over the risks posed by high residues of chemical pesticides and other contaminants in agricultural products  Fast development of production and consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits and animal products  Vegetables production: –1980s: 274,000 ha –present: over 600,000 ha

14. Can organic feed the world? Latest News!!!!!  Yield comparison of organic versus conventional production showed for most food categories that the average yield ratio was slightly 1.0 in the developing world (293 studies)  Model estimates based on these yields indicate that organic methods could produce enough food on a global per capita basis to sustain the current human population.  The same model further suggests that leguminous cover crops could fix enough nitrogen to replace the amount of synthetic fertilizer currently in use. Badgley et al. (2006) presented at FAO Organic Conference in May 2007.

16. Key requirements Prohibited inputs:  All synthetic chemical fertilisers such as urea  Chemical herbicides such as roundup  Chemical pesticides  GMOs Encouraged:  Recycling of farm waste through composting  Use of mineral inputs.  Preventive crop protection measures  Manual control  Biological and botanical pest controls

17. Organic soil management Possible options: 1.Compost 2.Green manure (legumes) 3.Animal manures 4.Mineral soil conditioners (lime) 5.Mulching 6.Bio-fertilisers

18. Organic Pest Management (enhance the natural balance as far as possible) Possible options:  Biological control  Pheromone lures and traps  Botanical pesticides  Manual control such as regular plucking in tea  Crop rotation  Mixed cropping

19. Buffer zones/border crops Buffer zones and border crops are needed in case of outside contamination from forbidden chemicals through spray drift or surface water.

20. Build on-farm biodiversity to achieve maximum benefits from the farm, integrate crop and livestock systems. Smallholder – traditional Lao Cai Intensive tea production Tan Cuong Biodiversity

22. Livestock has important role Role of livestock:  Recycle crop residues and provide manure for composting  Provide food and cash income  Work on the farm There are special organic standards for animals

23. Integrating animals in the farm

24. Standards and Control  Standards describe the principles for organic production and the methods through which they can be measured.  Groups of organic farmers and their supporters (consumers, NGOs) began developing organic standards as early as in the 1940's  Currently there are hundreds of private organic standards worldwide  Organic standards have been included in the technical regulations of more than 60 governments  Third-party organic certification was first instituted in the 1970's by the same organic farming groups that first developed organic standards

25. Certification covers all aspects of the production chain Production Harvesting Processing Inputs Transport and Storage What is covered?