Organic

FreshPlaza's February Global Focus is on organics. Are you involved in the organic trade? How has the market been affected by the pandemic? Is there increased demand for organic produce? We would love to hear about your organic products. You can contact us via info@freshplaza.com  MarketingWould you like to…

Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

Organic produce is a lucrative and growing market and an easy target for food fraud. Mislabeled organically certified pistachios were bringing in up to 80% more revenue than conventional nuts, resulting in a €6 million profit. European officials including Europol uncovered the illegal operation and made 14 arrests in Spain. Forensic analysis showed that the pistachios contained illegal pesticides.

In a legal battle over what constitutes organic farming, a federal judge signaled Thursday he is unlikely to find a 1990 law forbids labeling hydroponic and other crops not grown in soil as organic. Joined by organic farmers and trade groups, the Center for Food Safety sued the U.S. Food and Drug…

GP Solutions announced it started R&D into growing strawberries, and will soon begin cultivation of the popular fruit. GrowPods - controlled-environment micro-farms - allow farmers to grow herbs, fruits and vegetables year-round without using chemical crop protection. This is a particular advantage when…

Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) have reached an arrangement for trade of organic food.

In innovation center ‘de Kas’ by Van der Knaap Group, tests are being conducted with a diverse range of vegetable crops. The tests focus on various types of substrates and mineral versus organic nutrition for crops. This article will discuss the strawberry test conducted. Last year, Van der Knaap…

​Potting soil consists of a mixture with, for example, peat, coconut or wood fibers. Organic residues may also be added to this, but according to industry regulations up to a certain maximum. This is because residues such as compost, roadside grass and other organic residuals can have negative effects on…

Last year Van der Knaap Groep performed two different trials with hydroponic lettuce. Karel de Bruijn: “We used mineral nutrients in one pond and organic in the other. Last year's trial was successful. The filtration system did its job. The membranes ensure the bacteria can't pass through. That's why our…

Organic fruit and vegetables sold in France are not cheaper in supermarkets compared to buying them in health food shops, a new study has found. According to Consumer association CLCV (l'Association nationale de défense des consommateurs et usagers), organic fruit and vegetables are 44% more expensive…

As the climate crisis intensifies, a growing number of consumers have begun to see healthy soils as a potential solution. As a result, soil-building techniques like cover crops and diverse crop rotations are increasingly in the limelight. But for many dyed-in-the-wool organic farmers, they’re old hat.

“These are practices that have been part of organic certification for decades now,” said Laura Batcha, CEO of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), during a September media briefing to kick off a campaign positioning organic farming as a climate solution.

Together with his partners, Richard Specht runs the Piluweri nursery in Müllheim-Hügelheim. A total of around 60 different types of vegetables are being grown there. The nursery is a pure organic entity; it produces vegetables according to Demeter guidelines. In cultivation, the growers rely on organic…

Managing plant fertilization is a major concern of greenhouse growers to achieve sustainable production with growing media. Organic fertilization is popular but is more difficult to control, since organic compounds need first to be mineralized by microbes. After 7, 14, 28, and 56 days of incubation, we investigated the response of microbial activities and nutrient releases from three frequently used organic fertilizers (horn and two plant-based fertilizers) in three frequently employed growing media (GM) types (peat, coir, and bark). We measured pH, electrical conductivity, nutrient contents (NH4+-N, NO3−-N, PO43−-P, SO42−-S), and enzyme activities (β-1.4-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase, arylsulfatase). After fertilization, microbes in coir expressed all the C, N, P, and S functions studied, making related nutrients available. In peat and bark, some C, N, P, and S-related pathways were locked. Peat presented high NH4+-N and PO43−-P releases linked to high acid phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities, while bark showed high nitrification rates but weak enzyme activities. Fertilizer types modulated these responses with lower activities and nutrient releases with horn. Our results contributed to better understanding mineralization processes in GM, showing different microbial responses to fertilization.

Brazil has its first-ever organic mango farming system. Research had been underway for over 10 years at the Mandioca e Fruticultura (Cassava and Fruit Culture) unit of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). Now, the results are available to growers online in a guide that covers…

Dairy Farmers of America helped launch the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, a coalition of companies hoping to turn food waste into renewable energy and fertilizer.

Around 20,000 tons of bananas are ripened annually at the ripening facility of Migros Lucerne in Dierikon, Switzerland. The fruit's journey begins in Costa Rica, Panama, Peru or Ecuador. Packed while still green, the bananas are transported by ship to Antwerp, Rotterdam or Bremerhaven, where they are…

The months of December until March will be dominated by organic grapes from South Africa at OTC Organics, distributor of organic fruit and vegetables. Last year, the first steps were taken in the development of sustainable packaging. This year the packaging line for grapes has been expanded with two new…

According to data from the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Government of Andalusia, the prices at origin of organic tomatoes produced in the 2019/2020 campaign have exceeded those of the tomatoes produced conventionally by 34.79%. The Observatory says that tomatoes account for 37% of the volume of…

Studies in the United States have shown the important role soil biology plays in managing high sodium levels in lettuce crops. To assist growers with managing their salt, a biological product has been developed – and the benefits have been wide-ranging, including improved crop quality and higher…

In November, Mercabarna will launch the first wholesale market specialized in organic food in Spain, and the second in Europe: Biomarket, which will concentrate the supply of this growing segment and will facilitate marketing and distribution from a single platform. One of the companies that will have a…

You must be facing the problem of insects and pests in your farm. Here we have some natural ingredients recipe that can help you get rid of large and small insects including borer, pod borer, fruit borer and, some other insects.

Farmers have struggled with the presence of weeds in their fields since the beginning of agriculture. Weeds can be considered a significant problem because they tend to decrease crop yields by increasing competition for water, sunlight and nutrients while serving as host plants for pests and diseases.

In 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted that 52 million people in the MENA region were chronically undernourished. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with climate change and economic slowdown, could bring twice as many under the purview of 'acute food insecurity', this year. Water scarcity,…

Van der Knaap is known for their substrate knowledge, but did you know they also developed a sustainable cultivation system? The liquid nutrient solution rich in organic NO3 that is produced with this system is also extremely suitable for other cultivation systems, such as growing lettuce in a hydroponic…

In January 2017, Chilean Customs inspectors acted on a tip from a whistleblower: The country’s prized crop of raspberries was under threat. Inspectors raided the offices of Frutti di Bosco, a little-known fruit trading company on the second floor of a tower block in downtown Santiago. The files, company…

Grimmway Farms, headquartered in Bakersfield, California may be up for sale. A statement issued by the company says, “exciting opportunities to better serve our customers and position the Company for the future are being considered.” “Throughout the 51-year history, the family-owned enterprise has…

The prediction of nitrogen (N) mineralization or immobilization in organic fertilizers is an important tool to optimize fertilizer use, especially in intensive agricultural systems. Our aim was to derive a model to predict the N mineralization/immobilization from readily available information on the properties of organic fertilizers in farming practice. On the basis of a literature review, a characterization of organic fertilizers was performed, revealing a large variance in fertilizer properties within the defined categories and subcategories. A partial linear model was derived and used for the prediction of N mineralization/immobilization based on the type of fertilizer and the carbon (C) to organic nitrogen (Norg) ratio. Depending on the previously defined category, a strong mineralization (e.g., plant- and animal-based commercial fertilizers) or a predominant immobilization (e.g., compost and slurries) was detected. For a total of seven main categories and their subcategories, individual models were developed. This work shows that the mineralization properties of organic fertilizers can be sufficiently predicted through a simple classification into a fertilizer category and through the C to Norg ratio.

Early in the morning of August 31st, 2020, as Salisha Odum owner/operator of Salisha’s Delicious Organic Produce, readied her daughter for online school, they both responded immediately to the sound of a plane flying close, at low altitude, to their house and fields. 

The plane flew back and forth several times over the course of an hour, and by the third pass, Salisha said the unknown chemicals settled on the land.  

“That’s when I smelled the chemicals. And then I kind of got sick and dizzy and you know, wasn’t feeling good at that time either … we were out taking videos … because what had happened in the past … we wanted to get some footage if we could,” Odum said. 

Today, Member of Parliament for Pontiac, William Amos, on behalf of the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced an investment of over $640,000 to the Canadian Organic Growers (COG) to help get more Canadian consumers buying Canadian-made organics produced locally by Canadian organic farmers.

The Organic Produce Network has announced a virtual online event featuring Frank Padilla, Costco’s vice president and general merchandise manager for produce and meat, and Steve Lutz, Category Partners’ senior vice president of insights and innovation, discussing sales and consumer purchasing behavior of organic fresh produce through the first seven months of the year.

What a Year It’s Been, So Far…. will be a provocative and engaging virtual conversation about sales of organic fresh produce, how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumer buying habits, and the future of retail grocery as part of the exclusive OPN event on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 10 AM PDT.

Moderated by Tonya Antle, OPN co-founder, What a Year It’s Been, So Far…. is a complimentary online session available for all members of the produce industry. Lutz will provide an overview of organic fresh produce sales data across retail for the first half of the year, with Padilla discussing how consumer buying practices have changed during the pandemic and what may lie ahead in the future. Registration is available here.

Organic produce has hit the mainstream. So says Jim Donald, co-chairman of the board of Albertsons Companies Inc., a leading retail company with some 20 retail banners to its name. “Our produce manager is doing 40-50 percent of his business in organics. It’s mainstream and it’s not going away,” said…