Workshop features research in organic fruit production
Nov. 15, 2007Contact Information:
Curt Rom, Professor of Horticulture, 479-575-7434 / crom@uark.edu
Heather Friedrich, Program Technician, Horticulture, 479-575-2798 / heatherf@uark.edu
Elena Garcia, Extension Fruit Specialist, 479-575-2790 / megarcia@uark.edu
By Fred Miller, Science Editor
479-575-5647, fmiller@uark.edu
Program Technician Jason McAfee leads participants on a tour of the organic apple orchard during the first University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Organic Fruit Production Workshop.
Curt Rom, professor of horticulture, leads participants on a tour of high tunnel production test plots for blackberries and raspberries during the first University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Organic Fruit Production Workshop."USDA certified organic produce sells for 30 to 50 percent more than other produce and consumption is increasing demand 10 to 15 percent per year," Rom said. "This is our opportunity."
The opportunity also presents a number of challenges to growers in Arkansas and surrounding states, Rom said, and that opens new avenues for division research and extension programs.
"A lot of growers are already using some organic methods, but they haven't put the system together that will allow them to obtain the price premium," Rom said.
In search of such a system, some 100 organic fruit growers and county extension agents from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri attended the Division of Agriculture's first Organic Fruit Production Workshop at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Fayetteville Nov. 9. Topics covered government regulation, organic agricultural production systems, weed and insect management, nutrition and soil management and economics. Participants toured an organic apple research orchard and test plots for high tunnel production of blackberries and raspberries.
The organic orchard research is a 10-year project to adapt organic production practices for southern states, Rom said. He and a multi-disciplined team of scientists are studying organic practices for managing weeds, insects, soil fertility and encouraging biodiversity. Following a three-year transition, the research plots will become a USDA certified organic orchard in 2008.
The high tunnel research uses fabric shelters to mediate extreme temperatures and protect blackberry and raspberry plants from frost. Rom said the tunnels allow producers to advance production to earlier in the year and extend it later. The research takes advantage of Arkansas primocane blackberry varieties, which produce a late crop of blackberries from first-season canes, to push harvest into late summer or fall.
"We think we can extend berry production from six weeks to five months," Rom said.
In an overview, George Kuepper, sustainable agriculture specialist for the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, said organic farming goes back to the early 20th century, when it was called humus farming. The term "organic" came into use during the 1940s.
During the 1960s and '70s, organic farming was "discovered" by the counterculture, Kuepper said.
"What they didn't realize," he said, "was that organic farming requires having a production system in place. There were some good organic farms, but many were in poor shape and grew low quality produce, so organic farming had a poor image for a while."
The Organic Production Act of 1990 began a series of draft legislations that resulted in the establishment of national standards for organic production by 2002, Kuepper said.
Today, organic production has moved out of the counterculture of the '60s into a commercial enterprise, Rom said. "Today's organic producers are capitalists with a conscience," he said. "They want to make a living while having a minimal impact on the environment."
Rom and entomologist Donn Johnson, funded by two USDA grants, surveyed organic producers, processors, marketers and researchers from seven southern states to determine needs and interest for a systematic approach to organic production research.
"We found a lot of need for research-based information," Rom said. "And at the University of Arkansas, there's strong interest in organic research and extension programs."
Division scientists in horticulture, entomology, agricultural economics and environmental sciences are employing a team approach to organic production research, Rom said. He plans to make results available as the research proceeds. More information is available on the Web:
http://hort.uark.edu/research-programs/fruit-production-and-org-agri.html
A Division of Agriculture organic resource manual is available for download from the Web:
http://www.aragriculture.org/horticulture/Organic_Resource_Manual.pdf