[ppi] [ppiindia] Going Organic

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http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33392


CHINA:
Going Organic
Antoaneta Bezlova 




BEIJING , May 27 (IPS) - For a country so enamoured of biotechnology and a 
recognised leader in genetically modified crops research, China is experiencing 
an organic farming boom. 

While the surge is mainly fuelled by increased overseas demand, the domestic 
market is playing a role too. Chinese urbanities have developed a genuine 
fondness for fresh organic produce-- grown particularly in reclaimed wastelands 
like the 'Great Northern Wilderness' in the northeast and believed to be 
uniquely free of fertilisers and pesticides. 

A fair for green produce from the Great Northern Wilderness, held in Beijing 
this month, was a hit with consumers. Some 20 tonnes of organic rice was sold 
during the five-day event. 

''We banked on our reputation of being far away from pollution and working a 
land that hasn't been treated with chemicals for 60 years,'' says Sui Fengfu, 
director of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau of the northeastern 
Heilongjiang province. For years, China pursued chemical input-heavy farming to 
increase yields and ensure enough food for its enormous population. Chinese 
leaders see food self-sufficiency as a political imperative and have invested 
millions in GM crop research in order to secure ever-higher yields. 

Nevertheless, recent years have seen a surge in organic farming, which 
advocates the use of traditional farming methods without use of fertilisers or 
pesticides. The demand is driven by an explosion of organic food sales 
overseas. China's organic food exports totalled 142 million US dollars in 2003 
and 200 million US dollars in 2004. 

While these overseas sales account for only a fraction of the 27 billion US 
dollar global market for organic foods, they are increasing at a rate of 50 
percent annually. 

''There was virtually no domestic market for organic products in the early 
1990s," says Li Debo, deputy-director of the Organic Food Research Centre under 
the State Environmental Protection Agency. "But now big cities like Beijing and 
Shanghai have many specialised shops for organic food, selling vegetables, tea, 
rice, honey and fruits." 

An estimated two million hectares of farmland are under organic cultivation, 
while some 1,400 companies and farms have been certified organic. Exports are 
the main driving engine behind the sector's growth. Chinese organic products 
are exported mostly to Europe where they dominate the supply of pumpkin, 
sunflower seeds, and kidney and black beans. The U.S. and Japan are also major 
buyers. 

Growth in domestic demand has been spurred by rising urban incomes, the 
emergence an affluent middle class and also because recent years have seen an 
increasing number of food safety scandals. 

In 2004, transparent 'glass' noodles were banned in major Chinese cities after 
certain brands were found to be using a lead-based whitener. In 2003, 78 
primary school children in the southern town of Beihai were poisoned after 
drinking contaminated soya milk. Such food scares have prompted calls for the 
expansion of the organic food sector. 

The government has heeded those calls, recognising the global and domestic 
market potential. Unlike in many countries, where organic farming has emerged 
spontaneously as a response to environment and health concerns, in China most 
conversion initiatives have been driven by the government. 

This year, the National People's Congress adopted a new five-year blueprint for 
the country's economic development, whose main tenet is to boost the incomes of 
the 800 million people living in the rural areas. The plan calls for a "new 
socialist countryside" and redress of the uneven distribution of wealth between 
the cities and the country, which has seen rural living standards lagging far 
behind those of their urban counterparts. 

Renowned agricultural economist Wen Tiejun has described the creation of 
organic farming trial zones around big cities as "Noah's arks" that could avert 
social disorder by providing employment for migrant workers and laid-off 
people. 

Du Xiangge of the Beijing Agricultural University says promoting organic 
farming fits nicely with the government's greater environmental sensitivity. 
The shift to certified organic methods requires a three-year conversion period 
during which no chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are used on the 
land. 

In the past, farmers have tried to increase yields with modern nitrate-based 
fertilizers, but this has had damaging side-effects on soil health. ''The 
return to more natural farming methods for organic production would allow the 
land to recover and would be a plus to the environment," says Du. 

But the rapid growth of the sector in a country where only 15 percent of the 
land mass is arable, has led to concern among some experts. 

Recently, scholars of the Chinese Academy of Sciences pointed out that if China 
were to adopt organic food strategy on a large scale, the size of the cropland 
would have to be expanded significantly, which is not an option for the 
land-scarce country. 

They argue that China is only able to feed one-fifth of the world's population 
on one-seventh of the world's arable land because some 75 percent of the crop 
nutrients are now supplied by chemical fertilisers, compared with only 22 
percent in 1965. 

But Du dismisses the idea of organic farming going mainstream in China. "Only 
ten percent of the organically certified land is currently planted with grain," 
he says. "The big mass is planted with fruits, vegetables and tea.'' 

Despite its vigorous growth, Du says the organic sector remains a tiny niche 
market, accounting for just one percent of total food sales. 

With the sector growing so fast, many fear for the quality control of the 
produce, given China's enormous size and reputation for lax law enforcement. 
The country has over 200 individual food safety laws, regulations and 
standards, which apply at national and regional level, according to official 
media. 

Yet there have been reports of pesticide residues being found in 
organic-labelled spinach exported from China to Japan, prompting foreign buyers 
to begin dispatching their own food controllers. (END/2006) 


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