The DR's potential as an exporter of organics

Keith R

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Jan 1, 2002
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Check this article by EFE out:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/DominicanRep.cfm

Can the DR become a substantial exporter of certified organic products? Does it export some now? If so, which products to which markets? Who is doing the certification? Which organic products should the DR consider focusing on?

I know that some DR1ers have visited an organic banana farm in the DR. Care to share info about the place, and insights gained?
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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Keith,

I?ll ask the owners of the farm to give us permission to share some information. Let us be sensitive here to people who run an excellent business and farming operation, but who may prefer to remain low-key.

In terms of certification, there are a number of certification bodies, especially in Europe where organic produce is accepted and welcomed, more so than in the US.

Insights -- organic produce requires the same number of inputs as conventional produce. In addition, one needs to keep up with certifications. In addition, there are market conditions, governmental subsidies in various countries and a host of other problems to overcome. Generally people may think that fertilizers and soil enhancers are not used at all. This is erroneous. Usually organic fertilizers and crop enhancers are used, similar to conventional growing. So, the main insight is that organic farming is still farming, fraught with difficulties, whether in the DR or anywhere else.

The DR is probably ideally suited and situated to focus on growing organic produce, given that the market can be found. I recently ran across a very interesting business where they take organic coconut husks, put them through a crusher and come up with an ideal growing medium, slope stabilizer and soil enhancer for specifically grapes and other decidious fruits. This is being exported to grape growing areas in California and to Holland, for flowers.

The whole topic is fascinating, but farming is still farming.
 

MaineGirl

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organics

This is an interesting topic. I'll give my 2 cents.

I was raised on an organic farm in Maine. I started working when I was ten (champion rock picker.) We started fairly large scale on an old potato farm. Eventually Pops fixed the huge potato picker to pick rocks instead of spuds and I moved on to the next job.

It is extremely hard work, and a large-scale operation slowly broke us. ALthough we grew the healthiest, most delicious produce in the county! People just DIDN'T CARE about the quality of the food and WOULDN'T PAY for it. They'd rather go to the local food mart and get the produce that is famously delivered "at the end of the East Coast line". You truly cannot get farther east in the US than where I live.

We used to get 18 wheelers up from the coast from the canneries, full of fish scales. This made us very unpopular in the neighborhood. We got trucks from chicken farms, full of poop. When my dad would spread the stuff, occasionally we'd get a chicken in the field. The local horse farm gladly gave us their manure. Pops also had various mixtures and remedies to temper the soil. He was much beloved on the Cooperative Extension and recently received recognition as Volunteer of the Year and the Leon Look Award, for his dedication to agriculture and community. I am proud of his dream and his ethic--now he teaches school, a regular paycheck.

We dealt with beetles, slugs, weeds, etc. WE dealt with problems--not a spray or chemical, although as Chris said, you just can't leave the stuff alone and expect it to grow. It was so labor intensive it wasn't funny. We worked 10 months of the year. January and February were the months that were the hardest. What can you do but look at seed catalogues and dream?

I used to have to weed, by hand, the longest rows you've ever seen. We had a contract with an organic baby food company for a few years, squash and parsnips. I would weed the field for a few hours in the morning and then go back in the late afternoon. We wore bugnets to work in fly season. The parsnips had to be harvested after a frost. We washed every parsnip by hand. Finally good ol' Pops invented a drum washer. We could wash a bunch at a time. We have a video of the crazy crew washing these vegetables. I believe that was the season that really broke us.

It was a true labor of love that had no financial success. I have great memories and a great work ethic. But I know that I would never venture to have a large-scale organic operation. I don't know how people can do it, although in California, there are some huge operations that are quite successful.

Organic is preferred on our table, and I am willing to pay for it, too. I see a skinny kid picking rocks and weeds, and shovelling stinky fish scales onto the spreader, and picking corn worms off the end of the world's best sweet corn, when I eat organic.

We have been out of business for several years and every summer we get people who have heard of the food at the farm. They seem so disappointed, but 5-6 customers a year does not a prosperous business make.

I want to know how they do it in the DR. We had very strict regulations in Maine. I also want to know what obstacles are faced by the growers. For a while there, I dreamed of being famous potato-beetle scientist. I thought I could identify every type of beetle. I picked what seemed like a million a day from the plants. These banana farmers--how do they deal with the obstacles?

Two cents turned into 5 bucks, but this is a truly memorable subject for me.
 
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Keith R

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Chris & Amity,
Wonderful insights! Thanks much!

Chris, I hope the banana folks agree to toot their horn here a bit, while explaining to us some of the challenges. I am not adverse to hearing from organic producers that contribute to our understanding. And I feel it might be useful for DR1 to collection contact info in some sort of directory for organic producers in the DR. No spam, just basic contact info plus a brief description of what products they offer, what certifications they have. What do you think?

Any idea of which of the certification bodies operate in the DR, and who does their work for them locally?

I have heard (I think from Jaime? How about it, Jaime?) about the cocount husks being offered by a German entrepreneur as an excellent growth medium. Do you know who they are? They should be mentioned here. We actually have some folks involved in farming, small-scale food growing and gardening that might be interested in how to obtain some of the product.

Nobody said it didn't take alot of work and expense. Farming is still farming, and as Amity (Mainegirl) points out, organic farming can be even more work than regular farming.

I am particularly interested in organic farming techniques that allow significant reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, without sacrificing net profit and quality in the final product.

There is a strong and growing market for certified organic produce in the European market, where many people are willing to pay for such products, and the DR could make some in-roads there, I believe.

Regards,
Keith
 

Chris

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That is exactly how they deal with the obstacles, MainGirl, with picking the bugs off by hand if necessary and weeding every row, just like you did.

If one has a market for your produce, it becomes so much easier to deal with the obstacles. In Europe (used as a loose alliance of countries) there seems to be quite a backlash against mass produced and especially genetically engineered foods. So, the market for organic foods is well established. This helps. If your dad had a good market, you?d probably still be weeding beds and picking bugs, wearing bugnets and washing vegetables ;)
 

Chris

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Keith R said:
Chris, I hope the banana folks agree to toot their horn here a bit, while explaining to us some of the challenges. I am not adverse to hearing from organic producers that contribute to our understanding. And I feel it might be useful for DR1 to collection contact info in some sort of directory for organic producers in the DR. No spam, just basic contact info plus a brief description of what products they offer, what certifications they have. What do you think?

Well, I just happen to be on the farm today - so, for all the folks that are interested, pick a Saturday and we?ll do a tour. It takes about two hours from Santiago to get here and then a little less than an hour to get to the port to see the loading into the ships (important for good quality fruit).

Depending on the number of people interested, I am thinking of a bus from a Central Point in Santiago. Anyone with another idea, please speak up.

This could be fun - let?s pack a picknic basket and have a good time - while learning something.

I?ll get the details of the certifications and do a little handout package for the day.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Keep me informed. I would like to be informed in case we can make it from the far and distant south.

On organics, there are several initiatives across the country, some small scale (which is what works best for most crops) with support of NGOs.

The DR is an important exporter of organic coffee, bananas and cacao: no 1 in the world since the unrest in Sierra Leone scuppered their cacao exports. Europe is the main customer.

Mercado Ecologico on C Leonor Feltz, Mirador Sur
fama@codetel.net.do

See also our article in www.DominicanCooking.com and the discussion in the forum there.

Chiri
 

MaineGirl

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Jun 23, 2002
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labor-intensive, but lots of workers?

It would seem that there is a greater labor force to do the hands-on work in the DR.

There are only so many 10-year Mainegirls who like to pick bugs for beans in the states.