|
|
|
Organics Symposium Identifies Gaps in Knowledge and Understanding St. Paul, Minn. (September 21, 2006) - The organics industry is booming. However, gaps in research and support for growers and others in the supply chain have hampered the growth of this fast growing segment of agriculture. Recognizing this, the United States Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with other organizations in the public and private sectors, sponsored a symposium to explore the issues and help the organics industry realize its true growth potential. "The most important thing the symposium did was to clearly show the gaps in our understanding and knowledge about organic markets, organic research, and organic farming systems," said Carolee Bull, a research scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service and member of the symposium's coordinating committee. "And by outlining those gaps, we've found out what needs to be done." The proceedings of the symposium, Organic Agriculture: Innovations in Organic Marketing, Technology, and Research, is now publicly available through Crop Management, www.cropmanagement.org, an online journal of the Plant Management Network. A total of 18 presentations across six themes are explored including (i) challenges remaining in the organic sector, (ii) producer options and obstacles, (iii) market growth, (iv) the training of farmers and other agricultural professionals, (v) measuring and communicating the benefits of organic farming, and (vi) research. "It's amazing that organic agriculture has been as successful as it has been in spite of all the gaps that were identified," said Bull. "That is probably a direct result of the tenacity of organic farmers and the consumers who want organic products. More and more consumers want to be a part of this and, therefore, it is as important for them to know about these issues--as it is for marketers, researchers, growers, government policymakers, and university administrators," she said. Bull said the collaborative effort was a significant development in the organics industry. "I think this symposium is a really interesting example of agencies and private-public partnering to produce a set of information that isn't available anywhere else and that will be referred to for years to come in organic publications," said Bull. The United Stated Department of Agriculture, www.usda.gov, is committed to helping America's farmers and ranchers, and is a leader in everything from human nutrition to new crop technologies. Plant Management Network, www.plantmanagementnetwork.org, is a cooperative not-for-profit resource for the applied plant and agricultural sciences. Designed to provide practitioners fast electronic access to proven solutions, the Plant Management Network offers four science-based applied journals, four field trials publications, and an extensive searchable database comprised of thousands of web-based resource pages from the network's partner universities, companies, and associations. Media Contact: Phil Bogdan Phone: +1.651.994.3859 E-mail: pbogdan@scisoc.org |
