Organic Agriculture Reduces Medical Expenses Among Rice Farmers in Thailand

May be there are many people out there has been asking what is the fuss about organic faming? For many different reasons actually, and today I'm sharing one of the interesting fact about organic farming and consumption could reduce medical expenditure.

The research was conducted by ASEAN Development Bank Institure (ADBI) involved 626 households in North and Northeast of Thailand. In Table 1 below, expenditures of organic and conventional farmers are almost at the same level in many categories except for household operations, education and medical expenses. The organic farmers spent more on the earlier two categories meanwhile the conventional farmers spent almost 53.3% higher than the organic farmers.

The assumptions made by ADBI with regards to the medical expenditure that "it is likely that the organic farmers are healthier as they are not exposed to toxic agrochemicals and have better access to homegrown organic products whics are known to have higher levels of vitamin and minerals (Brandt 2007)".

Table 1: Comparison of Amount of Pesticides Spent by Organic and Conventional Rice Farmers In Thailand
	Organic Farmers	Convetional Farmers	Difference (%)
Number of respondents	309	317
Household expenditure comparison on selected categories (Baht)
Food items	15,000	15,200	1.3
Tobacco and alcohol	1,800	1,900	5.2
Clothing	1,700	1,700	0.0
Personal care	2,200	2,100	-4.8
Fuel, transportation, communication	13,000	13,000	0.0
Household operations	8,900	6,500	-36.9
Education	9,800	7,800	-25.6
Medical expenses	700	1,500	53.3
Note: The expenditures stated above is estimated amount based on bar graph in ADBI research report

Source: ADBI Institute Working Paper No. 129

Let us now imagine if the whole agriculture sector is converted into organic method, how much would you think the national expenses on public health would be reduce. Not to mention other benefits related to health as well like environmental conservation. But of course there will also be some people who would argue with such low production of organic farming, how are we going to survive? May be in the next entry.

Senarai Operator Organik Dengan Sijil Pengesahan Di Malaysia

Berikut adalah senarai operator organik diperingkat pengeluaran dan pemprosesan yang telah pun memiliki sijil organik dari badan-badan persijilan tempatan mahu pun antarabangsa. Sijil ini hanya akan dikeluarkan oleh badan-badan persijilan selepas operator menjalani pemeriksaan dan didapati telah memenuhi semua kehendak piawaian organik yang dipilih.

Operator berhak untuk memilih lebih daripada satu persijilan, malah dalam keadaan tertentu, seperti ketetapan undang, operator tidak ada pilihan dan terpaksa memiliki lebih daripada satu persijilan. Contohnya semua operator yang mengeksport produk mereka ke U.S. dan Eropah mesti memiliki satu sijil dari U.S dan satu sijil dari Eropah. Kesemua operator yang mempunyai sijil yang sah, dibenarkan menggunakan logo badan persijilan mereka.

Jika anda mengetahui mana-mana operator organik dengan sijil pengesahan organik yang tidak tersenarai di dalam jadual dibawah sila maklumkan secepat mungkin.

Operator Organik Dengan Sijil Pengesahan Di Malaysia
Peringkat Huluan
No.	Operator	Produk	Badan Persijilan / No. Sijil	Alamat/ Nombor
1	Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm	Padi, teratai, keledek, pitaya, sayuran, grain, herba dan rempah ratus	SOM SOM 01.03	Km 42, Jalan Kluang Mersing, Kg Sri Lukut, Kahang,86700 Kluang, Johor W: organic-kahang.com E: Borang elektronik T: 07-7745010 F: 07-7760370
2	DQ Farm Products Sdn Bhd	Durian	SOM SOM 04.03	Lot 1677, CT 813, Mukim Bentong, Daerah Bentong, Pahang W: dqfarm.blogspirit.com E: manager@dqcleanchicken.com T: 03-42516580/42571311/0162128803 F: 03-42516604
3	Ishak bin Din	Pitaya	SOM SOM 06.03	Alamat ladang: Lot 4173, Kampung Sungai Dara, Behrang, 35950 Tg. Malim, Perak Alamat KL: 28, Taman Zaaba, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur T: 012-3983358
4	Ponak Plantation Sdn Bhd	Sayuran	SOM SOM 01.04	Lot 2210, Kg Tohor, Mukim Kenaboi, Jelebu, N. Sembilan T: 06-6781333/012-2672157 F: 06-6783930
5	Titi Eco Farm Resort Sdn. Bhd [Nota: Berdaftar dengan NASAA dibawah nama 'Organic Product']	Sayur-Sayuran & Buah-buahan	SOM SOM 10.04 NASAA Ladang NASAA 8107	Farm address: Lot 1706, 1708, 1203, 1349, 1916, Sungai Rotan, Mukim Glami Lemi, Daerah Jelebu, 71650 Negeri Sembilan W: www.titieco.com.my E: titieco@tm.net.my T: 03-7874 8122 F: 03-7876 8021
6	Target Challengers Sdn Bhd	Lidah buaya [aloe vera]	SOM SOM 02.04	Kampung Belangkap, Mukim Rompin, Rompin, Pahang Darul Makmur W: myalovera.com E: shengpoo@myAloeVera.comT: 019-7500409 F: 07-3346126
7	Zenxin Agri-Organic Food Sdn.Bhd	Sayur-sayuran	SOM SOM 06.04 NASAA Ladang NASAA 8123 dan 8123ML2	Lot 1055-1059, Mukim Renggam, Johor W: www.zenxin.com.my E: zenxinkluang@zenxin.com.my, zenxin.organic@gmail.com T: 07-7739922/43339 F: 07-7743339
8	DD Pitaya Marketing & Distributors Sdn. Bhd.	Pitaya, limau purut	SOM SOM 11.05	Kampung Lending, Air Mawang, 73100 Johol,Negeri Sembilan W: Business Directory T: 06-2866505/019-6873498
9	Norizan bt Othman	Sayuran	SOM SOM 12.05	Lot 1777, Bt 11, Kg Paya Siput, 28500 Lanchang,Pahang T: 09-2803406
10	Nasuha Enterprise Sdn Bhd	Rempah ratus	SOM SOM 06.06	Batu 12, Jalan Muar-Pagoh, 84500 Muar, Johor W: www.maksiti.com E: nasuha@maksiti.com T: 06-9737508/9 F: 06- 9737507
11	Golden Meridian Sdn Bhd	Buah-buahan	SOM SOM 19.04	Alamat ladang: Off Jalan Hamzah, Mukim Rasa, Hulu Selangor, Selangor Darul Ehsan Alamat KL: 9-2, Jalan Sri Hartamas 7, Taman Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur W: meridianorganicfarm.com E: sunrise_organic@hotmail.com T: 03- 77811311 F: 03-77821311
12	Hatiku Agrikultur	Sayur-sayuran	SOM SOM 26.04	Lot 110, Mukim Of Ringlet, Ringlet 39200 Cameron Highldans, Pahang T: 05-4958425
13	C & C Mushroom Cultivation Farm Sdn. Bhd	Cendawan Tiram Kelabu	SOM SOM 09.05	Lot 6, Kawasan Perindustrian Gerisek, 84700 Muar, Johor W: ccgroup.com.my E: chewsk@ccgroup.com.my/ songwh@ccgroup.com.my T: 06-9727250 F: 06- 9727930
14	Syarikat Gamatani Trading Sdn. Bhd	Longan	SOM SOM 02.05	P. T 3256 HS (D), 461 Mukim Relai, Daerah Gua Musang, Kelantan W: Business Directory T: 09- 7654286/7475044 F: 09-7653543/7475044
15	DXN Pharmaceutical Sdn. Bhd	Cendawan ganoderma	SOM SOM 07.05	PT 1307 Mukim Malau, Kubang Pasu, Kedah W: www.dxn2u.com.my E: ceo_office@dxn2u.com T: 04-7723388 F: 04- 47721188
16	EM Bioorganic Sdn. Bhd [NotE: Under same management with Kenko Real Organic S/B]	Buah-buahan dan Sayur-sayuran	SOM SOM 23.06	Lot No 21, Projek Modern Farm lanchang, Temerloh, Pahang T: 03-20922728/012-2862782 F: 03-20942728
17	Kenko Real Organic Sdn. Bhd	Buah-buahan dan Sayur-sayuran	SOM SOM 24.06	Lot No 20, Projek Modern Farm Lanchang, Mukim Semantan, Temerloh, Pahang W: www.kenkorealorganic.com E: info@kenkorealorganic.com T: 03-20922728/012-2862782 F: 03-20942728
18	Loh's Organic Veg. Garden	Buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran tropika	NASAA Ladang NASAA 8112	Kajang, Selangor, MALAYSIA E: lovgorganic@yahoo.com T/F: 03-87375779
19	Desa Tea SDN BHD	Teh	Control Union Ladang NOP dan EU2092/91 800746	Desa Tea, Ranau, 89309 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah MALAYSIA W: www.yeelee.com.my E: sabahtea@tm.net.my T: 088-889330/889 520 F: 088-889520
20	Tengku Zanariah bt Tengku Mohd Salleh	Stevia & buah-buahan	SOM SOM 01.07	Lot Pt 501, Kuala Lurah Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang T: 019-2170152 F: 03-42927036
21	N&N farm Sdn. Bhd	Sayuran	SOM SOM (SWK) 04.06	Lot 5525, 412, 7144 Jalan Kampung Batu Gong 17 ½ mile Kuching-Serian Road, Kuching
Peringkat Hiliran
1	Health Paradise	Repacking of certifed organic product	NASAA Pengilang NASAA 8098P	43 & 45, Jalan USJ 1/31, Taman Subang Permai, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia W: www.healthparadise-organic.com E: info@healthparadise- organic.com T: 03-80233835/6020 F: 03-80234835/0875
2	Titi Eco [Nota: Berdaftar dengan NASAA dibawah nama 'Organic Product']	Memproses sayur-sayuran dan buah-buahan organi	NASAA Pengilang NASAA dan NOP 8113P	No. 1, Jelan SS9/2 47300, Petaling Jaya MALAYSIA W: www.titieco.com.my E: titieco@tm.net.my T: 03-7874 8122 F: 03-7876 8021
3	Radiant Code S/B	Pemborong dan pembungkusan semula produk organik	SGS ORG1MY001	10, Jalan Industri USJ 1/5, Taman Perindustrian USJ 1, 47600 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia W: www.radiantwholefood.com.my E: info@radiantwholefood.com.my T: 03- 80239077 F: 03-80239907
4	Orient Biotech SDN.BHD Orient Laboratories SDN.BHD	Pemprosesan dan pemasaran: Serbuk Biokleen Fiber organik, susu lgG Immuno+ , serbuk simbiosis Lactoplus, Green Factors, Organic Complex 65 and serbuk oatmilk organik	AgriQuality Certified AQ Full Organic 0353	Orient Biotech Sdn Bhd, No. 37, Jalan PS 3, Taman Industri Prima Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor Malaysia W: www.greenfood.com.my E: info@orient.com.my T: 03-6138 8306 F: 03-61370691
5	Everprosper Food Industries Sdn Bhd	Pengeluaran mee organik untuk pelanggan tertentu: Everprosper, DC Organic, CED Import & Export, SCC Marketing, Country Farm Organic, Radiant Code, Ohuku Macrobiotics	NASAA Pengilang NASAA 8109P	PTD 1461, Jalan Sg. Pelek, Batu 2, Sepang Industrial Park, 43900 Sepang, Selangor.Malaysia W: www.organicnoodle.com.my E: everprosper@yahoo.com P: 03-31422897 F: 03- 31422778
6	Lingham & Sons (Malaysia) SDN. BHD	Pemprosesan dan pengilangan sos	NASAA Pengilang NASAA 8121P	25B, Jalan SS 21/56B, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia W: www.lingham.com E: lingham@pd.jaring.my T:603-77294990 F:603-77276986
7	Country Farms Sdn. Bhd.	Pemprosesan dan pembungkusan semula produk organik, segar dan kering	ICEA Pengilang EU Reg. 2091/92 CS193 NOP dalam proses	26, Jalan PJU 3/49, Sunway Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia W: www.countryfarmorganics.com E: selina@countryfarmorganics.com P: 03-7880 9936 F: 03-78809819
8	Yuen Chun Industries Sdn. Bhd.	Pemproses sos berasaskan bahan organik	ICEA Pengilang EU Reg. 2091/92 ES192 NOP dalam proses	No. 7, Jalan 33/10A, Taman Perindustrian IKS, Mukim Batu, Batu Caves, 68100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia W: www.yuenchun.com E: chang@yuenchun.com T: 03-61892628 F: 03-61891168

Organic food industry facing certification challenges

20 August 2008

Ong Kung Wai & Jumat Majid

Although organic produce has secured market recognition in Malaysia, organic food production is still hampered by concerns raised by consumers about the authenticity of organic produce. This issue has been raised at public seminars, newspaper articles as well as Internet chat sites. Attempts by the private sector and the government to address the issue however have not been so fruitful to date. Organic food producers are burdened by the additional documentation, control procedures, expenses and fees which do not facilitate any additional market margin. Self-claimed organic products can similarly retail alongside certified products at up to 300% more than conventional produce. Responding to public and NGO demands, the Malaysian government published the National Organic Standards (MS1529) in 2001. The Department of Agriculture (DoA) later established an organic certification programme, Malaysian Organic Scheme (Skim Organik Malaysia - SOM) for the domestic market in December 2003. The scope of the certification programme, presently limited to crop production, is offered free of charge to farmers. Over 70 farmers have reportedly applied since 2004 but only 17 are certified so far. The DoA is working on expanding the scope of SOM to cover processing certification. Meanwhile operators can seek certification by foreign certification bodies (CBs) and a few did. Up to six foreign CBs operate in Malaysia, offering certification to the EU Regulation, U.S. National Organic Program (NOP) and Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS) as well as foreign private standards. Efficient and effective for exports, the certifications are relatively expensive and not suited for producers, processors and import-wholesalers targeting only the local market. Certification of imported final products is clearly marked as such on their respective product labels. Importing from all over the world, the Malaysian market is flooded with numerous certification marks, which wholesale and retail staff are not always able to explain correctly. Processors of imported certified bulk items often claim their repacked items are certified organic although their repacking operations are not certified. Even when they want to, processors of multi-ingredients from different countries and certification systems face difficulty in the choice of certification body unless they simplify their supply sources. The Organic Alliance Movement, OAM, comprising chief executive officers of major organic importers and wholesalers set up in 2002, has had mixed results in establishing a local certification programme, one of OAM’s founding objectives. Currently, OAM is working on domestic organic assurance program, promoting Malaysia common market mark and in alliance with certification bodies in Asia and Europe to offer certification service for organic exporters. The three programmes of OAM provide three solutions complementary to SOM for the organic sector in Malaysia namely a low cost domestic assurance, a common market identity and a one stop export certification service. Whilst SOM continues to provide its free service, medium to large operators, who can afford a fee based service, can register with the OAM domestic assurance programme, which will ease the waiting pressure on SOM. The growth of organic farming in Malaysia is manifested in the total land area of 2,367 hectares under organic management announced by DoA in April 2007, an 18 fold increase from 131 ha in 2001. Local production consists mainly of vegetables and fruits. There are unconfirmed reports of palm oil companies embarking on organic oil palm production and also self-claimed organic poultry production that are not included in the figures. Today there are up to a dozen organic wholesalers and about 200 organic retail outlets all over the country. Majority are concentrated around Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. Supermarkets have become the main distribution channel for organic products in the country. Large corporations and state agencies are showing investment interest as a number of pioneer organic companies have been bought over in the last 5 years. Sporadic seminars and fairs are being organised by NGOs, sometimes in collaboration with DoA. In the current 9th Malaysia Plan, the government projects the organic industry to be worth RM800 million [EUR 170.6 million] in five years. The Ministry of Agriculture plans to have 20,000 hectares under organic farming by year 2010, an eye-popping increase. While the challenges for organic farmers are still daunting, the organic food production industry in Malaysia fueled by government and private sector initiatives looks set to continue to grow. Sarawak Development Institute is organising a regional conference on Organic ASIA- The Way Forward on 28-31st October 2008 at Sarawak Cultural Village. Ong Kung Wai is a Board member of International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM). Further information on the conference is available at www.sdi.com.my or www.organic-asia.blogspot.com 3rd Voice is a regular feature initiated by AZAM and Sarawak Development Institute. Feedback can be sent to francis@azam.org.my. Source: AZAM

Bagaimana anda boleh mengenal pasti keaslian produk organik

Terlebih dahulu tujuan catatan ini bukan untuk merendah-rendahkan sesiapa, tetapi cuma untuk rujukan umum bagi operator yang terlibat dalam sektor organik di Malaysia dan juga para pengguna.

Apakah produk organik? Mungkin ramai yang tidak tahu dan mungkin ada yang tahu tetapi cuma terbatas kepada "baja organik" sahaja. Sebenarnya produk organik lebih luas daripada tanggapan umum, ia meliputi bukan sahaja bahan makanan tetapi juga kosmetik, pakaian, dll.
Dari segi bahan makanan ia merangkumi semua jenis tanaman makanan, haiwan ternakan, akuakultur, hasil hutan, ubat-ubatan atau makanan kesihatan sampingan/tambahan. Manakala dari segi kosmetik pula antara produk yang boleh diberikan status organik adalah seperti syampu, pembersih muka, sabun, alat solek, dsb. Pakaian pula dianggap organik jika benang dan pewarna yang digunakan adalah menepati piawaian organik. Ketika ini banyak pengeluar pakaian bayi di barat terutamanya menggunakan benang organik. Malah pengeluar jeans Levi's sendiri mengeluarkan jeans menggunakan benang organik.

Di Malaysia, tidak ada undang-undang yang mewajibkan peniaga produk organik untuk mendapatkan sijil pengesahan organik sebelum memulakan perniagaan dalam bidang ini. Oleh itu agak sukar untuk mengesahkan keaslian produk-produk tersebut. Ini tidak bermaksud bahawa para peniaga mempunyai niat untuk menipu pelanggan mereka cuma lebih elok jika pelanggan tahu hak mereka dalam membuat pilihan. Malah jika peniaga atau petani tertentu sudah memang diketahui umum sebagai peniaga atau petani organik yang jujur oleh masyarakat disekelilingnya tidak ada sebab mengapa beliau perlu mendapatkan sijil pengesahan organik melainkan jika beliau ingin menjual produknya keluar daripada kawasan dimana beliau dikenali umum.

Jika anda ingin membeli produk organik di pasaraya atau kedai-kedai organik kaedah paling mudah untuk mengenalpasti keaslian produk organik ialah dengan melihat logo pengesahan organik yang tercetak pada label produk tersebut. Logo seperti ini hanya diberikan kepada pengeluar atau petani yang telah diperiksa oleh badan-badan persijilan tertentu dan telah disahkan sebagai mematuhi piawaian organik yang ditetapkan. Terdapat banyak logo organik di dunia berdasarkan badan persijilan yang mengeluarkannya. Contohnya adalah seperti yang diberikan dibawah:

Nota: Semua logo di atas adalah logo pengesahan organik kecuali logo OAM (baris pertama, logo ke-6). Logo tersebut adalah logo korporat OAM.

Jika satu atau lebih daripada logo-logo yang tertera di atas dicetak pada label produk organik ini bermaksud pengeluar produk tersebut telah pun diperiksa dan disahkan mematuhi piawaian organik oleh badan persijilan organik.

Jika pada label produk organik yang anda lihat cuma ada kenyataan seperti yang tertera dibawah, pengeluar produk tersebut kemungkinan besar tidak mendapat sijil pengesahan organik dari mana-mana badan persijilan organk:

1. "certified by [nama badan persijilan]"
2. "certified against [nama piawaian] by [nama badan persijilan]"
3. "certified organik product of [nama negara asal pengeluar]"
4. "[nama badan persijilan] certified this product as organic agains [nama piawaian]"

Jika anda menemui produk yang ada tidak pasti sama ada organik atau tidak apa yang anda boleh lakukan ialah:

1. Beli produk yang anda pasti pengeluarnya telah pun mendapat sijil pengesahan organik.
2. Hubungi pengeluar untuk memastikan sama ada mereka telah mendapat sijil pengesahan organik.
3. Hubungi badan persijilan yang dinyatakan pada label produk tersebut untuk pengesahan.
   

Penggunaan mana-mana logo di atas tanpa terlebih dahulu mendapat pengesahan organik dari badan persijilan yang berkenaan merupakan satu kesalahan dari segi undang-undang dan pengeluar produk yang menggunakan logo tersebut boleh didakwa atas kesalahan;

1. melanggar hak cipta terpelihara ke atas logo-logo tersebut oleh badan-badan persijilan;
2. cuba mengelirukan pelanggan dengan maklumat yang tidak tepat.

ASEAN Organic Agriculture Development Status

Data that I've just acquired yesterday at OAM Board meeting and wish to share with you. There are many assumptions that we can discuss based on the data provided below. But naturally, I'm more interested in the data from Malaysia.

For example, referring to Table 1 average size of the Malaysian organic farms is 20 ha/farm this is more than twice the size of average organic farms in Thailand which is only 8.6 ha/farm. Indonesian organic farmers have the smallest farm size, 1.7 ha/farm, followed by Cambodia, 4.4 ha/farm.

So what assumptions that we can make from these figures, it probably means Malaysia have huge size of agricultural land available but not many are willing to go into agriculture anymore or just simply that we don't know how to do organic farming. But again I might be wrong.

In Table 2 another depressing figures ahead of us. In both comparisons Malaysia is placed at the very last position. Sad huh...don't want to comment on this. I leave it up to your imagination.

Table 1: ASEAN Members Countries Organic Agriculture Development Status Comparison
Countries	Organic land (Ha.)	Share of total agricultural area	Number of farms 2006
Brunei	No information	No information	No information
Cambodia	1,451	0.003%	3,628
Indonesia	41,431	0.1%	23,608
Laos	No information	No information	No information
Malaysia	1,000	0.01%	50
Myanmar	No information	No information	No information
Singapore	No information	No information	No information
Thailand	21,701	0.1%	2,498
Philippines	5,691	0.05%	No information
Vietnam	21,867	0.2%	No information

Table 2: ASEAN Members Countries Organic Agriculture Development Status Comparison on World Position
Comparison 1: Organic agricultural land	Position (out of 131 countries listed)
Brunei	-
Cambodia	103
Indonesia	43
Laos	-
Malaysia	107
Myanmar	-
Philippines	78
Singapore	-
Thailand	55
Vietnam	-
Comparison 2: Share of agricultural land	Position (out of 122 countries listed)
Brunei	-
Cambodia	104
Indonesia	85
Laos	-
Malaysia	122
Myanmar	-
Philippines	-
Singapore	-
Thailand	81
Vietnam	70

Source: Willer, Helga; Minou, Yussefi-Menzler and Neil Sorensen. The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistic and Emerging Trends 2008, Eds. 2008. IFOAM and FiBL. Bonn, Germany