'Dirty Dozen' Exposed

13 Dec 2009 (Go to OANZ page)

New Zealand research exposing the twelve most heavily pesticide-contaminated foods shows how kiwis are exposed to toxic chemicals at every meal, says Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ).

OANZ Chief Executive Officer, Dr Jon Tanner, is alarmed at the number of pesticides found and the range of food contaminated.

"From dairy products and bread to fruit, the 'Dirty Dozen' includes many of New Zealand's favourite foods", Dr Tanner said.

"Equally concerning, close behind these twelve were lettuce, tomatoes and wine - essentials in the kiwi summer diet.

"Pesticides are designed to be killers. While each might be present in only small amounts, families should consider their combined and cumulative effect - particularly on young children.

"No wonder people are thinking more carefully about what's really in their food, and increasingly choosing certified organic products.

"Eating certified organic food all but eliminates the potential for pesticide contamination, while removing synthetic chemicals from rural homes and communities.

"If people bought certified organic alternatives of just the 'Dirty Dozen', they would dramatically reduce their family's pesticide consumption.

"Choosing organic food this summer may also improve your long term health - with few studies investigating the effects of years of pesticide consumption", Dr Tanner said.

The "Dirty Dozen", ranked by number of pesticides and percentage contaminated are:

	Food	% with residue	no. of pesticides	sample size
1.	Celery	98.2	21	56
2.	Peaches, fresh/canned	96.4	15	56
3.	Apricots, fresh/canned	96.4	14	56
4.	Butter/cream/cheese	100.0	3	24
5.	Wheat: bread, all products	79.3	23	232
6.	Apples	80.5	20	288
7.	Plums	91.6	8	48
8.	Mandarins	83.3	10	36
9.	Raspberries	85.4	7	48
10.	Oranges	82.1	9	56
11.	Strawberries	71.7	16	92
12.	Grapes/raisins/sultanas	57.1	25	28

• Consumers
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NST Online bTrends: Learn more about organic farming

2009/10/14

CETDEM (Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia), an independent non-profit organisation that is into promoting sustainable development, is organising a two-day, one-night observation trip to organic farms in Chenderiang, Perak.

Participants will also be taken to an Orang Asli settlement as well as to some caves and a waterfall.

One farm of interest is the Green Wish Garden, located in Kg Sg Gending which is 8km from Chenderiang town and 22km from Tapah, Perak.

It is a two-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. The farm, about 1.5 hectares in size, comprises various types of vegetables and fruits trees.

The trip is on from Saturday to Sunday. For details, call 016-219-5826 (Tan) or 03-7875-7767 (Rianne).

Various types of fruits and vegetables can be found at the Green Wish Garden.

NST Online Summer internships are going organic

2009/08/02

ERIN Axelrod, who graduated from Barnard College recently with an Urban Studies degree, will not be fighting over the bathroom with her five roommates on the Upper West Side this summer.

Instead she will be living in a tent, using an outdoor composting toilet and harvesting vegetables on an organic farm near Petaluma, California.

As the sole intern at a boutique dairy in upstate New York, Gina Runfola, an English and Creative Writing student, has traded poetry books for sheep.

And Jamie Katz, an English major at Kenyon College in Ohio, is planting peach trees at Holly Tree Farm in Virginia.

These three are part of a new wave of liberal arts students who are heading to farms as interns this summer, in search of both work, even if it might pay next to nothing, and social change.

They come armed with little more than soft hands and dog-eared copies of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, which takes a dim view of industrial agriculture.

A few hope to run their own farms. Others plan to work on changing government food policy. Some are just looking for a break from the rigours of academia.

But whatever the reason, the interest in summer farm work among college students has never been as high, according to dozens of farmers, university professors and people who coordinate agricultural apprenticeships.

Andrew Marshall, who began organising apprenticeships for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in 2003, used to see an average of 75 applications a year. This season, he has fielded over 200, with more coming in every day.

Katherine L. Adam, who runs the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, financed by the Department of Agriculture, said 1,400 farms sought interns this year, almost triple the number two years ago.

The number of small farms, which attract the new agrarians and can use the cheap, enthusiastic help, has grown sharply since 2003, according to the department.

Of course, employing people who know a lot about food systems but nothing about farming can be as much a headache as a help.

Manure spreaders get broken, carrot shoots get pulled instead of weeds, and people sleep in. It is not all hayrides and flowers for the apprentices, either.

Adam sometimes gets complaints from interns who say the amenities are not good enough or the farmers work them too hard.

Still, during a recession, a summer on the farm provides respite from grim job hunts and as much bohemian cachet as backpacking through Europe.

But for many students, farm life is a way to act on the growing enthusiasm for locally raised food and the increased concern over food safety and the environmental impact of agriculture.

Some students say food is the political movement of their time. "I no longer wish I was born in the '60s," said Katz, 20, who discovered farming as an outgrowth of his interest in environmental issues.

But food policy is much more personal than deforestation or global warming. "Everyone eats, and everyone has a vested interest in this," he said.

The new rush from campus to country is not among conventional agricultural students from land-grant schools.

Many of those still seek internships on large-scale farms or with companies like Monsanto, although interest in studying conventional agriculture has been in decline for at least a decade, said John P. Reganold, a Soil Science professor at Washington State University.

To counter that, Washington State in 2006 became the first university to offer an organic farming degree, he said.

About a third of the new agrarians will receive college credit, he and other professors estimated. The rest have to be satisfied with room, board and a stipend that can be as little as US$25 (RM87.50) a week and as much as US$300 a week or more at larger farms.

At 3-Corner Field Farm in Shushan, New York, Karen Weinberg hires one intern to help her raise lambs and make sheep's milk cheese. This year she had more than 20 applicants, a significant increase over last year.

She picked Runfola, who had already worked for her selling cheese at the Greenmarket in Union Square in New York.

Runfola, who grew up on the Jersey Shore and has never even gone camping, will plot her next move from a small trailer parked a half a city block away from the Internet connection in the main farmhouse.

Although she has come to understand a lot more about where food comes from, she is not as strident as some of her new agrarian friends.

"Working on the farm really doesn't pay that much, so it's not helping me economically," said Runfola, 22, who has left New York University and plans to attend a less expensive college. "But it's free room and board while I figure out my next move."

Dru Rivers has had more than 150 people fill out the online application to be one of four interns working her 200 acres of organic fruits and vegetables at Full Belly Farm in Northern California. That is three times as many as last year.

Rivers, who began farming organically 25 years ago, said her generation had inspired the next.

Alex Liebman, 19, is part of that new wave. He is taking a leave from working on his Biology degree at Macalester College in St. Paul to spend a year at Full Belly Farm.

His parents, who raised him in Holyoke, Mass., are environmentalists and supporters of local agriculture. His father would refuse to drive him to soccer practice because he thought using a car to travel somewhere to exercise was ridiculous.

This will be Liebman's third farm internship. He has come to love the muscle fatigue that sets in at the end of a day. The rhythm of farm life is a welcome break from cellphones and Facebook. And the work makes him feel as if he is doing something to better the world.

"I'm not sure that I can affect how messed up poverty is in Africa or change politics in Washington," he said, "but on the farm I can see the fruits of my labour."

"By actually waking up every day and working in the field and putting my principles into action, I am making a conscious political decision," he added. -- NYT

BERNAMA - Organic Certification Scheme To Boost Local Aquaculture Industry

Link

September 29, 2009 16:37 PM

Organic Certification Scheme To Boost Local Aquaculture Industry

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- The Fisheries Department is developing an organic certification scheme under the Malaysian Aquaculture Farm Certification Scheme to help boost the local aquaculture industry.

Its Director-General, Datuk Junaidi Che Ayub, said today the move was in line with the government's aim to be among the main contributors of organic fish and shrimp in the Asean.

Currently all farms producing aquaculture products under the Common Fund for Commodities/Food and Agriculture Organisation/INFOFISH -CFC/FAO/INFOFISH Organic Aquaculture Project were getting certification from Thailand's Organic Aquaculture Farms and Products Certification Centre (OAPC), he said.

"It is hoped that by having this organic certification scheme, the cost of getting certification from abroad will be minimised," he said after opening the CFC/FAO/INFOFISH Workshop on Organic Aquaculture Production and Product Marketing here.

He said there were many products in the market which claimed to be organically farmed but were without certification and thus had no warranty that the producers were following the organic principles and standards.

"I would like to caution everybody here today that for a product to be considered organic it has to be certified. It is an assurance for the buyers and consumers to rely on when there is certification on the product," he said.

Expressing the hope that more farmers in Malaysia would pick up organic practice, he believed that the workshop organised by the department and Intergovernmental Organisation for Marketing Information and Technical Advisory Services for Fishery Products in the Asia and Pacific Region (INFOFISH) will be a good start to this effort.

"The domestic market for organically produced fish products has not been fully tapped, unlike that for vegetables and fruits.

"Therefore, I hope all present here today will take the initiative to discuss it and get their networking going since the workshop participants consist of farmers, feed millers, processors, buyers, and government officials and all of you will be the ones to determine the direction for organic aquaculture in Malaysia," he added.

-- BERNAMA

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