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May 26, 2010
· Florida tomato glut crashes prices
· Plan will bring the farm to the people
· Salmonella find forces lettuce recall
· New Idaho tomato varieties go public
· India embroiled in bitter GM dispute
Florida
(BradentonHerald.com) MANATEE — The “disaster to end all disasters” is what Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange calls the glut of tomatoes that has depressed tomato prices around the state.
“The level of tension and the stress among growers is very, very strong at this point. It’s the worst possible nightmare,” Brown said.
David Hunsader, of Hunsader Farms, said Monday that he is selling 25-pound buckets of his tomatoes to the public for $1 this week and next week.
“We figured we might as well give the public a chance to get some cheap tomatoes,” said Hunsader, who has a few hundred acres planted in the fruit on his farm, on County Road 675 midway between state roads 64 and 70.
Hunsader Farms sold tomatoes for a similar price in the early 1990s, “when we had bunch of tomatoes and nowhere to go with them,” Hunsader said.
“Everybody is in the same boat and help is real short this year. That’s another problem,” Hunsader said.
Billy Heller of Pacific Tomato said local growers are finding it “pretty challenging right now. We would like to have a chance to make a profit. Right now we are not even covering our growing costs.”
Local growers see the glut as a disaster on top of a disaster. The unusually long period of cold weather this winter hampered planting.
Due to weather conditions,
In March, the price of tomatoes rose so high many consumers stopped buying them, and some restaurants cut back on serving them.
“It happens in our business from time to time. That’s the life of farming,” Heller said. “I’ve been doing it almost 30 years and this is what it’s like. Sometimes the ocean is dead calm and sometimes it’s a stormy sea.”
Some consumers, who curbed their purchase of tomatoes when prices were high, haven’t started buying them again even though prices are a bargain, Brown said.
Growers generally like to get $8-$9 for a 25-pound box of tomatoes, but are currently getting about half that, Brown said.
Hunsader said he is opening up a 30-acre field 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday this week to the public.
Plan will bring the farm to the people
(nctimes.com) – Instead of bringing organic foods from the countryside to city customers, a North San Diego County entrepreneur plans to bring farms to densely populated urban areas.
Dan Gibbs says his new company, Home Town Farms LLC, can sell organic food more cheaply than conventional supermarkets can sell regular produce.
The company proposes to grow food in "vertical farms" ---- large areas inside or on top of buildings that can hold pots or "hydro-organic" greenhouses ---- minimizing land requirements.
Gibbs, of Rancho Bernardo, says he's considering two
locations for his first farm: a preferred space in Encinitas and another in
"What we're doing is bringing a new option to the masses, and also large businesses that want to buy local but can't afford to source everything from many different farmers," Gibbs said.
Because customers would come to the stores, the cost of transportation ---- and its carbon footprint ---- will vanish, Gibbs says. That also means the company can grow food for flavor and nutrition, not for durability in transport. The local economy will benefit, he said, because the urban farms would create more local jobs that can't be outsourced.
Gibbs learned about selling healthy food as CEO of San Diego-based Gold Mine Natural Foods. To grow it, he teamed with farmer Michael Castro, the president of San Diego Organic Supply Inc., and farm manager Roy H. Wilburn.
A Home Town Farms video promoting the concept to potential investors says the urban farms can grow 25 pounds of tomatoes for a cost of $1.95. Typically, according to Home Town Farms, a supermarket pays $4.19 for that amount of tomatoes.
So the company can sell organic food for less than supermarkets sell non-organic food, Gibbs says.
To learn how to interest investors, Gibbs recently completed training through Springboard, a program from Connect, the local technology entrepreneurship nonprofit. Springboard helps entrepreneurs formulate their business plan and hone their investment pitch.
Connect's director of business creation, Ruprecht von Buttlar, endorsed the idea in a statement as a "highly compelling value proposition."
Visit www.hometownfarms.com or call 858-248-9369.
Salmonella find forces lettuce recall
(OregonLive.com)
– Bagged lettuce sold in
Fresh Express, based in
The company, a subsidiary of Chiquita Brands International, decided to recall all of its bagged salads with use-by dates of May 13 to 16 with an "S" in the product code.
They were sold in
No illnesses have been reported.
The recall comes on the heels of a multi-state outbreak of
E. coli O145 that has sickened at least 23 people in
New Idaho
(Magicvalley.com)
–
The squatty plants with robust fruit are the brainchild of
two university researchers who spent more than 30 years developing a variety
that would thrive in both southern and northern
During the 1970s,
This spring, University of Idaho Extension Educator Ariel Agenbroad of Canyon County is coordinating limited sales of
the open-pollinated varieties. Agenbroad and the
Most of Boe’s and Simpson’s
tomatoes are short and productive, with small, tasty and early fruit, says Agenbroad. “Some of the Master Gardeners told me their
In
Added Aman: “I think in today’s age, buyers are looking for something unique. University of Idaho-bred tomatoes should certainly be a great seller.”
Agenbroad, who recently compiled
2009 production reports from over a dozen participating Master Gardeners,
agrees, “The plants themselves won’t win any beauty contests, but they don’t
require staking, and the yields have been fantastic. And we get a kick out of
growing tomatoes with names like
Extension Educator Jo Ann Robbins of
“It only gets 3 ½ feet tall and sets all these big,
beautiful, mild-flavored fruit,” Robbins said. “I like it so much I’ve raised
it every year.” This year, she’ll add
At
“A lot of people in mountainous areas are thrilled to get
them because of their earliness and their ability to grow well in cooler
conditions,” Drowns said of Boe’s tomatoes. Last
summer, when
India
(BBC
News) – In the cotton fields of Vidarbha in
central
In the
Laxman was a cotton farmer who hanged himself from the roof beam of his small house after his debts spiralled out of control. His young family will now have to fend for themselves.
"He borrowed money to buy genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds," says his neighbour Bapuji Atram. "There was no rain and his crop failed. So he killed himself."
Suicide epidemic
In this dry zone, life without irrigation is a struggle. Critics say GM cotton needs more water to succeed, a claim the seed producers dispute.
Cotton harvesting in Vidarbha The margin of profit in cotton farming is narrow
But the depressing cycle of failing crops and mounting debts is a lethal one. In the past few years thousands of farmers in this region have killed themselves in an epidemic of suicides.
And that awful statistic has given rise to a bitterly contested debate, at a time when the Indian government is considering authorising the commercial cultivation of the first GM food crop, aubergine.
Has the introduction, and monopoly, of GM cotton seeds contributed to this tragedy? As ever, it depends who you ask. There is little middle ground.
The companies which produce the seeds emphatically deny it. They say there are broader social issues which have to be addressed.
But some farmers emphasise that the price of seeds has risen dramatically, and they now need more water... which leaves no room for manoeuvre when times are bad.
"When we used the old seed our production levels were a bit lower, but it cost us an awful lot less," explains Suresh Ganganna, as he watches cotton being picked in his field.
"We used less pesticide and less fertiliser as well. Now with the GM crop, the costs keep on mounting."
Passionate
At the local market, bullock carts piled high with cotton are lined up in long rows. This is where farmers come to auction their crops and it soon becomes clear that some of them hold a different view.
Anti-BT protester Several Indian states have already said no to BT brinjal
They love GM seeds, and their profits are up.
"GM cotton is good, I like it," says Laxman Shambarna. "Our yield used to be much lower with the old seeds - now it's two and half times higher."
Countrywide
And that has helped persuade the authorities in
The government is now considering allowing commercial cultivation of a GM aubergine seed known as BT brinjal. But the campaign against it has been organised and passionate.
For weeks protesters disrupted meetings addressed by
'Deprived of technology'
The intensity of the opposition gave him pause for thought.
In February he delayed a decision on BT brinjal even though
But big business is confident that in the end Mr Ramesh will rule in its favour.
"He has clearly said he's supporting the science and
he's acknowledged that biotechnology will play an important role in improving
productivity in agriculture," says Gyanendra Shukla, a director of Monsanto
"Farmers cannot be deprived of technology," he argues. "Our land is limited, we have limited water and we have to produce more for every crop.
"Tests are being carried out on a variety of crops - brinjal just happens to be one of the early ones."
In a small lab on the edge of the Vidarbha region, run by a company called Ankur seeds, you can see the science in action. An experiment is taking place on a GM version of rice. They're also looking at okra, cabbage and cauliflower as well as brinjal.
"It has been proven beyond doubt that it is absolutely safe for human beings," says VS Dagaonkar, the vice-president for research at Ankur seeds.
"And food security is one of
Others have put forward similar arguments. The British government's chief scientist Sir John Beddington has said that GM crops will have a vital role to play in feeding billions around the world.
And the Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates made
the same point during a trip to
"Technology properly applied," he said, "is the reason, if you like, why nine billion people can live on this planet without destroying it."
'Killing itself'
But in Vidarbha's cotton region, there are still people who will fight against GM technology in all its forms. Their experience with cotton, they say, must not be repeated elsewhere.
Anti-BT protesters The debate over GM crops is highly emotive
"The government's own survey says most of the farmers are in distress and despair," points out an angry Kishor Tiwari, who runs a farmers' advocacy group, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti.
"People are crying and people are dying. But still the government is promoting this killer seed.
"We have been demanding that it be banned from this area, to save the farming community from killing itself."
Many environmental groups agree. Mr TVidarbha Jan Andolan Samitiiwari says 416 farmers have committed suicide so far this year in Vidarbha alone.
So this polarised debate will rage on.
But it's too late for farmers like Laxman Tekam. His body now lies buried in his field, which failed to give him the means to live.
End Transmission