| Posted March 15, 2005:
With increases for organic research in the 2002 Farm Bill and
more encouragement from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service,
scientists are starting to feel more confident about publicizing
their results on organic farming studies. Surrounded by several
hundred organic farmers and activists attending the annual organic
farming conference in Texas, four researchers did just that
-- presenting their findings on organic versus conventional
approaches to grapefruits and pecans.
Joe Bradford, research leader at the Kika de la Garza Subtropical
Agricultural Research Center in Weslaco, Texas, kicked off the
program by describing a meeting of more than 60 ARS scientists
with USDA officials in Austin, Texas, in early January to set
priorities for USDA-ARS organic research. While Washington’s
support for organic farming research remains lukewarm, the meeting
underscored the increased pressure on USDA to do more for the
fastest growing segment of the U.S. agriculture sector.
“Two administrators told me, ‘We want you to
come out of the closet. We need to get this [research agenda]
rolling through the system,' ” said Bradford.
The USDA supports organic research either through departmental
budgeting or congressional appropriations. Kika de la Garza
SARC is one of only two organic farming research programs
supported directly by Congress. Without that funding, pushed
through by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the research
station would be $100,000 in the red each year, Bradford noted.
Obtaining more USDA funding is critical, the researchers
said, especially when one considers how many 'inputs,' or
factors, make up an organic agriculture production system.
Bradford presented a chart listing more than 25 such inputs,
from seed technology and post-harvest technology to plant
health and human health.
But the most critical input of all, said Mark Lipson, policy
director for the Organic Farming Research Foundation, was
not on the chart: Knowledge. And without more research to
increase that knowledge base, organic farmers will remain
at a disadvantage in the marketplace, he said.
The 2002 Farm Bill’s allocation of $15 million in competitive
grants over five years is the single largest increase to date
for organic research for cooperative research centers. Still,
ARS support for research in organics remains grossly inadequate,
Lipson said. In 1998, he estimated that the proportion of USDA
research dollars going towards organics was just 0.1 percent--even
though organic sales made up more than 1 percent of total U.S
agricultural sales.
 |
"Two [USDA] administrators told
me, ‘We want you to come out of the closet. We need
to get this [research agenda] rolling through the system,'”
said Bradford. |
|
On his wish list of research projects, Lipson would like to
see a cost-benefit analysis of all those inputs for an organic
production system compared to a conventional one. "We need
an all-encompassing, whole-system science, beyond adding up
all the sum of the parts," he said. "Only when we
have full-cost accounting will we be able to show the superiority
of organic production."
Kika de la Garza researcher Gene Lester argued that one of
the biggest challenges facing organic farming research is
the need to put more rigor into the science. “We need
to make sure the science is done right,” he said.
Examples of weak science are too easy to find in the literature,
he said. He mentioned a recent study showing that organic
carrots had higher beta-carotene than conventional ones. Yet
two different cultivars were used, and research has shown
significant difference in beta-carotene from one cultivar
to the next. Beta-carotene, a substance found naturally in
plants, is converted to vitamin A in the body.
Grapefruit study finds mixed benefits from
organic, conventional systems
Creating a good head-to-head comparative study takes time,
money, and good planning. Before sharing his results comparing
organic and conventional grapefruit production, Lester presented
all the variables that were controlled and documented, including
percentage soil organic matter, mineral uptake efficiency,
micro-environments, system inputs, and year-to-year records.
Grapefruit production in South Texas provided a unique opportunity
to compare the two systems after the 1989 freeze killed most
of the region's grapefruit trees. Lester found two farms,
side by side, that had planted the same Ruby Red variety at
the same time and in the same type of soil. Detailed input
records were also available.
Only after testing showed that the two plots shared similar
soil and mineral profiles, Lester argued, could any observed
fruit quality differences be attributed to the two production
systems.
The analysis looked at differences in fruit color and size,
minerals, vitamins, pectin, taste and flavor, and drug interaction
(grapefruit is contraindicated for some medications). Among
the study’s findings:
Color and size: Color and size were similar,
but the conventional grapefruits showed deeper and more intense
red color on the outside, especially those harvested from
November to March. However, those differences diminished later
in the season. The fact that the organic fruit caught up to
conventional fruit underscores the importance of comparison
timing. Internally, however, conventional grapefruit color
was more uniform and darker red throughout the season.
Sugars: There were no significant differences
in pectin, glucose, fructose, sucrose and other fruit sugars
throughout the seasons in these two production systems.
Taste: Professional tasters preferred conventional
grapefruits but there were no overall significant differences.
Organic grapefruits tended to taste more acidic, and this
may be attributed to slightly higher sugar levels in conventional
grapefruit. (This finding contrasts with research also presented
by the Kika de la Garza ARC on organic versus conventional
pecans. The major difference found between the two production
systems was the superior taste of organic pecans, Bradford
reported.)
Human health compounds: Organic grapefruit
had significantly more ascorbic acid (vitamin C) than conventional
fruit, regardless of the time of season. This difference is
attributed mainly to the fact that the soil for conventional
grapefruit had higher nitrogen levels of nitrogen, thanks
to the application of organic fertilizers.
More nitrogen available to the plant results in less ascorbic
acid because it is synthesized from glucose, Lester explained.
"And the more nitrogen you have, the less glucose you
have."
On the other hand, conventional grapefruit always had higher
levels of beta-carotene and lycopene -- two antioxidants that
show up as yellow, orange and red pigment in plants. Higher
nitrogen utilization by the fruit results in higher beta-carotene
and lycopene levels.
"This tells us that more work needs to be done by organic
growers to look at ways to improve the nitrogen utilization
to the plant and get these color-dependent compounds up higher,"
Lester said. "So it's not an all or nothing situation."
Two other compounds tested in favor of organic production:
- Nitrogen Nitrate (NO3). There was significantly
less NO3 in the organic grapefruit. An infant's digestive
system cannot differentiate between oxygen and NO3, and
actually prefers NO3, which can lead to suffocation (blue
baby syndrome).
- Bergamottin. Organic grapefruit had significantly
lower levels of this compound, which can interact with blood
pressure medicines such as Lipitor.
"The good news for the organics is there are significantly
less NO3 and significantly less Bergamottin in organically
grown juice," he said.
Lester ended his presentation by mentioning that surveys
have found that consumers, both organic and non-organic, agree
that food produced without pesticides is healthier and that
the risks associated with pesticides are under-recognized.
In the latest issue of The Packer, a trade magazine
for the produce industry, Lester noted, industry experts forecast
that organic sales will ebb and flow based not just on pricing
but on food safety.
"Food safety -- that is, pesticides," he said.
"They note that after anything related to food safety,
you see an increase in organic sales. It will go up and it
never goes back down. Finally, any time you get a close price
between organic and other produce, more people will make the
move toward organics. You've got the cat by the tale. The
future is yours."
Skip Connett is a freelance writer based in Atlanta,
Georgia.
|
