Vanilla Planifolia - Organic Agriculture

Vanilla Planifolia - Organic Agricutlure 

So you have conventional and organic Vanilla production.

But what are the big differences, and what is important to know about the vanilla plant if you want to become an organic Vanilla producer? Also, how far is Madagascar in the Organic production sector?  That is what I hope to give you an answer about in this next blog.

In Madagascar, no Government support exists for organic agriculture. However, during the 1990s, some international organizations and foreign agencies have provided technical support to enhance the organic production capacity and promote export. This section describes the main providers of assistance and lists some of their activities in the country.

The organic sector in Madagascar is small, and exports are limited. Organic agricultural production has predominately been done by small-scale farmers. Certification is paid by the commercial companies. Le Syndicat Professionnel PROMABIO is the only association of entrepreneurs commercially active in the organic sector. There are no farmers’ organizations and no Government agencies active in this sector. Five international agencies are currently supporting organic agriculture. No standards or regulations and laws of organic agriculture exist. Certification is solely done for exporting. The only certifiers operating are ECOCERT International, which is doing more than 90 percent, and LACON.(FAO/ITC/CTA 2001)

With the relatively young and small organic sector, many constraints were faced, limiting growth of the production and export sector. The most important constraints, among many others, include:
  • Lack of information and knowledge on principles and methods of organic agriculture;
  • Lack of knowledge on the EC Regulation and requirements for export of organic products into the EC;
  • Lack of information on procedures of certification and required documentation;
  • The first systems of organizing production, collection, transport and processing of agricultural production did not allow a clear, transparent product flow. This made control difficult and called certification into question;
  • Lack of market information, such as products demanded, required qualities, prices, potential importers and market size;
  • Lack of national standards and regulations on organic agriculture
    (FAO/ITC/CTA 2001)
If we have a look at the Vanilla organic sector in Madagascar, you can not find that much information/numbers on this subject. 
For the export market of organic vanilla, you can see their was a big growth going on inbetween 1999 and 2000. 
In 1999: 8460 kg of Organic Vanilla was exported.
In 2000: 14890 kg of Organic Vanilla was exported. 

Main organic exports from Madagascar include cocoa, sugar, coffee, palm oil, processed fruits, pepper and vanilla. In addition, Malagasy farmers grow a variety of organic spices and herbs on a small scale such as cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cloves, chillies, nutmeg and essential oils (IFOAM 2003).
Madagascar's organic sector remains very small. Only about 129 hectares are under organic cultivation, which accounts for less than 0.005 % of the total agricultural area (IFOAM & FiBL 2006)

References

Chathamhouse. (2015). ResourchTradeEarth. Retrieved from https://resourcetrade.earth/data?year=2015&exporter=450&category=928&units=value
FAO/ITC/CTA. ( 2001). Madagascar. Retrieved from CASE STUDIES OF COUNTRIES PRODUCING AND EXPORTING ORGANIC FRUIT AND VEGETABLES: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y1669e/y1669e0l.htm#bm21

ITC. (n.d.). Country Profile Madagascar. Retrieved from intracen: http://www.intracen.org/exporters/organic-products/country-focus/Country-Profile-Madagascar/



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vanilla Planifolia - Plant Anatomy and Morphology

Image
Plant Anatomy and Morphology All flowering plants can be divided into one of the two categories; either a monocot or dicot plant. Vanilla Planifolia is a monocot. Vanilla has a root system that is both epiphytic (that grows on other living trees) and terrestrial (grows on or in or from land). So the term bemiepiphytes is applied to them. So, the seeds germinate in the soil, and the fine root hairs penetrate in the rich soil while obtaining essential nutrients. These roots are the feeding roots of the Vanilla plant. After germination, the young vines start climbing. New roots are produced with different forms and functions. They vary in length per species. The Aerial roots length of V.planifolia can grow up to 50 cm long. After many years of climbing upwards, you can call the vines epiphytes. Vanilla Planifolia is a monocot so, that means a Fibrous root system. Each vanilla flower stays open for 24 hours. In these 24 hours, it needs to be pollinated. You can use natural pollinati
Read more

Vanilla Planifolia - Plant Disease and Insects

Image
Vanilla Planifolia - Plant Disease and Insects  The main factor of damage and a lower vanilla production are diseases. Vanilla grows under a temperature and humidity that is in favour of developing pathogens, which are mainly fungi. So, I will write something about the general production of Vanilla and its diseases (not focused on Madagascar). It is always better to prevent diseases instead of controlling the damage it already did to the crop. Of course, when necessary, you can use a chemical control to avoid environmental contamination.   The main vanilla insect pest is the ‘ Chinche Roja ’ ((Tenthecoris confusus Hsiao & Sailer). It is a small insect that has multiple life stages, including 4 instars. At the nymphal stage, it causes the most damage to the vanilla plant. It is the single most damaging vanilla pest, causing tissue damage in the leaves, stems, and the fruits. The wound of the chinche help to the colonization of fungus and bacteria that cause rot, wilting and
Read more

Vanilla Planifolia - Plan Physiology and Growth

Image
Vanilla Planifolia - Plan Physiology and Growth There are different types of photosynthesis; C3, C4 and CAM photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is all about the sun, and capturing that light energy from the sun. And when this happens we have a problem, because CO2 is noticed for photosynthesis and that gets in the stomata through the leaves. And when the stomata go open for the CO2 to go in, we often have a loss of water through transpiration. So, there are adaptations in the chemical reactions that occur. So, first the C3 photosynthesis. It is called this way because; the first compound they form is a 3-carbon molecule. The problem with C3 photosynthesis is that the plant takes up CO2 but is losing quite a lot of it. This all is because of this enzyme that also reacts with O2. This problem does not matter in mild conditions, where the stomata can stay open day in and out because water loss is then probably not a big issue. C4 plants on the other side are trapping CO2 a lot e
Read more