Industry voice: Rather than a global food crisis, we should be talking about the global supply crisis and enabling safe alternatives for organic farmers

Editor's note:

Organic farmers have been introducing innovative technologies to increase productivity and lower costs, but that is not enough? During this period, what do we think about the economic and social value of organic farming? What are the new drivers, from governments to certification authorities, to help the industry meet its challenge? And what are the technological changes? AgroPages interviewed and  communicated with industry experts, business executives, government managements and other relevant groups to hear their voices on organic farming.

It is clear that the environment is sending us important messages, and climate change is becoming moreand more impactful to our societies. Agriculture and forestry are the only sectors that can capture emissions and, therefore, play an active role. The Commission, under the umbrella of the European Green Deal, has published very ambitious strategies to transform our production system into a more sustainable one. In both the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, the Commission is aiming for a target of 25% of European land farmed organically by 2030. This is rather ambitious, since according tothe latest data available, 9.1% of European land was farmed organically in 2020. At Copa-Cogeca, we support this target and the transition, but we must consider other important criteria, such as market orientation and maintainingthe economic viability of organic farms and their investments.The organic sector has considerable potential to combine enhanced environmental benefits with good market returns, to generate better income for farmers.

Unfortunately, the last two years have shown us how important it is to have access to food and avoid market disruptions. Due to the Common Agriculture Policy and enabled by the European farmers and agri-cooperatives, European citizens have been able to enjoy high-quality, safe, nutritious, affordable and increasingly sustainable food throughout all types of crises. However, these crises have also shown us how important it is to have efficient and solid production systems. In organic agriculture, productivity is lower than in conventional agriculture, but we can see potential to improve this situation with investments and innovative solutions, just like any other economic sector. We have all the reasons to believe in our organic farmers and their new ways of thinking and consumer orientation. Also, it is good to note that the organic sector is very well integrated into international trade.

There are several fields where organic farming can and should improve. Firstly, organic farmers, as well as the conventional farmers, are experiencing the negative effects of climate change. But unfortunately, organic farmers have fewer active substances in their toolbox compared to conventional farmers. This is naturally understandable, but we must enable our farmers to combat pests and diseases. We have called for more investments and EU policy initiatives in this area. We need European legislation that enables safe alternatives to enter the market at a more rapid pace, so organic farmers can also adopt new products and improve their work. We must also improve our organic genetic material, to become more resilient against pest and disease. Our Working Party on Organic Farming is monitoring and discussing new technologies to be adopted. Moreover, the use of satellite technology and drones to better monitor crop development and minimize negative externalities could be very important for organic farming.

The low yields of organic are sometimes exaggerated. There is no essential reason why horticulture yield is necessarily low, as inputs are much more affordable in organic horticulture. In grazing industries, carrying capacity can be very similar.

It is likely that cropping yields are lower because organic inputs are less affordable on a broadacre scale, weed control systems for organic agriculture are not well developed, and because rotations are longer. However, requirements, such as longer rotations, are better for the soil and are designed to improve the long-term performance of the farming system, whereas non-organic methods are often destructive to the soil.

Organic agriculture has attained its current status through good farming practices despite very little research and development investment from government or universities. Therefore, we need this investment now, and we believe that it is justified, because it will help us achieve the UN sustainability goals and ameliorate climate change.

We already produce more than enough food to feed current and projected populations. Unfortunately, we waste food due to the purchasing habits of retailers and individuals, so we have considerable room for improvement in this regard. We also feed animals grain rather than pasture, which provides a poor return on energy. We can make very significant adjustments to food sufficiency with changes to a more plant-based diet, changes that will typically benefit individual health. To do this, it is not necessary to become vegetarians, only to adjust our portion sizes.

It should also be said that land tenure and war are a significant contribution to food shortage.

Organic growers utilize modern technologies, such as precision farming, and can benefit greatly from future new technologies. Robotic weed control will be a significant advancement for organic agriculture, as well as utilizing physical, mechanical, high energy (infrared and electricity) and organic (plant based) herbicides. Robotic and drone-based pest control and in-field monitoring are also promising.

Organic producers are often leaders in the development of microbiological plant growth stimulants and nutrient delivery products, especially the use of mycorrhiza, but future research will deliver more interesting pathways to utilizing organic waste and activating soil biology.

Organic no-till is a very promising new approach to cropping, especially the system we call pasture-cropping, where we are learning which crops and varieties and rotation sequences can be used to plant directly into stubble with no cultivation. These systems are already proving to be profitable, through reducing fuel costs, combining crop and livestock returns, and ensuring soil health and carbon sequestration.

I would like to express my opinion regarding biological agri inputs in the Latin American crop protection business. As it has been mentioned several times, quality is now critical to capturing motivation and attention in the market by farmers and consultants. ″There is not a second chance to make a good first impression″. Growers and consultants in Latin-America are very conservative and they are normally looking for solutions to keep or surpass the actual standards they are getting with conventional tools (read chemicals). As the opportunity and visibility of biological Agriinputs has come to the market, most of the cases the introduction of new concepts as solutions are involved into a novelty and most of the companies (biological/natural suppliers) are working hard to get quality, However some opportunistic companies are also appearing in the market and not only with low or none quality control but also offering additional benefits that normally are not part of the features/properties, creating and overvalued offer and using ″price″ as a value feature.

Quality is a word that must include, among others, regulatory control, formulation control, packing, logistic, shelf-life stability, performance, and publicity; Information delivered to the field must include scope but also limitations, considering performance of biologicals are surrounded by multiple external factors not controllable and not easy to predict.

It is important for, and this is probably one of the main points to consider at the moment to offer a product and is that growers are not responsible for climate change or disturbance in the environment and marketing focus is oriented to create a product to restore the environment but few times focused to provide solution to the actual pain point like control over 90% of pest/weed, resistance management, cost (Return of Investment), residual action, interaction with environment (including beneficials and other pests), etc. ″we must wear grower shoes″: they are starving new solutions, cost efficiency and last reason is probably, a tool to restore environment, as part of their sustainability commitment in production.

Factors driving organic farming are mostly oriented to customers’ s demand; banana and coffee growers are both a good example; they are looking solutions to satisfy markets (buyers), that are demanding low or free residues and or organic, a clean product, grown with no ″chemicals″. It demands from grower’s solutions, but not necessarily because they are more efficient but to satisfy market demand; once again, we are not wearing their shoes yet.

The greatest potential will come with products that can perform consistently under regular field conditions, formulated under high standards of quality (as an example using dry formulation for bacterial to increase shelf life); we have to understand that growers are willing to experience new products but, they don’t want to invest in new equipment, adapt new application conditions and pay more unless a product can consistently exhibit its performance and feel it is worthy. In a particular case, I see more opportunities if we can add value to the actual tools. We are experiencing less offer of new chemicals and less new mode of actions and biological/ natural solutions must be part of the solution, for example using them as part of a program of rotation or a combination of creating synergistic/complementary action and extending time of control, It is very critical now considering pest, weeds, nematodes, diseases, between others, are in a faster evolution process faster and getting a strong and everyday more complex arsenal to survive.

Last but not least, is important to open our eyes into crop nutrition with adjacent technologies. We need Nitrogen more than any other element to produce food and the use of biological inoculants to be efficiently colonizing multi-crops roots and leaves, are a solution considering over 70% of he atmosphere is Nitrogen; Replace conventional Nitrogen sources will improve environmental conditions (4.2 tons of CO2 per ton required to produce 1 ton of N fertilizer) and will change favorably a real grower pain point. Actually, a conventional grower practice consists of to divide N applications based on the nature of the fertilizer (due to solubility and ammonia gas loss in the atmosphere). This is an important market and will bring value for farmers also providing carbon credits and soil life enhancement. Sometimes pain points are not easy to identify but this is a potential solution for growers around the world, with multiple benefits.

Rather than a global food crisis, we should be talking about the global supply crisis and the exorbitant prices at which raw materials, including fertilizers, are now being sold. As organic farming is largely independent of these resources, I believe that now is the time to invest in and promote organic farming. Therefore, agriculture could become more independent of global trade and move towards sustainability, utilizing resources available in nature. 

Futureco Bioscience uses a comprehensive holistic approach that considers the integrity of the natural ecosystem and focuses on the productive soil-plant binomial. Recently, we have launched the Genomaat, Futureco Bioscience platform for soil metagenomic analysis. Genomaat offers tailor-made microbial solutions and customized treatment programs based on the distinctive characteristics of analyzed crops and the company's unique collection of microorganisms, to enhance certain functionalities in soils, such as phosphorus mobilization, nitrogen fixation, soil detoxification, and the optimization of water resources. On the protection side, we will continue to work with our pipeline of biofungicidal and bionematicidal microorganisms, some of which are already in the registration phase. We are also working on the development of several proteins and metabolites with anti-fungal properties, as well as several RNA interference models for both physiological and protective use.

In some regions, organic agriculture is no longer a small segment, but a growing market set to become even larger in the coming years, driven by increasing demand for organic food and supported by local policies. For example, the EU has set a target of increasing the use of agricultural land for organic farming in the coming years. Therefore, considering the area covered relative to traditional farming, organic agriculture has surely gained importance.

Organic farming implies variable yield loss and greater yield instability over time compared to traditional farming. In this respect, the use of effective specialty products for organic agriculture, for example, to improve root functionality or maintain soil fertility, together with correct crop management practices, can play a key role in bridging the yield gap and increasing temporal yield stability. 

At Biolchim, we have considerable experience in developing effective specialty fertilizers and biostimulants. All products follow our product development route, in which each step has strict quality and efficiency standards, starting from the selection of raw materials and progressing to field testing under different agronomic conditions. Due to this extensive experience, Biolchim has been able to develop a large portfolio of effective products for organic farming, even despite a limited choice of components allowed for organic inputs. Recently, microbials have also become part of the range, adding to the solutions available to organic growers facing difficult soil conditions. Many of these specialties are also officially certified in several countries, according to various standards in place.

Organic farming in African countries

Most African countries do a small amount of organic farming. The major countries that produce organic products are Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa, and Congo. The largest amount of organic farming is in Tunisia, which has 360,000 hectares, followed by Tanzania, and Uganda.

Most organic vegetables are grown in Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Tunisia. Fruits like bananas, table grapes, and wine grapes are produced in Egypt Morocco, and South Africa. As per my knowledge, a substantial proportion of these African countries grow cash crops, including tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar, and cotton. Oil crops, such as coconut oil, palm oil, corn oil, groundnuts, sesame and sunflower are grown in Mozambique, Ghana, Madagascar, Tanzania, , Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Guinea Bissau, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Other western countries produce spice and house cooking source crops, which include Egypt, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

While this focuses on organic crops in Africa, but when compared to common farming, organic productions have a low yield. 

The required transparent guidelines empower organic farming in the region. Compared to other parts of the world, organic Agri inputs consumption in Africa is extremely low. Even the use of pesticides and fertilizers per acre is low, which is a reason that organic products are used in Africa. 

For educating and demonstrations of organic Agri inputs, NGOs can play a large role in creating awareness about using organic / biologics Agri inputs, and also helping to create ecosystems which can provide organic harvest markets.

Food crisis & Organic farming

Organic farming would never be able to feed an entire population. However, we do not deny that we need to phase out the use of chemical products and find alternative sources through innovation, research, and development. Organic and biological Agri-inputs are available as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. But compared to chemical pesticides and fertilizers, organic inputs do not drive the best results. Since results are delayed or slowed,  farmers are often not interested in such kinds of farming.

Expectations on finding alternatives

One part of the business is innovation, R&D formulations and manufacturing, while the other part focuses on where we can have a sustainable supply chain from factories to farms . This is ETG’s strength. We have more than 500 distribution centers (One Stop Solutions for farmers) supplying fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides to small-scale and medium-scale farmers with valued agronomy services. We are happy to have further discussion and collaboration to empower organic farming in the region.

Farmers are happy to use organic products if they have effective, affordable and result-oriented products. I would encourage the manufacturers and R&D companies to provide solutions, from planting to harvesting to post-harvesting. For planting, this means finding an alternative to dialkylphosphate (DAP), Glyphosate, Urea, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) and other Crop Protection products like fungicide, insecticides, plant growth regulation (PGR), etc. If they are effective, farmers would happily use them. We can suggest alternative organic options which definitely will help us and farmers to produce high-quality and  substantial quantities of harvests per acre.

While the increased availability and adoption of bio-based inputs (biopesticides and biostimulant) in recent years has been a pleasure to witness, without doubt, many great products simply failed to reach the farm gate. as small companies simply couldn’t survive the 10+ years it took to develop and register biopesticides in the EU. However, with the EU aiming to improve the regulatory framework for biopesticides to reduce chemical pesticide usage by 50% by 2030, this really is the time for the next green agricultural revolution.

I have spent 25 years working on biopesticides (pheromones, microorganisms, and botanicals) and truly believe there has never been a more exciting time to work in this field. While the organic sector has always focused beyond yield, to include improvements to soil health and biodiversity, this approach is now becoming mainstream.

As a trusted partner of industry for over 100 years Fera are committed to supporting and sustaining both our food systems and the natural environment. We apply original thinking to help clients and partners address current and future challenges.

Fera’s world class facilities include laboratories, state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation, an aquarium, glasshouses, field plots, animal facilities and a flow-through mesocosm. This allows us to offer a wide range of GLP and non-GLP studies related to the development, environmental risk assessment and registration of plant protection products. Specific services we offer include: Efficacy testing (laboratory & field studies), Ecotoxicology (aquatic, terrestrial and pollinators), Environmental Fate, and Analytical Chemistry (LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, ICP-MS & HRMS).

This article was initially published in AgroPages' '2022 Organic Farming' magazine