Many
traditional farm organizations now have entire company divisions that
are dedicated to organic production, and most major agrichemical manufacturers
have organically certified pest control or fertility products for
sale to these end users. In the fresh fruits and vegetables markets,
organics are the most rapidly growing sector of the world produce
marketplace, but one that is also wrought with crop fertility, pest
control, and post harvest quality challenges. These issues demand
intensive product development efforts by credible science professionals
at all levels, if market demands are to be met in the future. Twenty,
30, and 40 percent yield losses are commonplace in organically managed
vegetable and fruit fields, and in periods of peak insect or disease
activity, entire crops are lost from a lack of effective pest controls.
Commercially, these losses are simply unacceptable and unsustainable
in the long term. Field isolation during these critical periods, lowering
of market quality standards, and reduced produce availability are
all short term solutions to this dilemma, but new organically acceptable
products are urgently needed to help nurish the crop plants, control
the pest organsms, and give the farm manager more control over the
growing operation.
Pacific
Ag Research has helped develop and register many of the organically
certified products in use today. OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute)
guidelines for organic certification are incorporated into specific
field testing and registration protocols for clients with candidate
products for this lucrative market. Biological colonial suspensions
such as soil inoculants are challenged in field microplots where specific
pathogenic species are introduced and the product is tested for effectiveness
in controlling pathogenicity on the susceptible crop. With alternative
insect control products, mineral dusts, biological suspensions of
viruses, bacteria, entomophagus fungi, or predatory or parasitic insect
species are tested in large block crop settings where pest populations
are well established. Laboratory trials are also conducted with suspensions
of biologicals in early stages, but for registration purposes, field
data are always recommended. Although the registration requirements
are abbreviated for these products, they are still required to be
statistically effective and free of synthetic materials in their manufacture
or final formulation. Our staff can counsel the product manager on
these guidelines for organic product development, and help position
it in the market long before the first study begins.