RESEARCH DIRECTIONS FOR ORGANIC TREE FRUIT PRODUCTION IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

Abstract

Organic pome and stone fruit production in both North and South America expanded dramatically during the 1990s in response to growing consumer demand for certified organic foods. Nearly all production is located in the semi-arid regions where disease and insect problems tend to be significantly less. Tree fruit producers and researchers in more humid regions are attempting to develop viable organic systems for their climates. Key challenges for producers in all regions include crop load management (fruit thinning), effective and economical weed control, fertility management, and control of replant disease. Insect pest problems vary by region, with some pests such as codling moth being a nearly universal problem. Advances in insect pest IPM for conventional production have directly helped organic producers. Researchers are focusing more attention on ecological design concepts and techniques to minimize pests and provide other benefits to the system. INTRODUCTION Organic farming has established itself as a viable alternative system in American agriculture (Greene, 2000). Organic food production of all kinds expanded dramatically during the latter 1990s (USDA, 2000). This can be attributed to many factors, including consumer concerns about pesticides, a general increase in environmental awareness, much broader availability and selection of organic foods in groceries, improved quality of organic products, good economic times, and new tools and techniques to address organic production problems. Organic farming is in congruence with important societal trends such as a desire for greater environmental stewardship, more interest in food integrity, and reduced use of pesticides (NRC, 1989; Hartman, 1996; Swezey and Broome, 2000). These trends are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The expansion and legitimization of organic farming is also leading to much more research, development and education, both from the public and private sectors, providing growers with important production assistance. But these same trends have attracted numerous growers to organic production, initially because of the generally higher prices paid for organic foods (Featherstone, 2000). Often, the new organic growers are long-time conventional growers who can readily adapt to the organic regime and rapidly expand organic acreage, both domestically and abroad, leading to oversupply and depressed prices as has occurred for organic apples (Gabriel, 2001). Organic and conventional systems are converging for many crops, and it may be harder to distinguish them in the future and make a credible case to the consumer. And consolidation and industrialization are rampant within the organic food sector, promising many of the same outcomes we have seen in the conventional sector, such as downward price trends and the economic squeeze on moderate-sized farms (Pollan, 2001). Organic growers will need research on consumers as much as on farming practices. Key areas include consumer preference, national and worldwide production trends, organic standards and comparative advantage, and other food labeling programs. Growers need to communicate their unique research needs to public agricultural Proc. XXVI IHC – Sustainability of Horticultural Systems Eds. L. Bertschinger and J.D. Anderson Acta Hort. 638, ISHS 2004 Publication supported by Can. Int. Dev. Agency (CIDA) 370 institutions and stay abreast of all tree fruit research, as many new developments apply equally well to organic and conventional orchards. Conversely, new techniques developed for organic farms may be attractive to all growers. PRODUCTION TRENDS FOR ORGANIC TREE FRUIT Based on conversations with growers and marketers, organic tree fruit production generally lagged behind demand until 2000. However, the large increase in organic apple acreage in Washington State in 1990 as a response to the Alar incident (Fig. 1), and the resulting crash in organic apple prices, was a warning to growers to be aware of expanding production beyond the market demand. Since agriculture statistics services were not tracking organic production, growers had no information source to turn to. In 2000, the report “Trends in Organic Tree Fruit Production in Washington State” was released (Granatstein, 2000a), providing the first comprehensive look at organic apple, pear and stone fruit production. This information, recently updated with worldwide trends, has helped current organic growers assess their plantings as well as enabled prospective growers to evaluate whether organic production is a viable option. Tables 1 and 2 and Figures 1 and 2 provide a snapshot of production trends, suggesting a rapid increase in acreage domestically as well as overseas. The predominant production of organic pome and stone fruit in the U.S. and Canada occurs in the semi-arid regions of the West, where pest and disease pressures are generally lower. Similar regions in Argentina also have successful organic production. The trends for organic tree fruit acreage in the West are upward, especially in Washington and California. Future tracking of acreage will show whether many new entrants into organic tree fruit production exit with the current and anticipated reduction in prices. Often, growers who try organic production end up adopting certain practices (e.g. mating disruption, use of compost for nutrients, etc.) regardless of their organic status. RESEARCH NEEDS FOR ORGANIC ORCHARDS Organic orchardists often have certain research needs that are different than conventional growers due to the constraints imposed by organic production rules. As the acreage of organic production increases, public agricultural institutions are responding with more research on organic systems. In addition, societal goals for environmental stewardship have prompted much more research on methods of direct relevance to organic production even if not conducted specifically for or in organic systems. Organic farming advocates are pushing for a considerable increase in organic research by public institutions (Sooby, 2001) and some new funding is emerging to help support this. All production regions share a number of common research needs, based on presentations and discussions at meetings such as the First National Organic Tree Fruit Research Symposium (Rom et al., 2001) and the Southern Hemisphere Workshop on Integrated and Organic Fruit Production (INTA, 1999). These include fruit thinning, weed control, soil fertility, rootstock and variety evaluation, influence of organic production on fruit quality, and production and price statistics. The Organic Farming Research Foundation (Santa Cruz, California, USA) has conducted biennial surveys of organic farmers in the U.S. to document their perceived research and education needs (Walz, 1999). In order to better understand the research needs in the Northwest U.S., a survey of 14 organic apple growers was conducted in 1994 (Cornwoman and Granatstein, 1999) to examine the range of practices being used and the research and information needs of the growers. The growers were all experienced in organic production, and represented a range in farm size and location in Washington and Oregon. Results from the latter survey are incorporated into the sections below. Arthropod Pests The most critical need identified by organic orchardists in the western U.S. historically was control of codling moth (Cydia pomenella L.). Inadequate control of this pest in organic apple orchards was a primary barrier to production of organic apples. With