Protect and Expand Organic Agriculture

Organic farming can too feed the world

Organic farming can too feed the world

18

An Aug. 19 New York Times article "A conversation with Nina V. Federoff" used a quote from the science advisor to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as its headline: "If everybody switched to organic farming, we couldn't support the earth's current population -- maybe half."

Federoff, a former professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University who holds a GMO patent herself and who has sat on the Board of Directors of Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company, told the Times that there is opposition to genetically modified foods because "This is an unintended consequence of our success. We've gotten so good at growing food that we've gone, in a few generations, from nearly half of Americans living on farms to 2 percent. We no longer think about how the wonderful things in the grocery store got there, and we'd like to go back to what we think is a more natural way.

"But I'm afraid we can't, in part, because there are just too many of us in this world."

(If you ignore the typos, muckraker Pamela Drew does a pretty good job of deconstructing the Times' piece on the Newsvine.com).

Even without her personal history as an advocate of GMOs, Federoff's very tenure as advisor to a State Department that supports the spread of American-style agribusiness throughout the world and that, as Drew notes, has "targeted for reprisals" through the USAID global food donation programs nations "who refuse to accept the gmo grains," would make her statements suspect to a lot of us. On top of that the Q&A style of the article is a giveaway that the piece is one-sided; not only are there no opposing opinions or reported checking of facts, but writer Claudia Dreifus reports no followup questions or challenges to Federoff's broad statements.

Others are not so sanguine. Tim LaSalle, executive director of the Rodale Institute, was among those incensed both by Federoff's statements and the Times' article's lack of balance. In San Francisco for this past weekend's Slow Food Nation, where he moderated a Friday Food for Thought panel on "Building a New Food System: Policy and Planning," LaSalle talked to The Chronicle's Home&Garden editors about the Times' article and showed photographs of the Institute's Pennsylvania demonstration farms where crops are grown organically and industrially in adjacent fields that showed the organic, or regenerative, farming methods produced better, healthier crops.

"The production numbers have been the same or greater with organic," he said, noting that in drought or wet years there is a 30-70 percent higher yield from organic crops.

Of course, not all industrially grown crops use GMO seeds, but as ecofeminist Vandana Shiva, author of "Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability and Peace" (South End Press, 2005), told the audience at the opening Food for Thought session, "The World Food Crisis": "Part of the world food crisis is spin" in order to market GMOs worldwide. "The biggest myth we live under is that industrial systems have given us more food; they have not." Monoculture farming, as industrial systems promote, "raises the yield of one crop and loses yield of the rest."

Biodiverse systems give more output of food, she said. "Mixtures are the only way to farm sustainably; mixtures are the only way to eat sustainably."

"The more we can grow on already cultivated land, the better," Fedoroff said in arguing that environmentalists should embrace GMO foods.

To that point a statement by Andrew Kimbrell, founder and executive director of the Center for Food Safety and a Food for Thought panelist on "Policy and Planning," is germane. "Industrial agriculture is one of the major culprits in global warming," Kimbrell said, adding we can, and should, learn from traditional cultures because "no technology can increase the carrying capacity of nature."

Why should GMO food matter to environmentalists?

Kimbrell has an answer for that as well. "If you're an environmentalist," he said, "your most important issue has to be food."

The point of many genetically modified organisms is not to increase yield, Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved" (Melville House, 2007) and another panelist, had told a Commonwealth Club audience on Aug. 27. In both venues, he and Shiva talked about the case of "golden rice," the rice that has been genetically modified to add vitamin A in an attempt to battle blindness. Whereas the genetic engineers tout this as a solution to a health problem, Shiva and Patel see it as a smoke screen, saying that, if populations where people are afflicted with blindness caused by a deficiency of vitamin A had proper nutrition from vegetables rich in vitamin A, there would be no need to enrich rice. As Patel told the Commonwealth Club audience: The problem is not vitamin A in rice; the problem is poverty -- people so poor they can only afford to eat rice.

Posted By: Lynette Evans (Email) | August 31 2008 at 01:07 PM

Listed Under: Farming and land use | Older Comments for this entry

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/chrongreen/detail?entry_id=29714#ixzz1VcSW1u3A

BIOWASTE RECYCLE PROJECT - CIMB, ROTARY TAMPIN CLUB, GRBSB n MORARKA FOUNDATINON, INDIA - THANKS YOU TO PPD TAMPIN, PENGETUA SMKTI, SRJKCH n ME

BIOWASTE RECYCLE PROJECT - CIMB, ROTARY TAMPIN CLUB, GRBSB n MORARKA FOUNDATINON, INDIA - THANKS YOU Mr SECRETARY ( Mr LIOH )

BIOWASTE RECYCLE PROJECT - CIMB, ROTARY TAMPIN CLUB, GRBSB n MORARKA FOUNDATINON, INDIA - PRIZE PRESENTATION AT MAHAWANGSA HOTEL TAMPIN

BIOWASTE RECYCLE PROJECT - SEK. MENENGAH KEB. TAMAN INDAH - FIRST PLACE

BIOWASTE RECYCLE PROJECT -SEK. MENENGAH KEB. PULAU SEBANG - SECOND PLACE

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BIOWASTE RECYCLE PROJECT - CIMB, ROTARY TAMPIN CLUB, GRBSB n MORARKA FOUNDATINON, INDIA

BAKING CLASS & BIN COMPOSTING CLASS - CETDEM

BAKING CLASS & BIN COMPOSTING CLASS

We are organizing a Baking class and Bin Composting class on April 10 (Sunday). Please call up either 03-7875 7767 or 016-6414 883 (please call during office hours 9am-5pm) to inform your participation in this event! Limited place available, Hurry Up to join us now!

~ Baking Class ~ (Basic)
Learn how to make bread & oat bar from organic ingredients.
Date: April 10 (Sunday)
Time: 10am – 12pm
Fees: RM30 (members), RM40 (non-members)
Venue: CETDEM Organic Farming Community Centre

~ Bin Composting Class ~
Learn to turn your kitchen & garden waste into compost.
Date: April 10 (Sunday)
Time: 2pm – 4pm
Fees: RM30 (members), RM40 (non-members)
Venue: CETDEM Organic Farming Community Centre

Filed under: CETDEM Activity, Organic Farming, Publicity by ofa

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES (SUDI) - CETDEM

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES (SUDI)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES [SUDI] a THINK TANK of
the Centre for Environment, Technology & Development, Malaysia (CETDEM)

Introduction

There is no independent ‘think tank’ in Malaysia that focuses specifically on sustainable development issues. The ongoing global environmental crisis would affect all aspects of our lives and meeting these challenges will determine our future in ways that we can hardly imagine. Climate change will affect our food security as agriculture becomes more vulnerable to more severe floods and droughts and crop failures become more common. Together with the rising cost of petroleum as a result of scarcity of this crucial resource for industrial scale agriculture, food security is a very real threat in the coming years.

There is a huge information gap as the stakeholders, such as the government, corporations and the public, grapple to know the real environmental impact and ramifications of (say) rising energy prices on climate change, the long-term impact of the country’s high dependence on fossil fuels in the transport sector, just to name a few.

Objectives of SUDI

1. To facilitate the success of a comprehensive green development policy.
2. Provide government, energy-related companies, media, and other stakeholders an independent assessment of the energy & sustainable development-related issues, challenges and how the problems can be addressed.
3. Promote the use of genuine green technology as one of the ways to make the transition to sustainable industrial development
4. Provide an alternative/independent view of the issues/concerns of the day
5. Act as an independent monitoring and assessment vehicle of government programmes and projects of public interest
6. Ensure that sustainable development-related information will be accessible to a wider spectrum of people and organizations
7. Promote private sector partnership
8. Provide fora for inter-sectoral and multi- stakeholder dialogues
9. Strengthen the information and data base in CETDEM with a view to sharing them with other stakeholders
10. Promote regional partnerships with like-minded organizations
11. Serve as an effective forum to discuss sustainable development issues

Focus Areas

The following are the areas SUDI can assist in achieving sustainability:
- Low-carbon development options
- A more concerted and strategic approach to Green Technologies
- Intensify Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Efforts especially in the industrial and transport sectors
- Sustainable energy paths in the transport sector
- Reduce the adverse environmental impacts of development
- Increase natural resource productivity as a means of combating natural resource depletion
- Ensure that Malaysia makes the transition to sustainable development with the minimal ecological and human costs

Conclusion

Access to government information and documents is proving very difficult because of the confidential nature of the information and data. In short, important sustainable development-related information and data are not available in the public domain. CETDEM seeks to address this gap by the setting up of SUDI that would serve the interests of the various stakeholders, including the private sector.

Gurmit Singh, Chairman CETDEM
& Director SUDI : Aug. 2011

ORGANIC FARMING MEMBERS - CETDEM

ORGANIC FARMING MEMBERS

OF Friends and Groupings

Membership is open to all healthy-living enthusiasts – whether office-workers, homemakers, students, or even retired persons.Kitchen Gardening Group (KGG)
Membership is open to all healthy-living enthusiasts – whether office-workers, homemakers, students, or even retired persons.Farmers Group

This informal group was set up in 1998 as a platform for farmers to network and exchange information and experiences, knowledge & problems, and more importantly, their ability to work as a group. It tries to create opportunities for the farmers & NGOs, both locally and globally, through study visits, seminars, workshops, & conference.CETDEM would like to see the farmers formally organised and acting as part of an integrated O.F. system. In order to safeguard the interests of genuine organic farmers and consumers, CETDEM has successfully been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant agencies in developing a national standard and certification system.Membership is open to all potential organic farmers who are committed to O.F. practices.Click on below links for the memberships formOrganic Farming Member Form Page 1

Organic Farming Member Form Page 2

SLOW FOOD - CETDEM

SLOW FOOD

WHY SLOW FOOD ?

Introduction

The Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia (CETDEM), a non-profit organisation that has been promoting sustainable development including organic farming since 1985, has set up an Organic Farming Community Centre (OFCC), located within a residential area in Petaling Jaya. OFCC serves as a focal point / touch base in carrying out activities organised by CETDEM Organic Farming Project (COFP)and has been in operation since January 2007. The objective of this extended activity of CETDEM is to further promote organic farming/kitchen gardening and ecological sustainable living amongst the urban families and community at large.Amongst other activities, OFCC also houses a Slow Food Kitchen where food will be served with vegetables/fruits/herbs freshly picked from the Centre’s garden. Slow Food Kitchen is to demonstrate and promote healthy food preparation with NO use of MSG and other food additives; use less salt / sugar / oil and less fried. Slow Food Kitchen also serves as a platform for health conscious yet creative people to share their `expertise and experience`and develop together a new recipe book.

Objective

As more and more people are leading a fast life, we are not conscious of the kind of food we eat in terms of nutritional value, food/product consumption patterns, where and how it comes from, and how food choices and eating habits affect the livelihood of the native people, and the environment, locally and globally.The primary objective of setting up of the Slow Food Kitchen is not to generate income for the operational cost of the Community Centre but to demonstrate to the diners the benefit of eating organic food and how it is being prepared/cooked/eaten in a simple but tasty and healthy way. With that, we hope will connect food producers/farmers, consumers, advocators, cooks, and people like you who value the art of eating/cooking. Slow Food meals bring the joys of eating responsibly in harmony with the pursuit of pleasure.

Slow Food International

Slow Food International is a non-profit International Association with membership of more than 83,000 in 107 countries around the world. The events and projects the Association organises are Terra Madre (means Mother Earth) Salone del Gusto / Slow fish / Cheese / Taste education in school garden and children sensory classes etc. Slow Food International is basically a foundation set up to defend world biodiversity through the Ark and Presidia products/projects to defend and promote traditional local products.In year 2004, Slow Food International organised its first Terra Madre (Mother Earth), world meeting of food communities, brought 5,000 farmers and food producers together in Turin, Italy. For this 1^st edition, CETDEM was approached to send 5 delegates to participate in the workshop held on 20 ~ 23 October. At the 2^nd edition, year 2006, the CETDEM Organic Farming Coordinator led a group of 4 consisting of 2 farmers, one cook and a retailer that participated in the event from 26 to 30 October. This time CETDEM was asked to send a cook to demonstrate a recipe with use of black pepper grown in Sarawak.Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity`s mission is to organize and fund project that defend the world`s heritage of agricultural biodiversity and gastronomic traditions

ORGANIC FARMING - CETDEM

ORGANIC FARMING

Perspective | Members | Training | Diary | Slow Food

Support the Organic Farming Community Centre
Information on the Organic Farming Community Centre
Organic Farming Member Form Page 1
Organic Farming Member Form Page 2

Background

Organic farming is gaining popularity in Malaysia today, partly due to the effect of CETDEMs Organic Farm which operated for some 10 years at Sungai Buloh, near Kuala Lumpur (CETDEM started its 1st Community Farm in mid September 1996 in Subang New Village).What began as a one-acre experiment in 1987 grew well enough to be a proven venture. The small farm was growing vegetables and fruits, without the use of any
chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.The farm concentrated on a variety of local vegetables including cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, long beans, radish, eggplants, mustard [sawi], and spinach [bayam]. It was also growing tropical fruits like papaya and banana.Within a few years, possibly much to the surprise of some cynics, the farm was flourishing enough to be doing direct sales and even retailing its produce through two supermarkets in Kuala Lumpur.Today, the farm is closed. But only to launch a new beginning.CETDEM decided that with its limited resources, it has to spread the good philosophy and practice of organic farming and kitchen gardening. The practical experiences learnt need to be shared, more so when there is an urgent need to increase the quality and quantity of organic produce in the Malaysian market.

Objectives

The main objectives of the Project are to demonstrate the viability of organic farming in the Malaysian environment and to promote public appreciation of environmental issues including:

- The conservation of resources
- The need for changes in lifestyle

The current phase of the Project focuses on sharing our experiences with farmers, trainers and individuals so that more organic produce is available in the country

Specifically, from 1986 to 1996, the CETDEM organic farm:1. Sought to cultivate an appreciation of farming [especially organic farming] while being a practical contribution to the national effort to be self-sufficient in food;2. Allowed the development and application of ecologically sound agricultural practices as well as the utilization of renewable energy systems; and3. Enabled both interns and volunteers to improve their own skills through participation in farm activities while allowing them to provide a practical learning environment for children who spent weekends and school holidays at the farm.

Funding

In the early years, the Project received financial support from Bread for the World (1988 – 1992) and HIVOS (1998 – 1999). In between it was funded from income from the Organic Farm itself.

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PERSPECTIVE

Brief Organic History(Source: Article by Nuria Alonso in the international magazine of IFOAM No.36)
The spread of organic ideas started in the 1920s and 1930s with the publication of books by the pioneers from Europe and the USA. Those publications expounded more an ideology and a way of life than technical guidelines for producing food organically.The time for standards came later, preceded by a period on which the organic producers started to organize their first associations and in several countries of Europe, the US and Australia developed a voluntary system of inspection.The first organic label was probably Demeter, the biodynamic label. After that, the British Soil Association published its first standards in 1967.The modern, more structured system of inspections, in situ as known nowadays, started in the 1970s. During this period the development of organic certification in some states of the US, mainly in California, was particularly relevant. These initiatives by existing groups of organic farmers led to the development certification bodies such as the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). By the 1980s other European organizations, such as KRAV in Sweden and Skal in the Netherlands, had started to develop their standards and certification programmes.The organizations founded during those decades were usually and still are dedicated to several other activities related to organic production in addition to certification.By and large, governmental legislation started in the 1980s; California and Oregon, with state legislation dating back to the 1970s, being the notable exceptions. This development was in response to governments recognizing the emerging importance of organic markets and wanting to organize and regulate that kind of production. In Europe, 3 countries – Denmark, France and Spain – had national legislation in place within that decade.A very significant step was the implementation of the EU Regulation 2092/91, which took place in Europe in 1991. This Regulation, which covered all EU Member States, meant that more countries than ever before, including some that had shown little interest in organic production became governed by an organic regulation. 13 years later the Regulation is still in force. Throughout that time a total of 25 amendments and new standards, proposed by the Committee that represents all the EU Member States and approved by the EU Commission have been incorporated, so that now it has grown into a much more extensive document than the original one in 1991.In 2000 Japan published its Organic Regulation (JAS) and the final regulation for organic food in the US, the National Organic Program (NOP), came into force in October 2002. Several other countries throughout the world now have a national legislation that regulates their organic production, and many others are putting the necessary resources into developing legislation.Until recently, countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe did not have an internal market for organic produce. Any certified organic production in these countries was to supply the international markets of the richer countries of Europe, North America, Japan and Australia. These organic enterprises were managed according to the standards of the importing countries, and were mainly certified by certification bodies from the countries where the Organic Movement started.But things are changing, especially in Latin America and Eastern Europe. In Latin America the situation has developed from the first national organic legislation being implemented in Argentina in 1992, to the current scenario, where several countries have recently published, are drafting, or are discussing the drafting of national standards. At the same time some accredited local certification bodies are also emerging. In Eastern Europe several countries joined the EU on 1 May 2004, and big developments are expected regarding their organic production and legislation.At the international and global level, the role played by IFOAM should be recognized. Founded as in International Federation for Organic Agriculture Movements in 1972, it has published basic organic standards since 1980. These standards, continuously updated and enlarged, are used as a reference, a common point and a guideline for the development of many new and different organic standards throughout the world. The IFOAM Basic Standards (IBS) have thus provided the basis of standards and regulations in regions of the world with very different climates, cultures and agriculture practices. Parallel to this project, was the development of Codex Alimentarius (or food code), which was drawn up under the joint FAO/WHO food standards programme. The purpose of the Codex Alimentarius was to act as a guideline on the production, processing, labeling and marketing of organically produced food. They were finally adopted in 1999.

Role of Standards in Organic Trade

The current net of organic standards available worldwide has a fundamental influence over the market of organic products. Nowadays private standards belonging to individual certification bodies, are very common, but every decade governmental standards are becoming more relevant. Generally speaking, an organic organization is allowed to keep their own standards if they are in compliance with their country’s national regulations. In the case of the EU Member countries private standards must be compliant with the EU Regulation 2092/91. An exception is the US, where since the implementation of the USDA programme (NOP), private organic bodies in the country are not allowed to use their own standards or any others that differ to the NOP, except for meeting exportation requirements.What happens in practice is that the main importing countries are the ones that impose their rules in the international organic market. Therefore, the world’s three dominant regulations, the EU Regulation, NOP in the USA and JAS in Japan, have the largest number of organic producers that must conform to them. In addition, the stronger private standards have an added influence on many producers within both their own countries and importing countries.Closely related to the standards that organic producers must conform to is another important marketing element; that of the seal or logo used. As with the situation with standards, there are governmental seals and private ones. In France, the most recognizable and influential symbol is the national government seal called AB. In Germany the national Biosiegel is well accepted. However, in many other European countries it is a private symbol that is the most influential and in many cases is what consumers associate with the word “organic” when looking at a food label.The different standards at national or private level and the different seals enrich the concept of “organic” with their differences, but sometimes represent a barrier for trade. The organic sector is continuously searching for greater harmonization. The importance of this issue was illustrated at the IFOAM Conference on “International Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture”, held in Nuremberg, Germany in February 2002. There was much discussion and it was clear that all sectors involved need to make every effort if any degree of harmonization is to be achieved.

International

Development of Organic Standard

(Source: Article by Nuria Alonso in the international magazine of IFOAM No.36)

Initial Development of Organic Standards – Ideology & Principles

1928	The Demeter Symbol, based on Rudolf Steiners philosophy, introduced and the first Standards for Demeter Quality Control formulated
1940	Sir Albert Howard, British agronomist working in India published An Agricultural Testament
1942	First issue of Organic Farming and Gardening by J.I. Rodale (US) published
1943	Lady Eve Balfour published The Living Soil (UK)
1946	Foundation of the Soil Association (UK)

Early Development of Private Standards & Government Legislations

1967	First Organic Standards published (by Soil Association in UK)
1972	Foundation of International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM)
1980	First publication of IFOAM Basic Standards
1990	Organic Foods Production Act passed in the US

Developments in the 1990s

1991	EU Regulation 2092/91 was adopted
1992	The NOP Proposed Rule (National Organic Standards of the US) published
1992	The National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce implemented in Australia
1994	The Chinese National Environmental Protection Agency established the OFDC, currently the main certifier & a standards setting organization
1998	IFOAM developed Organic Textiles Standards, since then other private organizations have developed their own textiles standards
1998	The Swiss Regulation on Organic Faring came into force following the legislation in the EuopreanUnion
1999	Guidelines from FAO/WHO, Codex Alimentarius adopted
1999	EU incorporated regulation for livestock production

Recent Developments

2000	Japanese Organic Regulation (JAS) published
2000	The NOP Proposed Rule (National Organic Standards of the US) published
2002	Two new fair trade standards, published by the Soil Association (UK) and Ecocert in France (Bio Equitable)
2002	National Organic Program (NOP) Final Rule (US) came into force
2002	FAO and Tropical Fruit Network prepared the Technical Guidelines on Organic Cultivation of Tropical and Sub-tropical Fruits.
2003	IFOAM and some certifying bodies over the last few years developed Organic Aquaculture Standards
2003

National

Material for Sales

New addition to the EU Regulation 2092/91 to implement standards on the manufacture of livestock feeding stuff.

Besides GREEN NEST Quarterly, there is a teaching kit comprising slides, transparencies and notes while a video on local organic farming [both in English & Malay] was produced in December 1999.HOW TO ORDER ? Send your order together with payment (cheque/money order/postal order in favour of CETDEM) include bank commission for outstation cheque to:CETDEM
P.O Box 382
46740 Petaling Jaya
MALAYSIA

Postal charge are:
1st 500gm is RM 5.00
501 gm-1000 gm is RM 7.00
1001 gm-2000 gm is RM 10.00
Add RM 1.70 for Registered letter (for Malaysian citizen)

Articles

My Dream

Talking about ‘Dreams’ – well, I have always been dreaming……until today… I remember when I was in primary school and we were asked to write an essay on what we would do if we were millionaires. I wanted to help the poor and make people happy, I wrote. And when I was in the secondary, I would always cycle to the seaside at sunset and look at the blue sky and dream of being a bird….fly and fly with no worries but lots of freedom, and I remember I even wrote a very romantic poem (in Mandarin!) but the newspaper wouldn’t publish it because the editor said at my age I shouldn’t be writing love poems!

As I grew older, one of my dreams came through…..I wanted to live a meaningful life and here I am. I was given plenty of opportunities to learn, experience, acquire knowledge, discover my weaknesses and strengths and listen to my inner voice…..thus I want to share, utilize, disseminate and impart these ‘wealth’ with people and together we grow! For this the then CETDEM Community Farm was set up in September 1986 and later had the name changed to CETDEM Organic Farm one year after we moved to Sungai Buloh in 1988. However, the ‘Dream’ of seeing a Community Organic Farm happening, the fire within me is still burning……goes and comes, even until today … The dream of people living and working together with a life full of challenges; people coming to the farm to experience and understand Man and Nature relationships, and find solace in the farm/community. The joy of eating healthy food and understanding how food are being produced, and how it helps one to develop one’s inner soul and shape one’s social faculty. I dream to see the farm as a platform for human development and not just produce and supply of vegetables. Like we always say – farming is an art – it is not just another way to farm but is a way of life.

As the soil is the foundation of any farming community, we need to understand the meaning of ‘agri–culture’ as it is ‘cultivation of land’ and not simply ‘cultivating dollars and cents’. Someone pointed out that the words of tillage and worship are ideas of culture rooted from an Indo-European, meaning both ‘to resolve’ and ‘to dwell’. To live, to survive on the earth, to care for the soil and to worship, all are part of a cycle. I always observe how soil and weeds are being hoed and farm tools maintained – these show the farmers’ love, pride and commitments towards the fruit of their labour.

I still dream of one day seeing an environmentally conscious type of organic shop run along the traditional concepts. I dream to see many more owners taking a very bold step and commit to organic principles, especially environmental protection and adopt retail code of practices.

I believe the day when I stop dreaming will be the day my Heart stops beating !

Have a Wonderful & Fruitful year 2006 and may your dream(s) come true !

Other articles found in this issue:

Study Backs Operating Efficiency of Organic Sector

Soil Management: Know Your Soil

Insects that control Other Insects

Formaldehyde Removal by Plants

My New Compost Bin

Seed Saving of Melons & Cucumber

My New Compost Bin

A Day with an Organic farmerMr Loh Siew Fook of Loh`s Organic Veg-Garden

By Kenny Ng Khian Ee

Biodigesters in ecological farming systems

By T. R. Preston, LEISA volume 21

Interested to grow your own

Interested to grow your own SAFER, HEALTHIER & ECONOMICAL organic vegetables at home?

(Pls. refer to KGG)

Interested to start/ convert your farm into Organic? (Pls. refer to FG)

Wish to support Organic Farming activities in Malaysia? (Pls. refer to FCOFP)

GROUP	KITCHEN GARDENING GROUP (KGG)	FARMERS’ GROUP (FG)	FRIENDS OF CETDEM O.F. PROJECT (FCOFP)
WHAT?	Informal group of people keen on doing small-scale, synthetic chemicals free gardening.	Informal group of farmers keen on doing synthetic chemicals free farming.	Informal group of firms/organizations who wish to support synthetic chemicals free farming.
WHO?	Any individuals interested in Home-Gardening/Organic Farming related issues.	All potential organic farmers with a minimum farm area of 0.5ha and committed to O.F. practices. They should have started on the O.F.path.	Distributors of organic & health products, also those in the food services and other industries/ institutions.
BENEFITS	* Receive bi-annual newsletter ‘Green Nest’; * Access to CETDEM’s reference library;
	* Opportunity to exchange experiences, information, seeds, seedlings, vegetables; obtain organic produce/ products at affordable price.	* Opportunity to exchange experiences, information & seeds. * Receive information on foreign Trade Conferences,Exhibitions, Seminars and Market Outlets.
	* Participation in field trips (study visit), seminars, workshops, conference locally & globally; * Eligible to discounts of up to 30% for any O.F. courses/ seminars run by CETDEM (*** max. of 2 representatives per event only restricted to FG & FCOFP member);
	* Receive advice & assistance from CETDEM * 1 Free Visit to farm/garden site
CHARGES for Public Talk, Demonstration and Visit	KGG Member-RM 50/hr FG/FCOFP Member-RM 100/hr NGO- RM 100/hr Others-RM 100/hr Others-RM 200/hr Outstation: travel time & cost to be mutually agreed Above 10km from CETDEM office, to be covered by host Food & Accommodation – To be provided by host if 1 day / overnight event

CETDEM ORGANIC FARMING PROJECT

CETDEM ORGANIC FARMING PROJECT

CETDEM is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 1985 by a group of concerned Malaysians. Since then it has been promoting sustainable development by ensuring that development activities have the least adverse impacts on the environment through the use of appropriate technologies. As part of this approach, it pioneered organic farming in Malaysia when it set up its organic farm in 1986 and is currently promoting organic farming in different parts of the country.

Through seminars, studies and active representation to various government agencies, CETDEM has promoted the greater use of renewable energy, energy conservation, environmental audits, water quality, climate-friendly policies and action, and effective management. CETDEM is also active at the regional and international levels. The Malaysian Government acknowledged CETDEM’s environment work by giving the 1993 Langkawi Award to its then Executive Director, Ir. Gurmit Singh. In 2001, in recognition of Tan Siew Luang, the Organic Farming Project Coordinator’s contribution in the field of organic farming, she was given the 1^st SAIKA Award by the Japan Technological Institute Foundation nominated by the then International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) Asia.

Since 1996, our extended promotional work on Organic Farming has been done through

· Internal newsletter – ‘Green Nest’ for our Farmers’ Group, Kitchen Gardening Group as well as Friends of the O/F (Organic Farming) Project that include organic food outlets, retailers and fertiliser/compost manufacturers. In 1998 CETDEM published a book based on our farm experiences entitled ‘Organic Farming Practices in Malaysia’ in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. Videos and VCDs in the three languages are already being used to promote organic farming.

· In 1999 CETDEM organised the 1^st Malaysian Exhibition on Organic/Natural Products. The 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th exhibitions followed in 2000, 2002, and 2005. In 2001, a carnival on Organic/Natural Products was organised to create public awareness of the importance of caring for the Environment and Health through Organic Food.

· Encourage public to undertake kitchen/community gardening – a way to recycle their kitchen/garden waste into compost and use them to grow vegetables/fruits/flowers.

· Conduct regular public talks on organic farming and demonstrations on composting.

· Organise National Seminars and Public Forums on Organic matters.

· Conduct Organic Farming / Kitchen Gardening Courses for potential farmers and interested individuals.

· Conduct/organise study tours to organic farms for children and adult groups.

· Set up a Caring Consumers Scheme for CETDEM Organic Farm Project members to obtain organic vegetables and processed products at affordable prices as well as to increase environmental awareness/consciousness.

· Set up the CETDEM Organic Farming Community Centre (OFCC) in January 2007. The OFCC will serve as a working model of a learning centre for ecological sustainable living for the local community. It aims to demonstrate that the community can adopt sustainable principles into their daily lives to illustrate minimum negative impact to the environment in urban housing.

CETDEM’s name cannot be used in any way on any advertisements, flyers and letterheads without written approval from the Executive Director. The Board of Directors have reiterated and stipulated conditions to be met before such approval.

For more information, please contact:

CETDEM

P.O. Box 382, 46740 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03 – 7875 7767; Fax: 03 – 7875 4039

Email: of@cetdem.org.my Website: www.cetdem.org.my

Get Ready for World Food Day Actions 10/16/11

Get Ready for World Food Day Actions 10/16/11

• By Alexis Baden-Mayer, Esq., Political Director
  
  Organic Consumers Association, April 19, 2011
  Straight to the Source
  
  

On Sunday, October 16, 2011, the Organic Consumers Association's Millions Against Monsanto campaign is calling for World Food Day actions to demand labels on genetically engineered foods and a moratorium on the use of genetic engineering in agriculture and food production.

Get involved:

Join your local Millions Against Monsanto chapter.
Volunteer for the Millions Against Monsanto campaign.

RSVP for World Food Day on Facebook.

Sign and distribute the Millions Against Monsanto petition.
The goal is to have 435 actions, one in each U.S. Congressional District, and for each action to represent 2300 Millions Against Monsanto supporters.

435 x 2300 = 1,000,000 Against Monsanto

It would be great to have 2300 people participating in each event, but we can also demonstrate our numbers by delivering petitions signed by 2300 people in each Congressional District.

Anyone who can't attend an action on 10/16/11, can join the virtual rally by signing the Millions Against Monsanto petition.

Time to start planning our Millions Against Monsanto World Food Day actions!

Step #1 - Help your congressional district chapter get 2300 signatures on the Millions Against Monsanto petition for mandatory labels on genetically modified food. You can distribute the petition online or by printing it out:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/action.cfm

Step #2 - Declare your targets. Which local decision makers need to get a copy of your Millions Against Monsanto petition? Scroll down for ideas.

Step #3 - Plan your action. The basic components of the events on Sunday, October 16, 2011, should include an announcement of the number of petition signatures you've collected, who the petition is being delivered to and why. If Sunday isn't a good day to deliver the petition, you may also want to make a public event of the petition delivery on a weekday before or after the 16th. If you need suggestions or assistance getting started, please feel free to email molly@organicconsumers.org.

Step #4 - Spread the word. If you are planning an event, please be sure to email us all of the event information so that we can help you promote the it in your area. Email: molly@organicconsumers.org Another way to keep us in the loop is to invite WorldFood Day to your Facebook event.

WHERE SHOULD WE RALLY ON WORLD FOOD DAY?

Targets of the Millions Against Monsanto Campaign

• Politicians who should support laws that would make GMO labels mandatory.

1. Is your US Representative a cosponsor of bills in Congress to stop genetically engineered salmon?
2. Click here to ask your Member of Congress to cosponsor the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act
3. Do your state representatives support state bills to label genetically modified foods?
4. Click here to ask your state legislator to sponsor a GE Food Right to Know Act in your state.
   

• Grocery stores that sell unlabeled genetically modified foods.

1. Top 6 U.S. Food Retailers
   
2. Whole Food Market
3. Trader Joe's

• Food companies that use genetically modified organisms.
  

1. Kraft (includes Back to Nature and Boca Foods)
2. Kellogg's (includes Kashi and Bear Naked)
3. Ice Cream Companies (Dreyer's, Edy's, Nestle, Haagen-Dazs, Klondike, Good Humor, Breyer's)

• Farms that use GMO seeds or growth hormones.
• Biotech companies.
  

1. AquaBounty (fast-growing salmon)
2. Beijing GenProtein Biotechnology Company ("human breast milk" produced by cows)
3. Dow (2,4-D-resistant crops)
4. Eli Lilly (bovine growth hormone)
5. Monsanto (alfalfa, sugar beets, wheat)
   
6. Okanagan Specialty Fruits (non-browning apple)
7. Syngenta (ethanol-only corn)
   

• Companies that promote, invest in, or do business with, the biotech companies.
  

1. National Public Radio/American Public Media