Organic Vegetable Production: A Theme for International Agricultural Research

Heidi Lumpkin,
ARC (Thai University of Kasetsart)

The Asian Regional Center (ARC)-Thai University of Kasetsart is a key component of the World Vegetable Center, the leading international centre for vegetable research and development. The World Vegetable Center's mission is to reduce poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through increased production and consumption of vegetables. The Center acknowledges the role organic vegetable production can play in achieving its mission, but also recognizes there is little scientific research in organic agriculture production systems. Millions of subsistence farmers who do not purchase chemical inputs could increase their crop yields if they were provided with information and training in organic production techniques and management strategies.

As a result, the World Vegetable Center has launched a new research and development program on organic production technologies for vegetables. The Center will focus on components that solve problems specific to organic farming systems, such as sustainable soil fertility and nutrient management, selection of disease-resistant cultivars, and development of IPM/biological control methods suitable for organic farmers.

Specific examples of recent accomplishments to be included in the program:

• Parasitoids of diamondback moth-the most destructive pest of the cabbage family-have been successfully introduced in Asian countries.
• Pesticide-free strategies that control eggplant fruit and shoot borer, the most severe insect pest of eggplant in the tropics.
• Technologies developed for production of pesticide-free leafy vegetables under net structures, suitable in peri-urban areas where pesticide misuse is especially high.
• Disease-resistant, early-maturing mungbean lines incorporated into over 1 million ha of rice-wheat cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Mungbeans enrich the soil, increase farmers' incomes, and improve diets in this impoverished region.
• Over 5000 accessions of indigenous vegetables have been collected in Asia and Africa. Many of these accessions grow well under low input systems and show natural resistance to pests and diseases; thus, they could be promising for organic production and income generation, especially for women.
  

Food safety is also a major concern. Many of today's vegetable farmers inappropriately use toxic pesticides, pre- and postharvest. This threatens the health of the farmer, consumers, and contaminates the environment. Everyone, rich and poor, must have access to safe vegetables. We also must become better stewards of our increasingly threatened natural resources. Reducing the use of chemical inputs through the adoption of organic agricultural production methods will help achieve these goals.

Finally, the World Vegetable Center invites the scientific community, NGOs, farmers' associations, and other stakeholders to work as partners in our efforts to assist organic vegetable farmers in solving their production problems, gaining access to information and training, and achieving higher incomes and creating healthier communities.

Heidi Lumpkin
(E-mail: [email protected])

Heidi Marie Lumpkin represents the World Vegetable Center through its' regional branch at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. She has a bachelor's degree in Soil Science with an emphasis in environmental soil chemistry. She also has been a certified organic farmer in the Pacific Northwest United States since 1992.