The Challenges and Opportunities of Conversion to Organic Vegetable Production ` For more information, Please see websites below: ` Organic Edible Schoolyards & Gardening with Children http://scribd.com/doc/239851214 ` Double Food Production from your School Garden with Organic Tech http://scribd.com/doc/239851079 ` Free School Gardening Art Posters http://scribd.com/doc/239851159` ` Companion Planting Increases Food Production from School Gardens http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ` Healthy Foods Dramatically Improves Student Academic Success http://scribd.com/doc/239851348 ` City Chickens for your Organic School Garden http://scribd.com/doc/239850440 ` Simple Square Foot Gardening for Schools - Teacher Guide http://scribd.com/doc/239851110

1. THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF CONVERSION TO
ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION.
From the Vegetable Handbook (2002) published by ACT publishing
Tel: 01622 695656 Fax: 01622 663733 email: info@actpub.co.uk
Growing Market?
The messages sent out to growers by the organic industry have up to now been clear.
Demand for organic produce has been booming, with a 33% increase in the UK
during 2000. Around 85% of organic vegetables in the UK are currently imported.
The call has been for more UK producers to convert to satisfy demand. Low prices in
the conventional sector and premium prices for organic produce, coupled with
government grants have made organic conversion seem attractive. A relatively small
market has expanded rapidly. In 1999 2930 ha of organic vegetables were grown in
the UK. By 2000 this had increased by 44% to 4205 ha.
Organic Vegetable Production in the UK (hectares) 1997-2000
Green
Potatoes Root Salads & Total
%
vegetables
crops protected
increase
cropping
1997
1008
744
456
192 2400
1998
991
911
495
208 2605
9
1999
900
1150
650
230 2930
12
2000
830
2081 1000
294 4205
44
Source: Soil Association
Increased volumes of vegetables available and over-programming have forced prices
down, in some cases to below the costs of production. Imported organic produce
appears commonly on supermarket shelves, whilst some British organic vegetables
have been ploughed under or sold as conventional. Retailers claim that they were tied
into contracts with foreign suppliers before UK produce became available.
Specifications have become tighter and many growers report that for some crops there
is now no difference between organic and conventional specifications. Optimists
consider this a temporary blip, and feel that as the market continues to grow and
production consolidates with less land due to come out of conversion in the next two
years, we will get back on an even keel.
The challenge for the UK organic industry is to market a greater proportion of product
than is being achieved at the moment. That may need a change of structures or
approaches within the industry. At present the wholesale and processing options are
limited. There is a need for more co-operation between growers, an area where
continental growers excel, and for improved communication within the industry. At a
farm level it may mean looking at diversifying market outlets including direct
marketing and building on the demand for local as well as organic produce. There
may also be opportunities with niche marketing. What is clear is that entering the
organic market can’t be seen as a licence to print money and that good technical
ability, a sound financial footing and market savvy are needed to succeed in the
sector. There is clearly a need to build confidence and HDRA is leading a one-year
DEFRA funded study of the organic vegetable market. It will be collecting more
detailed information on the areas of vegetables grown and the value of produce traded

2. so that growers and retailers can see more clearly any expansion opportunities for UK
production and opportunities to source UK grown produce.
The Technical Challenges
The existing system on your farm will dictate the extent to which technical challenges
are a constraint to conversion. Generally the more diverse the farming system in terms
of enterprises, crops, habitat and market outlet the easier it will be to convert. The
range of existing crops grown is important as it is likely that the crops you grow well
conventionally will be your best crops organically. However, the demands of rotation
may mean that you have to learn how to grow unfamiliar crops, such as fertility
building grass/clover leys and other vegetables.
Soil and fertility management are definitely challenges and are perhaps not given the
importance they deserve as the cornerstone of the organic system. The standards
encourage the building of fertility through inclusion of grass/clover leys and green
manures in the rotation and cycling of nutrients within the system. Grass leys are,
however, not always managed well and green manures are under-utilised leaving soils
vulnerable to leaching over winter. Stockless systems including vegetables have been
demonstrated by ADAS at Terrington and by HDRA at HRI Wellesbourne but not
many growers have translated this into practice. Sourcing manure in the Eastern
counties can be difficult, but research by HDRA has shown that green waste compost
can be very effective as a stable source of nutrients, if a local source can be found.
Maintaining good soil structure is also a challenge and the effects of compaction can
manifest themselves more clearly in organically managed soils.
Weeds are often the biggest technical concern of growers considering conversion, but
the extent to which they are a problem will depend on your soils and past cropping
history. Investment in machinery will probably be needed but the availability of new
kit such as tined and finger weeders means that weeds can be managed effectively on
a field scale, especially in transplanted crops. Attention to detail is required in setting
up your system to minimise adjustments between crops and to keep hand labour costs
down. Timing is crucial. The biggest problems with weeds can be in early crops
where stale seedbeds are not possible and crop establishment is slower.
The increasingly inflexible, and some would say unrealistic, standards required by the
market pose challenges for pest and disease management. In general, however
growers find that pest and disease problems occur less than they expected. Rotation
and diversity are the key and there are also technical solutions to many of the
problems. For example, manipulating the use of crop covers and sowing dates for
carrots according to forecasting of carrot fly populations can be an effective tool.
Many pest and disease problems on newly converted farms can be site-specific and
related to past management, so it is important to know your fields well. Although
there are many permitted biocides available in the standards, the approach of
substituting ‘organic’ inputs for conventional ones is a dubious one and should be
considered only as a last resort. The risks involved with field scale production for the
multiples make this approach understandable, however the organic principles of
encouraging diversity and natural predators can and do work.

3. The Economics
The decision to convert is not one to be taken lightly. The additional management
input required on farms should not be under-estimated and can be up to 50% more.
Sourcing and managing the extra labour needed once the land is converted has been
problematic for some. Additional investment in, for example, weeding equipment
may be necessary. Set-aside payments, when land is eligible, and payments from the
DEFRA Organic Farming Scheme can help to offset some of the loss of income
during the conversion period. HDRA has been monitoring farms in the DEFRA
funded Conversion to Organic Field Vegetable Production project. In the first two
years following conversion farmers in the study have obtained vegetable yields on
average 25-30% below conventional yields and 18% below typical yields from
established organic farms. In some instances organic yields were higher than
conventional averages. Higher prices often enable organic growers to obtain gross
margins that are higher than conventional, but the economics of the whole rotation
must be considered because fewer cash crops can be grown in an organic system.
However, the initial findings from this project are indicating that over-all farm income
levels have the potential to be higher following conversion.
If you want to find out more about the HDRA conversion project or marketing study
contact:
HDRA, Ryton Organic Gardens, Coventry CV8 3LG. Tel: 024 76308200. Email:
psumption@hdra.org.uk www.hdra.org.uk/research
For free advice on conversion contact the Organic Conversion Information Service
(OCIS): 0117 922 7707 for England and Wales. For Scotland: 01224 711 072. For
Northern Ireland: 02890 701 115.
For information on DEFRA and the
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/organic/default.htm
Phil Sumption
Organic
Farming
Scheme :