NZ Organic Avocado Growers Inc

Many growers work with organic principles in part or in whole. However if you want recognition for that not only within the industry but in the market place, then certification provides that. There are many growers across the horticultural industries who claim that their produce is organic, the problem being that their definition of organic is not always the same as the officially accredited certifying agents. Certification gives the consumer confidence that they can trust the source of their food to be what it claims.

A good starting point to finding out about the certification process is to talk to those already doing it. There is good information available on each of the websites as listed below and on the Organics Aotearoa website. (www.oanz.org.nz) The certifiers all have their standards available for anyone to download from their websites, it is a good idea to become familiar with them at an early stage. Once the decision has been made about which certifier to use the next thing to do is to contact them for an information pack and application form.

There are four certifiers in New Zealand each with a different price structure and any one of them may be more suitable depending on the circumstances of the operation.

Bio Gro are a company owned by New Zealand Biological Producers and Consumers Council Inc. (NZBPCC). It is a not for profit organisation with organic principles at the heart of its constitution. It provides two tiers of certification, firstly a cheaper local market only certification and secondly a full export certification.

http://www.biogro.co.nz/

Asurequality are a state owned enterprise who undertake auditing services across a range of sectors and for different purposes, including organic certification. They offer full export certification which can be used for the New Zealand market as well.

http://www.organiccertification.co.nz/

Demeter is the certification label run by the Bio Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association in New Zealand Inc. It works with the bio dynamic approach to agriculture, horticulture, forestry and animal husbandry as initiated by Rudolf Steiner. Although it is a recognised system in many countries, certification is for the New Zealand market only.

http://www.biodynamic.org.nz/

Organic Farm New Zealand is a low cost local market scheme that uses the Bio Gro standard. Auditing is done based on a peer group system.

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There are two aspects to growing produce organically. Firstly, working with biological growing principles and secondly doing that within the standard set by the certifier. It is the job of the certifier to define what organic means in context of labelling the produce as organic and the orchardist’s job to work within that definition.

Put simply there are lists of certified and allowable inputs that can be used on the orchard. Any contractors used need to have their own certification or be aware of what is required to avoid introducing contamination to the certified property. It also means that the supply chain is documented and approved as complying with the standards. There are certified organic packhouses that handle the beyond gate aspect of the supply chain. Produce can be labelled as organic within the specification set out by the certifiers.

Orchard performance is primarily determined by how well the grower applies the programme and secondly by the system he or she is using. A successful conventional grower is likely to make a successful organic grower should they have a mind to.

As is common in the avocado industry, the performance of organic orchards is variable, suffice to say some of them have produced consistent above average yields over several years.

Data has not been analysed comparing organic fruit that is not sprayed to fruit that has had a full copper spray programme. However the exporters who have handled most of the organic fruit report that market out turns are not significantly different from conventional fruit under a full copper spray programme. It is important to appreciate that the quality of the fruit is not simply left to look after itself but that many organic growers apply a strategy to improve all aspects of production, including reducing the incidence of fruit rots.

It depends. As with any business enterprise, the grower decides on the policies and how to apply them. In very general terms the fertility programme would be a similar cost or a small proportion lower than a conventional orchard. The spray programme would be considerably lower and other costs would be comparable. There is the additional cost of certification.

As is generally the case within the industry returns are quite variable. Export markets have returned from about the same as conventional and up to 20% premium. Local market returns are not analysed, it is generally felt that growers get a moderate premium of 10% to 20% over conventional fruit.

The conventional avocado industry has a strong support service offering technical advice for growers. The same level of service is not available in the organic sector; however, there are some people offering advice as well as a community of growers working together to continuously improve the collective knowledge. See also the recommended reading list.

There is a growing body of information across agricultural and horticultural sectors that show organic systems can and do deliver results on a number of fronts. Farmers and growers make comments that tell of improved plant and animal health, reducing pest issues as the system develops, better tasting food that stores better, less demand for irrigation, reduced costs and a great deal more job satisfaction. But that is what the growers say. Some scientists support all of these improvements as well as increases in nutritional density while others hold the opinion that none of these improvements have been validated. What is without doubt is that the field of organic research has been resourced at a very low level.