High prices, low awareness stall organic farming plans

Abu Dhabi: The high price of organic agricultural produce is the initial challenge which the UAE faces in order to increase the share of organic farmlands — which constitute a mere 0.05 per cent of the total farmland — in the country, an official told Gulf News.

"The prices of organic produce in the UAE are three to four times more [than conventional produce] whereas in Europe the prices [of organic produce] are just double only," Gian L. Nicolay, deputy manager of a project set-up by Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) to promote organic farming in the emirate, said.

According to Nicolay, an agronomist with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL a Swiss company), imported organic produce [due to low local production] is costly which leads to a low demand for them. This in turn discourages local farmers from switching to organic farming.

Increase production

The demand for organic produce is growing but the UAE has to increase production to support the trend, Nicolay said at the Liwa Agricultural Exhibition organised by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), recently.

ADFCA plans to increase the share of organic farming in the emirate.

It has set up the Organic Agriculture Centre (OAC) in cooperation with FiBL to promote organic farming in the emirate.

Abu Dhabi being the largest emirate, the initiative may see considerable increase in the country's meagre share of organic farm lands, according to the official.

The UAE has 331 hectares of organic farm land which is a mere 0.5 per cent of total farm lands, according to the 2009 edition of ‘The World of Organic Agriculture', published by FiBL and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

FiBL has a four year project with OAC which will give all sorts of assistance to the farmers, especially the best techniques of organic farming, Nicolay said.

Farmers' issue: lack of support

"I would have switched to organic farming long ago, if there had been sufficient demand for local produce in the local market," a prominent farmer in Liwa told Gulf News.

The demand is at an unsatisfactory level because potential customers, mainly the upper class in the country, lack awareness in this regard, Mohammad Saeed Al Hamili, 41, said. Al Hamili owns a large farm which produces 250 tonnes of vegetables per month.

"Only the rich can afford the higher prices at the moment — [which is] three times [the price of] conventional produce; but they too do not purchase organic produce", he added. He sells his produce to a prominent retail chain on a regular basis and does not intend to switch to organic farming until the market situation changes. Al Hamili said farmers needed more support from the government. "Many countries... have adopted measures to protect the local produce. We expect such measures in the UAE too." An ADFCA official said that the authorities wanted farmers to be independent and compete in the market without government's support.

"But we will extend all assistance... to improve the farming", Khalifa Al Ali, Deputy Chairman of Farmers Service Centre, an institution set up by ADFCA, said.

Is organic food gaining in popularity in the UAE? Has it made a difference to your health? Is the cost worth the benefit?

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/high-prices-low-awareness-stall-organic-farming-plans-1.611528