ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

In Panama, most of the products are harvested with the aid of pesticides. In Darien there are just 6 training farms, whereas in the rest of the country others organizations are dedicated to organic agriculture.

The new tendency to consume natural products has upset a great number of consumers to look in the supermarkets for products with organic origin, that is to say, that among their parameters of production do not use pesticides or fungicides. But unlike the product seeded in traditional way, the consumer faces a rise in the price of an almost 40%.

For example, a pound of traditional lettuce can cost in Panama to the final consumer about 0.60 cents; whereas an organic produced it can have a price among 0.80 and 1.20 by pound.

The reasons? To produce organically is expensive and the yields are smaller, in comparison with the other products that use chemicals to elevate their production. And as this type of production is based on quality and not in amount, the yield by hectares is smaller and the cultivating process takes more time.

At the present time there is coordination between the Ministry of Farming Development (MIDA) the Agriculture Research Institute (IDIAP), the Institute of Farming Trade (IMA), international organizations and the producers, to adjustment of the national production so that it enters to markets where the organic matter quotes at good price.

But before, they are advancing a certification process for quality of exporting products, and for the local consumer, with the purpose that the consumer has total confidence of the quality of the product that he is consuming.

According to the Institute of Farming Trade there are possibilities producing species, like cilantro and some fruits, for which it is paid more in these markets.

Recently organic producers of the country were organized to define the strategies that will help to increase the productive areas of the country.

For example, those that have been grouped in High Lands, Chiriqui, are planning to increase the organic production in the seeding of vegetables (lettuce, tomato, cabbage) and some nontraditional headings (pumpkin, yucca, and yam).

These strategies will not be based simply to supply the local market, because the local business is not very profitable and advantageous for them, reason why in Europe the demand of these products grows to such point, that exports could well be given.

Organic agriculture is regulated through of different laws and certification programs. In Panama it is regulated by Law 8 of January 24 of 2002, which was ruled recently with Decree 146 of August 11 of 2004.

For the case of Panama the organic production is minimum, in addition the Panamanian people are not conscientious of the production that occurs in the country, reason why it is anticipated that they pay a higher price by an organic product, in case of doing it they will be the people knowing this and of with high spending power.

Nevertheless, some producers and suppliers of this heading in Panama have found an ally in Supermarkets Rey, which united to this world-wide tendency by the search of one better nutritious quality, have welcome these innovating products, offering to all their clients the facility to find in their supermarkets: the carrot, tomato, cherry, parsley, small onion, naranjilla, chayote, green apple, pear, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, organic onion and green pepper.

As important data, Panama occupies the first place in the region as far as the amount of pesticide by citizen and seeded hectare, and the second place in term of kilograms average by agricultural worker. In Panama at least 450 different brands of pesticide are imported, of which a third is insecticide and the rest herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. The annual average consumption is of 3 kilograms by each citizen of the country. That amount surpasses in more than six times the world average and is almost three times over the consumption of all Central America countries. It is possible that in Panama the consumption of pesticides is increased in the measurement that the agro exporter based model is maintained and the deficient application of national policies on sanitary protection to the dangerous substances.

The legal frame of for pesticides in Panama is established by the Executive Decree No. 19 that regulates article 70 of Law No. 47 of 1996, where it establishes that the Ministry of Farming Development (MIDA) and the Ministry of Health (MINSA)", will coordinate the regulation of the use of pesticides.  On the other hand, the MIDA is compromised to guard the quality, availability and the appropriate use of the pesticides to guarantee the national agricultural patrimony; and on the other hand the MINSA, corresponds to watch over the health of the Panamanian population and the atmosphere, and determine the factors of danger of the pesticides used in agriculture. On same way the CICLAC, has the function and attribution to denounce, to the competent sanitary authorities, the product sale or distribution that represents a risk or danger for the consumer’s health.

Organizations as the Panama Organic Product Consumers Association (VACURU) and the Consumers and Users Foundation have made feel their dissatisfaction and preoccupation by the indiscriminate use of pesticides and they are fomenting alternatives viable for a sustainable agriculture.

It became evident that in the present time it is not possible to know or to be sure if the fruits, vegetables or meat products that consume, contain toxic remainders for health, because there are not made the accepted internationally tests to detect these wastes in the products that are sold to the local consumer. To export products, like meats and fruits, it is applied the controls and are made the necessary tests, but no for products for local consumption. The previous thing is an irregular and injurious situation for the consumers.

National organic product market

There is still not a normal certified organic product market in the country yet. The organic products are sold in some small stores and with confused identification. At the present time, some producers try to sell to supermarkets with great difficulties. For that reason, because the national organic product market still is incipient, it is necessary to develop it.

In spite of all the difficulties and the delay as far as this activity, we can say that at the present time there is a great interest by part of the MIDA to collaborate and coordinate with the national producers and organizations for the promotion of this type of products specifically destined towards export, which represent much profitable than the local market.

Also it is possible to emphasize that according to interviews with different institutions and organizations established in the country, all the products used for the seeding in this sector are local, it is to say do not import products of others countries. For example, the organic fertilizer, there are two companies in Panama dedicated to supply to the producers, and they also use all natural, an example is orange peel.

As far as the export data, being this a quite recent activity in the country, data do not exist to this date that reflect the performance of this activity, it has not been determined even how many hectares have been seeded nor the present production, according to the people interviewed, the MIDA and other institutions are working to obtain updated information, nevertheless, it is not ready to present to the public.

Making an analysis of the performance of this sector we can establish the following:

STRENGTHS - Support from abroad. - Increasing demand of the product at international level. - Availability of financing to promotion costs. - Land apt for the production. - Good disposition and support on the part of the government at the present time. - Existence of registered companies. - Support of some supermarkets and salesmen of this heading. - The permissible and suitable climate for this activity. - The organic sector counts with a law that endorses and it is working in the             organization and coordination to make the effective norm. - Good ecological conditions, that allow to produce with a low or null synthetic product content (fertilizing, pesticides, herbicides). - Tendency to consume organic products in the countries with greater income. - Smaller barriers from access to the markets that stops traditional products. - We count with an agro-alimentary complex sector, which develops strengths in product headings as differentiated from high value. - The organic production represents the possibility of a substantial improvement in the health of producers and consumers and in the long term yield of grounds. - It increases better with standards of life for the farmers and rural products.

OPPORTUNITIES - Gradual Opening of markets. - Existence of industrialists compromised. - Presence of organizations of investigation and development. - Support on the part of international and governmental organisms. - Low production costs in primary stage. - Positive Image on the part of the foreigner towards national products. - The great retails chains promote and distribute organic foods, because they see these products as image promoters. - The organic production is an intensive industry in manual labor with larger income. - High internal product consumption (coffee, vegetables, fruits, cocoa, etc.). - Increase of prices of foods with attributes tied to health, the satisfaction of symbolic necessities or adapted to the new customs of feeding of the high and medium income sector. - Existence in commercial agreements that benefit this sector. - Hectares available for the activity and in very good conditions.

WEAKNESSES - Low indices of use of technology. - Low productivity rate. - Presence of diseases. - Deficiencies in applied technologies. - Supply with lack of contract fulfillment. - Quite low yield. - Lack of equitable distribution of the margins. - Suitable and necessary information is not offered to the sector. - Low level of efficient management or administration. - Low level of promotion in the national and international scope. - Low power of negotiation on the part of the producers. - Lack of promotion and product differentiation. - Little technology of elaboration, packing and developed conservation. - Lack of coordination and integration of the distribution chain. - Shortage of treatment and processing agricultural plants. - Weak promotion system of SME and exports. - Limitation of human and financial resources destined to the investigation and development in nontraditional products. - Insufficiency of technical information for the users; human and financial resources destined to the investigation and development in nontraditional products. - Insufficiency of technical information for the users. - In order to trade organic products, as such, they must be certified.

THREATS - Growth of the consumption in nontraditional countries. - Demand for natural foods. - Entrance of new competitors. - Increase of external subsidies in competing countries. - Appearance of sources of disease that affect the consumption. - Lack of investment in investigation and development. - A very demanding foreign norms. - Important indebtedness of producers and industrialists. - Possible historical contamination by use of agro chemicals. - Pressure from multinational companies. - Lack of consensus on the diagnose and proposal of solution. - Cuts in foreign cooperation. - Conventional Producers. - Saturation of the markets. - Serious shortage of credit for the SMEs in conditions adapted to the type of products. - The amplitude of opportunities of market and natural resources available in the country resist with the limitation of public resources for the development of programs and with the limitation of financial and enterprise resources of the private sector. - The efforts of promotion of the production and export are in favor conditional not only by their certification, but also of the market of selected destiny, because the national legislations on the recognition of organic products are different.

The expectations of the producers are oriented towards obtaining better prices, positioning in the market and increase of the land destined to seeding of organic product.

Briefly, the organic agricultural production in Panama shows important problems in the matter of management and services, fundamentally due to its little development like formal agro business. Most of these difficulties they are perceived in the scope of the producers, as well as in the institutional scope.

The subject of access to the knowledge of the organic technology, for its adoption, determines an important barrier to integrate itself productively to this heading. This one is circumscribed to a limited productive segment, which transfers partially its experience. From this situation, mainly those farmers who begin in the activity are handled with a level of knowledge and limited technological information, which results in an inefficient technical management.

Source:

Ministry of Agriculture Development

IDIAP

IICA

IPACOOP

Biolatina, Ing. Jorge Duque, Representative

NONI

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