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- USA: Stevia sales top 95 million $
Organic Market.Info
Source: Gourmet Retailer
Hundreds of new products with Stevia are expected to reach the market in the near future, Gourmet Retailer reports. A new report from Mintel finds that since December 2008, when the FDA approved use of rebaudioside A, an active ingredient of stevia, in foods and beverages in the USA, the stevia market has erupted. By mid-July 2009, stevia sales topped 95 million $, a massive increase compared with the 21 million $ reached in all of 2008.
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- Stevia market to break $100 million this year
Mintel Press Release
Source: Mintel GNPD, Mintel Oxygen Reports
It’s stevia’s year. All-natural and calorie-free, stevia is poised to become the "holy grail" of sweeteners, says a new report from Mintel.
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- Reassuring numbers on Stevia’s Market Potential Shared by William Mitchell, CFO of PureCircle.
Stevia World
There’s a lot being said about Stevia, but little available in terms of Solid market figures and concrete projections.
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- New Basil: Tough and Tasty
National Gardening Association
By Charlie Nardozzi
A hybrid sweet basil, ’Nufar’, has remarkable tolerance to the most commonly found strains of fusarium wilt. Like other Genovese-type sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), ’Nufar’ is very productive and has excellent flavor and large leaves, but is much less susceptible to wilt.
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- Romaine’s Long, Leafy History
The Washington Post
By Barbara Damrosch
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, February 7, 2008; Page H05
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- Organic Farmer Network: Network Discussion Summary
Favorite lettuce varieties
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Wiedigers love Jericho because it will grow in the summer. Nothing else will grow in the summer for the Ws. Jericho stays sweet. Big green romaine type. Even in Aug, they don’t get bitter. Get them from Seed of Change in bulk. Turtle Tree has them too.
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- New Cuts for Hoop Houses
GPN Greenhouse Product News
By John Dole
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- Evaluating the Vase Life of New Cut Flowers - Year 2 (2007)
American Floral Endowment
E.M. Regan, J.M. Dole, and I.F. McCall
Department of Horticultural Science,
North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC 27695-7609
"Each year a large number of new cultivars and species are released by plant breeders, propagators, and suppliers. They are evaluated in the National Annual and Perennial Cut Flower Trial Programs, administered by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG) and N. C. State University. These new cultivars are tested at approximately 40 locations in the United States and Canada, providing valuable information on yield, stem length, and market appeal. However, a new cut flower must also have a long postharvest life. This study screened 15 new cut flower species/cultivars to determine which ones have a long vase life.
...Sunflower ’Orange Glory’* A vase life of 12.5 days was obtained with a holding solution (Fig. 1). Minimum vase life was 7 days."
*Orange Glory is Genesis' ’Zohar’
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- Sweet and acidic — like Israel! JustASC
by Andrew Silow-Carroll
"Loving that juicy Jersey tomato? Thank Israel.
Genesis Seeds Ltd. of Ashalim is reproducing the famed "Ramapo" F-1 Hybrid, once famous throughout New Jersey for its "balance of sweetness and acidity." Rutgers University’s New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station distributed Ramapo seeds to 80 farms around the state, which hope to bring the strain to market by August, the Star-Ledger reports.
The state’s tomato growers had stopped growing the breed in favor of heartier strains. But the Rutgers folks found the Israel company, which initially produced four pounds of seed for $8,000, outbidding an American company that demanded a minimum order of 25 pounds of seed for $50,000."
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- New Summer Squashes Add Variety, Growing Magazine
by Dorothy Noble
"...The following new or relatively new varieties of summer squash should tempt growers this year:
- Cocozella 629 produces early, long, striped fruits with superior nutrition value. Bred by Israel’s Volcani Center—Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Genesis Seeds produces the certified organic seeds. This hybrid variety resists powdery mildew.
...
- Goldy, bred by ARO, yields yellow fruit. Genesis Seeds produces the organic seeds of this cylindrical, glossy, golden zucchini hybrid.
- Early, medium dark green, shiny and flat, ARO-researched hybrid Green Scallop 1450 is included in Genesis Seeds organic squash lineup.
...
- From ARO research, organically produced Genesis Seeds’ Summer 705 yields short, cylindrical, light green fruits. This hybrid resists powdery mildew.
- Yellow Scallop 1566, another ARO-bred variety produced organically by Genesis Seeds, has demonstrated early productivity. The shiny yellow fruit displays an eye-catching flat scallop shape.
- Genesis Seeds’ Zucchini 663 resists powdery mildew. Organic and part of ARO’s research, this hybrid consistently yields straight, cylindrical, glossy dark green fruits."
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- Can Artichokes Bring New Heart to Texas Agriculture?
Research in Review, July 19, 2007
Writer: Paul Schattenberg
"Green Globe and Imperial Star types gave the best results," Leskovar said. "These
two varieties were considered the best on the basis of yield and water use, along
with head size, shape, color, uniformity and phytochemical content."
Samples of the two ‘winning' artichoke varieties were taken to Constanzo Farms
Inc., a large South Texas vegetable producer and distributor, for assessment.
"The artichokes we saw from the Uvalde center were, in a word, beautiful," said
Constanzo co-owner Michael Adamek. "Their quality was as good or better than
what we've seen out of California, and so was the taste."
- NEW HORIZONS FOR ARTICHOKE CULTIVATION, ISHS
Author: J.I. Macua
Keywords: countries, cultivars, cultural practices, commercialisation
Abstract: The broad, low-lying fields of the Mediterranean are where the artichoke was first grown, and where its cultivation developed and increased over the centuries until quite recently, production having remained stagnant since the end of last century. 50,000 hectares in Italy, 19,000 in Spain and 10,000 in France, amongst other countries, are currently given over to this crop. However, two new horizons have opened up for this vegetable, on opposite sides of the world: one to the east (China), and the other to the west (South America). South American countries were the first to start growing artichokes, and do so in greater amounts: Peru now has over 4,000 hectares, most of which are covered with plants grown from seed; Chile has 2,500-3,000 hectares of plants grown from cuttings, of the Blanca de Tudela variety, and Ecuador has 500 hectares of varieties grown from seed. In China, however, cultivation of this crop is much more recent, only starting in 2003 with new plantations, consisting entirely of plants grown from seed, covering approximately 1,000 hectares in Kunming area and 200 hectares in and around Wuhan. The rapid expansion of this crop in completely new areas is due to the use of seed, which allows a large number of plants to be grown in a short period of time, in contrast to the use of cuttings, which limits the number of new plants. The varieties being grown in almost all these new countries are Imperial Star, Lorca or A-106. The fact that artichokes are now being grown in countries where they were previously unknown means that domestic demand is nil, all the production being canned, bottled or frozen, or in the case of China, being preserved in barrels for later re-packing, and destined for export. The zones chosen for production have mild weather conditions and a long growing season, this in turn leading to a high degree of productivity (20-30 t/ha). With regard to the Mediterranean basin, the situation has improved in some of the southern countries such as Egypt and Morocco, or to a lesser extent Turkey, but this cannot be compared with the countries mentioned above.
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- 43 Million American Families to Grow Vegetables in 2009, News Blaze, April 11th, 2009
By Carolee Walker,
HOME FARMING ON THE RISE
According to the National Gardening Association, 37 percent of all U.S. households, or about 43 million families, plan to grow vegetables, fruit, berries or herbs in 2009. That's up 19 percent from 36 million families in 2008.
In a survey of households planting vegetables, 54 percent say they are growing their own food to save money. According to the seed company Burpee, its kit for first-time gardeners, which sells for $50, can produce $1,250 worth of groceries.
NICHE CROPS LATEST TREND IN SMALL FARMING
Small farming is on the rise in the United States, and USDA estimates that there are more than 300,000 new farms in the United States since 2002, many run by younger people.
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- Organic market report 2009, Soil Association
UK sales of organic products increased overall by 1.7% in 2008 to over £2.1 billion,
growing strongly in the frst six to nine months and then falling back in the face of
the economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009
Sales through multiple retailers increased by 1.8% to £1.54 billion; sales through
independent retailers are up 1.4% to £568 million
Ninety per cent of UK households buy organic products
Dairy products account for 29.5% of spending; fresh fruit and vegetables for 26.2%;
red meat and poultry for 8.9%; beverages for 8.6%
Sales of organic cotton increased by 40%; total UK sales of organic clothing and
textiles reached £100 million
Sales of organic health and beauty products increased by 69% to £27 million
Global sales of organic food and drink reached an estimated £23 billion by the end
of 2007 – an annual increase of 7%
Organic production accounts for 0.65% of global agricultural land. Organic farming
is practised in more than 140 countries on over 1.2 million farms
The amount of land managed to organic standards in the UK increased by 10% in
2007 to 676,387 hectares (ha). Organic farmland accounts for 3.9% of the UK’s
agricultural land area
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- Sold Out Seeds for the Season, The Contemplation, March 17th, 2009
By rhea,
The largest mail-order seed company (US), Burpee Seeds, is running out of stock. "I’ve never seen anything like it."
George Ball, CEO.
"Orders for vegetable seeds have skyrocketed. While orders for ornamental flowers are flat or down", said Richard Chamberlin, president of Harris Seeds in Rochester, N.Y.
It seems that US citizens, at least those with land available, are finding value in supplying their own veggies.
All through US history food has been a defining moment. All the way back to the first Thanksgiving . . . it was about survival with a kick-ass garden. Here are the major garden pushes with an attached agenda of political and social survival:
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