With U.S. organic food sales topping $50 billion in 2018, statistics from the Organic Trade Association indicate that fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops combined make up 36.3 percent of total organic sales.
With U.S. organic food sales topping $50 billion in 2018, statistics from the Organic Trade Association indicate that fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops combined make up 36.3 percent of total organic sales, up 5.6 percent from 2017. In order to meet consumer demand, farmers may need to use essential oils to battle pests and diseases that often accompany organic crop growth.
Solutions to improve the feasibility and long-term profitability of organic fruit production is the basis of a nearly $2 million Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-National Institute of Food and Agriculture to a team of 15, including Associate Extension Agent Andrea Kawabata of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Cooperative Extension in Kona.
The four-year project is titled, “Plant Safety, Horticultural Benefits, and Disease Efficacy of Essential Oils for Use in Organically Grown Fruit Crops: From the Farm to the Consumer.”
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