Today's Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home will be
presented in Afrikaans,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish
and Thai.
Hallo, vibrant viewers,
and welcome to
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
On today’s episode,
we feature an interview
with Paul Roos of
Limpopo, South Africa
who practiced
conventional farming for
17 years before switching
to organic farming
five years ago.
He has a masters degree
in agriculture and
his farm produces
between 250,000 and
300,000 cases of peaches,
nectarines, apricots
and plums a year.
What prompted
Mr. Roos to embrace
organic agriculture?
Our main reason was to
produce a better quality
product, a better fruit.
We wanted a higher
sugar content
and better color,
so we started researching
and decided that
we had to improve
the status of our soil.
Then we started with
a biological approach,
more compost,
mulching and so forth.
The step from biological
to organic was basically
to get the accreditation
behind our name and
we had to change one or
two things to comply
to be fully organic.
The term
“organic agriculture”
is formally defined by the
International Federation
of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM) as
“a production system
that sustains the health
of soils, ecosystems
and people.
It relies on ecological
processes, biodiversity
and cycles adapted
to local conditions, rather
than the use of inputs
with adverse effects.”
Organic agriculture
does not include use of
pesticides, herbicides,
synthetic fertilizers,
or Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMO).
Organically grown produce
has seen a rapid rise
in demand worldwide
in the last decade.
The number of hectares
devoted to organic
agriculture continues to
expand in many countries.
As of 2007, 32.2 million
hectares of land were
being cultivated by
1.2 million organic
farmers across the globe.
Almost half of the
world’s organic farmers
reside in Africa.
Soil is the most important
element in cultivation
and organic farming
helps to prevent
its erosion and
preserves its fertility.
Our philosophy is that
you must get your soil
back to its natural status.
When our orchards were
conventional orchards,
the orchard soil
was covered with moss.
We thought it was great,
since it was so green.
The orchard, the soil,
was basically dead.
If you were to dig in it,
you would only find
single large roots,
never fine roots.
But after this process
of mulching and compost
and inoculating
micro-organisms,
the status has completely
changed, and you find
a soft groundcover.
Organic fruits
and vegetables are well-
known to be much more
delicious than
their conventionally
raised counterparts.
The nutritional content
is higher and the organic
produce is far safer
for our health
as no synthetic fertilizers
or pesticides are used.
Our whole idea to move
organic was to produce
a better taste in our fruit.
There is TSS,
which stands for
“Total Soluble Solids”
and that is an indication
of the sugar content
in your fruit.
Since we have
gone organic, our TSS
percentage has increased
two to three percent,
so that is definitely
an indication that there
are more nutrients
in the plant compared
to conventional
faming practices.
Mr. Roos now dispels
a common misconception
regarding the sufficiency
of nitrogen,
a key nutrient needed
for plant growth,
in organically
cultivated soil.
Nitrogen is one
of the questions
I’m often asked about
by many producers
and agricultural experts,
and they believe nitrogen
is a problem with
organic farming
and that we don’t have it.
We found that
that micro-organisms
play an important role;
there are 40,000 types
of micro-organisms
in one gram of soil,
and during the micro-
organisms’ life cycle, when
the micro-organisms die,
they excrete amino acids.
It is these amino acids
that are the source
of nitrogen
in organic farming.
In fact, the plant
has bigger affinity
with nitrogen from
amino acids than
with chemical nitrogen.
The figure we are looking
at is that our nitrogen
is more than seven to 10
times more effective
than chemical nitrogen,
so for me nitrogen
is not a problem.
Mr. Roos now explains
why mulch,
a protective soil covering,
and compost,
or decomposed
organic matter, are vital
in organic agriculture.
Mulching is of utmost
importance and is
an integral part
of organic farming.
When we distribute
the compost on the soil
of the orchard, we want
to protect this compost.
What you don’t want is
that your compost
dries out, because
the micro-organisms
must stay alive.
So we cover it with mulch,
which on the one hand
provides protection
for the compost and
the micro-organisms,
and on the other hand
also protects
the moisture content.
You don’t get evaporation
of the upper layer.
And then the third
advantage is that it,
once again,
is a source of nitrogen,
which is nutrition for
the micro-organisms to
keep their process going.
When we started to
look at organic farming,
that was our greatest
concern; are we going
to have enough material
to make our own compost?
And we started to make
plans to drive truckloads
of garden waste
from the cities, but
we never had to do that,
as there are so many
sources on a farm;
harvest remnants,
non-native plants,
there are so many things
to make compost from.
So there are many
sources, you just have to
look around your area.
After these brief messages,
we’ll learn more about
organic farming from
Mr. Paul Roos
of South Africa.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Since we have become
fully organic,
the tree bears bigger
and more fruit compared
to conventional farming.
If you look there,
there are about 300 to
450 fruits on this tree
and many are very big.
This proves that
this plant is very healthy
and that you can expect
a big crop.
Welcome back to
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
Our program today
features Mr. Paul Roos,
a South African
organic farmer.
His farm in the province
of Limpopo produces
between 250,000 and
300,000 cases of peaches,
nectarines, apricots
and plums a year.
The benefits of organic
farming are innumerable.
For example, it is
far more cost-effective
than conventional farming.
In a 22-year study
conducted by the US-
based Rodale Institute,
conventional cultivation
of soybeans and corn
was compared
to organic farming
of the same crops.
The researchers concluded
that the yields were
about the same, however
organic cultivation used
30% less energy,
less water, and was
far more environmentally
friendly given
no pesticides
or fertilizers were utilized.
Growers highly value
having their crops
certified as organic
for a number of reasons.
In some countries
produce cannot be sold
as organic without
meeting government
or third party certification
standards. Mr. Roos says
that in order for
a conventional farm
that has switched to
growing organic crops
to be certified by
an acknowledged authority,
typically a conversion
period is required to
ensure all produce from
the farm is 100% organic.
After meeting this
and other requirements,
a farmer can then
label their produce
as an organic.
It is a long process
in the sense that your farm
gets audited at least
once a year
by an internationally
accredited company.
They have the right
to inspect your farm
at any time,
even in between your
yearly audits,
and this is what
makes it a long process.
Then there is also the fact
that when you go organic,
there is a three year period
in what they call
“in-conversion” through
which you have to go
before you can be fully
classified as organic.
So only after year three,
or when year four
comes around,
you are fully organic.
So there is a time process
that you have to go through.
If farmers produce
both conventional and
organic products, strict
separation is mandatory.
A person who tries
to farm organically
and conventionally
at the same time,
or start at different
phases or levels
or “in transition,”
perhaps one year
in transition and
others fully organic,
must definitely make
a separation between
the different products
to limit contamination.
Of utmost importance
is that you must have
a good traceability system
to enable you to trace
your product even
back to the orchard,
and all the phases
it has been through.
This is very important in
an organic packing room.
Conventional agriculture
is heavily dependent
on petroleum-based
fertilizers
and in some nations like
India and China these
products are subsidized
by the government
in order to make them
more available to farmers.
Mr. Roos feels that
government subsides
would be appropriate
for those farmers
converting their lands to
organic crop production.
The reason being that
the transition to
organic farming involves
investment, in the sense
of cost increases and
production decreases
for a year or two years,
after which you gain
consistent production
at lower input costs.
My production is busy
increasing, my trees are
healthier and my costs
are decreasing and
that is the ideal position
to be in.
So it would make sense
for the government to
support farmers during
the first two years since
afterwards you will reap
the fruits thereof.
The effects of climate
change are dramatically
affecting the nature of
global food production.
The United Nations
Food and Agriculture
Organization states that
the warming of the planet
means extreme
weather patterns such as
prolonged droughts
and heavy floods
are expected to occur
with more frequency
across the world
in the years to come, with
severe crop devastation
being the result.
Our rainfall is very sporadic
and the most alarming
thing is that recently
we have been
experiencing many
hail storms which did not
happen in the past.
Organic farming,
along with
the organic vegan diet,
is the number one solution
to global warming.
The Rodale Institute
estimates that if all the
world’s approximately
14 million square kilometers
of tillable farmland
were to be cultivated
organically,
the soil could store 40%
of current CO2 emissions.
Organic cultivation
also means less use
of fossil fuels which also
helps reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Finally, organic crops
require far less water
and thus are the superior
choice for climate change
adaptation.
Mr. Roos has these
encouraging words
for those considering
entering the organic
farming industry:
I think my advice
to an aspiring
organic farmer is:
don’t get a fright during
the first two years –
that’s a mistake
everyone makes - they get
a fright and return
to conventional farming.
Hang on, since the results
at the end are very good,
but you have to
push through
during the first two years.
He also has this
warm message for
our esteemed viewers.
Well, I think I want to ask
viewers to support
organic products because
it will be a healthier
product for them,
and you do your part to
ensure the sustainability
of production worldwide.
And you are also assured
of a better
eating experience,
since it tastes better than
conventional fruit.
We deeply thank
Mr. Paul Roos
for sharing some of
the precious knowledge
he has acquired from
his years of practicing
organic farming.
Organic agriculture
is the solution
to world hunger as well
as climate change.
It raises crop yields,
enhances soil fertility,
preserves water,
and ensures biodiversity
in agriculture.
May all farmers soon
embrace organic farming
to lead our planet to a
better and brighter future!
Caring viewers,
thank you for
your noble company
on today’s episode of
Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment
after Noteworthy News.
May your day be blessed
with abundant love
from the Divine.
To contact Mr. Paul Roos
regarding organic farming,
please email
paul@proplum.co.za