Organic UPSWING: Organic tree fruit production is climbing in many parts of the world

摘要

Certified organic cherry acreage in Washington State will more than double in the next two seasons, judging by the estimated acreage in transition. By 2009, Washington could have 2,300 acres of certified organic cherries—more than 6 percent of the total acreage, according to a recent report by David Granatstein and Elizabeth Kirby. The researchers from Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources say marketers have expressed optimism about demand for organiccherries. For the 2007 crop year, when Washington shipped 1.75 million 20-pound boxes of organic cherries, the average premium for organic cherries over the conventional price was $15.57 a box (38 percent), figures from the Washington Growers Clearing House Association show.