Fuatai Lafitai, Stewart Cortney
Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Education, University of the South Pacific, Alafua Campus, Samoa, USA.
Pac Health Dialog. 2002 Sep;9(2):246-50.
There are arguments for and against organic agriculture. The paper looks at the impact of changes and development, the need for sustainable development, organic farming as a viable alternative, organic certification and concluding thoughts on why organic farming makes sense. To go organic does not necessarily mean that organic products are totally free of chemical pesticides but they have a lower pesticide residue. Organic certification, a process guarantee not a product guarantee, becomes necessary if a farmer has to sell organic food products locally (to tourists) or export overseas. For Pacific organic producers, the biggest obstacle lies with certification costs and initial investments in research and extension to educate consumers and farmers about organic agriculture organic methods.
对于有机农业，存在支持和反对的观点。本文探讨了变革与发展的影响、可持续发展的必要性、有机农业作为可行替代方案的情况、有机认证以及关于有机农业为何有意义的总结思考。转向有机农业并不一定意味着有机产品完全不含化学农药，但它们的农药残留量较低。如果农民要在当地（向游客）销售有机食品或出口到海外，有机认证（这是一个过程保证而非产品保证）就变得必要。对于太平洋地区的有机生产者而言，最大的障碍在于认证成本以及为向消费者和农民普及有机农业有机方法而进行的研究和推广方面的初始投资。
