Douglas Hinds wrote:
> Pineapple tend to flower natuarally only during 3-4 months a year.
> In order to grow and provide organic pineapple during a more
> prolonged period, it is necessary to induce the plant to flower
> using a non synthetic source of (I would think) ethylene, which
> can be disolved in water using activated charcoal. Can anybody
> provide any information or ideas regarding a practical solution to
> this problem? (Producing certifiably organic fruit over a longer
> time frame).
Welllllll. Perhaps aligning our tastes and demands with what the
plant can provide would be reasonable. And returning the pineapple to
its status as a seasonal fruit. Am I correct in recalling that they
come from clonal germplasm and cannot be bred, therefore cannot be
bred for a longer season?
Just my two cents. Perhaps not helpful...but I'm thinking a lot these
days about the misspending of our agricultural brain capital, and the
potential consequences of that.
I.e., letting consumer demand and markets (another form of exclusive
focus on profits) drive everything is a short-sighted strategy. And
we in sustag and organic ag have fallen into that mentality...while
ignoring some crucial infrastructure issues that need attention.
More in upcoming weeks, paisans.
It seems to me that one of the lessons of organic production should
be to return consumers to some realism about where food comes from,
rather than trying to provide them with all the luxuries to which
they have become accustomed in the industrial food system.
It would seem that what market is lost in year-round availability
for a crop like pineapples could be at least partially recouped in
higher prices when the fruit *is* available. I don't see how we in
sustag/orgag can compete with the industrial food system in terms of
titillating people's consumer desires, then providing products for
that. But I do think that we can help give them what they really need
and want. Like healthy food and reconnection with the seasons.
peace
misha
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Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager
Center for Integrated Ag Systems
UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences
Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020
http://www.wisc.edu/cias/
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