TEXT: (Ed. note: In response to food scares about 'mad cow' disease, dioxin poisoning and pesticide residues, large numbers of consumers and farmers across the world are choosing to go organic.

With the aim of capitalizing on this growing trend, the government recently announced a plan to convert the entire agricultural industry in far southern Region XI to purely organic farming techniques. The initiative, which has received widespread support from both environmentalists and farmers, would change the face of Chile's tiny organic industry and put the country on the map of international organic production. The following article, based on a report in La Tercera, examines the project's economic potential and its advantages for Chile's agricultural industry).

No pesticides, no fertilizers and no genetically modified plants: just healthy, natural produce. This could soon be a reality on farms in Chile's southern Region XI following a recent government proposal to convert the region into the country's first exclusively organic zone.

The plan, drafted by the Agriculture Ministry Regional Office and the National Environmental Commission (Conama), aims to make the area's agricultural, fishing and cattle sectors chemical free within the next few years..

Whereas to date the region's extreme geographical isolation meant residents struggled to transport pesticides and fertilizers to the area, the proposals could convert this barrier into a potential gold mine.

"The opportunities are endless," Region XI Sen. Antonio Horvath said, noting that organic status would enable farmers to take advantage of the current decrease in meat sales by European producers, who have been forced to curb exports as a result of outbreaks of foot and mouth and 'mad cow disease,' known scientifically as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (B.S.E.).

According to the senator, organic production practices would enable farmers in Region XI to receive internationally recognized certification of their meat products and to export freely to the European Union.

Cristian Nunez, the regional director of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), agrees with Horvath. Apart from allowing producers to rise above recent food scares, the director said the move would open up an array of attractive business opportunities. He said the average value of goods increases by between 30 and 100 percent, depending on the commodity, once EU regulators award organic certification.

The initiative would also benefit the region's cattle farmers, who cannot compete with the large livestock herds of far southern Region XII. By farming according to the principle of quality rather than quantity, organic cattle farmers in Region XI will be able to charge higher prices per head for their 180,000 cows than farmers in Region XII, where there is a large-scale commercial cattle industry with over 380,000 cows. Nunez added that the proposal could also apply to fish farming, while the region is also earmarked to become the country's main cherry producing area, with some 70 hectares already planted. Not only would the region's organic status offer cherry producers excellent marketing opportunities, its colder climate will allow growers to sell their fruit in the Northern Hemisphere off-season.

Luz Maria Hernandez, director of organic studies at Chile's Export Association (ProChile), agreed the proposal could have far-reaching consequences for non-traditional agriculture industries. She said farmers in the region could successfully penetrate new markets with new products such as flowers, wool, honey, seeds and herbs.

While it will likely be some time before Chile enjoys the same scenario as in many northern European countries, where demand for organic produce far exceeds supply, this proposal demonstrates the government's commitment to the country's organic industry, which is still in its early stages. A new organic sanctuary would represent a significant step for Chile's agriculture sector and could even spark a similar trend in farms across Latin America.

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