Cooperative Extension Service
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia

Volume 4/Number 9

September 2000

George Boyhan, Extension Horticulturist-Vegetables
East Georgia Extension Center
Rosenwald Building, Third Floor
PO Box 8112
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460
912-681-5639 | 912-681-0376, Fax | 912-682-3481, mobile

Seed Companies and Growers React to Restriction on Onion Varieties

With the issuance of the Department of Agriculture's ruling concerning onion varieties, three seed companies and six growers filed suit in the Tattnall County courthouse to get a temporary restraining order to stop the Department of Agriculture from restricting onion varieties. Superior Court Judge Robert L. Russell III ruled against the plaintiffs, so the Department of Agriculture's rule stands. The lawyer for the plaintiffs indicated they would proceed with the lawsuit in any case.

Wannamaker Seed, Shamrock Seed, and D. Palmer Seed have voiced their opinion in local papers concerning the restriction of onion varieties by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. They do not feel there is an increase in pungency or bitterness with the early varieties and that there are several benefits to using them, including disease resistance, an extended season, and storability.

The Savannah Morning News has also weighed in on the issue with an editorial supporting the Georgia Department of Agriculture's restriction on the varieties. The Savannah Morning News editorial apparently was the cause for the seed companies' response.

Plastic Mulch May Be More Friendly for Organic Growers

I had the opportunity recently to attend Plasticulture 2000 in Hershey, PA, which is sponsored by the American Society for Plasticulture. This meeting is held every 18 months for scientists and industry to present results of research concerning the use of plastics in agriculture.

Plastic mulches have been used for many years to increase yield and quality of many high value vegetable crops. It is, however, restricted under organic production practices. To quote from the Organic Farm Certification Manual, "must not be incorporated into the soil or left in the field to decompose. Biodegradable plastic mulches are synthetic and cannot be incorporated into the soil." Using plastic as a mulch, row cover, or for solarization is allowed only if the plastic is removed and not incorporated into the soil.

Many growers do remove their plastic after they are finished with it, but most of this plastic ends up in landfills. Obviously, this is not the best choice for disposal. Trex Company may have found a solution to this problem. They have developed a process to manufacture dimensional lumber that is 50 percent recycled polyethlyene and 50 percent wood waste. This material is being sold in competition with pressure-treated lumber. This may have the added benefit of reducing the amount of arsenical pressure-treated wood used.

http://company.monster.com/trex/

Trex Company is constantly looking for polyethylene to recycle. I spoke with the representative of Trex at the plasticulture meeting, and she indicated they would be interested in as little as a truckload of the material. A truckload is about 45,000 pounds of polyethylene. Although organic production is growing in Georgia, it is still practiced on a relatively small scale and may not generate enough plastic to be economically recycled. Cooperative efforts with conventional growers who use much more of this material may be cost-effective, however. For more information about recycling plastic, contact Trex Company at 20 South Cameron Street, Winchester, VA 22601; (800) 742-1035.

As mentioned above, biodegradable plastics are restricted in organic production. This is not because they are synthetic per se but because there hasn't really been a true biodegradable plastic. Polyethylene is a long chain polymer that cannot be digested by microorganisms. It is photodegradable, but this requires constant exposure to light to work. Once buried, the photodegradation stops and the material remains in the soil indefinitely. Attempts to manufacture a biodegradable plastic have generally centered on the incorporation of starch into the product at manufacture. The starch is biodegradable and, as it is consumed, the plastic desintegrates. The downside of this is that plastic is broken into very small pieces but is still present in the soil as a plastic (It still hasn't biodegraded.). Graham Swift with EPI Environmental Products, Inc., gave a talk at the plasticulture meeting indicating that they have a method to make polyethylene mulch truly biodegradable. The amount of their proprietary additive determines how quickly the mulch will degrade. According to their report, their product is truly biodegradable because the polymer breaks down into smaller molecules that can be consumed by the microflora and fauna found in the soil. If their claims are true, this could be a great advance in the use of plastic mulch for both organic and conventional growers.

From My Desk

This newsletter is coming out very late, and I apologize for this. I have been away for two weeds in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey and have had a hard time catching up. We have most of the onions planted at the Vidalia Farm. The variety trial may have as many as 32 entries, depending on how well the late arrivals are able to catch up. We still have one or two experiments to put in at the farm.

We have opened the controlled atmosphere storage facilities at the Vidalia lab in Tifton and have completed evaluation of the variety trials. There appears to be quite a bit of difference among varieties as to storability. We will know more once the data are entered and evaluated. I hope to talk to all of you later this month. (Still trying to catch up.)