UK organic growing charity Garden Organic is working with NGO Mercy Corps to help revitalise organic agriculture abroad, specifically raisin growers in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year Dr Julia Wright, head of international development for Garden Organic, which is based in the Midlands, travelled to Afghanistan to co-ordinate a workshop on conversion to organic agriculture for local producers based in the village of Mandisar, just outside Kandahar, and get them involved in a pilot project for exporting their raisins to the UK.

Dr Wright said: “Small farmers in war-torn regions tend to be overlooked in development work, but the families who stay on their land are just as keen to find innovative ways to improve their livelihoods.

“We have been running international development programmes for more than 20 years now, and have almost 50 years of organic expertise behind us to call upon. This project encourages sustainable agriculture by using organic methods, and will enable farmers to not only build their wealth but invest in their local economy, industry and natural resources for the long term, while looking after the environment.”

After the workshop, a small group travelled into Pakistan and up to the Hunza Valley to visit an organic, fairly traded apricot production and export operation, to see how it can be done.

“We feel that organic imports into the UK are justified if, like raisins, they cannot be produced in this country, if they are shipped rather than airfreighted, and if they command a higher, fair price that goes back to the producer while containing their consumption here,” said Dr Wright. “So it’s important that we work with overseas growers to help ensure the ecological and social sustainability of the production and export process.”

The project is also looking at options for developing local markets within Afghanistan.

Lynne Char Bennett, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, November 16, 2007

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California's 2007 season is being called a tale of two harvests.

This year's decreased crop size reflects weather vagaries as well as vine fatigue following the higher-than-normal 2005 and 2006 harvest yields.

Generally, yields were down 15 to 40 percent but with very good to excellent grape quality due to increased cluster count and smaller berry size, which means greater skin to juice ratio.

In total, California Department of Food and Agriculture's October forecast - which includes near-normal Sacramento interior and San Joaquin Valley harvests - projects 3.2 million tons, up less than 1 percent from 2006.

Sonoma County's combination of early winter rainfall; smooth, even growing season; and unusual weather conditions prompted Steve Dutton of Dutton Ranch to say, "The crop size was down, but we harvested beautiful, beautiful fruit this year. If someone's not making great wine from this vintage, they're in the wrong business."

Napa County's season was similar to Sonoma's, with early harvest of white and lighter red grape varieties and a relatively long break before harvest of later-ripening grapes. Michael Weis of Groth Vineyards calls the 2007 vintage "stunning."

"Our biggest challenge this year was to figure out what we will do with ourselves between our Chardonnay and our Cabernet harvest. ...This vintage is one of healthy vines, no Botrytis, no raisins, long hang time and stunning fruit!"

A mild winter in 2006 gave vineyards an early start to a long 2007 growing season that offset the delayed bud break that occurred in many regions. Consistent, moderate spring and summer weather allowed fruit to slowly develop, which helped achieve rich, complex flavors.

Less rainfall through the growing season stressed the vines, which led to lower yields but more concentrated flavor.

The moderate growing season was hit with a heat wave in late August, causing a scramble to harvest early-ripening grape varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc and others that ripened simultaneously. This first harvest rush was about two weeks early for most appellations.

By the second week in September, the weather cooled getting harvest back on schedule. Then the other shoe dropped. Early October's jet streams dropped periodic rains, especially in Napa and Sonoma counties and along the coast, though about 90 percent of North Coast white grapes were already harvested by that time.

In most regions the rain, while annoying, had no major impact on harvest or grape quality.

Sun and warmer weather returned by mid- to late September, allowing the rest of the grapes to slowly develop. On average, the remainder of harvest was completed as usual, though some wineries finished as much as a month early.

E-mail comments to lbennett@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page F - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle