Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Organic agriculture as a form of sustainable farming and public perception

Joint Conference on 8^th World Congress on Agriculture and Horticulture and 16^th Euro Global Summit on Food and Beverages

March 02-04, 2017 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abdirashid Elmi and Amna S Albinali

Kuwait University, Kuwait

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

Kuwait is one of the few countries in the world that depend entirely on food imports for food security. Consequently, there is a sense of urgency to promote local food production to meet, partly at least, the growing food demand. Local farmers are adopting organic agriculture on a growing scale with little experience and absence of well-defined standards against which the quality of their products can be measured. This study is designed to investigate the organic farming in Kuwait by comparing the organically grown vegetables with conventional grown vegetables samples. Total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) contents were higher in the organically grown than in conventional crops. A striking observation was high concentrations of heavy metals (As, Pb, Cu and Zn) under organic crops than conventional crops, a sharp contrast with the findings of previous studies. With respect to survey study, results indicate that people perceive organic food as a healthy and safe food to consume.

Biography :

Abdirashid Elmi is a soil Scientist with expertise in Nutrient Cycling (C, N and P), Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Agricultural Water Quality issues. As an Agricultural/Environmental Scientist, his research investigates “Production systems that are environmentally and economically sustainable, including those that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by increasing carbon sequestration”. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications and two textbook chapters. He is an Associate Chief Editor for a number of international journals in Soil/Environmental Science.

Email: a.elmi@ku.edu.kw