Agricultural, home and health solutions at CAP’s Go Natural Fair 2011
Welcome to the Consumers’ Association of Penang’s “Go Natural Fair” 2011.
From 9 to 11 December at the Botanic Gardens, Penang, we will hold a three-day fair to introduce to you life sustaining techniques and methods for organic produce and home solutions for your gardens and your personal health for a greener, healthier and safer future for you and your families.
The fair will demonstrate various methods used by farmers locally and from India to produce organic produce in ways which are safer and more productive than modern chemical agriculture.
In this fair, besides highlighting CAP’s sustainable consumption and natural farming project, we also have CAP trained farmers and students exhibiting and selling their products. Among them are herbal plants corner, seedlings corner, organic vegetables, natural fertilizers, herbal pest repellents, compost, composting units, handicrafts made from natural raw material and herbal drinks for sale. A number of demonstrations on how to compost and make natural pest will be carried out intermittently.
CAP has embarked on this campaign as we find that plant diversity which is important for feeding human kind and the environment is disappearing rapidly due to farming system intensification, monoculture and development of high-yielding varieties. The loss of local species and varieties has increased the vulnerability of agricultural crops to sudden changes in climate, and to the appearance of new pests and diseases.
Food production and security depend on the wise use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity and genetic resources. Malaysia is rich with biological diversity but at present there are limited individual and communal skills to manage genetic resources. Minor, non-commercial but highly nutritious crops have not been in focus.
The availability of diversity would enable farmers to grow crops under a range of varying climatic and geographical conditions and would allow farmers to better manage uncertainties, to spread the risks of production, and to sustain livelihood. For example, plants that can be used as pest repellents would enable farmers to control the risks of production such as pest attacks and crop diseases.
Consumers will also benefit because of a greater variety of foods and agricultural products, as well as increased food security. Local indigenous vegetables and herbs have tremendous value of nutrients and medicinal values and we should tap on these rich resources.
In recognizing the importance of agriculture biodiversity as source of food, medicine, fibres, by-products and other uses, we the people, farmers and the government must take measures to ensure the conservation of these important resources, especially minor crops and local, indigenous varieties.
Come and enrich yourself with a wealth of traditional knowledge and support us in our drive towards natural farming and traditional practices.
Get your own CAP Guide to Organic Farming, a black-and-white manual on composting, vermiculture, growth promoters and natural pest control and Natural Farming for Earth’s Sake – to improve yields, enhance food values, improve soil fertility and protect against pests, Pest Repellents – A Guide to Managing Pests in Natural Farming and Herbs in Daily Life – a guide for consumers to herbs in daily life for good health and many other CAP books and guides.