Organic Pineapple Working Group

[opwg AT lists.ibiblio.org]

Dear Organic Pineapple Working Group Members,

The OPWG now has it's own mailing list and all present members have
been subscribed. From now on, all posts to the OPWG should be sent
to:

    Organic Pineapple Working Group <opwg AT lists.ibiblio.org>

(ibiblio.org, which has kindly provided us with this valuable
service, forms part of the University of North Carolina).

All posts sent to the OPWG will be emailed automatically to
the address or addresses provided by each OPWG member previously.

Information regarding the OPWG and the OPWG list's posting protocols
and subscribing to OPWG will soon be added to the OPWG information
page located at <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/opwg>

                     OPWG POSTING PROTOCOLS

Please configure your email client or browser to send pure rather
than html or rich text.

Also, when replying to previous posts or citing external information
sources, please edit the quoted text so that only relevant
information is resent. This means deleting all previously posted
text that isn't relevant to the additional comments made in the
current post. (Full quotes are usually copied automatically by most
email clients).

A short reply that needlessly repeats the full text of the previous
post, wastes bandwidth, increases download times and requires
additional hard disk, server and archive space. This is a request
commonly made on many lists.

Likewise, when posting long articles available on the internet, it
may be best to supply only the url and a brief but comprehensive
description of the content.

Lastly: Among individuals as with nations, respect for the rights,
opinions, sensitivities and values of others, brings peace
(paraphrasing Benito Juarez, one of Mexico's most respected
Presidents and a full-blooded Zapotec).

Other suggestions in this regard are also welcome.

I will moderate the list at present but at least one other active
member will be invited to share this task with me, soon. (Interested
parties are invited to write me off list).

                    REGARDING THE OPWG ITSELF

A number of obstacles impeding a fuller realization of the OPWG's
objectives have become apparent and should be addressed as soon as
possible:

1).- Some OPWG members have neither provided the information
     solicited in the Organic Pineapple Production Progress Poll
     (OPPPP) sent to all members soon after the group was formed,
     nor contributed to the discussion since joining OPWG.

Hopefully, the existence of an organic pineapple list server will
induce their participation. If not, it may be wise to bring the list
of active members up to date.

2).- Some OPWG members grow organic pineapple on a commercial
     scale, while others do research, educate, administrate
     trade organizations and/or are responsible for governmental
     development programs. 

     Additionally, OPWG members are located in the Americas (Guyana,
     Hawaii and Mexico), the Caribbean (Cuba and Dominica), the
     Pacific (Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines),
     Africa (Ivory Coast and South Africa), India, and Sri Lanka.
     
Understandably, some commercial growers are hesitant to contribute
technological information likely to facilitate their competitors
ability to conquer the markets that they themselves depend on.

In order to resolve this obvious conflict of interest, it may be
necessary to divide the list in two or more parts. I mention these
difficulties with the hope of stimulating comments and suggestions
that might help resolve these issues.

As stated previously, other fundamental and often interrelated areas
that must be dealt with include but are not limited to:

  Natural (and certifiable) Means of Inducing Florescence

  Pest and Disease Control (including prevention),

  Maintaining Soil Fertility and Providing for the Plant's and
  Fruit's Nutritional Needs,

  Harvest and Postharvest Handling,

  The Development of New Varieties,

  Marketing,

  Trade Barriers,

  Organic Certification,

  Contamination (and the loss of organic status) from external
  sources (including cross pollination from neighboring genetically
  modified pineapple crops); and

  The Role of the OPWG in relation to these issues.

My priority today is getting the OPWG list up and running. Once that
is done, the results of the OPPPP will be presented and discussed,
prior to establishing priorities, providing an effective structure
and hopefully, programing joint activities.

Lastly, an unlimited space at <www.seranet.org> The Socially and
Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network (a domain I reserved
which is also hosted by ibiblio), is available for constructing a
website containing whatever the OPWG requires, at whatever point
OPWG members reach an agreement in that regard.

A sustainable agriculture email group based on the The Socially and
Ecologically Responsible Agriculture concept can be accessed via
<http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/seranet> and similar a
list for those preferring a Spanish language interchange can be
found at <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/sera-es>
(Although both are relatively quiescent at present, messages
posted by subscribers are sent to the group as a whole).

In addition to <opwg AT lists.ibiblio.org>, I will be glad to respond
to private email sent to: Douglas Hinds <cedecor AT gmx.net>

Douglas Hinds, Chair
Organic Pineapple Working Group (OPWG - semiautonomous subgroup)
Pineapple Working Group (PWG)
Commission for Tropical and Subtropical Horticulture
International Society of Horticultural Science
Posts to the Organic Pineapple Working Group's email list server
  should be sent to: <opwg AT lists.ibiblio.org> (members only)
Information regarding the Organic Pineapple Working Group
  and subscribing to the OPWG mailing list can be found at:
<http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/opwg>

Coordinator of National Support Program for
Forestry, Agricultural and Fishery Exports,
National Coordinator or Organic Production
Confederación Nacional de Propietarios Rurales
(& author of the official positions of this
organization re NAFTA & Transgenic Crops).

Dir. of Special Projects
Consejo Supremo Nacional Indígena

Director General of CeDeCoR, A.C.
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, Asociacion Civil
(Center for Rural and Community Development,
      a Mexican non-profit organization)
States of Jalisco, Colima, San Luis Potosi,
Veracruz, Oaxaca & Tamaulipas - Mexico
Mail: Apdo. Postal No. 61
      Cd. Guzman, Jalisco
      49000 Mexico
Tel & Fax: + 52 341 414 7145 (Jalisco)
Tel: + 52 899 922 2424 (Tamaulipas)
U.S. Voice Mail  (email linked) 1 630 300 0550
U.S. Fax Mailbox (email linked) 1 630 300 0555
cedecor AT gmx.net, cedecor AT prodigy.net.mx