Organic farming: the way forward

by Asangi JAYASINGHE

Fifteen years ago Thomas Gerbracht and his young family from Germany visited Sri Lanka as tourists. He was then a successful entrepreneur who owned dining restaurants and discotheques in Germany. The moment he set eyes on this beautiful paradise island, he fell in love with this country and its people.

Thomas Gerbracht

He sold his business in Germany and bought an estate in Sri Lanka and started cultivating fruits, mainly pineapple, papaya, passion-fruit and coconut, without the use of agrochemicals in his estate. From humble beginnings, his Sri Lanka-based organic food business has today grown in to one of the biggest in Asia. His company, Target Agriculture Pvt. Ltd. is a $10-million-a-year company that employs more than 300 people and buys organic fruits from thousands of farmers throughout Sri Lanka and export them to Europe, US and other countries in Asia. He lives in his picturesque estate in Weligama and in the aftermath of the tsunami in 2004, helped his community in numerous ways.

The `Sunday Observer’ spoke to Thomas Gerbracht about his passion for organic farming and his working and living experiences in beautiful Sri Lanka.

Q: You were born in Germany and had a successful business there. What made you settle down in Sri Lanka with your family?

A: Well, when I first came to Sri Lanka in the early 80s as a tourist, I had the tropical smell in my nose and I saw all the smiling people here. I said this is the place where I want to live. I wanted to live in a place where I could feel free and less stressed.

Q: There was a war in Sri Lanka at the time. Most foreigners were afraid to come to this country and were advised by their authorities to stay away from Sri Lanka when LTTE attacks were frequent. Weren’t you afraid to come and live with your family in a country about which there was so much negative propaganda in the world?

A: Wars are taking place in many countries in the world, and even where there aren’t, if you are at the wrong place at the wrong time, you can still be affected. I never had a reason to be afraid or scared in Sri Lanka, but I am also happy, that the war is now finally over.

Q: How did you first get involved in organic farming?

A: I got a small plot of land from my grandfather, when I was 5. I planted strawberries and flowers there and sold them to my neighbours. I started in Sri Lanka, in my estate, planting passion-fruit and pineapple by myself. I used cow dung and compost as manure and I gained the required knowledge by studying books. The books confirmed that what I was doing instinctively was right in fact.

Q: How did your organic food business become one of the biggest in Asia?

A: When I first came here, I never thought of a huge export business. Initially, I cultivated fruits and vegetables employing natural way methods, without using chemicals. I wanted to sell the surplus at the local market. So I started as an organic farmer. Then I sent some samples to a well-known fruit juice company in my home country, Germany and they asked me how many containers I am able to supply. I immediately started involving local farmers in the venture and asked some factories, if they can do some processing for me. That’s how I exported my first container. Now we are working with many factories and farmers in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand and export more than 200 containers per year. I am glad that my organic food business has provided many employment opportunities and also an opportunity for the farmers to learn how to protect their environment.

Q: What are the cultivation methods used in your organic farms?

A: The concept and the philosophy of Target Agriculture Pvt Ltd. are to avoid everything which damages the soil, the environment, animals, human nature and our earth. Every tree, that we cut, every weedicide or chemical that we use, every hormone causes harm to us and our nature.

Our motto is mulching. This means giving organic material back to the soil and to the plant. Damaged soil needs up to 12 years to recover. We introduce micro-organisms to our soils, which reactivate the soil life.

We plant leguminous plants around our fruit plants to collect Nitrogen from the air and give it via rhizomes to the soil. We add fish waste, bones, ash, cement and cotton to our compost so that it reaches the necessary levels of Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus and trace elements.

Ducks, chicken and cows are used to control weeds and pests. We use pheromones to control beetle attacks; ladybirds to control mealy bugs; Na leaves against termite attacks; several species of ayurvedic and herbal oil extracts; and bacillus thuringensis to keep caterpillars under control. Khomba nuts, sapodilla and anoda (soursop) seeds are also effectively used against various pest attacks. If all else has failed, we spray pyrethrum, a natural insecticide made with the chrysanthemum flower. This is our natural way to deal with pests, diseases and such disorders.

Apart from our own plantations, the company has an outgrowers Network of more than 1,500 contract farmers on about 15,000 acres of organic cultivated and certified land. We organise regular training seminars for them and show them how to make compost, how to treat diseases with natural methods and organise the collection and transport of their harvest to one of our own or contract factories.

Q: You work with 1,500 farmers throughout the country and have travelled widely in this country. What differences do you see in Sri Lanka and Germany?

A: Sri Lankan people are very friendly and helpful and have more relaxed attitudes. German people are also very friendly, but life there is very fast paced. Here I had to learn to be a little more patient.

Q: Today you are a successful businessman in this country. In which areas do you think Sri Lanka needs to improve so that the country can attract more foreign investors like you?

A: It is never easy to be successful and it is even more difficult to stay on top. You are always under pressure and you can never really relax. I had to combine both the Lankan and German mentalities to do my business successfully. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries, where a foreigner can gain 100 per cent ownership in a venture; that is quite good. On the other hand, we do not have enough cultivation here and the supply of agricultural products is also carried out in a more lethargic manner than in other emerging countries like Thailand or India. We also have a raw material problem and the prices are too high compared with other countries. So we will gradually lose our market to others, if we do not change this. We should initiate measures to promote cultivation so that is also to benefits the poor farmers in remote areas.

Q: A lot of people in this country migrate to other countries. You are a person who left a developed country and came to this island and did well. Young village people are not into farming anymore. What advice can you give entrepreneurs and young people living in villages in Sri Lanka?

A: Farming and producing food is the most important job for the sustainability of our society. If everything leaves their country or moves out of their villages, who can feed the people? Land and soil are most valuable. Sri Lanka has a very fertile soil. You just put a stick in it and a tree will grow. The young villagers should consider the potential which they have, before they decide to leave their villages.

Q: The war with the LTTE is over now. You once started organic farming in the North and East, but could not continue due to the war. Are you planning to re-start organic farming in the North and East now that these areas are liberated?

A: Well, my dream was to carry out cultivation in cooperation with all communities in all parts of the island. We have distributed planting material and hold seminars in all parts of the country to promote organic farming and provide a market for the crop. But in Sri Lanka, you must start 10 projects to make two or three successful. It would be too easy if everything works out. So we have to expand into other countries. But we are still looking for bigger supplies of fruits, especially pineapple.