Quality Assurance of Produce in Organic Farming

Running Head: QUALITY ASSURANCE OF PRODUCE IN ORGANIC FARMING 1
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QUALITY ASSURANCE OF PRODUCE IN ORGANIC FARMING 2
Introduction
Businesses dealing in fresh foods face a lot of challenges in generating food safety culture,
retaining good activities and maintaining the confidence of the customer while properly
managing the costs. Quality assurance in sectors of food production is significant in assessing
and studying food safety risks and ensuring health of foods released to the market (Department
of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2019).
Quality assurance procedures in Australia are put in place to enhance farmers to produce
safe agricultural products that satisfy the food safety standards in the country. Failure to comply
with the set food safety laws usually lead to fine subjection and at extremes loss of business
opportunities. Main produce that their quality need to be assured include, vegetables, nuts, meat,
herbs and fruits. They need to be checked for quality before being sold to the consumers or to
processing industries.
In agriculture, there are several safety hazards that interfere with the health of farm produce.
The hazards occur during planting, harvesting, processing, packaging, storage and distribution of
agricultural produce. The hazards can either be chemical, microbial or physical. Microbial food
pathogens include algae, viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria. Chemicals that are used in
agricultural systems can be dangerous food safety hazards if not applied as instructed by the
manufacturer or the Australian Pesticides and Vestiary Medicine Authority. Physical hazards in
food safety occur due to inclusion of foreign objects from the environment of production, inputs
or equipment due to handling by humans (Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development, 2019).
Quality assurance confirms that farm producers have assessed all the safety hazards on-
farm, their impacts on the finished product and how risk of contamination could be managed.
Some of the states in Australia such as Tasmania have ensured quality assurance of its produce
by majoring in organic farming.
Organic agriculture is a system of farming which enhances production without interfering
with the health state of ecosystems, soils and people. The system depends on biodiversity,
ecological methods and cycles that are favored by the local environmental conditions, but not
synthetic inputs that have chemical effects. The principles of organic farming were established

QUALITY ASSURANCE OF PRODUCE IN ORGANIC FARMING 3
when they realized that there was a necessity to illustrate fundamental values of organic
agriculture (John & Benjamin, 2018). They were basically expected to put agriculture into
wider sense in ways such as how farmers deal with water, animals, soils and plants in
production, preparation and distribution of goods. The principles deal with the interaction of
people with living landscapes, how they associate with each other and model the state of the
coming generations (Paul, 2008).
Principles of organic agriculture
There are four principles of organic agriculture which include the principle of health which
is supposed to facilitate good health of animals, soil, humans and plants. The principle of
systems and cycles of ecology which need to be sustained (Paull, 2009). The principle that
states that organic farming should be based on relationships that enhance fairness associated with
life and environmental activities. Another principle states that organic agriculture need to be
handled keenly to protect the well-being and health of a both the living the coming generations
and the environment (Louise, 2006).
Organic farming practices do not involve the use of pesticides, synthetics chemicals,
irradiations, artificial fertilizers or any other modern technology. The health of soil is
fundamental in producing totally organic produce. Only some animals are applicable in organic
agriculture, use of capes is also not acceptable (2017 Australian Organic Market Report,
2017). Holistic management techniques are critical in organic agriculture. Organic systems of
farming are targeting to be sustainable as emphasize is being insisted on the utilization of
renewable resources, proper use and conservation of water, energy and soil resources, and
ensuring sustenance of quality environment (Padel, Röcklinsberg, & Schmid, 2009).
The cycle of production is centered on proper use of external inputs that are allowed by
standards of organic certification. Organic agriculture basically aims at obtaining optimum
produce of high quality nutrient content without using synthetic fertilizers and chemicals
(Häring, Vairo, Dabbert, & Zanoli, 2009).
Certified Organic Products