|
The BASIC program holds informational meetings
during the year. These meetings show a progressive interest
by local farmers and members of the cotton industry. Our
first meeting in Firebaugh in 2002, netted several new growers
to the program and set the stage for meeting the program
goals of over 20 farmers who farm close to 40,0000 acres.
Each field meeting hosts speakers of interest to cotton
growers’, provide an update on the local BASIC project,
and have project mentor growers o hand to answer questions
and provide testimonials about how BASIC management practices
are working for them. Through these meetings we attract
local attention and gain credibility with local growers.
Farmers tend to be “watch and see” folks who
want to see how a new practice works for a neighbor before
they adopt. Contact SCP for dates.
Sponsored in 2007 by GAP and CA College for the Arts
These tours have helped inform many companies
now using organic cotton, and serve as a great tool for
educating employees and management about why reducing chemical
use in cotton cultivation is so important.
Past sponsors include: Patagonia, Norm Thompson,
Cutter and Buck, Levi and Nike.
Mid-October,
actual dates to be determined later in the season by the
maturity of the cotton crop. Register for the tour and we
will contact you as soon as the dates are set.
7:00am-5:30pm
Fresno,
California
Open
to all
Marcia
Gibbs at Sustainable Cotton Project
530-370-5325 or marcia@sustainablecotton.org
if you are interested in joining the tour.
A one-day tour of the San Joaquin Valley that will challenge
your perceptions about what agriculture is and what it could
become.
Between late September and mid October, when
cotton is harvested and farms throughout the state are at
the height of activity, The Sustainable Cotton Project offers
a one-day tour. Visitors travel a central loop through the
San Joaquin Valley, gaining a behind-the-scenes look at
the many sides of conventional, biologically intensive pest
management (BioIPM), and organic cotton production.
|
