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Maurie Cafra Maurie and Maria Cafra’s property at Koo Wee Rup has been in the family since 1956 when Maurie's father grew potatoes, carrots and onions. Maurie Cafra has been growing vegetables for 27 years, and in 2001, Maurie’s company - Cafresco Organics - was awarded organic certification from the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia Limited (NASAA). About 40 hectares of his 69 hectare property is cropped with asparagus, onions, sweet corn, fresh beans, pumpkins, capsicums, eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli while the remainder is in pasture to ensure good rotation and reduce the risk of residual disease. Maurie has been growing asparagus for 16 years. It is the main crop, accounting for almost two thirds of the cropped area, but also produces some of the greatest challenges for organic production, as Maurie explains. “Asparagus does not form a dense canopy at any stage in its life cycle, so there is always the potential for weeds to invade the bare earth. Weeds are a big problem with asparagus and we cannot afford to let them get out of hand. A constant vigil to keep the weeds under control includes flame weeding the centre of the beds, mechanical weeding with adapted disks that cultivate the sides of the beds, and follow up hand weeding. Plant nutrition is also important with a healthy plant able to withstand pest and disease attacks better than a weaker plant. Regular soil and plant tests are conducted and green manure crops, compost and organic fertilisers added as required to achieve a balanced system. We also use integrated pest management technology which helps us keep an eye on what pests are present and what damage - if any - they are going to cause. Rather than spraying pests, which also kills the pests’ predators, we look at a sustainable way to control the pests without upsetting the natural balance of the environment.” Apart from his passion and commitment for organic production, Maurie has developed an electric harvesting aid that helps keep the asparagus in optimum condition. Maurie’s electric harvesting aid - which has been fondly tagged “The Moon Buggy” - travels along the rows of asparagus with the cutters so bunches of asparagus can be placed directly into plastic crates rather than placed on the bed first. The reduced handling helps keep the freshly harvested spears in better condition, prevents gravel rash damage to the spears and reduces the amount of mud coming into the packing shed on wet days. The harvesting aid also prevents overheating of the asparagus, which can occur when freshly picked asparagus is placed on warm soil during summer - and freezing of the asparagus when it is placed on the ground during extreme frosts. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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