Rio, September 24, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The market for organic products, items grown without the use of agro-toxins (e.g., herbicides, fungicides) or chemical fertilizers, and responsible for generating about US$ 25 billion in economic activity around the world, according to an estimate for 2003 made by the International Federation for Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), is the theme of the 23rd BioFach Conference, which will be held for the first time in South America. In Brazil this sector turns over around US$ 250 million and is growing at a 50% annual rate. The expectation is for the organics market in Brazil to attain US$ 300 million this year, informed Maria Beatriz Martins Costa, director of the BioFach Brazil Project.

The Conference will be opened tomorrow (25), in Rio de Janeiro, by the Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, and the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Rosinha Matheus, who will take advantage of the occasion to launch officially the Grow Organic program, which will offer differential conditions to producers to stimulate organic agriculture in the state.

Costa informed that the event will bring together specialists from various countries, among them the two largest buyers of organic products in the world, with headquarters in Germany and the Netherlands. (DAS)