Commercial echinacea production

2005·17.4 MB·English

by  Alberta. Alberta Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development

Commercial Echinacea Production
Agriculture, Food and
Rural Development

Commercial Echinacea Production
Agriculture, Food and
Rural Development
Published by:
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
Information Packaging Centre
7000 - 113 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6H 5T6
Editor: Carolyn King
Production Editor: Chris Kaulbars
Graphic Designer: John Gillmore
Page Production: Sherrill Strauss
Copyright © 2 005. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of
Alberta (Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural
Development). All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without written permission
from the Information Packaging Centre, Alberta
Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.
ISBN 0-7732-6074-9
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Contents
Acknowledgements iv Field Production Systems 16
Abbreviations v
Site selection 16
Light 16
Introduction 1
Soil 16
Purpose of this guide 1
Drainage 19
Previous crops and crop rotations 19
Background 2
Water for irrigation 19
Alberta’s echinacea industry 2 Microclimate 19
Echinacea in the natural health products market ....2 Organic considerations 20
Sources of echinacea 3
Site and soil preparation 20
Wild harvesting 3 Pre-planting weed management 21
Cultivated echinacea 3
Pre-planting soil fertility management 21
Botanical history of echinacea 4 Organic considerations 21
Folklore 4
Seeds vs. transplants 23
Historical uses of echinacea in North America 4 Other considerations 23
Native tribes 4 Seed considerations 24
Settlers and physicians 4 Varietal purity and botanical identification 24
Modern health claims 6
Seed weight 24
Seed germination 24
The Echinacea Plant 7
Treatments to improve germination 24
Echinacea species 7 Organic considerations 26
Ensuring the botanical identity of echinacea 7 Direct seeding 26
Taxonomy of echinacea 7 Spring vs. f all planting 26
Active ingredients 9 Seeding density 26
Compounds with immunostimulatory activities 9 Seeding depth 27
Other compounds 10 Mulches 27
Latitudinal effect 10 Organic considerations 27
Transplanting 27
Preliminary Considerations 11 Transplant characteristics 27
Business basics 11 Transplant type and production timing 27
Business and production plans 11 Planting date 28
Markets 11 Plant spacing 28
Contracts 12 Transplanting depth 29
Breaking the traditional farming mentality 12 Transplant establishment and survival 29
Just because it looks good on paper 12 Planting bed design 30
Labour 12 Organic considerations 30
Other considerations 13 Fertility management 30
Organic production 13 Organic considerations 32
Key considerations 13
Organic certification 14
Irrigation 32 Financial risk management 55
Irrigation system options 34 Cash flow projections 56
Irrigation timing and amounts 34 Risk management strategy: a f ive-year
Other considerations 34 rotation 58
Organic considerations 35 Risk management strategy: reduce the
Pest management 36 cost of p lugs 58
Diseases 36 Discounted cash flow 60
Insect pests 40 Break even analysis 60
Vertebrate pests 40 Sensitivity analysis 63
Weed management 40 Financial benchmarks 64
Nutrient deficiencies 41
Organic considerations 41 Business and Marketing 66
Over-wintering 41 Marketing vs. business 66
Winterkill 41 Value of market research 66
Improving winter survival 42 Conducting market research 66
Organic considerations 43 How to market 67
Estimating plant populations 43 Market requirements 67
Seed harvest 44 Selling root, seed and/or herb 67
Collection 44 General requirements 68
Cleaning 45 Value-added options 68
Seed numbers per gram 46
Seed production per hectare 46 Greenhouse Production
Traceability 46
Systems 70
Organic considerations 46
Transplant production 70
Color Section between pages 46 and 47 Production timing 71
Growing medium 71
Root harvest 47 Growing containers 75
Timing 47 Germination 75
Equipment 47 Environmental factors 75
Root cleaning, drying and storage 48 Fertility management 76
Sample analysis 51 Water quality 77
Harvesting other plant parts 51 Managing pests 78
Organic considerations 78
Economic Analysis 52
Root production - experimental method 78
Yield potential 52 Root culture systems 79
Capital investment requirements 53 Root production in soil-less
Gross margin 53 hydroponic system 79
Gross margin sensitivity analysis 55 Aeroponic root production 80
Organic considerations 81
Good Agricultural Practices 82 Appendix A 97
On-Farm Food Safety and HACCP-based Sample soil test report 97
GAPs
82
FLACCP basics Appendix B 98
83
83
One up, one down model
Plant populations and dry root yields -
Auditing/certification 83 trial data 98
Traceability
84
GAPs for echinacea production Appendix C 100
84
86
CHSNC Growers’ GAP Workbook Hydrogen peroxide 100
Natural Health Products
Appendix D 101
Regulations and Echinacea ,87
Bioactive compounds in echinacea species 101
,87
Definition of a natural health product Compounds with immunostimulatory
,88
Applying for a N atural Product Number activities 101
Site license application ,89 Other compounds 102
Product licensing application ,89
Sample monograph .91 Glossary in
Resources References 118
.94
.94
Equipment and material suppliers
.94
Equipment
Materials .94
Governments: information and contacts .94
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural
Development (AAFRD) .94
Health Canada/NHP Regulation information .94
Pest Management Regulatory
.95
Agency (PMRA)
Research centres conducting echinacea
research .95
Laboratory services .95
Plant health diagnostics .95
Bioactive compound analysis .95
Soil and water testing laboratories .95
Producer associations .96
Seed cleaning services .96
Other resources (literature, websites) .96
Acknowledgements
Information Contribution
Project Team Lead/Editor
Robert Spencer - A AFRD Dr. Jazeem Wahab - C SIDC
Dr. Kan-Fa Chang - A AFRD
Project Team
Dr. Hong Qi - A AFRD
Dr. Manjula Bandara - A AFRD Forrest Scharf - A AFRD
Dr. Kwesi Ampong-Nyarko - A AFRD Lasantha Ubayasena
Kirsty Piquette - A AFRD
Stewart Jangula - A AFRD
Dr. Mohyuddin Mirza - A AFRD
External Review
Writing/Internal Review
Wanda Wolf - L one Wolf Herbs, Phippen, SK
Robert Spencer - A AFRD Dave & M onica Blaeser - H erbs Plus More,
Millet, AB
Dr. Manjula Bandara - A AFRD
Dr. Kwesi Ampong-Nyarko - A AFRD Doris Sabean - E dmonton, AB
Kirsty Piquette - A AFRD Judy & J ulian Strumecki - C amrose, AB
Dr. Mohyuddin Mirza - A AFRD Christa & W ayne Cornelssen - S tettler, AB
Donna Fleury - A AFRD Arjan Koekkoek - B arrhead, AB
Nabi Chaudhary - A AFRD Alberta Natural Health Agricultural Network
Dean Dyck - A AFRD (ANHAN)
Shirzad Chunara - A AFRD Connie Kehler - C HSNC
Gillian Spencer - S tettler, AB
Section Review
Kathy Bosse - A AFRD
Roger Hohm - A AFRD
Dr. Ron Howard - A AFRD
Dr. Karen Tanino - U o f Saskatchewan,
Dept, of Plant Sciences
Dr. Branka Bari
Gregg Dill - A AFRD
Abbreviations
AAFRD Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
AHPA American Herbal Products Association
ANHAN Alberta Natural Health Agricultural Network
ASTA American Spice Trade Association
CDCN Crop Diversification Centre North (Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development)
CDCS Crop Diversification Centre South (Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development)
CHSNC Canadian Herb, Spice and Natural Health Products Coalition
COFFS Canadian On-Farm Food Safety (program)
CSIDC Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation
Administration, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
EC Electrical conductivity
GAP Good Agricultural Practices
GMP Good Manufacturing Practices
HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
HPFBI Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate (Natural Health Products Directorate, Health
Canada)
Lpm, gpm Litres per minute, gallons (imperial) per minute
meq/L Milliequivalents per litre (used to describe the amount of a substance in a w ater sample and the
relative ability of a substance to combine with other substances)
mS/cm Millisiemens per centimetre (measure of electrical conductivity)
NHP Natural health products
NHPD Natural Health Product Directorate (Health Canada)
NPN Natural Product Number
Parts per million
ppm
Pounds per square inch (unit of pressure)
psi
QA Quality assurance
SAR Sodium absorption ratio
SOP Standard operating procedure