What is in this article?:
- Tobacco farmers get new ID system for Good Agricultural Practices
- GAP training system now standard
- Tobacco growers who attended Good Agricultural Practices training in 2013 received proof that they had attended. Growers are asked to register in the GAP system now.
GAP training system now standard
Between 2010 and 2012, growers that had multiple tobacco marketing contracts were required to attend multiple GAP trainings each year where much of the same information was offered. 2013 was the first year that a standardized GAP training system was implemented nationwide where growers only needed to attend one GAP training to be certified for any buying company that required them to have GAP training. This has saved considerable time and effort on the part of growers attending trainings, and Extension personnel conducting the trainings.
Currently, the standardized GAP training involves information on the 3 components of GAP—Crop Management, Environmental Management, and Labor Management. GAP trainings usually involve about half an hour for each component, and so the entire training lasts about 1.5 hours. The overall mission of the GAP program for tobacco is to train growers on the use of Good Agricultural Practices, and also make periodic assessments of their production practices to make sure they are in compliance with GAP principles based mainly on their GAP records.
Although the training portion of the GAP program is now standardized, the assessment portion is still being done by individual companies. A future goal of the GAP program is to also implement a standardized GAP assessment program where a grower could undergo one GAP assessment over a period of time and that assessment would be recognized by all companies.