Middle Eastern farming techniques and skills are the secret to success of organic vegetable farmers in New York state - Entrepreneur Generations

A couple who run an organic vegetable farm in Norwich, New York, have become highly popular with restaurants chefs who shop in a Manhattan stand, and their success stems from an unusual business model in agriculture.

Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh in a high tunnel at their Norwich,
New York farm. (New York Times photo.)

“If (Zaid and Haifa) Kurdiehs’ produce is uncommon, so is the way they grow it — with technology and farmers from one of the world’s oldest, most advanced agricultural nations: Egypt,” the New York Times reports.

“Each year, they enlist about 25 farmers from that country to work for six to 10 months. They use high tunnels, unheated greenhouses developed in the 1950s and still not widely used in the United States, and even adapt some varieties that are popular in the Middle East.”

The Kurdiehs bought a house in Norwich where real estate was inexpensive and started growing vegetables in the backyard in 1998. Then they bought some acreage nearby and installed high tunnels, a type of low-tech greenhouse that requires less equipment and maintenance.

Today their business, Norwich Meadows Farm, is a certified organic grower of produce, poultry and eggs with a heavy reliance on high tunnels to gain control over adverse weather at their farm. They also design and build high tunnels for other farms.

Chefs know the Kurdiehs because they produce unique varieties of vegetables that thrive with cultivation methods unique to the Middle East.

Zaid Kurdieh, 55, was born in the United States but grew up in the Middle East. His father was an oil industry engineer.

As the farm expanded, the Kurdiehs wanted to leverage skills they knew existed along the Nile River.

“… in 2002, Mr. Kurdieh flew to Egypt, an early adopter of the high-tunnel system, and found a group of farmers to work for him. Before they arrived in Norwich, Mr. Kurdieh was cultivating 200 varieties; he now grows more than 1,300 on the 250-acre farm,” the New York Times story says.

The Kurdieh farm is unique in its ability to use Egyptian labor.

“It seems unlikely that the use of Egyptian labor will catch on in the United States anytime soon. Mr. Kurdieh spends a lot of time filling out lengthy visa applications, and is well versed in Middle Eastern culture. ‘If you put these Egyptians on an American farm, they will have a hard time,’ Zaid Kurdieh said. Many speak only Arabic, and pause for prayer several times a day.”

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/317NeDt Middle Eastern farming techniques and skills are the secret to success of organic vegetable farmers in New York state - Entrepreneur Generations

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