Organic farming, also known as biological farming or ecological farming, uses natural fertilizers made from biological materials such as plant compost and animal wastes. It also applies crop rotation, companion planting, clean water catchment, and ecology- based pest controls. In harmony with nature, organic farming promotes soil health to produce wholesome, nutrient-rich crops/food, a clean environment, and healthy people.
All organic farming practices are beacons of environmentally conscious food production. They avoid synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, toxic sludge, radiation, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), to promote soil and water quality, and human health. The taste, quality, flavor, aroma, and nutrition of organic food are superior. Experience the difference as J.I. Rodale and others did in nutrition and improved health.
A field (food) is eligible for USDA organic status if no prohibited materials (e.g., GMOs, synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides) have been applied for 36 months. SEE USDA Guide for Organic Producers
National Organic Program,
www.ams.usda.gov/nop
New Farm Guide to U.S. Organic Certifiers,
www.rodaleinstitute.org/certifier_directory
ORGANIC PIONEERS
The concepts of today’s organic agriculture were developed in the early 1900s by Sir Albert Howard, F.H. King, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), and others who believed that the use of animal manures (often made into compost), cover crops, crop rotation, and biologically based pest controls resulted in a better farming system.
Howard had worked in India as an agricultural researcher and was inspired by the traditional and sustainable farming practices he encountered. He observed and came to support traditional Indian farming practices over conventional agricultural science. Though Howard journeyed to India to teach Western agricultural techniques, he found that the Indians could teach him more. One important aspect he took notice of was the connection between healthy soil and the villages' healthy populations, livestock, and crops. So, he advocated for their adoption in the West and studied the forest to farm like the forest.
Howard built on the traditional Indian composting system into what is now known as the Indore method. His 1931 book, The Waste Products of Agriculture, based on 26 years of studying improved crop production in Indian smallholdings, is considered by some as his most important scientific publication. He went on to further document Indian organic farming techniques and spread its knowledge through the UK-based Soil Association, and the Rodale Institute in the US. Howard's documentation of Indian farming practices influenced and inspired many farmers and agricultural scientists furthered the organic movement, including Lady Eve Balfour (the Haughley Experiment, The Living Soil). His 1940 book, An Agricultural Testament, is a classic organic farming text. Such practices were further promoted by J.I. Rodale and his son Robert, in the 1940s and onward, who published the Organic Gardening and Farming magazine and many texts on organic farming. Howard is grouped, along with Rudolf Steiner, Sir Robert McCarrison, and Richard St. Barbe Baker as one of the key progenitors of the Western organic agriculture movement.