What are examples of organic farming?

Some of these practices include the rotation of crops between plant families, techniques for accumulating organic matter in the soil, such as cover crops or the addition of compost and properly manipulated animal manure, the selection of disease-tolerant plants, the search for insect pests and diseases, the use of trap crops and the proper disposal of residues from diseased crops.

Organic farming

works in harmony with nature. Because organic farmers don't use synthetic fertilizers, GMOs or pesticides, they have to fight insects, diseases and weeds and grow food in abundance with the help of other methods. In any case, organic agriculture requires extensive research, special management, training, guidance and a certain level of experience to be successful.

Researchers and producers are working to develop “zero tillage” and “reduced tillage” organic agriculture practices to further reduce erosion. As a general philosophy, the potential organic farmer must fully understand the concept of a closed natural ecosystem (with minimal inputs and products) and try to first use all the healthy ingredients that already exist in the ecosystem. Organic farmers replace the nutrients and structure of the soil where a crop was harvested, so that future crops can grow on that same soil. For the most part, they use organic fertilizer in the quantities specified by law and bacteria that bind nitrogen as nitrogen stimulants.

For example, when it comes to soil management, organic farmers rely primarily on crop rotation to minimize soil nutrient deficiencies. Rodale and his son Robert, in the 1940s onwards, who published the magazine Organic Gardening and Farming and several texts on organic agriculture. The Regenerative Organic Certified or Real Organic Project labels require certified farms to meet certain worker welfare standards. After pruning, instead of removing cut branches or burning them (as is often the case in conventional agriculture), organic farmers shred them with special machinery, decimate the branches of the tree and deposit the sawdust on the ground.

You can read more about the difficult question of using biodegradable plastics in compost and mulches here. In one of the many examples of systemically exploitative working conditions (which can also occur on farms that produce organic products), agricultural workers are often exposed to pesticides when they harvest crops or work in fields that have been recently fumigated. Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms in ecosystems, and Earth's biodiversity has been declining since 1970. Being an organic farmer requires paying careful daily attention to the land and the food that is grown.

If you are interested in pursuing organic agriculture, you can apply to a certification body in your area.