What is Organic Farming?
Organic farming is an agricultural system that relies on natural inputs, such as ecologically based pest control and plant-based fertilizers. It focuses on sustainable land use, ensuring the maintenance of soil quality for environmental benefits, increased crop yields, and overall farm, worker, and consumer health.
Compared to traditional farming, organic farming eliminates nitrogen-based fertilizers from the food chain, improves soil health, reduces water consumption, and recycles animal waste back into the production cycle.
Step 1: Considerations for changing to organic farming
The first step involves reviewing your situation and understanding the specific considerations unique to your circumstances that you need to take into account. These considerations include assessing the location of the land, farm characteristics such as size, plots, crops distribution, types of crops, trees, and animals integrated into the farm system, analyzing the soil structure, nutrient levels, organic matter content, erosion level, and potential contamination, as well as evaluating climate factors like rainfall distribution and quantity, temperatures, frost risks, and humidity. Additionally, you should consider organic matter sources and management, limiting factors such as capital, labor, and market access, farm-specific challenges, and the specific needs of high-input and low-input farms. It’s crucial to consider these factors to ensure a comprehensive understanding of your farming situation and to make informed decisions.
Step 2: Gather Information
When transitioning to organic farming, gathering information is crucial for success. The most successful organic farmers and the easiest transitions to organic farming occur when there is a wealth of knowledge, information, and skills at your disposal. It’s important to take the time to learn organic farming practices relevant to your specific situation, such as understanding the practices for growing root vegetables, running an orchard, raising cattle, or operating a dairy farm. Additionally, learning about different organic farming practices like mulching, composting, and organic pest management is essential for a successful transition to organic farming. By gathering this information and knowledge, you can lay a strong foundation for a successful transition to organic farming.
Step 3: Crop selection
Once you have a good understanding of organic farming, it’s important to select the appropriate crops based on your preferences and the sustainability of your property. Consider the crops that align with your dietary preferences and can be sustained by your land. Additionally, if you have animals, it’s essential to plant crops that can provide feed for them, moving towards a self-sustaining system. During this step, it’s crucial to consider the equipment needed to manage the chosen crops and assess whether it is a viable option based on the resources available to you. By carefully selecting crops and considering the sustainability of your choices, you can move towards a more self-sustaining and environmentally friendly farming system.
Step 4: Mulching
Mulching plays a crucial role in preventing soil erosion by covering the topsoil with natural plant materials, which helps prevent surface runoff during rainfall and boosts the amount of organic matter in the soil, creating a stable structure as the material decomposes. When choosing mulch, options include weeds or cover crops, crop residues, grass, pruning material from trees and hedges, and wastes from agricultural processing or forestry. For best results, it’s recommended to mulch before the wet season, apply a layer that is not too thick, and spread it evenly across the field. By implementing proper mulching techniques, you can effectively prevent soil erosion and enhance the fertility and stability of the soil.
Step 5: Water management
When transitioning to organic farming, water management becomes a significant consideration due to the global issue of water scarcity. The focus of water management revolves around three principles: water retention, water harvesting, and water storage. It is crucial to carefully consider how to achieve these goals in your unique farming situation. Factors such as overuse of water, climate change, and growing freshwater demand contribute to water scarcity, making efficient water management essential. By implementing strategies to retain, harvest, and store water effectively, organic farmers can contribute to sustainable water usage and mitigate the impact of water scarcity on their farming operations.
Step 6: Crop planning
Crop rotation and intercropping are two essential methods in organic farming that significantly contribute to improving soil health and fertility. Crop rotation involves planting different crops in the field from season to season, while intercropping involves planting different crops in close proximity to each other. These practices help maintain soil health, optimize soil nutrients, combat pest and weed pressure, and improve overall crop yields. It’s crucial to keep good, accurate, and detailed records of your crops to ensure the maintenance of soil health and continually improve crop yields over time. By implementing crop rotation, intercropping, and maintaining detailed records, organic farmers can enhance the sustainability and productivity of their farming operations.
Step 7: Nutrient management
In traditional farming, nitrogen-based fertilizers are commonly used to replenish nutrients in the soil. However, in organic farming, alternative methods such as green manure, animal manure, and organic fertilizers are utilized to maintain soil fertility. Green manure, which involves growing specific plants to build nutrients in the soil, and animal manure are valuable sources of organic matter and nutrients for organic farming. Additionally, composting plays a significant role in organic farming by transforming organic materials into natural fertilizers. These methods help replenish nutrients in the soil and contribute to sustainable soil fertility in organic farming systems.
Step 8: Pest management
In pest management, organic farming focuses on prevention rather than cure, aiming to identify and address the causes of pest and disease issues before they escalate. Organic farmers can employ various proactive strategies, including planting disease-resistant crops, selecting suitable crops for local conditions, implementing mixed cropping systems to reduce host plant availability for pests, rotating crops to minimize soil-borne diseases, maintaining balanced nutrient management, increasing organic inputs to enhance biodiversity and beneficial organisms, creating a conducive environment for pest-controlling species, and implementing proper sanitation practices to prevent disease spread and minimize pest infestations. By integrating these proactive measures, organic farmers can effectively manage pests and diseases while upholding the principles of organic farming.
Step 9: Weed management
In organic farming, the emphasis is on preventing the introduction of foreign species and weeds, rather than attempting to remove them once they are detected. The goal is not to eradicate all weeds, as this can be labor-intensive, but to maintain them at a level that is conducive to the farm’s health and economic viability. Weeds play a beneficial role by providing habitat for pest-controlling species and offering cover that reduces soil erosion. By maintaining weeds at acceptable levels, organic farmers can promote a healthy farm environment while minimizing the need for intensive weed removal efforts.
Step 10: Soil management
When it comes to soil management for organic farms, the focus is on creating optimal growing conditions for plants by improving aeration, loosening the soil, encouraging soil organism activity, increasing water filtration, and managing pests and weeds. Additionally, minimum disturbance and reducing soil compaction are key priorities. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to cultivating the soil in organic farming, as a range of options exist. It’s important for those transitioning to organic farming to learn about good soil management practices tailored to their specific situation, crops, and location. Implementing practices such as growing cover crops, reducing pesticide use, providing habitat for beneficial organisms, and minimizing soil disturbance can contribute to maintaining soil health and promoting sustainable organic farming practices.
Step 9: Animal husbandry
The integration of animals into crop-producing farms is a fundamental aspect of organic farming, offering various benefits such as increasing natural resources through manure, controlling pest populations (e.g., chickens roaming to manage pests), and aiding in weed management (e.g., cattle and goats grazing). While incorporating animals may not be feasible for some, understanding one’s specific situation and needs is crucial. These steps outline the core principles of organic farming and highlight the diverse challenges that organic farmers must address. For a comprehensive understanding of organic farming, exploring the report prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is recommended. The report emphasizes the importance of sustainable livestock practices, soil management, and the integration of livestock into crop farms to enhance soil fertility, diversify product bases, and provide new sources of income and farm resilience.
Source: https://www.jerseygirlorganics.co.nz/post/a-step-by-step-guide-to-organic-farming
