Many people consider organic food production for granted. Many of us think that organic food production is an easy task but in truth, making organic food products is a lot of difficult work. In reality, organic food production necessitates a lot of extra effort when compared with conventional food production. Observe that organic farms that are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) follow strict farming rules and regulations.
If these farms that are certified as organic by the United States Department of Agriculture do not pass government standards, their certification could be revoked by the USDA and their products could be pulled out from the organic food product market. Moreover, if the violation is made by the farm is serious; the United States Department of Agriculture will impose stiff fines and even imprisonment as penalty. Organic food production will give you much benefit.
What Does Organic Food Production Involves?
Organic food production entails the use of sound farming practices such as crop rotation, utilization of cover crops, animal manures and green manures to fertilize the soil. Since organic farms are totally prohibited from utilizing chemical fertilizers to improve production, these farms should rely on organic and natural matters to keep the soil fit for planting. Crop rotation is extremely important to make certain that the soil retains its fertility.
According to experts, planting the same kinds of crops all over again for consecutive cropping season can result in depletion of the natural fertility of the soil. Once the soil is no longer fertile, organic food production rates go down. To ensure maximum farm productivity, numerous organic farm owners follow a particular inter cropping cycle each year.
Organic farms have to apply biological control ways to manage weeds and protect their crops from diseases and insects. Since herbicides and pesticides can not be used in these organic farms, it is important to institute control measures to avoid harmful attacks. Placing nets over vegetable plots is one of the most generally used techniques to avoid insect infestations on vegetables.
With regards to organic livestock production, things could be very trickier. Since the organic food production regulations and rules and of the United States Department of Agriculture forbids the employment of growth hormones and antibiotics to help livestock grow and protect them from diseases, owners of organic farms have to be extra careful when handing their animals. The application of rotational grazing is extremely important to keep the animals in the farm healthy. If certain animals become ill, they should be isolated immediately to prevent contamination of other animals.