Organic Farming - You Give A Natural Product

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Organic farming can provide organic vegetables, fruits and berries, as well as livestock products

Until now, the lack of a legislative and regulatory framework has been a limiting factor in the development of ecological (organic, natural) agriculture and the market for corresponding products in Russia.

The situation changed for the better after the publication on May 31, 2008 of the Resolution of the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation No. 26 dated April 21, 2008 "Hygienic Requirements for the Safety and Nutritional Value of Food Products" Sanitary and Epidemiological Rules and Regulations.

Realizing the fact that for the majority of agricultural workers, farmers, owners of personal subsidiary plots and garden plots, this decree is not available, and it was practically not covered in the media, I consider it necessary to bring the main provisions of this document to the attention of the readers of the magazine.

Considering the fact that most amateur gardeners strive to grow their products as environmentally friendly, I will dwell on the criteria by which each site owner can determine whether the vegetables, fruits, berries he has grown are a natural product.

It should be noted that this decree is actually a cast of the Western sample - Codex Alimentarius Organically Produced Foods - the main provisions of which are in force in Western Europe.

In the future, the decree explains the sanitary and epidemiological requirements for organic products that can be obtained from agricultural fields, land, plots, farms. The transition period from conventional to traditional farming is at least two years from the time of sowing or when growing perennial crops (excluding grass crops) at least three years before the first collection of organic products. This period is necessary in order for the soil to be cleared of residues of synthetic pesticides, growth regulators and other ingredients that are not approved for use in organic farming.

Only means for controlling the number of pests and combating plant diseases, as well as agricultural chemicals that have undergone state registration in accordance with the established procedure, are allowed for use.

Fertilizers from the processing of slaughterhouse by-products and fresh blood, as well as urea and Chilean nitrate (saltpeter) are not allowed. The use of synthetic herbicides, fungicides, insecticides is also not allowed.

The use of preparations containing copper in quantities exceeding 3 kg / ha per year is not allowed. In the future, it is planned to replace copper-containing preparations with microbiological plant protection products. It is not allowed to use preparations based on plant raw materials - tobacco (tobacco dust), since nicotine has a high level of human toxicity (LD 50 mg / kg) and has a strong negative effect on non-target organisms.

However, the approved list includes preparations based on rotenol, obtained from plants that do not grow in our country. At the same time, in Germany, rotenol, due to its strong toxic effect on bees and fish, is not included in the list of approved drugs for use in organic farming.

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I think that this list of plant protection products allowed for use in organic farming should be revised annually to reduce the risk to the environment and human health. Greater emphasis should be placed on the use of biological agents - entomophages and biological products. The list of permitted funds must be published in central agricultural newspapers and magazines, duplicated in all publications related to crop and livestock production. It is necessary at the state level to organize support for their sale in all regions where they can be used. I must say that the range of plant protection products allowed for use in organic farming is still very scarce in stores. The use of synthetic growth regulators and synthetic dyes in natural agriculture is also prohibited. An exception was made for ethylene as a plant growth regulator.

The requirements for the production of organic beekeeping and livestock products are also very strict. The hives should be located in such a way that all farms within a radius of 6 km from the location of the apiary meet the requirements of these sanitary rules. At the same time, beekeeping products are sold as organic products, provided that they were obtained after one year from the beginning of the operation of such an apiary. When working with bees - when collecting beekeeping products - the use of synthetic repellents is not permitted. To combat pests and diseases of bees, the following substances and agents are allowed: lactic, oxalic, formic and acetic acids, sulfur, natural essential oils (menthol, eucalyptol, camphor), steam and an open flame, as well as permitted bacterial preparations (Bacillus thuringiensis) …

Products of animal origin are recognized as organic products if pastures were used in their production, which during the last three years have not been processed by any means not included in tables 11 and 12 of these rules (they are not listed in this article). The amount of fertilizers used on the farm should not exceed 170 kg of nitrogen per year per 1 ha of farmland. Based on these requirements, each owner of a personal subsidiary farm can recalculate the amount of mineral fertilizers used by him on his site (1.7 kg of nitrogen per hundred square meters) and determine whether his vegetables, fruits, berries belong to an organic (natural) product.

In the diet of animals, the use of antibiotics, coccidostatics and other pharmacological preparations, growth and lactation stimulants is not allowed. For prophylactic purposes, the appointment of chemical-synthetic allopathic drugs or antibiotics is not allowed. Each batch of organic products must be accompanied by documentation that allows tracing the origin of the product and its quality (certificate of quality and safety). In this, an important role belongs to the work on product certification, which should be carried out on a voluntary basis. The certification procedure in the Leningrad Region includes an inspection of the enterprise by a group of experts from the St. Petersburg Ecological Union, and part of the cost of the examination is compensated by the state.

The initiative of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Union of Russian Gardeners, Deputy of the State Duma V. I. Zakharyashchev on the implementation of a project for public control over the quality and safety of food. Under his leadership, a sign of ecological purity of food products was developed, which looks like a "ladybug on a chamomile" (see photo). Products that have passed laboratory tests and meet the quality and safety standards and requirements - domestic and imported - will be awarded such a mark.

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I would like the owners of our farms to become interested in organic farming, as this will allow them to sell products at a higher price. In the Leningrad Region, only A. D. Bykova from the Ladoga area was the first to grow to international standards. Potatoes, carrots, beets in his fields have been successfully certified for the ecolabel "Leaf of Life", and these products have been awarded the appropriate mark, which makes it possible to sell them more expensively. And this is understandable, because the yield in organic farming is much lower than in conventional farming, based on the intensive use of mineral fertilizers and synthetic plant protection products. Accordingly, the cost of such products is higher. This should be explained to consumers, because they will receive environmentally friendly, healthy products.

The marketing of our natural products must be thoroughly organized. Imported organic products, which are sold in two large stores in Moscow, Grunwald and Bio Gourmet, come from more than 40 foreign firms. And it comes at a price 8-10 times higher than the usual one. I believe that over time it should give way to our fruits and vegetables on the shelves. In exporting countries, organic farming products are sold at prices only 1.5-2 times higher than those produced on traditional farms. It is necessary to ensure that only imported exotic fruits, vegetables and berries that do not grow in Russia due to biological conditions can be admitted to the counter. All other products must be domestic.

In organic farming, the yield value is not put in the first place, the main thing is to obtain a natural product. So far, there are very few farms in our country (I am not talking about large JSCs) that could produce such a product. It is much easier and faster to get a natural product in your subsidiary area. In my next publication I will try to give a list of tools that allow you to control the number of pests and fight plant diseases that are allowed to be used in the production of organic products. It is necessary that the shops of the city, based on the demand of gardeners, be able to meet their needs for the specified plant protection products.

In my next publication, I will try to give a list of tools that allow you to control the number of pests and fight plant diseases that are allowed to be used in the production of organic products. It is necessary that the shops of the city, based on the demand of gardeners, be able to meet their needs for the specified plant protection products.