Organic Farming and the Rise of 'Green Pesticides'
When people think of organic food, the assumption is that it's healthier, tastier, better for the planet, and grown without the use of chemicals. The first three are generally true, but there's a widespread misconception about chemical use on organic foods, namely that there is none.
虽然对来自购物者的更多有机食物的不断增长的需求通常是该星球和业务的良好的事情，但是通过定义对有机物无化学的误解可能会导致对冲和欺骗声誉。
Safeway Onersics系列和沃尔玛的遗传物品等举措是对有机物需求持续增长的反应;根据有机贸易协会（OTA），美国有机产业在2010年的近8％的速度增长了近8％，超过280亿美元。反过来，又推动了作为有机认证的美国农田的数量，这增加了2005年至2008年的近500万英亩，这是数据可用的去年。
虽然有机农业仍然是整个领域的一个角落，但这是大企业 - 而变得更大。并且这种增长可能需要至少短期增加使用有机批准的农药和肥料。
但是有机农民和过渡到有机的人不能只是把任何旧的化学品扔到他们的作物或土地上。有机农业的重点是没有输入的，最终。但有时需要化学品，甚至是合成的。这就是国家有机标准的原因列出合成物质允许在有机作物上使用。
当制造商开发它想要向有机农民市场上市的新配方时，必须提交给两个组织之一的批准：环境保护局（EPA）或有机材料审查学院（OMRI）。绝大多数应用程序都转到了Omri，它维持a list of more than 2,000 products[PDF]目前允许用于有机系统。
OMRI目前每月收到大约30到40个应用程序。在最终确定国家有机标准之前，这是从10年前的大跳跃。据Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador，Omri的节目总监Lindsay Fernandez-Salvador称，非营利组织每月只有2到3个应用。她说，即使约有10％的申请申请被拒绝，她说，Omri的批准物质列表在过去五年中翻了一番。
"With the onset of regulations that are published, there's more consistency," Fernandez-Salvador said. "Everyone knew where they were going to."
她补充说，有机物市场的增长也可能是这一趋势的驾驶员。由于农场寻求获得有机标签，他们在认证之前，他们面临着对有机实践的三年遵守窗口 - 在此期间他们最有可能使用这些有机批准的产品来控制害虫。
据执行董事Chris Schreiner的说法，许多新的经纪农民正在从常规农业过渡俄勒冈州蒂朗，今年已在美国认证超过750个农场。
“我认为这是漏斗点，”业务高级副总裁丹尼尔斯表示，有机诚信Earthbound Farm。他说，随着他们转换土地，新农民学会使用输入不是前往生产有机系统的方式。
The organic certification process underscores this way of thinking, Schreiner noted. Farmers must design an integrated pest-management plan that uses inputs to manage pests only as a last line of defense, he said. "I think they come to understand that organic management systems are about much more than materials. Inputs for crop production cost money."
虽然没有关于有机农民在化学物质上花费多少数据，但有一个巨大的化学投入市场：2007年，传统农民花费超过10亿美元的化学投入 - 其整体农业生产成本的4％以上2008 U.S. Census of Agriculture.
Companies that make these organically compliant products see the potential market for these products differently. They're not aiming for the new, small growers, but the big ones that need to scale production of high-yield, attractive produce.
“建立了[美国有机系统]的方式，强调在基于明尼阿波利斯的MGK的有机作物保护市场经理John Buenneke表示，”John Buenneke表示，“John Buenneke表示。“但最终，他们需要有效。”
MGK制作和销售作物保护产品，包括一系列botanically based pesticidescertified by EPA as organically compliant. MGK reports 20 percent growth in that product line over the last three years.
该公司的产品和其他像他们这样的其他工具只是有机农家工具箱中的另一个工具，MGK想要销售给大型有机运营。“我看到机会是更大的有机业务，希望提高产量，”布纳克说。“他们正在寻找他们可以持续依赖的产品。”
If the products are formulated correctly so they are environmentally friendly and targeted to address specific problems, they're likely to garner wide acceptance from farmers, according to Gwendolyn Wyard, associate director of Organic Standards and Industry Outreach at theOrganic Trade Association。
“我无法表达机械，文化和生物控制的重要性，”Wyard在电子邮件交换中表示。但是，“农民必须具有额外的控件[材料]的工具箱，该工具箱融入了有机系统的管理。”
Large, established organic farms are finding through experience that chemical inputs aren't necessary to produce good-looking, high-yield crops and research is bearing out that experience.
Organic systems are economically competitive with conventional systems because of lower input costs, according toRodale Institute的农业系统试验, a 30-year side-by-side study of organic and conventional farming.
的农场和37000英亩的认证organic cropland is a good example of this. It does not use inputs on the vast majority of its crops, according to Daniels. All of the produce it sells is rated U.S. No. 1under the USDA Quality Standards, he said.
"It's not because we're spraying a bunch of stuff on the crop," Daniels said. Instead Earthbound uses a system of integrated pest management including hand weeding, trap crops and beneficial bugs. "It's a challenge that I think being persistent and being on top of is very important."
Farming photo来自Shutterstock。
