ATTRA // Organic Tomato Production Page 1
By Steve Diver, George Kuepper,
and Holly Born
NCAT Agriculture Specialists
October 1995
Revised March 1999
Organic Farming and Certification Programs
As defined by the USDA
in 1980 (1), organic
farming is a system...
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ATTRA // Organic Tomato Production Page 1
By Steve Diver, George Kuepper,
and Holly Born
NCAT Agriculture Specialists
October 1995
Revised March 1999
Organic Farming and Certification Programs
As defined by the USDA
in 1980 (1), organic
farming is a system that
excludes the use of
synthetic fertilizers,
pesticides, and growth
regulators.
Organic
farmers rely heavily on
crop rotations, crop
residues, animal
manures, legumes, green
manures, organic wastes,
and mineral-bearing
rocks to feed the soil and
supply plant nutrients.
Insects, weeds, and other pests are managed by
mechanical cultivation and cultural, biological,
and biorational controls.
Organic certification emerged as a marketing
tool during the 1970s and 80s to ensure foods
produced organically met specified standards of
production.
The Organic Foods Production Act,
a section of the 1990 Farm Bill, enabled the
USDA to develop a national program of
universal standards,
certification accreditation,
and food labeling.
In ear
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