How to Grow Organic Vegetables? A Complete Practical Guide
As people's living standards continue to rise and health awareness grows, consumer demand for pollution-free vegetables keeps increasing, and organic vegetables have gradually made their way onto some people's dining tables. Developing organic vegetables has very broad market prospects and also delivers good overall benefits.
Meaning of Organic Vegetables Organic vegetables refer to vegetable products that are produced without the use of chemically synthesized pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, growth regulators and other such substances, as well as genetically engineered organisms and their products, but instead follow natural laws and ecological principles, adopt a series of sustainable agricultural techniques, coordinate planting balance, and maintain the sustained stability of the agricultural ecosystem, and that have been assessed and approved by an organic certification body and issued an organic certificate.
? Requirements for the Production Base
1. Integrity of the base The land of the base should be a complete plot, and no plots under conventional production may be interspersed within it, though organic conversion plots are allowed; the boundary between the organic vegetable production base and conventional plots must have clear markers, such as rivers, hills, artificially set isolation belts, and so on.
2. There must be a conversion period The conversion from a conventional production system to organic production usually takes 2 years, and only after the vegetables sown thereafter are harvested can they be sold as organic products; perennial vegetables need 3 years of conversion before harvest to become organic crops. The start of the conversion period is counted from the date of applying to the certification body for certification, and producers must operate fully in accordance with organic production requirements during the conversion period. Vegetables grown in plots after 1 year of organic conversion may be sold as organic conversion crops.
3. Establish buffer zones If some plots in the organic vegetable production base may be affected by pollution from neighboring conventional plots, buffer zones or physical barriers must be set up between the organic and conventional plots to ensure the organic plots are not contaminated. Different certification bodies have different requirements for the length of isolation belts; for example, China's OFDC certification body requires 8 m, and Germany's BCS certification body requires 10 m.
? Cultivation Management
1. Variety selection Organic vegetable seeds and seedlings should be used; where certified organic vegetable seeds and seedlings cannot be obtained (such as in the initial stage of organic planting), conventional seeds not treated with prohibited substances may be used. Vegetable types and varieties that adapt to the local soil and climate characteristics and are resistant to pests and diseases should be selected, and the protection of crop genetic diversity must be fully considered in variety selection. The use of any genetically modified seeds is prohibited.
2. Crop rotation and field sanitation The organic base should adopt crop rotation with at least 3 crops including leguminous crops or green manure; in areas where only 1 crop of vegetables can be grown in 1 year, rotation with two crops including leguminous crops is allowed. After the previous crop of vegetables is harvested, thoroughly clean the base, transport all diseased and residual plant material out of the base for destruction or deep burial, so as to reduce the source of disease.
3. Supporting cultivation techniques Through techniques such as raising strong seedlings, grafting and root replacement, ridge cultivation, plastic film mulching, rational close planting, and plant adjustment, fully utilize conditions such as light, heat and air to create an environment favorable for vegetable growth, so as to achieve the goal of high yield and high efficiency.
? Fertilizer Use
1. Types of fertilizers allowed Organic fertilizers, including animal manure and residues, composted plant fertilizer, green manure, plant ash, cake fertilizer, etc.; mineral substances, including potassium rock powder, phosphate rock powder, calcium chloride and other substances; in addition, organic special fertilizers certified by organic certification bodies and some microbial fertilizers.
2. Harmless treatment of fertilizers Organic fertilizer needs harmless treatment 2 months before application: sprinkle water to moisten the fertilizer, pile it up, and cover it with plastic film so that it fully ferments and decomposes. During the fermentation period, the temperature inside the pile reaches as high as above 60°C, which can effectively kill pests, diseases and weeds contained in farmyard manure, and the treated fertilizer is easily absorbed and used by vegetables.
3. Methods of fertilizer application (1) Application rate: when applying fertilizer to land for organic vegetable cultivation, vegetable growing and soil fertility building should be carried out simultaneously. The ratio of animal to plant fertilizer should preferably be 1:1. Generally, apply 3000-4000 kg of organic fertilizer per mu, and apply 100 kg of organic special fertilizer as a top dressing. (2) Apply sufficient base fertilizer: use 80% of the total fertilizer amount as base fertilizer, and mix the fertilizer evenly into the plow layer together with plowing, so as to facilitate root absorption. (3) Apply top dressing skillfully: for vegetables with high planting density and shallow roots, the spread-and-top-dress method may be used; when the vegetables grow to 3-4 leaves, evenly scatter the air-dried and finely processed fertilizer into the vegetable field and water promptly. For vegetables with wider row spacing and more concentrated roots, open furrows and apply top dressing in bands; do not injure or break the roots when opening the furrows, cover with soil and water promptly. For vegetables with larger plant and row spacing, the hole application method may be used for top dressing.
???? Pest, Disease and Weed Control
Because the use of all chemically synthesized pesticides is prohibited in organic vegetable production, and the use of products produced by genetic engineering technology is prohibited, pest, disease and weed control in organic vegetables must adhere to the principle of "prevention first, combining prevention and control." Through agricultural and physical measures such as selecting disease-resistant varieties, high-temperature disinfection, rational fertilizer and water management, crop rotation, diversified intercropping and relay cropping, and protecting natural enemies, pests, diseases and weeds are comprehensively controlled.
1. Disease control Lime, sulfur and Bordeaux mixture can be used to control various vegetable diseases; copper-containing materials such as copper hydroxide and copper sulfate are allowed for restricted use to control fungal diseases of vegetables; soft soap, plant preparations, vinegar, etc. can be used to control fungal diseases of vegetables; potassium permanganate is a very good fungicide and can control various diseases; microorganisms and their fermentation products are allowed for use in controlling vegetable diseases.
2. Pest control It is advocated to control pests by releasing parasitic and predatory natural enemies (such as Trichogramma, ladybugs, predatory mites, etc.); soft soap, plant-based insecticides or extracts from locally grown plants are allowed for pest control; sex attractants may be used in traps and dispensers, and visual (such as yellow sticky boards) and physical insect-catching facilities (such as insect-proof nets) are allowed for pest control; rotenone, plant-derived pyrethrins, emulsified vegetable oil and diatomaceous earth may be used for restricted insect killing; microorganisms and their preparations, such as Bacillus thuringiensis preparations and Bt preparations, are allowed for restricted use.
3. Weed control Control weeds by adopting cultivation techniques that limit weed growth and development (such as crop rotation, planting green manure, fallowing, etc.); straw mulching is provided for weed control; mechanical and electrothermal weeding are allowed; the use of genetically engineered products and chemical herbicides for weed control is prohibited.