Basic principles of plant protection in organic farming

Learning Outcomes:

• Define the main differences in plant protection between conventional and organic farming.
• Explain the three-step approach to pest, disease and weed management in organic farming.
• State the EU regulation on plant protection products used in organic farming.

Crop protection from diseases, pests and weeds is the most demanding segment of organic farming. Due to the holistic approach, it requires a lot of producers’ knowledge and experience for planning the production and implementation of all technological measures and their impact on the development of certain groups of harmful organisms. The fear that adhering to the guidelines for organic cultivation, where we cannot rely on effective plant protection products available in conventional production, it will not be possible to preserve crops from pests, is often the main reason why growers find it difficult to switch to organic production.

However, organic protection is not correctly perceived as an alteration of the plant protection products, from those that are effective to those that are less effective. It implies changing the entire production system and introducing some new measures that will make our farm, crops and individual plants more resistant to pest attack. Organic protection primarily relies on preventive measures and careful monitoring of conditions for the development of harmful organisms and their populations, and only in conditions when the threshold of economic damage is exceeded, direct measures are implemented, including the use of permitted plant protection products.

The problem of pest management is particularly pronounced in the period of conversion of the farm when self-regulation of the ecosystem is underdeveloped, and producers are inexperienced. Therefore, before the transition, it is necessary to make a detailed plan of conversion that in each segment of production considers its impact on the development of pests. Plant protection in organic production relies on the three-step approach (Figure 2.1).