"Avery: I, also, am in favor of irradiation. I am particularly in favor of
it for organic food that is grown when it is grown with the assistance of
manure, because that involves a serious bacterial risk, and the irradiation
would eliminate that."
Amy, certified organic food, at least in Australia, should not be grown in
manure. Manures must go through some adequate (time or temperature)
composting process to deal with pathogens. I think that we, as organisms who
are 10% dry weight microorganisms ourselves, should try to move away from
the marketing perspective that a world without microbes is a real world or a
safe world. The issue is of overall plant health and nutrition and of a
microorganism environment which is on balance beneficial, supporting larger
organism (plants or people) which are robust and vigorous at the cellular
level and resistant to immune disorder. I agree with a focus of your
message, that there is nothing special about replacing chemical fertilisers
with 'natural' fertilisers. The focus of organic growing has to be well away
from that. The focus needs to move from the plant to the soil. Only in a
really healthy and lively soil will a plant with vitality grow. In a real
sense, the origins of life are around us every moment in the soil, in the
intimacy of association and the complexity of the boundaries between mineral
derived molecules, bacteria and fungi, and plant root fibres. As in the
intestine, the symbiotic relationships are essential to health of the
organism. It is sensible really, to look at our own dependence on plants,
and on animals better equipped than we are to digest plants, as part of the
whole symbiotic package. And note that parasitism is really a sub-set of
symbiosis - it is not always easy to say that a given microorganism (or a
given bug, or person in a community) is just a dangerous factor or one which
has a role of value from some perspectives. When overall ecological balance
is weakened, when organisms are subjected to environmental stresses,
opportunistic organisms may have destabilising effects. The purpose of
organic growing, in an ecologically supportive sense, is not to fight
individual bugs, but to strengthen whole ecologies.
Dennis
The Australian National Standard
for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce
.Second Edition
Organic Produce Advisory Committee, Australian Quarantine and Inspection
Service
Copyright ISBN 0-646-35460-4
"3.2 The aims outlined above are achieved through management practices that
create soils of enhanced biological activity, as determined by the humus
level, crumb structure and feeder root development, such that plants are fed
through the soil ecosystem and not primarily through soluble fertilisers
added to the soil. Plants grown in organic systems take up nutrients that
are released slowly from humus colloids, at a rate governed by warmth. In
this system, the metabolism of the plant and its ability to assimilate
nutrients is not overstressed by excessive uptake of soluble salts in the
soil water (such as nitrates). Therefore the development of soil structure
is fundamental to organic farming systems. Organic farming systems rely to
the maximum extent feasible upon crop rotations, crop residues, animal
manures [but on this, Amy, see 3.9 below], legumes, green manures,
mechanical cultivation, approved mineral-bearing rocks and aspects of
biological pest management to maintain soil productivity and tilth, to
supply plant nutrients and to control diseases, insects, weeds and other
pests...
"3.9 The fertility and the biological activity of the soil must be
maintained or increased by any combination of the following methods:
- cultivation of legumes, green manures or perennial deep-rooting plants in
an appropriate rotation programme;
- sheet composting using animal manures must go through two green manure
crops before the area is used for small crops;
- fully composted organic matter derived from selected sources as listed in
Annex IB;..."
Annex B does not allow fresh manure:
"B. Permitted materials for use in Soil Fertilising and Soil Conditioning
Substances Specific conditions
slurry from certified sources
aerobic compost compost is the conversion of organic
anaerobic compost materials into humus colloids
straw
mined carbon-based products such as peat, or coal
blood and bone, fish meal, hoof and horn meal,
or other waste products from fish or animal processing
seaweed or seaweed meal
plant and animal derived by-products of the food and textile industries
sawdust, bark and wood waste from untreated sources
basic slag only after residue testing for heavy metals
dolomite and lime from natural sources
gypsum (calcium sulphate) from natural sources
calcined or rock phosphate and other crushed mineral bearing rocks
excluding those minerals which are more than 20% soluble
phosphoric guano
rock potash and sulphate potash
wood ash from untreated sources
sulphur
clay, bentonite
attapulgite
perlite
trace elements includes materials such as borax
natural chelates are acceptable, eg ligno sulphonates not synthetically
chelated elements and those using the natural chelating agents such as
citric, maleic, tartaric and other di- and tri- acids
homoeopathic preparations
approved microbiological and biological preparations
naturally occurring biologicalorganisms (eg worms and worm castings)
excluding products derived from genetic modification technology
fish products
zeolites
vermiculite
potassium glauconite"
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail