Organic farming is part of this movement. Most significantly, organic foods are grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Organic farming and gardening is the result of the belief that the best food crops come from soil that is nurtured rather than treated. Organic farmers take great care to give the soil nutrients to keep it healthy, just as a person works to keep his or her body healthy with certain nutrients. Thus, organic farmers prefer to provide those essential soil builders in natural ways: using cover crops instead of chemical fertilizers, releasing predator insects rather than spraying pests with pesticides and hand weeding rather than applying herbicides.
Organic production practices involve a variety of farming applications. Specific strategies must take into account topography, soil characteristics, climate, pests, local availability of inputs, and the individual grower's goals. Despite the site-specific and individual nature of this approach, several general principles can be applied to help growers select appropriate management practices. Growers must:
- Select species and varieties of crops that are well suited to the site and to the conditions of the farm.
- Diversify
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