potato 5-9-12 CLEAN - Vegetableipmasia.org

ORGANIC POTATO PRODUCTION INTRODUCTIONThis guide for organic production of potatoes providesan outline of cultural and pest management practicesand includes topics that have an impact on improvingplant health and reducing pest problems. It isdivided into sections, but the interrelated quality of organiccropping systems makes each section relevant to the others.This guide attempts to compile the most current informationavailable, but acknowledges that effective means of controlare not available for some pests. More research on growingcrops organically is needed, especially in the area of pestmanagement. Future revisions will incorporate newinformation providing organic growers with a complete setof useful practices to help them achieve success.This guide uses the term Integrated Pest Management (IPM),which like organic production, emphasizes cultural,biological, and mechanical practices to minimize pestoutbreaks. With limited pest control products available foruse in many organic production systems, an integratedapproach to pest management is essential. IPM techniquessuch as identifying and assessing pest populations, keepingaccurate pest history records, selecting the proper site, andpreventing pest outbreaks through use of crop rotation,resistant varieties and biological controls are important toproducing a high quality crop.1.GENERAL ORGANIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES1.1 Organic CertificationTo use a certified organic label, farming operations grossingmore than $5,000 per year in organic products must becertified by a U.S. Department of Agriculture NationalOrganic Program (NOP) accredited certifying agency. Thechoice of certifier may be dictated by the processor or bythe target market. HUA list of accredited certifiers (Reference 10)operating in New York can be found on the New York StateDepartment of Agriculture and Markets HOrganic FarmingResource Center web page (Reference 11). See morecertification details under Section 4.1: Field Selection:Certification Requirements and Section 11: Using OrganicPesticides.1.2 Organic Farm PlanAn organic farm plan is central to the certification process.The farm plan describes production, handling, and recordkeepingsystems, and demonstrates to certifiers anunderstanding of organic practices for a specific crop. Theprocess of developing the plan can be very valuable interms of anticipating potential issues and challenges, andfosters thinking of the farm as a whole system. Soil, nutrient,pest, and weed management are all interrelated on organicfarms and must be managed in concert to be successful.Certifying organizations may be able to provide a templatefor the farm plan. The following description of the farmplan is from the NOP web site:The Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA or Act)requires that all crop, wild crop, livestock, and handlingoperations requiring certification submit an organic systemplan to their certifying agent and, where applicable, the StateOrganic Program (SOP). The organic system plan is adetailed description of how an operation will achieve,document, and sustain compliance with all applicableprovisions in the OFPA and these regulations. The certifyingagent must concur that the proposed organic system planfulfills the requirements of subpart C, and any subsequentmodification of the organic plan by the producer or handlermust receive the approval of the certifying agent.More details may be found at the Agricultural MarketingService’s National Organic Program websiteH website (Reference12). The National Sustainable Agriculture Information ServiceH,(formerly ATTRA), has produced a guide to organiccertification that includes templates for developing anorganic farm plan (Reference 13). The HURodale InstituteUH hasalso developed resources for transitioning to organic anddeveloping an organic farm plan (Reference 14).1.3 Critical management strategiesWhile this guide contains many management strategies fororganic potato production, Table 1.3.1, based onrecommendations from a successful organic potato grower,summarizes those that are critically important.Table 1.3.1 Critical management considerations Challenge Considerations Planting date Weed management Plant too early and potatoes rot or get frosted; plant too late and the risk of late blight and insufficient time to mature can severely affect yield. Take advantage of the good 3 week planting window that usually begins and ends in May. See Section 7: Planting methods. This is very important. Poor weed control can severely decrease yields, increase disease by preventing airflow, and interfere with harvest by clogging harvest equipment. Weeds impede hand harvesting as well. Multiple well-­‐timed cultivations with hilling can be very effective even when previous cultural control was poor. Be ready to cultivate when the weather permits and crop and weed timing dictate. See Section 5: Weed management. 12012