Brief introduction to requirements for organic crop production
according to NPOP, Govt. of India, the US National Organic Program (NOP),the Canadian Organic Standards (COS) , and ADITI standard interpretation

1. What organic agriculture is:

• Avoids synthetic pesticides and easily soluble mineral fertilizers
• Protects the environment and promotes biodiversity
• Produces healthy food
• Recycles nutrients
• Uses locally adapted methods.

2. Soil fertility and plant nutrition:

• Soil fertility has to be conserved or improved
• Soil erosion must be avoided
• For annual crops, a wide crop rotation has to be used, including legumes to assure biological nitrogen fixation
• For perennial crops, wherever possible, legumes have to planted in interrow spaces
• Organic manuring should be used to maintain soil fertility:

• Nitrogen fertilisers and superphosphate are not allowed,
• Rock phosphate, potassium sulphate, and single trace element fertilisers can be used, in case that soil or leaf analyses show deficiencies of the respective nutrient
• Organic and inorganic fertilisation must not exceed crop requirements
• Lime (caco3) can and should be applied, when necessary.

3. Crop protection:

• Synthetical herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides are not allowed
• Pests and plant diseases must be prevented, using adapted species and resistant varieties, adequate crop rotations, and promoting natural enemies
• After having taken these measures, only those natural or mineral substances may be used, which are mentioned in annex 2 (NPOP) and/or the national list (NOP); some of these substances can be applied only after approval by the certifier
• NOP restricts not only the active substance, but also the inert ingredients of natural pesticides
• Weeds must be controlled by mechanical or thermal means, through adequate soil tillage and crop rotation.

4. Seeds and seedlings:

• Organic seeds and seedlings must be used wherever available
• Seedlings for annual crops (mainly vegetables) may not be purchased from conventional nurseries
• Seeds with chemical dressing may not be used, except for countries, where state law prescribes chemical seed treatment for phytosanitary reasons.

5. Conversion period:

A conventional farm has to undergo a conversion period, before products can be sold as organic. During the conversion time, all rules of organic production have to be kept, according to:

6. Cross contamination:

• NPOP, NOP and COS require explicitly that buffer zones are established between organic and conventional fields
• ADITI, however, aiming at reducing pesticide residues in organic food, requires buffer zones also for certification according to NPOP wherever there is a risk of cross contamination by pesticides

7. Biodiversity:

• Organic standards require soil fertility conservation and promotion of natural enemies (see above). ADITI believes that these conditions can‘t be met on huge monocrop fields. For this reason, we have established a maximum field size of 20 to 40 ha for annual crops, according to erosion risk. Bigger fields must be subdivided by hedgerows.

8. Records:

• Before the first inspection takes place, the farm has to present an organic management plan to the certifier; this plan has to be updated annually
• A farm diary must be kept, recording the main activities on each plot
• Invoices for purchase of fertilisers, pesticides, seeds, etc., must be filed
• Harvested quantities must be recorded for each crop
• The farm needs at least a simple system of bookkeeping for sales of organic product.

9. Knowledge:

• The farmer has to keep a copy of the respective standards and has to study them
• The farmer needs an adequate level of knowledge on organic farming rules and technologies.

Standard Inspection Program for Organic Crop Production
according to the NPOP, Govt of India, COS and the US National Organic Program (NOP)

Review of the organic management plan and its implementation.

Physical inspection :

Visit to all fields, or, in case of farms with a large number of small plots, to a representative sample of fields, focussing on:

• Seeds or planting stock
• Soil fertility management and erosion control
• Fertilisers used
• Crop rotation in case of annual crops
• Use of legumes
• Buffer zones
• Parallel production

Visit to stables, storage rooms, on farm processing units, and other farm buildings, addressing:

• Labelling, traceability
• Post harvest separation from non-certified products
• Post harvest sources of pollution.

Records :

• Maps or drawings of all plots, including farm buildings
• Invoices for purchase of seeds, fertilisers, crop protection products, and other relevant farm inputs
• If relevant: invoices for purchase of agricultural products
• Farm diary
• Storage book and/or processing and/or packing protocol (if relevant)
• Book keeping on all sales of farming products.

See also :

• ADITI policies on:

o Organic conversion period
o Buffer zones
o Traceability
o Pesticide residues and sampling frequency
o Crop rotation, legumes and cover crops
o Maximum field size
o Conventional poultry manure

• Brief information on organic crop production