Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system that promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It emphasizes the use of management practices in preference to the use of off-farm inputs, taking into account that regional conditions require locally adapted systems. This is accomplished by using agronomic, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to using synthetic materials, to fulfill any specific function within the system.
Methods of organic farming vary. Some farms follow the strict production guidelines of a particular regulatory code, others develop their own independent systems. However, all organic systems share common goals and practices:
• No use of synthtic fertilizers or pesticides, and No GMOs;
• Protection of soils (from erosion, nutrient depletion, structural break
down);
• Promotion of biodiversity (e.g. growing a varieties of crops than a
single crop);
• No drug (e.g. antibiotics, hormones) and access to outdoor grazing,
for livestock and poultry.
Within this framework, farmers develop their own organic production system, determined by factors like climate, crop selection, local regulations, and the preferences of the individual farmer.