Finding "Organic": Search Strategies and Terminology

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	Compiled by: Mary V. Gold Alternative Farming Systems Information Center July 2007 This resource is part of our Organic Production/Organic Food: Information Access Tools tutorial which identifies the best sources that address sustainable agriculture, research and information sources, contacts and experts, research funding sources, educational and career opportunities, and upcoming events.



	For more information related specifically to how and where to search, see: AFSIC Databases directory http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php? info_center=2&tax_level=1&tax_subject=288 Organic Production and Organic Food: Automated Database Searches http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofpsearch.shtml Organic Information Resources: What are They? Where are They? How can I Find Them? http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/orgfind.shtml 1. Defining the challenges The unique nature of organic production and marketing makes searching on organic topics challenging. Why? There are many unrelated topics connected with the word organic, such as organic chemistry, organic acids, and soil organic matter, that preclude searching on just the word organic with the expectation of meaningful results. There is the confusing nomenclature associated with organic production: organics, organically grown, biodyamic, biological farming, ecological agriculture, and more - a host of almost synonymous terms. There are also many organic practices and organic commodities that may not always be labeled as such, but that may be relevant to a particular search, e.g. biological pest control, or natural foods. There is the holistic nature of organic production itself. Particularly in the area of organic farming, one may need to consider the whole-farm, economic, political, philosophical, and economic aspects of organic. This is not easy to do, especially on discipline-focused databases. 2. Glossary of best keywords and phrases Note on electronic searching: Terms or phrases with multiple forms of one word (e.g. farm/farms/farming) may be searched using truncation or stemming on search engines with these search capabilities. Phrases should be searched as phrases, e.g. enclosed with quotation marks (" "), whenever possible. Terminology Using precise words and phrases is especially important in searching on organic topics. The following terms are used as descriptors of organic systems and/or are synonyms for organic systems. Underlined terms are described in more detail in (and linked to) the Related Terms section of Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms. http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/terms/srb9902terms.shtml Bolded Terms are terms used in the National Agricultural Library’s Agricultural Thesaurus. Link to the Thesaurus’ main entry for "Organic Production," http://agclass.nal.usda.gov/mtw.exe?k=default&l=60&linkType=term& w=7144&n=1&s=5&t=2 Starred* items denote terms selected for searching by Mark Lipson in Searching for "O" Word http://ofrf.org/publications/o-word.html (Organic Farming and Research Foundation, 1997). This list of terms in arranged into the following categories: Whole/Integrated Organic Systems Related Alternative Agriculture Systems and Disciplines Selected Organic Practices Disease, weed and pest control Soil and soil fertility management Livestock management Livestock health Economics and marketing 1. Terminology Associated with Whole/Integrated Organic Systems biodynamic/farm/farms/farming bio-dynamic/farm/farms/farming biodynamics* biological agriculture biological farms/farming eco-agriculture ecofarm/ecofarms/ecofarming/eco-farm/eco-farms/eco-farming ecological farming kyusei natural farming nature farming organic agriculture organic certification organic certified/certified organic organic cropping system(s) organic culture organic farmer(s)/farm/farms/farming* organic food(s)* organic garden/gardens/gardening organic husbandry organic livestock* organic production organically farmed/farmed organically organically grown organiculture regenerative agriculture regenerative cropping system(s) regenerative farming 2. Terminology Associated with Related Alternative Agriculture Systems and Disciplines Terms that denote systems/practices that overlap, over-arch or include organic systems. Many of these terms are often confused with terms that pertain to strictly organic systems. agricultural ecology agroecology/agroecological agroecosystem(s)* alternative agriculture alternative farming crop ecology* cropping systems farming systems holism holistic management holistic resource management (HRM) integrated agricultural system(s) integrated farming system(s) integrated production system(s) low input agriculture low-input agriculture* permaculture permanent agriculture plant ecosystem(s)* reduced input farming reduced input agriculture sustainability sustainable farm/farms/farming sustainable agriculture* whole-farm 3. Terminology Associated with Selected Organic Practices Disease, weed and pest control Soil and soil fertility management Livestock management Livestock health Economics and marketing Disease, weed and pest control allelopathy/allelopathic allelochemical(s)* alternative pesticide(s)* beneficial arthropod(s) beneficial insect(s)* beneficial microorganisms* beneficial nematode(s)* beneficial organism(s) beneficials biobased/bio-based control biocontrol(s)/bio-control(s) biological control(s)*/controlling biologically biological control agent(s) biopesticide(s) biorational pesticide(s) botanical pesticide(s) cultural control* disease suppression* disease tolerant disease resistance/disease resistant fungal antagonists horticultural oil(s) insecticidal soap(s) integrated pest management (IPM) integrated weed management intercropping* mechanical control microbial pesticide(s)* mixed cropping mycoherbicide(s) natural enemies natural substance(s)* natural pesticide(s) non-chemical methods non-chemical control(s)* parasites of plant pests parasitoid augmentation pest resistant predator augmentation predators of plant pests predatory arthropods predatory insect(s) predatory mite(s) relay cropping soil heating soil solarization* strip cropping Soil and soil fertility management Actinomycetales actinomycetes* alley cropping animal manure(s) animal waste(s) biofertilizer(s)/bio-fertilizer(s) carbon sequestration cocompost(s)/cocomposting co-compost(s)/co-composting compost(s)* [food residuals composts; yard waste composts] composting* composted manure(s) conservation buffers conservation practices covercrop(s)/covercropping cover crop(s)/cover-crop(s)* cover cropping crop rotation(s)* cropping sequence earthworm(s)* food webs green manure(s)/green manuring humate(s)* humic acid(s) humus* live mulch(es) living mulch(es)* manure(s)/manuring microbial ecology* mycorrhizae mycorrhizal fungi nitrogen fixation* nitrogen-fixing bacteria nutrient management organic amendment(s) organic fertilizer(s) organic matter* polyculture soil amendment(s)* soil food webs soil inoculation soil microflora* soil microorganisms soil organic matter* soil organisms* soil-plant interaction(s) soil-plant-nutrient relations* suppressive soils* vermicompost(s) vermicomposting windrow composting Livestock management alternative livestock animal manure management chicken tractor controlled grazing forage-based free-range grass-based/grass based grassfarming grass-fed/grass fed grass-fed livestock grassland(s) grazier(s) grazing management green feeding holistic management (HM) integrated parasite management intensive grazing ley/leys ley farming management-intensive grazing (MIG) manure management mixed grazing moveable fencing multispecies grazing/multi-species grazing nutrient management paddock(s) pasture-based/pasture based pasture-fed/pasture fed pasture management pastured prescribed grazing range improvement range management rangeland(s) rational grazing riparian best management practices riparian buffers riverbank protection rotational grazing rotational stocking seasonal dairying short-duration grazing sward targeted grazing Livestock health acupuncture alternative medicine (veterinary) alternative therapy (veterinary) animal welfare animal well-being bioenergetic medicine biological control biological control agent(s) biotherapy/biotherapies complementary medicine (veterinary) electroacupuncture ethnoveterinary medicine herbal drug(s) herbal medicine(s) holistic medicine (veterinary) homeopathic drugs homeopathy/homeopathic/homeopathically (veterinary) homeotherapy/homeotherapeutics natural medicine(s) (veterinary) Economics* and marketing alternative crop(s) alternative market(s)/marketing alternative enterprise(s) community food systems community supported agriculture/ community-supported agriculture/ CSA CSA farm(s) direct marketing green marketing eco-label(s)/eco-labeling ethical trade fair trade farm direct marketing farm-to-school local food systems/local food distribution locally grown on-farm processing organic certification regional food systems value-added value-added products Return to AFSIC's Organic Production/Organic Food: Information Access Tools. Alternative Farming Systems Information Center National Agricultural Library, ARS, USDA 10301 Baltimore Ave., Room 132 Beltsville MD 20705-2351 Phone: 301-504-6559; Fax: 301-504-6409 E-mail us http://afsic.nal.usda.gov

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Last Modified: Tuesday, 29-Apr-2008 13:45:43 EDT