Organic Field Crop Handbook
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Description:
Enlarged and re-written Second Edition. Following the success of the first edition of The Organic Field Crop Handbook, COG has re-written the first edition, revising information and adding several new chapters.
The book is a practical reference guide for both organic field crop farmers and conventional farmers who are considering making the transition to organic farming. The handbook contains updated information on growing methods, organic certification and the economics of organic farming in Canada.
Organic farming methods are discussed in detail including:
- how to increase and maintain soil fertility using green manures, compost, soil amendments and more,
- how to maintain a healthy soil life using crop rotation, reduced tillage and compost,
- how to compost manure safely and effectively (a detailed troubleshooting guide is included),
- how to control weeds using tillage, intercropping, crop rotation, flame weeding and other methods,
- how to reduce soil erosion and maintain soil moisture in dryland areas,
- how to use green manures and cover crops to add organic matter, fix nitrogen, reduce nutrient leaching, control weeds and more,
- how to save seed from field crops,
- how to control pests and diseases, and
- how to ensure that your crop is free from contamination by genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).
The Organic Field Crop Handbook contains a detailed worksheet to help farmers develop their own crop rotations. A new chapter has been added including detailed information about intercropping. As well, the 2nd edition contains several new examples of crop rotations from farms in the Prairies, the Maritimes and Central Canada.
Approximately one third of the book is devoted to detailed descriptions of how to grow various field crops. Based on interviews with successful organic farmers from across Canada, each crop profile includes information on suitable crop rotations, intercropping, seeding rates, weed and pest control, harvesting methods and more.
The crop profiles include:
- cereal crops: barley, oats, rye, spelt, spring wheat and winter wheat (with brief descriptions of kamut, einkorn and durum),
- pulses: dry beans, fava beans, lentils, field peas and soybeans,
- broadleaf and other crops: buckwheat, canola/rapeseed, corn, flax, industrial hemp, oilradish, potatoes and sunflowers,
- forage crops: forage legumes, forage grasses, cereals, feed corn, fodder roots, fodder brassicas.
To make it easier for readers to quickly find the information they need, the 2nd Edition of The Organic Field Crop Handbook contains an extensive index as well as a thorough glossary.
Read a review by the Rodale Institute
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