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The Association is responding to requests from its members to be able to meet and talk with like-minded people, so they have set up a brand new Soil Hub on Facebook, a space for organic enthusiasts, budding gardeners and SA Members and Supporters to come together to swap ideas and help grow the organic movement towards a healthier, safer planet.

Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN)

Potato Cyst nematode (PCN) is a pest which is decimating Scotland’s potato industry and has also affected daffodil bulb growers. The chemical treatments available are limited and harmful of people and soil. Without a solution, it was expected that the seed potato industry would be annihilated in 30 years. The Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) has picked up on some work undertaken in Holland that showed that creating a chitin rich compost can clear fields of PCN. Chitin comes from shellfish and from Soldier flies. As well as trials on the compost other framers are working on trap crops, where the nematodes hatch and attach themselves to other plants where they cannot complete their lifecycle, and also PCN resistant potato varieties.

For the full article head to www.innovaivefarmers.org and look for the September 2020 news.

Pesticides

Pesticides.
There are 289 pesticides licenced for use in the UK. If all farming was organic, then pesticide use would be virtually non-existent as Soil Association farmers can only use a limited number of naturally derived pesticide,s like citronella and clove oil, as a last resort. That is why organic farming is so important in tackling our nature crisis – with a third more species,  50% more abundant wildlife and 75% more wild bees on organic farms.