Resources for Organic Agriculture in Canada

Organic Science Cluster 3- Latest News and Resources

Practical and scientific resources for organic production

Organic agriculture is knowledge-intensive in nature, and has a strong rooting in science.  The Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada aims to "link organic knowledge", or connect those practicing or studying organic production to resources that they can put into practice.

The following pages are broken into broad categories, with more detailed and specific information as you navigate deeper into the pages.  Each resource page is, in turn, separated into two sections: Practical Resources, those resources that are written in accessible language and can be used to implement practices, and Scientific Results, which provides links to original scientific research in organic agriculture.

In addition to these resources, the Organic Agriculture Centre in Canada also supports and serves as the national editor for Organic Eprints, a valuable international open access archive for papers and projects related to research in organic food and farming.

The broad groupings of resources provided on this site are:

• Management of Soils and Fertility for Organic Production including fertility and nutrient management, composting, manures, and soil health and quality.
  
• Organic Horticulture Production including production of fruit and vegetable crops.
  
• Organic Field Crop Production including production of grains, forages, row crops, oilseeds, pulses and reduced tillage systems.
  
• Crop Rotation in Organic Systems including cover crops, intercrops and crop rotations.
  
• Pest Management in Organic Cropping Systems including weed, insect and disease management.
  
• Season Extension for Organic Production, including the use of greenhouses and high tunnels.
  
• Seed Production and Plant Breeding in Organic Cropping Systems, including crop breeding, seed saving, seed production and participatory breeding.
  
• Organic Livestock Production, including rearing of dairy and beef cattle, poultry, sheep and goats, swine, as well as grazing, animal welfare, and the integration of livestock into organic systems.
  
• The Ecology and Environmental Effects of Organic Agriculture, including biodiversity, ecosystem services, greenhouse gases and climate change, soil and water quality, and energy use.
  
• Organic Food Nutrition, Safety and Health, including food safety, nutrition, health impacts, and comparisons of organic and conventional foods.
• Post-harvest Handling and Processing of Organic Products, including storage, handling and processing.
• Social Science of Organic Agriculture, including communities, history knowledge, and social ecology.
  
• Marketing and Economics of Organic Agriculture, including consumer preferences and behaviours, economics, and organic markets and marketing research.
  
• Transition to Organic Agriculture, including the transition process, impacts of organic transition, and barriers to transition.
  
• Canadian Organic Research Priorities, including results of research needs surveys, research prioritization and strategic planning for identifying research priorities for organic agriculture in Canada.