Saskatchewan Agriculture plans to spend $300,000 on organic research in the next three years.
The department’s new report on the needs of organic farmers follows five months of producer workshops and surveys.
Better ways to manage soil fertility and quality topped the report’s priority list.
It found that growers are worried about declining soil phosphorus levels on organic farms that do not use animal manure as fertilizer.
Farmers also want methods to maintain nitrogen levels in the soil and more accurate soil quality indicators.
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Desiree Jans, program manager for Sask-atchewan Agriculture’s research branch, compiled the report using 200 questionnaires and 215 interviews conducted at organic workshops last winter.
She said a team of University of Saskat-chewan and Agriculture Canada researchers will begin addressing the targeted concerns this summer.
The grant from the provincial Agriculture Development Fund will be spent over the next three years.
Researchers will target 90 farms, which is one percent of the province’s 950 organic operations.
Scientists will spend the first year identifying practices that work under Saskatchewan conditions and are environmentally sustainable.
The primary focus over the next two years will be exploring the soil phosphorus problem.
“Without using synthetic fertilizer, the available phosphorus in the soil is declining,” Jans said.
“There is still insoluble phosphorus there, but it’s not readily available to the plants anymore. Nitrogen isn’t as bad a problem because green manures are so common in rotations.”
Crop rotations and weed management will also be researched.
Farmers want to learn how rotations affect soil and weeds and how pulse crops can be incorporated into organic rotations. They also want to know how to deal with problem weeds like Canada thistle, wild mustard, quack grass and wild oats.
Saskatchewan Agriculture also asked organic farmers what they felt were the biggest barriers to industry development.
The lack of an internationally recognized certification system was the undisputed king of barriers. It also topped their list of marketing concerns.
Most producers surveyed felt the federal government should develop and implement the certification process and that a national standard should be mandatory and regulated by federal legislation.
Genetically modified organisms were discussed at every workshop and on most questionnaires. Saskatchewan Agriculture has met with a group of organic producers to discuss GMOs.
