One of the first hurdles you ’re likely to face up as anorganic farmeris as small as a seeded player — actually , it is a cum — and it can be a Brobdingnagian obstacle to your operation . An astounding 80 pct of U.S. constituent Farmer do n’t have organic seed promptly available to them , fit in to survey of certified - constitutional farmers in 45 states , summons in the Organic Seed Alliance ’s “ State of Organic Seed ” report .
“ USDA ’s National Organic Program demand the use of organically produced seed when commercially available . But because the organic semen sector was in its infancy when the program began — mean , the provision could n’t fully converge need — the rules allow for the usance of untreated conventional ( non - organic ) ejaculate when an equivalent constitutive form is unavailable , ” says Kristina Hubbard , OSA ’s theater director of advocacy and communications
To help meet the needs oforganic growersand get them on trail to go to the full constituent from seed to yield , the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies , with support from the OSA , on Oct. 1 , 2012 , will launch the Organic Seed Finder , an online database of organic seed vendors . The database provides a comprehensive listing of organic field - crop , veggie andherbseeds that provide user to do an easy search found on their desire craw property and connect with seed seller in their expanse or elsewhere .
“ The constitutive residential area has been calling for a new constituent seed database for several year , ” enunciate Hubbard , who has avail care the undertaking since it was initiated last year . “ Furthermore , the National Organic Standards Board recommended a database in 2005 and ingeminate this recommendation again in 2008 . ”
With the database , a seminal fluid search can take a farmer a subject of bit — saving them time to attend to other important farm thing . First , the Fannie Farmer selects from the germ finder ’s home page the type of germ he ’s looking for : field harvest , vegetable or herbaceous plant . He then select the crop variety he need — for example , tomatoes . When he clicks on “ Tomatoes , ” he is then presented with a checklist of attributes he require his tomatoes to have : case ( cherry , library paste , slicer , et cetera . ) , coloration , day to adulthood and impedance to diseases , such as to descry wilt computer virus or lily-livered leaf curl . Each available craw has a unique lean of attributes .
Once the farmer pick out his trust attributes , he ’s presented with a tilt of varieties , which include the name of the business selling the seeds and when the itemization for that cum was last update . ( The seminal fluid database will not present real - time availability of organic seeds . ) If a variety is temporarily sold out but the marketer plans to continue sales once the seed is in broth , this will be show . The farmer can then publish off this list to add to his files or sink in on the germ salmagundi to be redirected to the vendor ’s website or touch selective information .
The database will be managed by ASOSCA , and staff will be on call to help users with their ejaculate search .
For purposes of the launch , the come finder will only catalog organic source varieties , but the system is being developed to well adjust to seed industry ’s motive , says AOSCA CEO Chet Boruff . Developers have already study enlargement options , including catalogs forheirloomandnon - GMOseeds , but they ’re waiting to invite industry feedback before implementing any expansion .
The Organic Seed Finder will go live at www.organicseedfinder.org on Oct. 1 , 2012 . [ notice : You will not be able to enter the database website until the launch escort . ]
In the days leading up to the launch , AOSCA is invite sodbuster , seed vendors and other stakeholder to provide remark on the case of seed you would wish to see cataloged in the Organic Seed Finder ’s database . Send your questions about the Organic Seed Finder or its October launch toorganicseedfinder@aosca.org
