It Is Time To Phase Out The Use Of Peat In Organic Horticulture

Summary

Peatlands are vital to the wider environment in terms of their biodiversity, to aid natural flood management and as significant carbon stores. In view of this, the UK Government has developed a framework for the restoration and protection of peatlands in England, including targets for phasing-out the use of peat in horticulture. To support organic growers working towards this ambition, the activities of the UK Growing Media Initiative (GMI) were reviewed, together with research evaluating the performance of peat-free growing media approved for use in organic horticulture. The GMI’s work has focused on how to define sustainable growing media and the Responsible Sourcing and Manufacture of Growing Media Calculator is now available for use. By using the calculator together with the results from fitness for purpose trials, the organic horticulture sector has a real opportunity to set its own benchmark for what it would consider to be responsibly sourced materials and to develop its own roadmap to successfully end the use of peat.