Organic transplants / evaluation and development of production techniques

Summary

A recent report has revealed that organic vegetable growers experience a number of technical plant raising problems (including lack of confidence in plant raising materials and lack of consensus about optimum plant raising strategies) while attempting to comply with EC regulation 2092/91. The overall objective of this study will be to improve the ability of organic producers to raise transplants according to the requirements of this EC Regulation. The specific objectives of the study will be: identification of the key interactions between the critical factors involved in transplant propagation (cabbage, lettuce and leek) in order to contribute to the development of improved management practices during the life of the project; and improvement of the performance of transplants under field conditions on an organic holding within the constraints of EC regulation 2092/91. The programme of research designed to meet these objectives will involve 3 units, each consisting of a self-contained series of propagation and field trials designed to provide results which will contribute to meeting the objectives.