Non-chemical farming: prevent the crop problem before choosing an input
Organic crop protection can include pesticides, but the GB organic rules restrict which ones may be used. Where pesticide use is needed, select a preparation acceptable under the organic regulations and the holding's certification rules.
Use crop rotation, resistant varieties, mechanical and hand weeding, physical barriers and predatory species as appropriate to the crop problem. Pesticide-free (non-pesticide) farming relies on these measures, while organic farming may still use a pesticide that the organic rules accept. Organic herbicides for farming follow the same rule: start with rotation and mechanical or hand weeding, and ask the control body about any herbicide-type input.
Microbial biopesticides use organisms such as bacteria and fungi. Organic acceptance is a separate check.
Organic farming pesticides list: organic approved pesticides and product identity
There is no organic farming pesticides list that replaces the two checks below: a list of pesticides allowed in organic farming, or approved for it, is decided by the control body for the named product, and the HSE register shows whether the product is authorised.
An organic-production claim and a pesticide authorisation answer different questions. Organic acceptance comes from the approved control body; product authorisation, changes and withdrawals are in the HSE register.
GB and Northern Ireland certification codes
Soil Association Certification Ltd uses GB-ORG-05 for products produced or packed in Great Britain. The corresponding Soil Association code for Northern Ireland is XI-ORG-05. Organic Farmers and Growers CIC has separate codes GB-ORG-02 and XI-ORG-02. These codes identify certification arrangements; neither is a pesticide MAPP number.
The control body identifies the certifier; the HSE register identifies the plant-protection product.
Organic farmers must meet both organic-production and pesticide-use requirements.
Copper sulphate (copper sulfate) and glyphosate in organic farming
Copper sulphate, also written copper sulfate, names an ingredient rather than one preparation, so the control body decides on the named product for use in organic farming. Glyphosate and other weedkillers are prohibited under Soil Association organic standards.
Application of biopesticides: biological identity matters
Biopesticides include microbials, plant extracts and semiochemicals. Some meet the separate low-risk criteria.
For microbial products, data requirements normally apply at strain level. Plant extracts are assessed case by case.
Pheromones used only to monitor insect population cycles fall outside the plant-protection-product active-substance category.
Conversion is a land and certification process
Organic conversion needs a land history and certification; stopping conventional spraying does not itself certify the holding. The usual GB conversion period is two years for annual crops and ruminant grazing, and three years for established orchards of perennial soft, top and vine fruit. The control body determines the applicable conversion requirements.
Keep your spray records in one place. Free to start.
OF&G documentation requirements
Under OF&G manual Section 6, dated 1 April 2013, record agrochemical and artificial-fertiliser treatments by field or area for the two crop years preceding conversion. Map field references, areas and conversion, organic or non-organic status in the conversion plan. Crop-storage plans distinguish the same statuses.
Crop mass balance is opening stock + production + purchases − sales − crops consumed = closing stock. Input-use evidence includes delivery notes or purchase invoices. The OF&G manual has the documentation section.
Carry field references and organic, converting or non-organic status through stock movements and crop-use records.
For OF&G crop operations, keep the maintenance, calibration and cleaning programme for greenhouses, propagation and spraying equipment, harvesting machinery and crop stores. Record cleaning chemicals and pest-control chemicals used on those facilities alongside the equipment programme.
Farm fertiliser and biological seed inputs
Use the RB209 chapter for the crop; the March 2026 revision covers Sections 1–4.
The 2026 sections are:
- Section 1 covers principles of nutrient management and fertiliser use.
- Section 2 covers organic materials.
- Section 3 covers grass and forage crops.
- Section 4 covers arable crops.
For other crops, use Section 5 for potatoes, Section 6 for vegetables and bulbs, or Section 7 for fruit, vines and hops.
The RB209 app is no longer available. Download the PDF chapters or order the free printed guide.
Biofertiliser seed treatment and bio seed treatment: the nutrient function
NUELLO iN is a nitrogen-fixing biological cereal seed treatment and biostimulant. That nutrient function differs from a seed treatment sold to control disease.
The preparation uses nitrogen-fixing endophyte bacteria. Check the NUELLO iN Compatibility List before combining it with another seed input.
For Trichoderma viride or Pseudomonas fluorescens seed treatments, the genus names do not identify the product: microbial assessment normally applies at strain level.
Nutrient purchases are a different input decision
Buying fertiliser in bulk does not establish crop need or organic acceptance. RB209 sets out nutrient principles, contributions from materials and crop recommendations.
Semiochemicals, extracts and microbial strains
Semiochemicals trigger behavioural or physiological responses in organisms. The group includes pheromones, allelochemicals and synthetic analogues. A pheromone used for mating disruption or mass trapping has a plant-protection purpose; a monitoring-only lure follows a different regulatory classification.
Microbial preparations can contain bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses or viroids.
Plant extracts range from minimally processed mixtures of substances to highly refined preparations containing one active substance. Their risk varies and assessment is case specific. The fourth biopesticide category covers novel alternatives that do not fit the microbial, semiochemical or extract groups.
Check the function of a pheromone combination
Where a pheromone attracts insects to an insecticide that kills them, the insecticide is the active substance and the pheromone can function as a formulation adjuvant.
Next step
See the IPM plan and the HSE register guide; the control body decides on the named input.