Two months after an advisory board voted to deny organic certification to aeroponic agriculture, the USDA said aeroponic crops remain eligible for the organic seal. “USDA will consider this [advisory] recommendation; aeroponics remains allowed during this review,” said the Agricultural Marketing Service in a bulletin to organic growers.
The National Organic Standards Board voted 14-0 at its fall meeting to make aeroponics a prohibited practice, and allowed hydroponics and aquaponics to continue as organic practices. At that time, The Packer, a trade publication, said the USDA would decide whether to adopt the recommendations during a formal rule-making process. Traditionalists say the organic label should be limited to crops grown in soil. Large-scale hydroponic growers say their vegetables and herbs are what consumers expect — food grown without synthetic pesticides.
“Given the extensive debate on this topic,” said the AMS, the bulletin was intended “to clarify the status of these systems. Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations and has been since the National Organic Program began.”