Pesticides Are Not Used in Organic Farming, and So Agricultural

Multiple Choice

Pesticides are not used in organic farming, and so agricultural pests must be managed using other methods.Biologists have determined that the organism that causes potato blight, Phytophthora infestans, is an obligate parasite of the potato plant and several other host plants.That means that this unicellular organism can only survive in stems, leaves, tubers, or spores of its hosts.Knowing this information, which practice is an organic farmer likely to carry out?

A) Plant all potato crops in the same or adjacent fields.
B) Plow under potato plants after a harvest to serve as fertilizer for the next crop.
C) Allow plants to grow from seeds that blow by chance onto a field.
D) Rotate crops so that potato plants fully decompose before another potato crop is started.
E) Burn the soil and all plant waste in every field after every harvest.